Wheels - CR420 vs. Eurus vs. Ksyrium vs. Topolino

I am buying a new bike and am choosing wheels. I am choosing between American Classics CR 420s, Campy Eurus, Mavis Ksyrium SSC SLs and Topolinos. I have eliminated Spinergy, Velomax and Zipp from consideration because I read horrible postings about their durability and customer service on roadbikereview.com.

Those wheels cost $650 (Eurus), $700 (AC) and $850 (Mavic and Topolino). The ACs and the Topos weigh about 200g less than the other two. The ACs appear to be the most aero by a good margin.

I've read good things about each of these wheels. Any personal experience with durability, frequency of need to re-true, etc.? (I've read postings comparing the ride quality of various wheels, but I can't imagine that wheels could make any noticeable difference in ride quality given the much greater importance of tire choice.)

Thank you for your responses.

I can't say much about the others but the Eurus are a fabulous wheel IMHO. Although I approached them from a performance point of view and less for comfort.

I would normally lose a race because I couldn't bridge a 10 metre gap. When I upgraded to the Eurus wheels, the increase in acceleration meant I could be there for the final sprint.

On one occasion I bonked badly in a race, lost concentration and went straight into a traffic island. The traffic island has 15cm cement border surrounding it, which I hit head-on at >30kph. Yes, the front wheel did have to be trued but not by much. Considering it was a full-on impact I think the wheels more than stood up to it.

Other that I ride with have had nothing but praise for the Ksyriums tho'.

Nick

You haven't told us anything about you, or what you'll be doing with the wheel? How big are you? Are you hard on equipment? Will you be training on the wheels? Using them solely for racing? TTs? Crits? What kind of terrain do you generally ride and race? A wheel that may be good for a 125lb climber is not going to work very well if you're big and tend to bruise equipment!

Are those prices USD? You guys in the US/Aus seem to get shafted by Mavic - I can pick up brand new Ksyrium SSCs in the UK for equivalent USD 550. the Ksyrium design for 2004 is changing slightly (cosmetic) so maybe you can pick up some 2003 versions more cheaply. The Ksyriums are great wheels btw!

Yes, fair point. I am 150lbs, love to climb but live in coastal New England, so I don't exactly have the Alps outside my door. And I ride in all kinds of weather on poor roads. I would plan to ride these wheels for both training and racing. I don't think I am particularly hard on equipment, but I don't spend a lot of time tweaking, so low maintenance is a plus.

Hey, Herbet, I was curious... where have you read bad things about Velomax wheels? I've only heard good things about their quality and value, and have been considering Ascent IIs for my new build (yes, the one I've been talking about for months).

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i relish complicating the obvious and trivializing the stupendous

just to clarify, which do you ride? eurus or ksyriums?

www.roadbikereview.com

Hmmm... you must be seeing something I don't. I've been to RoadBikeReview, and by the looks of it, Velomax's following is fiercely loyal. The scores available on RoadBikeReview average above 4.6 out of 5 for each reviewed wheel from the Velomax line, with the single exception of the 2001 Ascent Comp, which scored an average of 4.35.

Am I missing something? I could be...

By the way, I just remembered -- I ordered a pair of '04 Ksyrium SLs yesterday, so technically, I'm not looking into Ascent IIs any more.

Back on topic...

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i relish complicating the obvious and trivializing the stupendous

I hear no bad mouth about them either.

I'd suggest skipping the aero wheels, and building up a pair of nice, traditional wheels on a nice set of hubs! You can bulild a set of high-end traditional wheels for less than a set of boutique wheels, and they will be far more easily serviced, and will perform almost as well, if not as well, as the boutique wheels.

Perhaps use a set of chris king or hugi hubs, with Open CDs! If you want to make them lighter, you can use nice light spokes like the DT Revolutions or Sapim CX-Rays. If you want a wheelthat is more aero, use cxp33s and fewer spokes. You can definitely get away with a 28 hole rim, particularly on the front end, and perhaps you can even use radial lacing and bladed spokes. Wheels like this will be great for every day use and for racing.

How much did the Ksyriums SLs cost ya?

Oooh, delicate question... let's just say I paid well under wholesale.

Made the whole decision a little easier to make in the end.

argghh arrgghh ...hehe ...sry..

why did you choose the Ksyrium over the American classics?