Best wheels

AlanZ said:

I see alot of people going with the lightest possible wheel when looking for something to race and climb on. But isn't there alot of flex in some of those wheels? which wheels are the overall best.... littlest flex, lowest weight, and other factors to like rolling resistance

From my experience, I'd say Mavic Ksysrium SL's. Relativley light, very stiff, and so far bomb proof. The downside is the price tag, if you shop around you should be able to find a set for around $650. Where in Orange County are you?

Velomax Orion II

By now you should have figured out that the question is unanswerable. You already have two replies, where each poster picked his favorite wheel. First you have to define what you want the wheels for, and how much "inconvenience" you want to put up with. If you restrict your question to racing, the "best" wheels are going to be carbon tubulars of some sort or other. It isn't coincidence that this is what the pros race on. That said, you're looking at $1500 or so (or more!) Zipp 404s and Reynolds Stratus DVs are pretty much the standard setters in the U.S. for all-around semi-deep section wheels. Stiff, light, and expensive! Mavic has a full-carbon version of the Carbones for 2005 (already in use in the Tour de France this year), and Shimano has a carbon version of the DA-7800s which showed up at this years World Championships. For more money you can get Lightweights or ADAs, which really no one except the professionals use. If you are a TT rider, you get a disk for your rear wheel. If you are going to climb Mt. Washington, you look at Zipp 202s (narrow section rims, but very light). Of course you can throw some more money at ceramic bearings. You see, the game of "best" is complicated. And if you live in the real racing world (cat2 to cat4 or so) you are back to alloy rim clinchers, like the Ksyriums & Veloflex wheels mentioned by other posters.

palewin said:

By now you should have figured out that the question is unanswerable. You already have two replies, where each poster picked his favorite wheel. First you have to define what you want the wheels for, and how much "inconvenience" you want to put up with. If you restrict your question to racing, the "best" wheels are going to be carbon tubulars of some sort or other. It isn't coincidence that this is what the pros race on. That said, you're looking at $1500 or so (or more!) Zipp 404s and Reynolds Stratus DVs are pretty much the standard setters in the U.S. for all-around semi-deep section wheels. Stiff, light, and expensive! Mavic has a full-carbon version of the Carbones for 2005 (already in use in the Tour de France this year), and Shimano has a carbon version of the DA-7800s which showed up at this years World Championships. For more money you can get Lightweights or ADAs, which really no one except the professionals use. If you are a TT rider, you get a disk for your rear wheel. If you are going to climb Mt. Washington, you look at Zipp 202s (narrow section rims, but very light). Of course you can throw some more money at ceramic bearings. You see, the game of "best" is complicated. And if you live in the real racing world (cat2 to cat4 or so) you are back to alloy rim clinchers, like the Ksyriums & Veloflex wheels mentioned by other posters.

I agree completely, in my reply I was assuming the original post pertained to that real riding/racing world that you mention where Mavic's, Velomax, Dura Ace etc. are all great wheels, and we will each proclaim that the ones we like are the "best". Out all of the factory built wheel sets under $1000, I would stick with the Mavic SL's, they seem stiffer than the others in their class and have earned the "bomb proof" reputation from most riders. Again, my opinion and my favorite.

First, there is no BEST wheels. There are a lot of very good wheels. You should probably look at RoadBikeReview.com and look up American Classic, Bontrager, Mavic, Rolf, Shimano, Topolino, Velomax, and probably a few others. Read the reviews to get a feel for what you want.

I like my Dura Ace 7701s over Mavics, but that's my worthless 2 cents worth. South of Laguna Beach, there's some yuck asphalt on the northward side of PCH. I routinely bunny hop over these at 25+ and my 7701s have remained true ... for 10K miles. But I'm less than 150 lbs too.

I think that once you past the $700-800 range, what you get for the extra $ just isn't worth it unless you race.

Best.

AlanZ said:

I see alot of people going with the lightest possible wheel when looking for something to race and climb on. But isn't there alot of flex in some of those wheels? which wheels are the overall best.... littlest flex, lowest weight, and other factors to like rolling resistance

without a doubt carbonsports lightweight, If your not too keen to shell out 3500 euros go for the kysrium ssc sl. If American classic cr420 didnt have their hub problems I'd put them just behind the kysriums, primarily due to the lower weight.