motobecane69

I'm sure your shop does custom builds too so a credit could be applied to them ordering components for a build. The race xxxlites are a pretty lite but pricey wheel but at around $1000 i'd rather get something handbuilt myself or use the credit for accessories and spend 400 out of pocket for something else.

chaulky61

I disagree. What is the point of spending all that money on a nice frame, and riding on crappy wheels? It may only make a minimal difference in speed, but the ride will be so much better and, as such, much more enjoyable. Wheels/tires are the most important part of the package, and if the OP can afford to upgrade he should go for it.
Williams, Soul, Boyd etc are all worth looking into. Also consider DA 7900' s which can be found for about $700 on line.

AllezDada

Got Soul 2.0SL's for my 2011 Madone 5.2. That in itself was a savings of approximately 600 grams (1.3 lbs) for $500. Moved my OEM wheels to my wife's bike (the OEM wheels on that bike weighed even more . . .)

Socalfriendly

The R3's are a damn fine tire. Keep 'em. The Race wheels are indeed on the heavy side, so any wheelset under 1500 grams (and there are many) will do you fine.

Actually, I still can't believe a 2012 5.2 is being delivered with Bontrager Race wheels. Shoot, those came on my 2010 2.3, and I dropped a whole pound off the bike buying a set of new 2005 Mavic Ksyrium's from a member of my cycling club for $300.00, so good deals are out there.

pksteffen

I plan to order same bike and plan to upgrade the wheels also. I have been looking at Shimano Ultegra 6700 tubeless/clinchers (1685g) at $625 and the Dura Ace c24 clinchers (1385g) which can be had for about $1000. The Shimanos have a reputation for durability and they don't have a weight limit for the rider which speaks to their build. The mechanics I have spoken to all respect this brand. I like to climb in the mountains so weight is an issue. Not many 1400 gram wheels come with no weight limit from what I have seen. I am 185 which is often the cut off for a lighter weight wheel.

The LBS will probably upgrade your wheels to a Bontrager set at a discounted price. I have heard from many that they feel their Race X Lites at $885 are durable, even bullet proof (coming from a local club leader). That is my second choice. The next wheel down - Race Lites seem to have a mix review from what I could gather.

Hope that helps.

v70cat

Since changing flats is not fun in the winter I would change the tires on day one to Conti 40000S. I would wait a little while longer on wheels since the prices tend to go down once it gets cold. I find that Mavic wheels are less expensive and are sold on the internet at large discounts. If you are getting high end wheels I would consider getting the protection plan.

gundom66

I'm dreaming of scoring a 5.2 myself hopefully before or on my birthday now that I know of Trek's credit same as cash for 12 months. I've been doing some research on wheels because the stock are a bit heavy. I've talked to the guy at the Trek Store and said I can upgrade to the Race X LIte for $500. Okay, just above 1500g and I can do better with the Soul 2.0 for the same price. The only thing I need to find out is if it's better than the Bonty's besides the lesser weight. And if the Souls are better, I don't mind going for the 3.0's either for the same weight as the Race X Lites.

I see people in here posting about bikes with souls or no souls. Bikes in general don't have a soul... and if the reason for others to say that other bikes do have a soul and the mass produced ones don't, then I will put some "Soul" on that bike.

VA_Esquire

rinse and repeat.

VertigoFlyer

I bought a 2011 Trek Madone 5.2. I like the OP am not a racer. I'm a 50 something who wanted a bike to grow into instead of out of. My Madone 5.2 has been a perfect match. Many folks fault the stock rims. I get the math I really do. But on the bike it hasn't mattered much to me. Maybe it's just not knowing anything else. I've never rode on a set of uber nice rims. What I do know is this ride is AWESOME! The fun factor has been off the scale!! When I head out to the garage for any reason, any reason at all I MUST stop and gaze at my ride....LOL!!

Someday I might upgrade the wheels. Folks seem to like the Soul rims. I'll log that bit of info in the back of my head. For now I am soaking up the pure joy of the Madone experience!

I advise focusing on the fun factor first. Trust me your Madone will deliver, hugely deliver!!

pksteffen

When I replaced the stock Bontrager R1 tires on my bike with R3s I cut almost three minutes off my twice-a-week 90 minute loop. I would love to think it was all due to my conditioning, LOL but the tire upgrade definitely made a difference for me. I am the kind of rider who closely tracks performance and continually strives to better my time. That is when I got on the "downward" spiral of looking at upgrades such as wheels, the bike etc.

gundom66

I think I would agree on this too! If I remember correctly, the guy at Trek last year said the 5.2 weighs in about 16.25 pounds without pedals. Now the 2012 upgrade is just the full carbon fork. That may have knocked down the weight just a tad bit. If you upgrade to the Race X Lite or Soul for $500 more, you're knocking off at least a pound - or slightly over with the Soul 2.0. So with those numbers in place with the pedals, plus any additions like the tool bag, and a water bottle or two, you're up slightly under 19 pounds if I'm not mistaken. I dunno, is 1 pound really going to matter at this point? I'm beginning to contemplate as well, but if the rolling resistance on the stock Bonty's really suck that bad, then the upgrade may just solve the issue, as long as the right Wheels were picked.

horus11B

I'm really looking for a set of open pro's if your serious about this. msg me.

Dancing Skeleton

My 2011 Madone 4.7 came with Race wheels. I bought a pair of 2010 Race X-Lites (eBay) & R3 tires. I shaved ~1.3 lbs off of the bike.
The RXL's feel great, I can tell that the wheels are lighter. They've stayed true, here on suburban Boston roads. The R3's roll nice, and have been durable as well. I can't say that I'm any faster on these, but they do feel nicer. The bike seems to jump off the line when I start, and it seems more nimble in the steering. Plus the combo looks pretty damn nice on my bike. I use the Race wheels & R2 tires a lot as well, and they're fine (although I did have a cut sidewall with the R2's after only ~200 miles).
The RXL's aren't cheap though, but they're not too bad on eBay.
I was also looking at William's system 19's or 30's, people seem to like them and the price is right.

pksteffen

I just upgraded to Ultegra 6700's from my stock Bontrager SSRs on my Trek 2.1. I shaved 700 grams or 1.5 lbs by swapping out the stock wheels. Trek weighed a pair of SSRs with skewers and they were over 2300 grams.

I just did my usual 78 minute loop from my house up Sabino Canyon which has a short two mile Cat 4 at the end. I was about 30 seconds faster on the steepest climb but overall I only equaled my best time. I hadn't ridden for almost four days so I was feeling it a bit today. I did notice right away that the wheels felt very nimble. It took me a while to get used to the extra responsiveness but the ride was definitely better, more responsive and easier on the hills. I was a gear higher than usual for the first half of the climb. Once I get accustomed, I bet I'll be in that higher gear the whole way up.

toy4two

For $600 you can get some good full carbon clinchers from Taiwan. China makes them even cheaper but Taiwan sets use better hubs. Or just get the carbon shipped in and have your local LBS build it up with any hubs/spokes you want. DIY https://www.megacomposite.com.tw/products.html fully built https://www.carbonroadbikebicyclecycl...road-wheel-set

varnerme

I just got a 2012 Madone 5.2 and immediately put on Velocity A23 pro build wheel set. Bike lost 1.5 pounds from the stock wheels. Just running the stock rubber for now. I'm a big fan of Velocity wheels. They stay true and are fast.

billydonn

I don't think a wheel upgrade is a bad idea on a bike of that quality. Williams System 19s sound like a good idea to me. Or give Psimet a call and have him make you up some Kinlin wheels with White hubs.

canam73

I hope those prices are before your LBS gives you a BIG credit on the oem wheels. Nashbar has 6700 for $400.

Any reason you are not looking at the RS80 set? Unless you are going with a tubeless tire they would seem to be the perfect wheel for you.

canam73

I like the wheels, but you can do better on price. I don't think they have the novatec hubs, but prowheelbuilder will build you the white industries upgrade for about $150 less. I'm guessing psimet would do the novatec version for a chunk less too.

zlr101

i love the shimano rs80 c24 im using seca rs tires now i have mich pro3s orderd.

AzTallRider

I have a 5.2, and it came with the wheels and tires you mentioned. The tires ride fine but wear really fast. Seemed like no time at all before they were repeatedly flatting, and I dumped them and put on Conti GP4000s. The wheels? The "Race" label is a misnomer, as they are really heavy. Stupid wheel for that bike, and putting those race tires on those wheels makes no sense whatsoever. What people said about putting bulletproof wheels on stock bikes makes sense, except mine needed truing pretty quickly, and then again a bit later, and then... here is the bad part... I had taken my bike on a riding tour of SoCal, and was going through Camp Pendleton on a group ride. I hopped a small pothole, but clipped it a bit with the rear. Didn't seem like a big deal, but a few seconds later I had what one person described as an "epic blowout". Tire bead blew off the rime, tube wrapped around the brake shoes, and I came to a sliding stop with the alloy wheel on the pavement. I was able to change the tube and get going again, and the tire held. A few weeks later I swapped the tire, and smoothed out the rim. Several hundred miles later, I'm just riding home from work, and BAM! Another explosive blowout at speed, tire bead off the wheel, sliding to stop on the rim. Other side this time, and the tube wrapping on the brake shoes damaged my brakes. The rim is now toast, not that I would trust it anyway, especially as I have heard from one other "Race" wheel owner that had a similar experience, also with a GP4000s. Note that I have other wheels with thousands of miles on them using GP4000s with no similar problems. I don't think it is how I mounted the tires. I examined the rim's lip closely, and the weld is 'globby', such that there is no way the tire bead can hook in properly at that point. I'm pretty sure that is the issue: sloppy welding.

I'll be taking my wheel back to the LBS to see if Bontrager will replace the rim under warranty. If they do, it will still go on the shelf for use only as an emergency backup. I have Zipp 404 tubies for racing, and will be getting a pair of somewhat lower profile carbon clinchers to use for training and high wind situations.

Bottom line? Get better wheels!

Peiper1

Thank you to all for your thoughts and advice. What did I end up doing in the end ....? I decided to go with a pair of Mavic R-Sys wheels for my new 5.2 Madone. My LBS offered me a reasonable price on them in exchange for the stock Bontrager wheels. My plan is to use the stock Bontrager R3 tires at first, then replace them with Michelin Pro 4's. Unfortunately, as we speak, the first snow of the year is falling here in Toronto, so I will have to wait some time to try out my choices !!

AzTallRider

htfu :-)

twodownzero

I love how all the people who actually put miles on their bikes are saying to leave the wheels and ride, and the rest are telling him to throw money at it.

I've got way too many miles on $150 wheelsets to recommend that someone drop another $500 after he's in already for thousands of dollars.

Triguy

Good call on keeping the tires. I've been riding them this year and think that they ride fairly nicely. Not anything really spectacular, but maybe a little nicer ride than Conti 4000s but not quite as long lasting.