What Road wheelset ?

[Ovenboi]

Hi,

 

I currently have a Specialized Tarmac full carbon Road bike that weighs in at 9Kg (I think way too much for this bike)

 

105 Components (2007) and a Bontrager Aero xlite wheelset (1850g) without skewers and tyres.

I weigh 96Kg and would like to get another lighter yet strong enough wheelset. Any recommendations ?

looked at Easton EA90 Aero's but don't really have experience on road wheelsets.

 

Would changing the groupset bet more beneficial or is that not so important?

 

Can the experienced road guys give some recommendations.

 

Thanks

[EZRider]

I am in exactly the same boat as you. My carbon raleigh weighs 9 kg with 105 and Mavic Aksium wheels (1800 g for the set) and I am researching wheels.

Mine have to be lighter, somewhere in the 1.5 kg mark, stiffer and be able to take my weight (99kg).

Narrowed it down to the Easton EA90 SL, the Mavic Ksyrium Elite and the Fulcrum racing 1. All of these seem to fit the bill so I am eager to see the replies to your thread.

[desmondalie]

What about some superstrong custom build tubular wheels. I am selling a set for a steal. They were build with 28 sapim laser spokes front and rear, so will have no issue carrying your weigh. And they weigh 1.41kg. Selling for R2500 with tubbbies.

 

Also consider DT Swiss Mon Chasseral RR1450. They weigh 1450g and perfect for heavier riders. I have abrand new set of those for R4500.

[EZRider]

What about some superstrong custom build tubular wheels. I am selling a set for a steal. They were build with 28 sapim laser spokes front and rear, so will have no issue carrying your weigh. And they weigh 1.41kg. Selling for R2500 with tubbbies.

 

Also consider DT Swiss Mon Chasseral RR1450. They weigh 1450g and perfect for heavier riders. I have abrand new set of those for R4500.

 

Thanks Demondalie, I am going to check out those DT Swiss right now...

[Ovenboi]

Desmond,

 

What are the drawbacks of riding Tubular wheels ? Punctures etc etc ?

 

thanks

[Ha Ha Kieran]

Punctures could throw you a curbe ball but can be filled with slime for small punctures

 

Tubbies are much faster than clinchers though

[Reden]

With heavy riders the wheel choice might be limited.

For the amount of weigth to be saved with wheels vs price it might be worth while to rather get a SRAM Force or a Microshift groupset.

They are about the same price as decent wheel.

Depends on where you buy though.

Then look at water bottle cages.

If you use the typical aluminium wire type, there's a possible saving of 100gr together with aluminium bolts.

Other savings are with stem abd handle bar.

On the pedal side there's no saving for heavy riders as most titanium pedals would have a 85Kg weight limit.

[Ovenboi]

Ok So lets say I get a Sram Force groupset and a 1500g wheelset.

 

How much weight would my bike lose from it's current 9Kg ?

[Ha Ha Kieran]

I have SRAM Groupsets available

 

2011 SRAM Force - R6750.00 (available sept)

2011 SRAM Rival - R5000.00 (available sept)

 

For any other components, PM me

[BlueMax]

My 2c. Tubbies are great for racing, but a real pain in the arse for training (the other 99% of the time you are on your bike)... I way 95kg and got me some MOST (division of Pinarello) Charisma carbon wheels (you get a tubby or clincher model) - I went for the clincher. Some other nice wheels with technical specs on the MOST website...follow the MOST link on the www.asgsport.co.za website -> click on "MOST online catalogue" to have a look.

 

Good luck!

[funjunkie]

What about loosing 1kg bodyweight and saving your money.

[Sharkie 2]

If you are heavy be careful with Mavic, and the importers of Mavic are pathetic at getting parts from and take long although their wheels are beautiful.

 

Easton's are nice and strong and will last but are a bit expensive, the Fulcrums would be a nice choice and are rather good value for money.

 

American Classic's are nice and not expensive, think Victory 30's from them cost about R3100 and weigh 1550grams. You can get a light wheel from them for about R6500

 

My choice would be the Dura-Ace carbon wheelset, they are light stiff and very durable. My buddy weighs 95kg and rides on these, has had them for a year and have not yet had to have trued

[Ovenboi]

What about loosing 1kg bodyweight and saving your money.

 

Hehe I know this is by far the cheapest option.

 

Definitely going under 90 before the Attekwas comes up in Jan.

 

Already down from 118

[VincentBikes]

If you want to upgrade the best place to start is your wheelset. I have had alluminium bikes and full carbon and to me changing the wheelset made the biggest difference. In terms of what wheels I have a set of Dura-Ace Carbon/Alu Clinchers which are great for training as tubes and tyres are cheap compared to tubular tyres. You can pay about R1200 for a decent tubular tyre in this country and if you have a big enough puncture you throw them away as they are seamless and cannot be repaired. (not all tubulars)

 

Aded problem between alu and carbon brake surfaces you have to continously change the brake blocks as you cannot use normal brake blocks on carbon wheels. This is at best a pain.

 

For racing I use a set of EC90 Aero's which are brilliant but do not like strong Cape Town style crosswinds or any deep section for that matter. In my opinion the new EC90 SL's which is a medium section carbon tubular with very minimal loss on aero and even lighter than the EC90 Aero's should be a very good wheel to GO for. SRAM make a nice set of I think S40 or something but I have no experience with them. The Shimano 50mm and 28mm Carbon Tubular's are also very good wheels and worth looking at.

[Hermanus Cycles]

Ageed,upgrading the wheels is going to make a change you can feel,change the groupset when it is time for that ....

Mavics are not that bad,the problem is that some bike shop expect the importers to stock everything all the time,instead I try to stock as much mavic spares and dont have to call on the agents in times of panic.

Dt is good and Eastons are not bad either

Easton do have a c ouple of wheels on special on O.bike

Fulcrums are not a bad mavic rip-off either....Pretty neat

Or go custom...

[Hermanus Cycles]

400 grams is aal that you can save ,unless you spend more than 10k

 

After the wheels you can drop a few grams more by losing the old 105

and going Force or Ultegra

could shave another 400 there