Wheel upgrade. Will the difference really justify the price?

[Smokin Joe]

Don't believe anyone that says you will feel or measure a difference. Ask them to describe how they timed the difference and under what conditions, complete with controls and the like and you will get a bunch of blustering answers. They will give you nonsense terms such as "roll better" (absolutely meaningless), "spin up faster" (ask for empirical data), "stiffer", "lighter" blah blah blah. It is all BS. Anyone who makes a recommendation makes it based purely on wheels they have bought and now have to post-rationalize. Since there are 10 zillion brands out there, you will get 10 zillion different opinions if this thread carries on long enough. Like the stock wheels that are supplied with a Vectra Corse, the wheels you have are just fine. Go for a ride with friends, smell the roses, drink a beer and take pictures. It is not about the wheels.

Spot on.

 

[Smokin Joe]

ok maybe we will see the Peleton in the TDF on Axis 1.0 wheels then ,mine do roll better than my previous though ,when spun they spun far longer than the stock wheels which stopped like they had a slow brake on it so I presume you see that on the road,if you don't then hey my mistake,

That's down to the bearings, either being poor quality or too tight. All else being equal a heavy wheel will spin for longer than a light one.

 

[HLaB]

Don't believe anyone that says you will feel or measure a difference. Ask them to describe how they timed the difference and under what conditions, complete with controls and the like and you will get a bunch of blustering answers. They will give you nonsense terms such as "roll better" (absolutely meaningless), "spin up faster" (ask for empirical data), "stiffer", "lighter" blah blah blah. It is all BS. Anyone who makes a recommendation makes it based purely on wheels they have bought and now have to post-rationalize. Since there are 10 zillion brands out there, you will get 10 zillion different opinions if this thread carries on long enough. Like the stock wheels that are supplied with a Vectra Corse, the wheels you have are just fine. Go for a ride with friends, smell the roses, drink a beer and take pictures. It is not about the wheels.

Not 100% accurate measure but my TT time instantly came down by 30secs despite having just came back from the Alps when I changed my Campag Khasims for Fulcrum Quattros; it probably had more to do with having worn out the hubs on the Khasims

 

[gmw492]

That's down to the bearings, either being poor quality or too tight. All else being equal a heavy wheel will spin for longer than a light one.

Ah ok ,wasn't a dear upgrade but they are better than the other ones so must be better bearings

 

[Kevoffthetee]

At the end of the day if some want to spend hundreds on wheels and it gives them a placebo effect, let them.

It may not make a different at our end of the peleton but if if makes the owner feel even better about their pride and joy then let them be happy

To the OP, new wheels look awesome and worst case scenario is that you go further or harder to justify the cost but you'll love them

 

[Cuchilo]

If spending the money you say then go for hand built . I like wheels ALOT

 

[Joffey]

Recently I toyed with the idea of buying a new bike. After listening to advice from here and friends I've decide to change the set up of my current bike to suit me better rather than buy a new one.
I'm currently looking at buying these
The bike I have is this one
I ride it at weekends and do between 40-60 miles averaging 15-17mph. I've also started doing a few sportives and have one coming up fairly soon. I don't race or anything like that, it's purely for leisure.
I'm also looking at running 25mm tyres as I find them more comfortable.
I'm still running the stock wheels on it and wonder will the difference be enought to justify the outlay?

Personally I think for the money you are on about spending you'd be better off getting aero wheels rather than lighter ones.

I looked in much depth about this when looking to upgrade my stock wheels and actually at the time decided against upgrading. £600 for a potential 500g weight saving is daft for the amount of riding you do, but get some 50mm rims on there and you may well see a difference in speed on 40-60 mile rides.

Do you do lots of climbing? If not forget light wheels, go aero.

If it was me I'd be spending £300 on wheels and £300 on upgrading to 11 speed. The quality of the shifting will make your ride more enjoyable for sure.

 

[Joffey]

Also look at your tyres, for much less money you can save lots of watts.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

ok maybe we will see the Peleton in the TDF on Axis 1.0 wheels then ,mine do roll better than my previous though ,when spun they spun far longer than the stock wheels which stopped like they had a slow brake on it so I presume you see that on the road,if you don't then hey my mistake,

OK, you took the bait. Describe roll better. Please supply amplitude and units. We'll tackle the others you mention once you came back with this data.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

Not 100% accurate measure but my TT time instantly came down by 30secs despite having just came back from the Alps when I changed my Campag Khasims for Fulcrum Quattros; it probably had more to do with having worn out the hubs on the Khasims

I don't want to put words in your mouth but that's not an accurate measure. Oops, you said it yourself.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

ok maybe we will see the Peleton in the TDF on Axis 1.0 wheels then ,mine do roll better than my previous though ,when spun they spun far longer than the stock wheels which stopped like they had a slow brake on it so I presume you see that on the road,if you don't then hey my mistake,

I am sorry. I must have missed that bit where the OP revealed that he was a member of a top pro team and he has already exhausted all other means of getting the last millisecond advantage over his equally professional rivals. Also the bit where he reveals that he has a body fat percentage of 4%, trains off-season in sunny climates, sleeps in a hypobaric tent, has unlimited budget, doesn't mind fragile products because there is unlimited sponsored stock, trains 50 hours a week, inherited great genes, has a masseuse on-call, has Dr Ferrari on speed dial and just came second in a Spring Classic.

Hey, my mistake.

Advice must always be seen in context.

 

[dr snuggles]

That's a whole heap of money for a wheel upgrade on that bike, if you don't mind my being candid.

What tyres are you currently running on?

Really? Would you care to elaborate?
I'm actually still running the tyres which came with it.

 

[dr snuggles]

Great reading all the replies thanks.
I probably should say that it isn't really about shaving seconds off my times etc. It's about the feel of the bike and even when I first bought the bike you hear the more experienced saying they'd upgrade the wheels immediately! They will need to replaced eventually anyway but as I'm looking at the whole set up then what, if anything, would decent wheels add to the experience?

 

[dr snuggles]

Personally I think for the money you are on about spending you'd be better off getting aero wheels rather than lighter ones.

I looked in much depth about this when looking to upgrade my stock wheels and actually at the time decided against upgrading. £600 for a potential 500g weight saving is daft for the amount of riding you do, but get some 50mm rims on there and you may well see a difference in speed on 40-60 mile rides.

Do you do lots of climbing? If not forget light wheels, go aero.

If it was me I'd be spending £300 on wheels and £300 on upgrading to 11 speed. The quality of the shifting will make your ride more enjoyable for sure.

I definitely don't want to go aero as I don't want to be catching cross winds on them and fighting with the bike rather than riding it.
Thanks for the advice though maybe upgrading to 11 speed is a possibility as well.

 

[goody]

£650? Take a week off work and go to Majorca with your bike stay in Pollenca and go for a 100 km ride every day.