Upgrading wheels ? discuss...

[derrick]

Upgrading tyres is not all about increasing your average.
There are 3 reasons why you would want better wheels.

• better acceleration
• more aero
• better climbing

To accelerate your bicycle you need to obviously make the wheels spin faster, the more mass the wheels have, the more work this requires.

Aero is what you want if you want to increase your average.

Better climbing comes from having a more even spread of weight around the tyre and having a good build quality.

Surely if you get better acceleration, more aero, better climbing you must be faster, have recently upgraded my wheels, the bike does seem quicker of the mark and a couple of hills i do i now have an extra gear to use, the timed runs i normally do have been marginally quicker not by a lot, but the jury is still out untill i have done a couple of 40 milers, but they do look the dogs b******s.

 

[gaz]

Surely if you get better acceleration, more aero, better climbing you must be faster, have recently upgraded my wheels, the bike does seem quicker of the mark and a couple of hills i do i now have an extra gear to use, the timed runs i normally do have been marginally quicker not by a lot, but the jury is still out untill i have done a couple of 40 milers, but they do look the dogs b******s.

You can not get all 3.

 

[HLaB]

I can only go with my own experience when I changed the stock alex rims on the Sirrus for Mavic Aksium's it seemed to make a significant difference but how much was due to the feel good factor is anybody's guess. My rim has finally worn out on the Kinesis's rear quasar wheel and the Aksiums are now on it, the Quasar wheels were marginally lighter but theres not much in performance there.

 

[the_mikey]

in what way??
sorry i'm ignorant but interested as to how/why?

The original wheels were frequently drifting out of true, and the bearings were noticeably rough after six months use. The fulcrum racing 7's have been much tougher wheels, still rolling well after 12 months use.

 

[derrick]

If wheels make no real significant differance why do we bother.

 

[gbb]

If wheels make no real significant differance why do we bother.

I guess all different wheels (i'm speaking of those that most of us can afford) give us a little improvement somewhere, be it more aero or better for hills or lighter or roll up faster etc etc....but not anything like all of them.
Then there's the fact that some bikes have 'ok' stock wheels and some have poor stock wheels.
Then there's the bling factor.
And the 'want' factor.

Just thought...why do people put aftermarket wheels on their cars ?..same reasons a lot of the time.

 

[blazed]

How about you upgrade to some proper wheels, like these http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/fulcrum-racing-zero-clincher-wheelset.96778/

Then see how much of a difference they make!

And by the way if you are old and wondering why you aren't getting faster it's most probably because of your technique getting worse. Go back to the basics. Im assuming you train, if you're just a commuter then what's it matter how fast you go?

 

[derrick]

I upgraded to these, as said earlier the jury is still out, but i am sure they feel faster.
http://www.wheelies.co.uk/p40638/Mavic-Ksyrium-Elite-Road-Wheelset.aspx
Plus these.
http://www.wheelies.co.uk/p51638/Schwalbe-Ultremo-ZX-700c-Tyre.aspx

 

[bicyclos]

You dont have to spend too much money on a decent set of wheels, its easy to drown yourself in all the glitz and hype of some wheels. You can have the best wheels in the world but not everyone is blessed with Hoy or Cav's legs.........Its all in the head

 

[mattobrien]

Just my inexperienced tuppence worth. With new wheels I improved my pb over a 22 mile route by 0.6 mph, not huge, however that was after a three wee lay off and the previous pb was at the end of last season while I was able to get out a little more. I expect to improve on this as I get out more and am aiming for a 20mph ave on this route by the end of the summer. Just need more daylight and a little warmth.

So all in I do like my new wheels, Ksyrium Elites.