50000tears
Senior Member
- Location
- Weymouth, Dorset
Just a quick (hopefully) run down of my new wheels that got their first run today and my unscientific thoughts on the upgrade.
I recently had some hand built wheels put on the bike to replace the stock PR2s on my Giant Defy 1. The original post on the subject is here
http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/off-shelf-or-hand-built-wheelset.148404/
The cost of the upgrade was £300, which is the total cost of parts only as the build and fitting was free. The weight of the wheels were 1480g where the PR2s were around 1900g.
50 mile moderately hilly ride today so plenty of opportunities to see what they were about. First I have to say that the hills were easier and I only got to a point where I felt I was laboring up them towards the end of the ride. Strava tells me that I set PBs on just about every climb on the route. But, and this is a big but, I am still traversing the fitness curve on a weekly basis reasonably rapidly as I am still fairly new to cycling, so a lot of these gains were to be expected anyway.
The clearest indication of the wheels playing a part was up the first main climb of the day where I lowered my PB from 3.27 to 3.16. I say the clearest indication because I only rode this hill last 6 days ago in similar conditions. It can also be noted that I attacked the hill too hard at the bottom and it compromised the last 2/3rds, so that, along with two wandering dogs I had to take evasive action to avoid at the top, leads me to believe that my new time could have been a few seconds better.
In general riding any benefit from the new wheels was not noticeable, the bike did not feel quicker but it did feel a bit more responsive in handling, to be expected from a stiffer setup though.
I post this really as whether to upgrade the wheels or not gets asked a lot, so thought it might help. I am still glad I took the plunge but for others considering the move do not expect miracles. 99% of what the normal rider can expect from their riding will always have to come from their own personal development and efforts. Yes better wheels will help, especially up the hills, but maybe not a great deal.
I recently had some hand built wheels put on the bike to replace the stock PR2s on my Giant Defy 1. The original post on the subject is here
http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/off-shelf-or-hand-built-wheelset.148404/
The cost of the upgrade was £300, which is the total cost of parts only as the build and fitting was free. The weight of the wheels were 1480g where the PR2s were around 1900g.
50 mile moderately hilly ride today so plenty of opportunities to see what they were about. First I have to say that the hills were easier and I only got to a point where I felt I was laboring up them towards the end of the ride. Strava tells me that I set PBs on just about every climb on the route. But, and this is a big but, I am still traversing the fitness curve on a weekly basis reasonably rapidly as I am still fairly new to cycling, so a lot of these gains were to be expected anyway.
The clearest indication of the wheels playing a part was up the first main climb of the day where I lowered my PB from 3.27 to 3.16. I say the clearest indication because I only rode this hill last 6 days ago in similar conditions. It can also be noted that I attacked the hill too hard at the bottom and it compromised the last 2/3rds, so that, along with two wandering dogs I had to take evasive action to avoid at the top, leads me to believe that my new time could have been a few seconds better.
In general riding any benefit from the new wheels was not noticeable, the bike did not feel quicker but it did feel a bit more responsive in handling, to be expected from a stiffer setup though.
I post this really as whether to upgrade the wheels or not gets asked a lot, so thought it might help. I am still glad I took the plunge but for others considering the move do not expect miracles. 99% of what the normal rider can expect from their riding will always have to come from their own personal development and efforts. Yes better wheels will help, especially up the hills, but maybe not a great deal.
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