Possible Wheel Upgrade - wanting opinions/experience

[BrianTX]

Hi guys, I'm a relative newbie to cycling, a "whole 10 months or so" under my belt. Anyhow, I've recently started a "TDF Challenge" in my area and keeping up pretty good with it, 20 miles a day for each day the TDF rides....anyways, as I've been picking up the mileage, I've been considering upgrading my wheels and would like your opinions/experiences on the matter.

I'm averaging 20 mph on my 20+ mile rides now. My current wheels are 700c x 23, 2010 Mavic Askiums. I'm contemplating upgrading to the same size in Mavic Ksyriums. From what I read, the Ksyrium's are going to be ~ 300grams lighter. I'm pricing them out on ebay and the web and the going rate seems to be $300-500 for the set....so the question is, do y'all think that the lighter wheel will make a significant improvement in my climbing? On the flats?

For reference, when I upgraded from toe clips to clip-less pedals I was amazed at the extra power and speed I had. I'm curious if lighter wheels would seemingly have the same effect.

Thanks in advance.
Brian.

 

[sunburned]

I'm sort of in the same boat. My new Cervelo S1 came with Shimano R500's and I probably should have upgraded right when I bought it. A friend of mine has some nice Ksyriums on his bike and I'm leaning in that direction as well. Still not sure if I want to spend ~$500 on a new wheelset that's more than 1/4 of the price of the bike I just bought. I'm also really hoping it'll be a very noticable difference. My bike isn't super light and I'm not either (185lbs), but I figured any little bit of weight off and increased stiffness may help with power transfer and acceleration.

 

[Andrew Pancroft]

I love my Ksyrium SL wheels!! They have been bullet proof for training!! Have even done the occasional crit on them and they have held up awesome!!!

 

[swampy1970]

The Ksyriums are a great wheel. My Cannondale SuperSix came with a set of Ksyrium Premium SL's and I've been very impressed. The rear wheel stiffness, compared to the 32 spoke rear wheel I use for training (with powertap) is noticable when out of the saddle and the front definitely tracks better on descents than the noodle like American Classic CR420 with sapim cx-ray spokes.

But I rarely use them as I think they're a little too good for training and will likely sell them as I have a need for other stuff and don't need another set of wheels hanging up providing more square footage for the local spiders.

 

[cloudhead]

I have learned that resistance has more impact on performance than weight. I had a custom wheel set built based on the roads around me. You don't have to go custom, but analyze what kind of roads you are riding on. In California's Bay Area, there's no more money, so roads are falling apart to the point that some are like "virtual cobblestone". Pretty soon we're going to be able to have our own Paris-Roubaix kind of race.

For that reason, my wheels are Velocity A-23's outfitted with hand-made Challenge Parigi-Roubaix Tires. I couldn't be happier. I roll faster than any light skinny wheel set, since ruts, potholes & other bumps get smoothed out instead of acting like brakes. I chose a rather expensive hub set, but that was out of preference. Velocity rims aren't covered with all sorts of bling graphics and marketing, but I prefer that.

http://www.velocityusa.com/default.asp?contentID=749
http://www.challengetech.it/products/road/paris-roubaix-open-016/en

I recommend the same procedure, analyze the roads you're on, and get a set of wheels that are appropriate to them.

 

[maydog]

If you are solo riding without a lot of accelerations, I doubt that you would notice much difference with the Ksyriums. I have Aksiums on a Tri-specific bike i built, they work well, but I have been looking for a more aerodynamic wheel. In the Mavic line, the cosmics look to be a better choice as the Ksyriums look to be no more aero that the Aksiums.

 

[BrianTX]

Some very good feedback. Yeah I don't have a ton of accelerations, just a bunch of hills around here...but with what I have now (Askiums) I drop most everyone I ride with.

So if I am hearing you guys right...it's not really the weight savings of the wheels but the lowered rolling resistance? Is that along the lines of simply upgrading the bearings in my current wheels to improve my speeds?

 

[maydog]

Rolling resistance from the bearings is very small. The Aksiums roll just as well as my Circuits, at speed the biggest gains are going to be in aerodynamics - but you will probably need a stopwatch to measure any difference.

I suppose with hills there may be some advantage for lighter wheels, but it you are always at the front aerodynamics will be a bigger factor.

 

[An old Guy]

Originally Posted by BrianTX .

Some very good feedback. Yeah I don't have a ton of accelerations, just a bunch of hills around here...but with what I have now (Askiums) I drop most everyone I ride with.

So if I am hearing you guys right...it's not really the weight savings of the wheels but the lowered rolling resistance? Is that along the lines of simply upgrading the bearings in my current wheels to improve my speeds?

At 20mph you should not be dripping most everyone. Find some faster guys to ride with.

The Askiums are reasonable wheels. You will have a difficult time in making a measurable improvement. When you can ride uphill or on the flat aver 25mph for extended periods of time, you might get more aero wheels but there are many cheaper things you can do before that.

---

I prefer the Mavic Open Pro rims and Shimano hubs, but I still have the Askiums that came with my bike. I cannot tell the difference.

 

[bgoetz]

I have the Ksyrium SLs as my "nice day training/ non-windy crit wheels", the stiffness and lack of weight is certianly noticable over my heavier "crappy training day/dirt-pave race wheel". Keep in mind the SLs are even lighter and stiffer than the Ksyriums, which is what I think you are looking at. For racing I have a set of Easton EC90 tubulars, which are lighter than the SLs, as stiff or stiffer, and are much much much much more aero. The EC90s are on a whole new level when it comes to "at speed racing" when compared with the SLs, but they are much more expensive and tubulars are not so great for training rides IMO. The Askiums are not a horrible training wheel and from an aero perspective they may actually be more aero than the Ksyriums (the certainly are not less). So if it where me I would look at a more aero clincher wheel that is at a similar price point, something like Williams, ROLF, or American Classic offer a great wheel that will cost you <$1k, but the money spent will be well worth it.

 

[danfoz]

Make sure if getting the Ksyriums of eBay you go with the 2010's or newer (with the milling between the spokes!). Otherwise they are essentially the same wheel as the new Aksiums at about 1800gm and you will be buying the same thing you currently own.

You will notice an immediate difference over the Aksiums and they will feel "snappier". Go with the Ksyrium Elites, Elite SL's, whatever, in comparison the Ksyrium Equipe's are an inferior wheel altogether. IMO the weight you save with the lighter hub of the SL is not worth the extra cost.

Many outfits are moving the Ksyrium Elites at $350-400 these days.

 

[BrianTX]

Thanks for all the good advice guys. I really appreciate it. I think y'all are right, I honestly doubt I'll see any significant improvement going to the Ksyrium's. I'm sure I could feel the difference, I'm just not convinced it's going to be significant at my level. I'll probably just stick with what I have and swap them at 5K or 10K miles. Perhaps by then, I'll be at a level where the Ksyriums would make more of an impact for me.

Thanks again.
Brian.

 

[By-tor]

I recently picked up a set of Easton EA50 Aero wheels and love them. Though they are not the lightest @ 1785 gr, but niether am I. They ride very nice and look great..

 

[1K2GO SPORTS]

the wheelset you have make a great training and racing wheel if durability is your goal. You are not gonna get much faster per se unless you lower weight(and only on hills) or get an aero wheel set. Now with that said you do not have to leverage a mortgage. Get something in the 50-60mm range and you are not only gonna get lighter but also more aero. You will be surprised at how durable they are and how versatile they are for any discipline of cycling.

Here's my favorite for price and function.

 

[cloudhead]

Just curious... I often ride in a valley that has fierce crosswinds, both constant and with heavy gusts. How do aero rims hold up in that situation? I'll soon be building up a Ciöcc 12.5COM frame I acquired, and want to make this bike a little more aggressive than my other bikes, but at the same time I don't want to get knocked over.

 

[daveryanwyoming]

Originally Posted by cloudhead .

Just curious... I often ride in a valley that has fierce crosswinds, both constant and with heavy gusts. How do aero rims hold up in that situation? I'll soon be building up a Ciöcc 12.5COM frame I acquired, and want to make this bike a little more aggressive than my other bikes, but at the same time I don't want to get knocked over.

Deep rims do get pushed around a bit in gusty winds but they won't knock you over, they just take some adjustment time. I don't like riding deeper than 50mm rims for gusty conditions and have had a few uncomfortable experiences racing in crosswind echelons where my deep rims were getting buffeted by strong gusts but it wasn't taking anyone down, it just made us focus a bit more than normal when riding fast with a lot of intentional overlap.

Personally my all condition, go anywhere racing rims are 34mm deep American Classic 420s (same rim as Rolf Vigors) I feel the gusts on them but it doesn't really move my front end around, more of a slight nudge. I'll ride my 50mm carbon rims in most races unless it's obviously nasty out but that has more to do with my preference for aluminum brake tracks in wet conditions than the rim depth itself. OTOH, I've survived a couple of terrifying time trials riding a 90 mm deep front rim and rear disc on days when small angry storm cells rolled in and created havoc mid ride. That can be like a full on wrestling match in the TT bars trying to keep the bike on the road and then trying not to veer into passing cars and trucks that momentarily blocked the gusty crosswinds. I've learned to stay with the more conservative 50mm deep rims for time trialing on days like that, hard to stay focused and ride fast when you're just trying to stay upright.

-Dave

 

[cloudhead]

Thanks for the tips Dave.

 

[sunburned]

I can't imagine aero wheels making a huge difference with crosswinds unless you get the really deep ones. However, out riding last week, I had my first experience with pretty strong crosswinds off a river on my aero framed bike and it was a bit rough. I had to countersteer into the wind a tad to not go off course. Hopefully adding slightly aero wheels won't make it any worse.