Road Wheels - which ones to choose

Have recently started riding the Mavic Ksyrium Elites and love them - but, if you have the $$'s, you might want to consider the upgraded SL's - would be a good investment.

Hope this helps...

rlroadie

Definitely the Ksyriums. I just picked up a pair and would not ride anything else

Raw Data:
Ksyrium SSC $800/pair 18&20 spokes 1625 g/pair
WH7701 (Dura Ace) $800/pair 16&16 spokes 1660 g/pair
Ksyrium Elite $500/pair 18&20 spokes 1715 g/pair
R540 (Ultegra) $300/pair 16&16 spokes 1850 g/pair

Surprising that they'd offer you the Dura Ace wheels as an equal to the Ksy Elites because they're quite a bit more expensive… probably has to do with the new Dura Ace gruppo coming out - lots of DA stuff is being deeply discounted. I've got a friend with the DA wheels and he loves them but only uses them for races, not that they're more prone to damage than his regular ones, just more expensive to replace if he does wreck them.

Even though the DA wheels are super nice, the Ksy Elites would probably be a better choice for everyday riding, plus they're very popular so lots of bike shops carry them and will be familiar with them. If you want to get into racing you could order your bike with the DA wheels and buy another set of conventional wheels for everyday use. What a choice!

Quoted post said:

Very bewildering what to get

Though it may not be dealing with the current model year parts, I evaluated Ksyriums, and Shimanos in a head-to-head fashion a couple of years ago.

Check out the article titled:

8/22/2001 - Bicycle Wheel Evaluation

at:

http://www.biketechreview.com/projects/bikecomlinks.htm

It should also serve as a pretty good primer on what I consider "important" when evaluating wheels.

Enjoy,

kraig

Thanks for your replys

Ksyrium wheels really are bombproof and also great for racing.

Regarding the wheel-evaluating link: The DuraAce rear wheel has changed spoke pattern to improve the stiffnes&durability - the functions where it scored low in the evaluation.
I've had the WH6500 wheels (only hub different from WH-7700), loved them. Very comfortable, which is important when using a stiff alu frame, and had no problems with them, no truing needed, even after hard downhill riding on damaged asphalt. The rim weight is very low (and "heavy" hub), which makes this wheels ideal for climbing and acelrations.