Are Campagnola Vento G3 wheels suitable for light touring?

DualFrontDiscs

Hi,

My regular wheels on my Litespeed Blue Ridge are 36 spoke Mavic 520s laced to a Campagnolo hub (probably Centaur or Record).

I'm heading off for a week of light touring (all four cardinal compass points of Ireland, basically an extended M2M).

I'm looking for any bike advantage possible and so am wondering whether the Campagnolo Vento G3 (27 spoke) wheels I have would be suitable.

I'm 85kg and would be carrying two panniers, filled with spare clothes, no camping kit.

Any thoughts?

DFD.

PS. My tyres are Schwalbe Marathons. Any suggestions there?

blorg

They would probably be fine and if it is light touring, only a week and you are not going to be far for civilisation... I have done light touring on Bontrager paired spoke wheels but only because I didn't have my new touring wheels yet at that point.

The main risk is if you do break a spoke with that sort of design the wheel might go badly out of true to the point of unridability. To be honest though if you are carrying baggage at all is it much of a weight saving worth worrying about? The Ventos are 1,800g. My own touring wheels, Mavic Open Pro 32 spoke on Ultegra hubs are the exact same weight. I don't imagine your 36 spoke wheels are much heavier? Maybe 300g? Is that worth it, presume the cycle will be relatively flat anyway?

I would swap the tyres for something faster unless you plan on going off road, I have used Marathons myself but only when there was an off-road component. They worked very well for a road/light off-road mix but are overkill for riding only on tarmac especially if you are looking for speed.

blorg

Is it still kitted out like this?



If aiming for weight savings: I presume there is a bit of weight in the front dynamo hub? Change the lighting system for something lighter (e.g. a torch.) You could consider using the front Campy wheel only, the front doesn't matter so much as the rear.

You could also probably save weight on the rear rack, a Tortec Ultralite is cheap and 400g. Double-sided SPDs will save 150-250g.

Disregarding the wheels you should save a boatload on the tyres if you went down to the likes of 700x25c GP4000s (or slightly less with Gatorskins) which are more than enough for loaded touring.

I have only borrowed some aerobars this week for a time trial but I would consider getting a pair for the flat bits, they are fast and actually surprisingly comfortable. You do have to get used to the handling with them though and I will admit I have not yet tried them with panniers.

EDIT: Just from a quick look around the web- are they 700x40c Marathons? I get a weight of 720g for them, that would be 1,440g a pair... You can get a decent set of folding 700x25c tyres under the 250g mark... That would represent nearly a kilo off the bike, just by changing the tyres. The tubes would actually be a touch lighter too, so you would probably get the kilo.

DualFrontDiscs

blorg wrote: »

Is it still kitted out like this?

<snip>

If aiming for weight savings: I presume there is a bit of weight in the front dynamo hub? Change the lighting system for something lighter (e.g. a torch.) You could consider using the front Campy wheel only, the front doesn't matter so much as the rear.

You could also probably save weight on the rear rack, a Tortec Ultralite is cheap and 400g. Double-sided SPDs will save 150-250g.

Disregarding the wheels you should save a boatload on the tyres if you went down to the likes of 700x25c GP4000s (or slightly less with Gatorskins) which are more than enough for loaded touring.

I have only borrowed some aerobars this week for a time trial but I would consider getting a pair for the flat bits, they are fast and actually surprisingly comfortable. You do have to get used to the handling with them though and I will admit I have not yet tried them with panniers.

EDIT: Just from a quick look around the web- are they 700x40c Marathons? I get a weight of 720g for them, that would be 1,440g a pair... You can get a decent set of folding 700x25c tyres under the 250g mark... That would represent nearly a kilo off the bike, just by changing the tyres. The tubes would actually be a touch lighter too, so you would probably get the kilo.

Yep, the bike is still set up like that. Sounds like new tyres it is then.

Thanks for the other suggestions. I have double sided SPDs somewhere.

I don't fancy aero bars though. I've never used them and not sure I fancy starting just before the tour.

Thanks Blorg.

DFD.