Wheel Set: Williams System 30 VS. Bike Soul s3.0

[LethargicMind]

I am slowly upgrading my Felt Z6 as I work my way into Cat 5 racing. I love long (75mi +) hilly rides for training and need more of a multipurpose wheel. Im 180 lbs with some good leg power. I Can't spend much as I have tuition to pay, so here is where I stand. I am trying to decide between the Williams system 30s and the Bike Soul s3.0. Any advice or comments to help me decide would be great! Thanks!

 

[alienator]

I am slowly upgrading my Felt Z6 as I work my way into Cat 5 racing. I love long (75mi +) hilly rides for training and need more of a multipurpose wheel. Im 180 lbs with some good leg power. I Can't spend much as I have tuition to pay, so here is where I stand. I am trying to decide between the Williams system 30s and the Bike Soul s3.0. Any advice or comments to help me decide would be great! Thanks!  

You likely know there's not much of a price difference. Both companies provide excellent and quick customer service. There's not much difference between the wheelset weights, at least not enough to quibble over. The biggest differences are that the Williams wheelset has a 190lb weight limit while the Soul wheelset has a 210lb limit. Note that limit includes you, the bike, water bottles, and etc, so your system weight is going to be on the order of 195lbs. The Soul rims are wide rims, which is are a bonus in terms of ride quality, road grip, and rolling resistance. Since the wider rims have a larger air volume for a given size, a tire of a given size can be run at a lower pressure that it could on a narrower rim. That lower pressure creates a larger contact patch which delivers more grip. At the same pressure the same size tire on a narrow rim will have a longer, narrower contact patch, while the wider rim will have a wider, shorter contact patch. Wider and shorter contact patches cause less tread deformation which in turn reduces rolling resistance. Given all that, I'd be tempted to recommend the Soul wheels. I'd suggest however that you contact Williams and Sean at Soul to ask for their input, apprising them of the type of rides you do and your weight and your bike's weight. I'd also ask Williams if their System 30 wheel is wide rim or a standard, narrow rim.

 

[daveryanwyoming]

As mentioned above they're both good wheelsets and I can vouch for Williams at least of being a very good company to deal with (no dealings with Soul so not a diss, just no info). You might also take a look at the Boyd Vitesse for a wheel in that class that's also a wide clincher rim. Boyd is also a first rate company to deal with and I wouldn't hesitate to race or train on a pair of their Vitesse clinchers.

http://www.boydcycling.com/products/2013-vitesse-alloy-clincher.html

If you're really on a tight budget, take a look at the new wide clncher offering from Neuvation:
http://www.neuvationcycling.com/product/neuvation-r28slw-wheel-set-1563.htm

No doubt many great traditional 19mm wide clincher rims out there but having switched to HED Ardennes recently I personally don't expect to go back to narrow rims for most riding or racing. The ride is plush, cornering feels more like a nice tubular and ability to run lower pressures with reduced pinch flat risk and without a big rolling resistance penalty is very nice. So for someone that doesn't own a big quiver of narrower rims and isn't concerned with brake compatibility issues I'd suggest at least test riding some wide rims before buying new wheels.

-Dave

 

[cndavidm]

I agree completely with the answers below. I've put about 4000 miles on the set of Williams System 30 that I have with absolutely no problems. My answer is also somewhat self serving as I am in the process of upgrading my bike to a Ultegra 6800 group with an 11/32 rear cassette. Rather than rebuild my old wheel I'm buying a new one that is compatible with an 11 speed cassette and will probably sell my old wheel.