Comfort on prebuilt wheels?
 

I'm building an aluminum frame project bike over the winter and I've narrowed my wheel choice down to two, 2006 zondas or traditional 32x3 centaur/open pro. I am about 195lbs and will only be using these for long training rides and maybe a few centuries. I'm not really concerned about weight that much, given my own ;)

Would the 32x3 set up be more comfortable [have more give] than the Zondas?..It seems that they may be, given the angle of the spokes as they leave the hubs, where as the Zondas are Radial in front and G3 in back.

Anyone have any actual experiences with these types of wheels? Or just have opinions either way? This might be faulty logic, so if it is please set me straight. Thanks so much.

I'd help, but I'm a Texan and doesn't look like you like us much. ;)







j/k - I'll throw my two cents in anyways for what they're worth.

For your size and the amount you are going to be riding them - I'd go with the open pros. I did my first 40 miler on my Ultegra/Open Pros and were quite impressed with them so far.

Thanks, I remember seeing your thread and I was struck by the color of those tires, very nice.

Does anyone have any idea as to the price of a centaur/open pro build or a good source on the net? I've checked excelsports.com and their price is actually more than I could get the Zondas for including shipping.

BTW, My girlfriend is originally from Midland, tx. It's just the texans wearing that butt ugly orange that I have a problem with :p

Off topic - but I think UTD's colors (my school) has worse colors than UT Austin. Who in the world came up with Green & Orange?!? Thanks for the comment on the tires, I like them too. Though unhappy at my front tube that decided to blow out on me 3mi from home today. What prices have you found for the two wheelsets?

I found the new Zondas for 358 dollars [plus 30.00 for shipping] from 11speed.com, and excelsports.com's build calculator has the centaur/open pros for about 320.00[plus shipping]. I think that is a pretty great price on the Zondas, and a very average price for the handbuilts.

And no offense but yeah green and orange is pretty bad, but I bet it's not as bad as Oklahoma State's day glo orange:eek:

ColoradoCyclist has Chorus/OpenPros for $342.

I think you should get some wheels like these. Note the orange tires. They're exceptionally good. And a bike with bullhorns - some would say... ahem, Longhorns, is exceptionally nice....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...gemotodone.jpg

Sorry, I get harrassed so constantly by sooners that its a reflex. Seriously, the Velocity Deep V's are great rims. Mine are laced to IRO's which is a single speed config - but lacing them to any decent hub wouldn't be bad.

I am at 155lbs and love my OP/Revolution/Chorus Hand built wheels. I find them more comfortable then the Neutrons which I also have.



PS Lived down around Moore and Newcastle?? as a pre-K child

ravenmore: As much as it pains me to admit, that is actually a nice looking bike :( , of course it looks a lot better now that Vince Young has left and Mack Brown will soon become Bob Stoops' whipping boy again :D sorry I had to say something bad about UT or I might get kicked out of town.

So does everyone think that I should go with the handbuilts? Interesting.

For sure the Centaur/OP is going to ride better thant he Zonda. I have a friend who rides a Ti/CF Serotta with the Eurus (same basic design as the Zonda) and he also has a set of Record hubs laced to some older box section rim 32 spoke 3x and he says there is a dramatic difference in ride feel between the two sets.

The ZOnda will be a stiffer ride, the Centaur/OP will be smoother.

I'm about the same weight and have been looking at similar wheels with Revolution spokes instead of the 14/15 DB but was concerned about the durability. Do you have any problems with maintaining the wheels?

I was also wondering about the spoke count. Are your wheels 32 and do you have the Revolutions also on the drive side?

You can believe Grasschopper since he isn't from Texas. I don't have a set of Zonda but I do have a set of Vento and I have 2 sets of hand built wheels. There is no doubt the hand builts are more comfortable to ride.

+1. I love my Deep V's laced to Velocity hubs. Great wheel considering the weight and with the rear built up with 36 spokes, it is very durable.

I just ordered a set of the Velocity Fusions (like the Deep V but with a 25mm rim) for my fixie. Those will be laced to Formula hubs. I can't wait to get them.

Ravenmore -- Your fixie looks great. I wanted that bike in orange but they didn't have anymore and the blue just doesn't do it for me. I decided to replace my too small Pista with a KHS Flite 100 which is where the Fusions will be going.

I love the Deep V's on my beater bike:

http://kevinmcdade.servebeer.com/mis...100_0747rs.JPG

Thanks everyone for your replies, very helpful. So it seems that I may go with a traditional wheel...Maybe I will use the Zondas or something better as a carrot in my weight loss goals.

Curious if anyone has any pics of traditional wheels built with black spokes on low profile rims, I wonder what that would look like?

That's what I did. A gift to myself for sticking with my new eating and excercise lifestyle was a brand new set of Rolf Prima Vigors!!! An absolute wonderful wheel!!! Good luck with you wheel decision and your weight loss.

Thanks. :) Yeah, its been a fun bike. I have to confess the wheels were a machine build though and the spoke tension is really uneven. I need to de-tension and rebuild them. Just haven't gotten around to it. I will say I was very impressed that in spite of the poor initial build the Deep V's stayed true. I consider it a testament to the rim's strength. When I rebuild I may opt for some lighter spokes.....

PS - you're "beater" bike looks pretty sweet! What kind of forks are those?