Hey,

I am thinking about new wheelset for next season. Right now I have Shimano WH-R501. Plan is to "learn" to ride on road bike on this wheelset and change to something little better after winter.

Currently I found:

- Mavic Aksium 2019
- Vision Team 30

What do you think? Are Aksiums ok for very light person?

Those 3 wheel sets are all the same.... between 1800 and 1900 grams. On the heavy side.
I would just ride the Shimano 501s until you have more $ to get lighter wheelset.... try for at least under 1600 grams.
They all have system weight of 120kg.

I also prefer the shimano system for everything except high dollar stuff.

Why?

well the shimano hubs are cup and cone and serviceable. and you can flush the freehub with oil while you have if off.

the rest of the cheap systems are not that servicable and adjustable. not shimano level at least.

also shimano makes maybe 10-100-1000 times as many wheels as vision and mavic combined, so its highly unlikely anything they make is actually better for a given price. they have the real mass production capability. and with mass production comes low price for a given quality.

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You are probably just wasting money up to maybe 500-1k€ level. then you may get better quality.
But they might not be better durability. since all expensive wheels are 20/24spoke or less. and thats not really a durable choice. 32/32 is.

I actually managed to build 200g lighter wheels than my shimano rs010 set. the shimanos were 120-130€, and they needed to be cracked open for gresing and adjustment when new. as all shimanos!

i got Archetype rims f/r
dt240 f/r
54t ratchet
28/32 spoke dt comp 2,0-1,8-2,0mm, brass nipples

and they are 200g lighter than the shimanos. AND more durable, and probably more aero. and only 700-750€ or so more expensive. (only lol)

and i have noticed absolutely nothing is speed gains. physics, unfortunately. 200g is not gonna turn you into lance.

It looks like a sideways move. You aren't losing much weight and little to none aerodynamic differences. Save your money unless you just want a spare set of wheel. If you do, then consider putting a really good race performance tire on them for the times you want to do your best and will be on a surface that you don't have to worry about road hazards that flat the tire.

I have a pair of Vision Team 30s, which came on a bike. They were much more than strong enough for my 145 lbs, and good enough quality for the price, but the set weighs 1900 g or something and I can’t imagine them as any sort of upgrade. They’re disc wheels or I’d offer them to you cheap. Agree with those saying to wait until you can get a set at or under under 1600 g.

If I may chime in - I think everyone is right. Saving 200-300g will make you marginally faster, and the wheels you’re currently looking at don’t even achieve that.

However, going to a *much* wider rim should deliver some tangible improvements in comfort (and therefore speed) along with grip. In theory anyway - I’ll know in a month or so. By wider I mean 20-25mm internal width. You can use 25mm tires even on 23mm rims, especially if you’re light. The wheels you’re looking at probably have a 17mm inner width, which is pretty traditional.

EDIT: Your Shimano wheels and many others are actually a very outdated 15mm.

Double EDIT: And the vision team 30s are 19mm. Which is more on the modern side. The aksiums are actually 17mm though.

Keep your Shimanos until you can buy something lighter, more aero and with wider internal rim width. I just spent $1,300 on some Reynolds wheels that were money well spent. They're light, stiff, aero and pretty affordable for a carbon rim. Yes there was a speed gain but it was marginal with the wheels and tires. Maybe .2 to .4 mph. Not small but it's not life changing. Stick with your Shimanos for now.

you can run 45mm on 15mm inner if you want to.

i run 52mm on 19mm inner, no problem there.

but yeas yo probably want to reside on 1,5x the inner width for very good support. or optimal support.

most rims today are 19-20 or so. so a 28-30mm will be very optimal. but you can go a lot wider if needed. A LOT!

My fendered lunskey ti rain/winter bike has about 19mm and 22 or so inner rim width. and i'm running a 32 up front and a 37mm rear schwalbe marathon supreme, and i can basically lay it down until my pedals start grinding on the ground. with confidence too. and nowhere and no time does this feel sketchy nor unsafe. i can basically put that bike into the ground before it starts getting weird. and i guess thats how it works with all bikes. and all suffieciently good tires. i can vouch for this at least.

I’ll do you one better - I’ve run a 2.1 inch tire (53mm) on a 15mm rim. And taken that on black diamond trails. You’re absolutely right - there’s nothing sketchy about it.

However, my next wheels will be 23 internal and I’ll be running 25mm tires on them. The point of having a wide rim is that you get a lot of the benefits of having meatier rubber like better grip and more comfort without some of the downsides, like squirm or weight.

Also when you say “grinding pedals”.... do you mean with the inside pedal at the 12 o clock position? Because that’s quite literally laying the bike down. I’ll need to see some video evidence of that.

LOL consider the source. No Marathon is going to corner like that, just more of his nattering.

Can’t a man dream? Cars can pull 1 lateral G pretty easily. Although that would be 45 degrees of lean - still not really close to scraping pedals.

I have two sets of Aksiums. Both came with bikes I bought. As has been said, they are not light. They have been bullet-proof. About two months ago I went with some Mavic USTs. I am not going back. They are lighter, faster and smoother than any clinchers I've ever owned. Having said that, if your choices are limited to what you have listed, I'd agree that you are going "sideways."