Should I upgrade my stock Giant wheels?
 

My TCR came with giant psl0 wheels stock. I'm starting to think about upgrades. Merlin has Fulcrum racing 3 for around $400 but curious if that would be an upgrade over stock wheels? Especially curious from those who have had the Giant wheels.

I'm not racing but want to do faster groups

I wouldn't. What's wrong with them?

Go do faster groups. The wheels aren't preventing that.

Most stock wheels are a little heavier than aftermarket but they usually are solid wheels that will give you plenty of trouble free use. A new wheelset can give you some more speed if they are lighter/aero but losing 3-5 lbs of body weight will make a person much faster than a wheel change like the Fulcrums.

Thanks for the advice. My thoughts on upgrading is more if I can get performance benefits from say a stiffer wheel and better power transfer. But I know most upgrades are minimal gains for lots of money

Psl0 are very good wheels, they are under 1600g and use dtswiss famous star ratchet system. I highly doubt the fulcrum's are any better.

Go for smaller ones, it will help you on the hills.

Uh.... 650 or 26"?

Thanks, that's more of my debate. So sounds like it's no time worth upgrade unless I went to something like Dura Ace and it's not worth the money to me for that.

No Buy the wheels cause they make your bike look cool and you'll ride more. Even the dura ace c35 clinchers aren't any lighter, they are more deep so you'll get that advantage but thats it. They aren't even that wide.

Upgrade the stock tires. Much better bang for the buck. Keep the wheels.

Better power transfer? In don't think so, at least not demonstrably. But if you're lucky, they might just spin up faster. ;)

303 front, 404 rear. Everybody knows this.

(kidding)

Seriously, I was thinking about this today as I continue to roll my stock Aksiums. I can hang w/ the front group, but I can't attack. Well......today I noticed a guy (racer) that's on a nicer bike than mine and he runs Aksiums as well. (I'm assuming they're trainers for him) Long story short....this guy can work the peloton like his b%@h!! Front, back, doesn't matter. He can do what he wants when he wants & nobody can touch him if he doesn't want them to.

All this to say, unless it was going from the cheapest of the cheap junk to something like Zipp 303/404's, I'd assume by now that a mediocre wheel set is plenty for about 100% of us in the grand scheme of things.

:thumb:

I recently switched to DuraAce 24's, and I do feel faster in sprints and it feels easier going up steep climbs. However, they replaced wheels that weighed 1950g. So, that is half a kilogram difference (DA's weigh about 1450g). If your current wheels really are under 1600, then any difference will likely be mostly psychological I think. It may even be placebo in my case.

+1 ^ This!
If you are still running the stock tires, which have wire beads, you'll notice a difference if you switch to a good quality racing tire. Something like Continental GP4000s 2's are a great, cost effective, upgrade.