Satisfied with your wheel upgrade?

outfox

Feck it, just pulled the trigger on the Dura Ace. Up to 6 weeks delivery. Balls.
I'll report on how they feel in due course. I plan to commission RTMIE to undertake the scientific analysis.
Thanks to everyone for your posts - they were much appreciated.

terrydel

marty_crane wrote: »

Another +1 for the Zondas here.

Using them with 105. Dura-Ace is but a pipe dream!

Just this minute ordered them for my 105 10 speed!
Easily fitted? No problems?

Cee-Jay-Cee

terrydel wrote: »

Just this minute ordered them for my 105 10 speed!
Easily fitted? No problems?

You'll need to fit the cassette spacer (provided with the wheels) other than that, straight fit.

doozerie

It can be hard to see where your money goes on some of the higher end wheels but when you look at the various components it sometimes start to make (some) sense.

* Good hubs are an investment, they could last a lifetime if you look after them. Assuming you can find replacement spokes and rims to match then, that is, which is by no means guaranteed in many cases. As to what constitutes a "good" hub, some of that is subjective but I'd rank ability to replace bearings easily (and again and again) well up there, and good quality bearings to start with too - I'm not at all convinced of the return on investment you get from ceramic bearings, but although good quality steel bearings are a fraction of the cost of ceramic they are often not cheap themselves either. Anyway, "good" hubs are not cheap, and with good reason arguably.

* Good spokes are not cheap either. As an example, Sapim CX-rays, which are favoured by many, are over 2euro per spoke from what I recall of the last time I checked, that adds up pretty fast even for wheels with a low spoke count.

* I find good rims harder to quantify. I've not tried many but of those I've tried I haven't always found cost to be any kind of indicator of quality. The rims I've used to build my own wheels with are at the low-tech end of the range though, once you get into deep section carbon rims with dimpled profiles, etc., the costs rocket. You've got to have specific requirements in mind at that stage though, paying a lot for a rim without knowing what it offers isn't a good way to get value for money.

You have to bear in mind that rims are perishables of course, even if you never accidentally break it a rim is going to wear out eventually from regular use (for rim brakes anyway). That should take quite a while but it is inevitable so something else that should be factored into a choice of wheels. And as above, if you can't buy (affordable) replacement rims when the need arises, then your potentially expensive hubs essentially die with them, a very real problem for many factory-built wheels.

* Good quality skewers are under-rated. Rubbish skewers work badly from day one, poor quality ones degrade subtly over time and perhaps very quickly, very good skewers should last a long time and be entirely reliable throughout. Most of the skewers I've encountered have been poor quality and I only realised this after I found (by accident at times) that they really were not clamping the wheel in place well. They pose a very real danger and I'm now much more willing to spend money on skewers that I believe to be good.

I've read nothing but extremely positive things about Dura-Ace skewers, they lock solidly and they retain that ability over time with minimal maintenance apparently. If I were a big strong rider I'd value those traits highly, even as a puny little guy those are traits I'd like in my skewers. The Dura-Ace ones cost something like 150euro, as far as I know, certainly more than I need to spend (being puny) but bad experiences with poor skewers in recent years makes me look at that cost in a different light these days.

* The quality of the wheel build counts for an awful lot too. I've mucked about with my own wheels and the difference in feel and ride quality between a wheel with poorly tensioned spokes, and the very same wheel with properly tensioned spokes, is massive, it really is like night and day. If you wanted to throw extra money at your wheels then I reckon you'd get better value by putting that money towards a good wheel builder than any individual parts. If you have enough money for good parts *and* a good builder, then why not, but if you are on a budget then, within reason, I reckon you'll end up with better wheels if you get cheaper/run-of-the-mill parts built up by a very good wheel builder than if you get the best/most expensive parts built up by a poor wheel builder.

Whether factory built wheels are well built generally is a topic of very contentious debate, some people believe factory built wheels are the work of the devil. Personally, although I've come to value handbuilt wheels more and more over the years I share the view that factory built wheels can indeed be very well built but again that quality of build from a factory probably comes at a premium.


Anyway, all that aside, good luck with your wheels outfox, Dura-Ace wheels fare very well in reviews generally, I'd expect them to be very good.

outfox

Thanks Doozerie.
You are the Sheldon Brown of boards.ie!

fat bloke

outfox wrote: »

Feck it, just pulled the trigger on the Dura Ace. Up to 6 weeks delivery. Balls..

Yeah, I saw the same when I finally went to buy fulcrum zeroes that I'd been eyeing up for a couple of weeks. Very long lead times for delivery.

So I went for local ffwd f2a's instead.

outfox

Just googled them, fat bloke. Nice! I do like the DT Swiss hubs - I have a set on a CX bike and they are magic. You'll have 1000 km done on them before mine get shipped.

ford2600

outfox wrote: »

Thanks Doozerie.
You are the Sheldon Brown of boards.ie!

I don't think the internet is big enough to handle @doozerie covering everything Sheldon Brown covers :-)

Trojan

I'm looking for a rim recommendation to replace a destroyed Open Pro. My hub is Ultegra (32 spoke), I'm quite heavy (18st+) and I'd be using it for sportives and touring. What should I look at?

doozerie

Trojan wrote: »

I'm looking for a rim recommendation to replace a destroyed Open Pro. My hub is Ultegra (32 spoke), I'm quite heavy (18st+) and I'd be using it for sportives and touring. What should I look at?

Ambrosio do some good rims as a reasonable price. I'm using Excellights and like them but they are at the lighter end of their range (they are a similar price and spec to Open Pro, but Open Pro's have lost their appeal for me), their Evolution rims are beefier and with their thicker side walls should last longer (they are obviously heavier though). I've forgotten what other models they have, I haven't looked in a while.

You could consider 36h wheels if you were willing to buy an entire new wheelset, those extra 4 spokes can make a big difference in durability and reliability.

Planet-X sell Ambrosio wheelsets, or you can get a set built by wheelsmith.co.uk (very good to deal with) for one. I bought the rims themselves from one of the German online sites, they had the best price by far at the time.

quozl

Trojan wrote: »

I'm looking for a rim recommendation to replace a destroyed Open Pro. My hub is Ultegra (32 spoke), I'm quite heavy (18st+) and I'd be using it for sportives and touring. What should I look at?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/h-plus-son-archetype-hard-anodised-road-rim/

Well regarded, wide, road rims. Fairly light and strong. There's something of a movement to wider rims like these nowadays that more closely match the width of the tyre. Can't speak as to whether that really is of much import but they'll let you run a lower pressure than the narrower Open Pros. Which is nice.

I built up a pair of them a month ago, very happy with them.

furiousox

My finger is poised on the trigger.
Any reason I shouldn't?

http://www.4thebike.de/wheels/roadbike/aluminium/8756/mavic-ksyrium-elite-s-wts-wheels

harringtonp

Used a new campagnola zonda front wheel for the first time yesterday evening, got it from Rose for 140E including postage.

It replaced an old Planet X Model B wheel whose rim was gone. Both wheels felt pretty much the same riding wise I'd say though the hub on the zonda looks sturdier and the skewer is better.

Use it with a Schwalbe Ultremo ZLX tyre and it is a very light setup.

omri

whats the recommended upgrade from zondas - preferably from the same brand

shaydy

Another mamil here about to upgrade his stock wheels, I've decided on Zondas also.

Probabaly a simple question, can anyone help me regarding the variant option on 4thebike, what is the ED/HG rotor? I'm currently cycling a 2012 Trek 1.5 which Tiagra components.

Before I hit buy now, these wheels look amazing value............too good to be true?

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/fulcrum-racing-7-road-wheelset/rp-prod112075

Thanks folks

jamesd

shaydy wrote: »

Another mamil here about to upgrade his stock wheels, I've decided on Zondas also.

Probabaly a simple question, can anyone help me regarding the variant option on 4thebike, what is the ED/HG rotor? I'm currently cycling a 2012 Trek 1.5 which Tiagra components.

Before I hit buy now, these wheels look amazing value............too good to be true?

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/fulcrum-racing-7-road-wheelset/rp-prod112075

Thanks folks

The fulcrum's are out of stock and have a Campag freehub so will not suit your bike without changing the freehub (€100 ish).

omri

shaydy wrote: »

Another mamil here about to upgrade his stock wheels, I've decided on Zondas also.

Probabaly a simple question, can anyone help me regarding the variant option on 4thebike, what is the ED/HG rotor? I'm currently cycling a 2012 Trek 1.5 which Tiagra components.

HG - shimano cassette
ED - campagnolo

OleRodrigo

Fulcrum 7s are similar to Aksiums - Aksiums are better IMO ( nicer rolling sound, Fulcrums are a bit noisy and feel slightly flimsy ).

Aksiums are on special in Cyclesuperstore for 149 this week, but the Zondas are better. They have a futuristic whirr which is very satisfying :pac:. You need a sunny day and smooth tarmac on a downhill for maximum effect.

shaydy

Thanks folks appreciate that

Cee-Jay-Cee

omri wrote: »

whats the recommended upgrade from zondas - preferably from the same brand

Shamal or Eurus. I think if i were upgrading mine I'd be going for Fulcrum Zero's