Shimano rs31 Wheels worth upgrading for a Carerra Virtuoso?

[weller84]

Hi,

I have a Carerra Virtuoso had it almost 2 years now and all the guys I ride with have nice £1000+ bikes and have all recently been upgrading there wheels and I now am finding it even harder to keep up mainly over long flat distances or drag sprints and was wondering if I upgraded the wheels to the shimano rs31 would this help much or at all? Ideal world I would like to buy a new bike but I really dont have the money for one but as these are only £120-140 I might be able to stretch to that but only if it is worth it. The reviews look good and they come on the £4k Boardman TT bike so guessing they must be pretty decent and I could maybe use them in the future when i can afford a new bike. Any suggestions or anyone have these wheels?

Cheers
Mark

 

[Cyclist33]

I had a pair and really liked them but it didn't really make me much faster.

Training harder is the only real way.

 

[weller84]

what was you replacing them with though? My whole bike only costs £330 so the parts are all low end so surely these wheels would make some difference in speed compared to the ones I have on the bike at the moment?

 

[HovR]

Do you still have the original wheels on your Carerra? If so, they're probably pretty heavy, and starting to get worn out, so you will probably notice some improvement in performance by upgrading them. Don't get me wrong, they won't make you become Wiggins over night, obviously you'll still have to train too, but if you want some new kit and can afford it, why not?

 

[weller84]

yes they are still the original wheels and I do 2-3 rides a week, and recently we have started to up the ride distances anything between 50-80 miles aiming to get a 100 miler in soon. Also I have gatorskin tyres which are getting very worn now and with all the guys I ride with having nice new wheels and new slick tyres not to mention much better bikes than mine to begin with I feel like its much harder work for me than anyone else. But again I dont want to spend money on new wheels and tyres if the difference is minimal as that money can go towards saving for a new bike.

 

[Cyclist33]

what was you replacing them with though? My whole bike only costs £330 so the parts are all low end so surely these wheels would make some difference in speed compared to the ones I have on the bike at the moment?

No no, they were definitely an improvement, what I meant was, over say 40 miles or so my average speed didn't really change.

Actually I had the rs30s but anyway they looked great and ran well.

 

[Dragonwight]

I have a set of RS21 they are good although at only 16 & 20 spokes if you break one which is easy to do your be stranded.

 

[crazyjoe101]

Rs31s look nice with the deepish rims and the low spokes and all but bear in mind the strength of the wheel needs to be in the rim, and that puts extra weight there too, meaning that they are slower under acceleration.l than other wheels in the same price range might be.

I like the 'feel' of my rs31s when riding but I noticed no difference in speed and the spokes are annoying if they get turned around. If you want to get some still I might be able to sell you mine (I've not done much milage since I bought them in the run up to my exams when I wasn't riding much).

 

[cyberknight]

IMHO not worth putting rs 31`s on a virtuoso , i rode the same bike for years and its a great entry level bike but the weight of the rest of the bike and its components will out weigh the benefits of the wheelset .
I did put the mavic cxp 22`s from my boardman and they were a good wheelset for commuting , currently using r501`s on my Vanquish whichg can be had for £70 a set and weigh about the same .

 

[jowwy]

If you can afford an extra £100 get a set of campag zondas. Awesome wheels for the money,light, stiff and quick

If you want to upgrade your bike the do so, dont listen to the nay sayers