Wheel updgrades
 

Hi

I ride a 2006 Trek Madone 5.2 carbon frame + ultegra/dura ace mix with Bontrager Race X Lite wheels. I'm thinking of upgrading the wheels. I'm 40 yrs old, 6'1, 165lb, average to fast sportive and recreation rider (e.g. 70 - 100 miles on a Sunday). I do probably about 2500-3500m annually. I have never had any problems with these wheels, they have remained true for the entire time that I've had the bike - but I have some spare $$ and would like to improve the bike.

I'm looking to upgrade the wheels to a good quality all-rounder set of clinchers (not carbon because braking failures in the wet turns me off). My problem is that I don't know how my current wheels compare in the ranges that are available today so I don't know where to start looking.

Anyone have any suggestions for (i) a current generation (non-Bonty) wheelset that would be today's equivalent replacement to what I have from 2006, or (ii) a wheelset that would be say 2 models better quality than the equivalent of what I currently have?

Many thanks for your suggestions, much appreciated

Normally I would say there isn't much you could buy for the riding you describe that would make a noticeable improvement. But since your wheels are 7 years x ~3000 miles = 20K so they may not be far out from having some rim or spoke issues so it may not be a bad time to go wheel shopping.

For what you are doing a basic everyday 'trainer' wheelset is what you want. You could serve your needs for $300-400 or up to double that if you want something fancy. If you are not racing, hill climbing or competitively time trialing the law of diminishing returns is pretty steep.

I would start with looking at the aluminum clincher offerings from Boyd Wheels or November. These are semi-custom handbuilt wheels with a couple of spoke and hub choices to suit your needs and well regarded by other forum users. The spokes used are standard issue that any bike shop should have available if there is ever and issue unlike what is common on pre-built wheels like Mavic and Shimano.

One more thing, another forum member is selling these: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...beless-ready!). They would suit you well and it really is a great wheelset for the price if it is still available.

I've head good things about the Flo30, but that's just it, what I've heard.

You're really not going to see any noticeable improvement with another shallow sectioned aluminum clincher. Those wheels are already reasonably light, and there's not much performance advantage to be had spending a fair amount of money to save a few grams.

Going with one of the wider aluminum rims, like a Zipp 101, or HED Ardennes would have a small aero advantage.

If you want to actually get a performance advantage, with your constraint of wanting an Al brake track, you could go with a deep sectioned carbon clincher with an AL brake track, such as a Zipp 60.

Note that every other wheel already recommended in this thread also uses a wider rim (Boyd, November, the Pacenti in the "for sale" forum as well as the Flo30). As does the the current version of the Bontrager Race X Lite.

Thanks, these are all really helpful comments. The main thing I'll need to think about is (1) if the wheels are due for replacement and (2) whether I would get a significant improvement from a new wheelset or replace with equivalent model and save $$.

For (1) replacement, the answer is yes, they're old and due to be replaced soon - although no noticeable problems yet, I want to avoid being caught out when something important fails.

For (2) improvement, its an interesting comment from merlinextralight that that it may be difficult to gain a noticeable improvement with another shallow section clincher. I hadn't considered that. But if so, I'd be interested to know your thoughts on the differences in feel, performance, etc. between a mid-range and a top-range shallow clincher from same manufacturer with same tyres?

in other words, why buy expensive when i can buy mid-range?

Local bike shops have suggested these options: Ksyrium Elite S; Dura-Ace C24; Ksyrium SLR (more expensive) - and have also suggested that my current wheels are equivalent to today's Ksyrium Equipes. Any thoughts on these options?

I'm not trying to degrade your riding at all as it's similar to what I'm doing most of the time. But that said, it just doesn't demand a high performance wheelset and most of the time any differences are going to be hard to notice. For that reason I dislike mid-grade equipment that uses fancy proprietary components like Mavic wheels. Their $10 a piece spokes are not doing anything for you. In fact, as often as not when I have seen wheel tests Mavics tend to be heavier than spec'd and less aerodynamic than their competitors equivalents.

But plenty of people get solid use out of Mavics and I doubt I would notice anything if you swapped them for my training wheels until I looked down. So if you like the looks of them you will probably be happy.

Personally I think there are better values to be had, and I really prefer wheels that use common spokes, nipples and rims so that they can be serviced and or rebuilt easily and economically if it comes to that. I build my own wheels, but if I didn't I would probably be riding a set Boyd or Novembers or have had Psimet custom build me a set. No matter how integrated some of these wheels look, they are still a rim laced with spokes to a hub, and the physics that govern their performance and durability do not change.

does $$ mean $500 or $2000?

I think you would find the performance of a good set of handbuilts to be subtly better than factory built Mavics. Mavics tend to be quite durable but IMO they're gimmicky boutique wheels that have flourished under some clever marketing. Their hubs don't impress me (yes, I've owned and ridden several thousand milse on some) plus, if you have a problem with handbuilds you aren't likely going to have proprietary parts to deal with. I prefer the newly popular wider rims, but there again the differences are subtle. I would take the Pacenti handbuilts over Any Mavic offering in a heartbeat.

That sounds like a fine wheel at a great price. You aren't likely to have any kind of warranty on something like this, and you would just have to assume the build quality is high. I might ask for verification of spoke tensions. Pacentis can't take much more than about 120-125kgf. I currently ride a set of SL23's, and I like them a lot! However, it's a lightweight high performance rim and extreme longevity is not likely going to be there. However, they should last you well over 20,000 miles.

I landed up getting a set of ROL Race SL wheels for this season, I loved them. Not overly heavy (1500g), well built, use easily replaceable spokes (Sapim CX-Ray) and they offer a great ride quality. Ran a 23mm tire on them...very pleased.