Factory winter wheels? Any point looking beyond Aksiums?

fat bloke

I've nothing bad at all to say about aksiums after 10+ winters on various versions on a series of bikes. No real reason why I wouldn't buy em again, apart from curiosity.

What's worth trying? - Some good deals going on fulcrum 7's with tyres. Shimano have quite a confusing range of sub 200 euro wheelsets I don't know much about.

No interest in open pro anything, I know some people love em but I've had nothing but grief with them.

ted1

What about a hub Dynamo , you'll have a good wheel and can get great lights

https://www.rosebikes.com/article/road-front-wheel-28700-c-mavic-cxp-33dh-3n80/aid:716428

CramCycle

I've had those rose dynamo wheels, less resistance than the aksiums and were virtually bomb proof.

That said I have always found the askiums to be decent wheels..

martyc5674

I've the aksiums and fulcrum 7 s...I find the fulcrums flex less and roll better..could be down to the tyres but they do feel that bit more solid. They'd be my choice of the 2. Marty

g0g

Sorry don't mean to hijack a thread, but didn't realise dynamos were common enough on road bikes and am eager to learn. So if I buy one of those front wheels what exactly do I need to do to get a light set-up?
1) Do I need to run a wire up the fork and directly into a light? Does it plus into the skewer or what?
2) How powerful a light will one of those hubs run? i.e. is it simple flashing type or one to light your way well enough?
3) Are we talking minimal extra resistance compare to a normal wheel hub?
4) If fixing a puncture do you need to be careful and remember to unplug some connection?

Plastik

I'm all about hand built at the moment. Loving the Open Pro set I had done.

I had about 18,000km on a set of Campag Khamsin and while the rim was getting a little concave they would still be trucking along just fine only for destroying a rim in a pothole. Decision was made to go hand built.

Off the shelf is well and good until something goes wrong, which I've been unfortunate to have happen me twice - once with race wheels and the other with the Khamsin's. Recently serviced hub, with good bearings and perfect spokes, but once the rim was beyond saving there was nothing could be done but turf them in the bin. A replacement rim plus build would be more expensive than a set of new Khamsin's themselves. The situation was even more pronounced with the race wheels.

So now commuting and training on the Open Pro's. Bend a rim and you've a replacement ready to go for sub €50 plus build. And with the 32 spoke build they are extremely comfortable. The Opens have a great rep, did you have all the heartache on a new or previously used set?

ted1

g0g wrote: »

Sorry don't mean to hijack a thread, but didn't realise dynamos were common enough on road bikes and am eager to learn. So if I buy one of those front wheels what exactly do I need to do to get a light set-up?
1) Do I need to run a wire up the fork and directly into a light? Does it plus into the skewer or what?
2) How powerful a light will one of those hubs run? i.e. is it simple flashing type or one to light your way well enough?
3) Are we talking minimal extra resistance compare to a normal wheel hub?
4) If fixing a puncture do you need to be careful and remember to unplug some connection?

1.) yes you need to run a wire up to a light and possibly to a rear light. They come with QR Skewers.
2.) lights are always on and are vey good . Mine are 100lux ( note lux as oppose to lumens )
There is good info here and pictures: http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/b&m-hl.php

3.) yes there is minimal resistance . The hub produces 3W On average uiur output 250w when cycling so it's just over 1%

4.) yes you need to pull out the connector, it's a simple thing to do and designed to be taking in and out you can see the connector here:
http://www.longleafbicycles.com/products/shimano-dynamo-hub-connector

halvis

Aksiums are not too wider rim, something like a Campagnolo Scirocco is wider which is useful as its give the tyre a wider profile too. Therefore more grip in the winter (and comfort).

That said, I prefer handbuilt too, currently Open Pro's too. 32h can be built very light. H Plus Son Archetypes I had before were heavier, but stiffer. Again with a wide profile which the Open Pro does not have.

pedro_colnago

Shimano make some very good great value wheels ive a couple of pairs of RS30s and I can't fault them, roll really well and are bombproof too. Raced on them a couple of times during the year when my expensive wheels weren't available. Id veer towards them rather than mavics at this stage despite stilll liking mavic wheels

fat bloke

[QUOTE=Plastik; The Opens have a great rep, did you have all the heartache on a new or previously used set?[/QUOTE]


Two different sets from two different shops and they constantly needed truing. Put me off them for life I reckon!

Whats the fulcrum equivalent to the khamsin? Racing 7 or 5? 7 I'm guessing price wise

quozl

I would not get Aksiums, especially for winter training.

I'm usually the person who fixes people's mechanical issues on club spins that I'm on. In my experience when a spoke breaks if it's an Aksium then they're in real trouble. It's very hard to get a low spoke count wheel, especially one with aero spokes true enough to cycle home. They always end up rubbing on the frame or fork.

I've also seen a lot of Aksiums and whatever the next model up is with broken spokes. To be fair there are a lot of them out there so I don't know if they fail proportionally more.

I'm always happy to see a normal decent count spoked wheel if there's an issue. Though, those kinds of wheels very rarely have issues!

I use 32 back, 28 front ordinary j-bend spoke count wheels for winter training. I could lose a spoke and have no trouble getting home. With those counts they're very unlikely to ever lose a spoke anyway.

I built mine but you can get pre-built from rose for very reasonable prices.

fat bloke

Well. Unless I just go out on all my spins with you Quozi, I'm pretty much ringing the mrs or a taxi with a broken spoke regardless of wheel!

Laundry_Hamper

Fulcrum 7 LGs are wide and cheap - http://www.wiggle.com/fulcrum-racing-7-lg-alloy-clincher-wheelset/

Hmmzis

The Rose builds are decent enough. Got a set with 36 spokes per wheel (yes, I'm heavy) last winter for training and commuting and have to see a hint of buckling yet. The Miche hubs are bit crap (some play had developed on the rear wheel) but otherwise they seem to be indestructible.

OleRodrigo

I guess with Aksiums it comes down to the amount of weight they can support. I've taken them touring with 10 kilos of luggage and the were grand, but still supporting a good bit under 100 kg.

At Borderfox's recommendation, I went with a pair of Pave 28's from Superstar components. Nice wide rim, light, aero profile, roll well and have a glossy finish that looks well on a winter frame. Its easy to swap the bearings out on the icon ultra hubs too, when the time comes.

http://road.cc/content/review/140076-superstar-components-pave-28-wheelset

Alek

Hmmzis, you heavy? Maybe for pro racing standards! ;-) I have a wheelset from rose and while they run true enough initially, spoke tension was all over the place... Not too impressed with the build quality.

My main all season wheels have 24 spokes rear and front, and I had to true them once in 2 years. And im 84kg!

I race Cx on them, commute daily, ocassionally hit some rocky trails.... No problems so far. They're Shimano XT disc wheels, 1800g and fairly cheap (230 odd quid)

ford2600

Alek wrote: »

Hmmzis, you heavy? Maybe for pro racing standards! ;-) I have a wheelset from rose and while they run true enough initially, spoke tension was all over the place... Not too impressed with the build quality.

My main all season wheels have 24 spokes rear and front, and I had to true them once in 2 years. And im 84kg!

I race Cx on them, commute daily, ocassionally hit some rocky trails.... No problems so far. They're Shimano XT disc wheels, 1800g and fairly cheap (230 odd quid)

The Rose wheels, with 105 hubs and their own in house rims are machine built insofar as I know.

I've had two rears wheels, first one did 10k km before multiple spoke failures. The second the hub disintegrated due to uneven spoke tension.

Their handbuilt wheels seem decent; I got them to build a strong wheel for a very heavy friend (circa 120kgs) and it's been faultless.

Merlin do 36 spoke 105, with open sport rim for circa €178, although personally I'd prefer a much wider rim. Merlin have a decent reputation for handbuilt wheels.

I've found aksium to be only fair, at 83kgs and not very powerful. If you are heavier and/or put out decent power I'd be surprised if they'd be very durable; they would probably last a long time for a light weak rider pottering around though.

If you ride a lot of poor surfaces, fit the widest rim and tyre combination you can fit to bike. I just switched back (in order to fit mudguards ) from 21mm rims with 28mm tyres to 14mm rims and 25mm tyres and I'm already considering a new bike!! The difference is night and day. All tyres are gp4000 BTW. I don't know how I ever put up with 23mm

This wheels etc maybe with 105 hubs would be a decent wheel choice; tubeless ready also.
http://23mm.co.uk/blog/stuarts-dt-swiss-on-ultegra/

H.E. Pennypacker

In my experience Fulcrum (Racing 3 and Racing 5 LG) freehubs are not in any way weather resistant. There is a workaround where you can manually smear them with grease to keep most of the water out but it gets filthy and tedious. I've run several Shimano wheelsets through all sorts of bad conditions and found that they go on and on with no issues. No issues with spokes on any wheelset, just freehubs on Fulcrums.