Did a couple of searches but couldn't find any real solid information on wheel comparisons. So here's the deal - fairly new to bike riding but I recently just splurged on a Madone 3.1. Love the bike, acceleration but I'm curious about the wheels.

I understand that they are a Bontrager approved wheelset - If I wanted to upgrade them- how do i know if one wheelset is better than the one I have?

Is it based on weight? Hubs? material? Just opinion?

Currently, I want to jump on those chinese carbon wheels I have a budget of like 500-800 in terms of wheel budget...

It depends on what you want to do with them, how much you weigh, and your budget, which you did provide. Fill us in.

As far as the new wheels go, I would suggest buying the parts individually, and adding in a SOUL Prodigy hubset, and it would probably be much lighter, for about the price you are looking for.

I think you should ride your bike till the wheels are shot to bits then buy the most expensive wheels you can at the time. When you fit them you will realise they make pretty much zero difference to the overall experience of riding your bike.

You know...the thought did cross my mind! That's exactly have I'm afraid of to be perfectly honest. There was a huge difference for me going AL to carbon and really curious to know if wheels will have a huge effect.

I'm 165 lb, doing a lot of biking around pavement with a decent amount of bumps potholes - Dallas loves to cut budgets.

research. I never liked bontrager parts, they seem like more of a gimmick. $300 seems like enough to get into the performance playing field. After that, price seems to be proportionate to weight.

My opinion is that you should ride what you have until you are experienced enough to decide for yourself what you want in a pair of wheels. One thing you can do right away is buy the best tires you can. Maybe try a couple of brands, try 23 vs 25, etc.

Figure out where it's at, then go for it.

Build quality trumps all, but it's hard to judge.

I have a Trek 1.5 and I hate how Trek/Bontrager just throws on "Bontrager Approved" parts. It makes it really hard to figure out what you actually have. (I guess you could always rip the bike apart and weigh the parts, but that doesn't sound like a fun idea nor does it tell you anything beyond the weight).

I was looking into upgrading the wheels, but then figured I would ride the "Approved" ones into the ground and then get something that I actually know about. Unless you are racing, I say just stick with what you have.

just go w/ what everyone here raves about, reynolds, soul, zip and psimet. BF APPROVED!! I like campagnolo.

My Trek SSR wheels are heavy, I weighed mine. The hubs spin nice though.

This is spot on advice.

There are tons of options for wheels, with rims ranging in depth from 20mm to 100mm, dozens of types of spokes and hundreds of different hubs to chose from. Figure out what you like and don't like about your wheels, then decide what would be better. Do you want a light climbing wheelset or an aero wheelset or a heavy duty, pot-hole busting wheelset? These are questions you need to answer before you can determine what is better.

What do they weigh ? Sorry for the thread jack.

Wheels affect performance in two ways. Very deep, aero wheels will make you marginally faster on the flats. Very lightweight wheels will marginally affect steep climbs.

Psimet.

Tell him your budget, weight, and how you want to use them, and he'll set you up.

I have it written down at home but I'm sure they were over 2000 grams with skewers removed but rim tape on.

Who cares... ride em... if you like them then they are great! if not, get a new set. DONE!

Ok looking at the notes jotted down I have this info:

The front SSR was over a full pound heavier than either my Mavic CXP-21 rim or the Rolf Vector Comp rim. The rear was almost a pound and a half heavier than either other rear other it did have a 10 speed cassette on it when the others were sporting a 9 speed. Sorry I don't have better info than that but those are all the notes I could find right now. I thought I posted actually weights on a post awhile ago but have not found it.

Edit: Ok found one post where I said the Mavic wheels were 1900 and then another were I mentioned that putting them on my Trek would save me over 300 grams. That puts the Bontrager SSRs at atleast 2200 grams.

300 grams equals going to the bathroom.

So?

+1. If you get new components, you should know why you wanted to buy them. Could be just aesthetics.

Check out some wheelbuilders' sites. Williams, ROL, and Bicycle Wheel Warehouse will use parts from Asia and their prices might surprise you. Neuvation Wheels - Taiwan - has servicing info on their site. IMO that's a good thing, because it can be a hassle to locate a shop which will/can service cartridge hubs, especially the rear. Psimet has a number of wheel options (he built a Record, CX-Rays, Velocity O/C wheel for me) and very good prices.

Well all I know is that it feels like quite a difference when I ride uphill. That's all that matters to me. In fact it matters enough that I'll be looking to pay around $500 to shave another 300 - 400 grams off my wheels.

Thanks for the info.

this is what I did

I weigh 199 now (finally under 200) but I contacted Psimet and told him I wanted a set of "race" wheels that would still be good for training when I could afford to drop more money

my budget less than yours and my wheel set should be around 1630 grams.



which is almost a pound off the SSR's

with your weight and budget I think you will do well