I’ve spent a fair amount of money recently so I’m not getting anything else any time soon but …
A new bike is on order and has disc brakes. My current bike has rim brakes and I have two wheel sets - shallow inexpensive alloy that I use on the trainer (well, front wheel anyway) and 55mm deep carbon wheels for out on the road. I like the idea of a second wheel set for the new bike in case something goes wrong with one and having a shallower set in case of windy days.
The new bike is coming with 45mm carbon wheels at 1525g. I am considering getting a second set of wheels for use on the trainer, outdoor windy days, and on hilly long rides. I’m not a weight weenie but am considering the Hunt 35 Carbon Aero Disc wheels at 1357g for $900USD. Thoughts? Am I just out to lunch since I’ve already “broken the seal” on the wallet, so to speak? Other suggestions are welcomed, and they don’t need to be carbon, but I would prefer tubeless ready.
Before I opened your post and saw the link to Hunt, I had just read the title. I immediately thought: “hmmm…I like my Hunt 35 Carbons”. Maybe I’ll recommend those. Opened and scrolled.
People have differing feelings about Chinese carbon, but there’s a huge thread on Farsports Wheels on the Weightweenies forum with almost entirely happy customers. You get choice of rim depth, spokes, hubs, but you can easily beat the cost of those hints with a wheelset in the 1200-1300g region. Check them out.
*I have a set of Feder 35mm at 1161g which I’m very very happy with, let me know if you want more details!
Thanks. My rim brake 55s are from Light Bicycles and I’m generally pleased with them, except the 10-week lead time. I priced out LB’s lightest wheels and they were $300 more than Hunt for comparable weight. I’ll check out Far Sport.
@Jackofallgrades What hub did you get with your 35mm Feders? How has it held up? How was shipping / timeliness? I like Light Bicycles but 10-weeks to manufacture and ship seems excessive.
Agreed. If you get a 2nd set of wheels, I’d go more aero…60mm or so. You will literally be wasting money buying a second set so close to what you have.
I got the RD230 hubs, which I believe come from the same factory as Token hubs. They’ve held up very well, I can’t say I’ve bashed them around but they were true out of the box, and have stayed that way after a full season of riding. The finish is even and unblemished, though perhaps lacks the aesthetic fine tuning of high end brands (talking about how the carbon weave looks). I would buy them again happily, I feel the weight difference which makes the bike fun to throw around, even if not faster, and they are shallow enough to never bother me (60kg whippet) on the gustiest of days. Look good too!
Shipping was closer to two months, and the team were responsive to me throughout, even giving me a WhatsApp number to message directly. Packaging was robust and wheels well protected. I have heard from others the returns process is not great, and is pretty limited time-wise as by the time you receive the wheels you most likely will have elapsed the return period. Something to bear in mind.
A few weeks ago I was in a similar situation, my new bike that I bought last year came already with “premium” wheels (Cadex 42 disc) and since this year I’ll be racing again I decided to buy a second pair just for training. The main issue for me was, aside from the usual reasons for a training set of wheels, swapping tubeless tires between the training ones and the fast ones.
The Hunt 35s or 50s looked like a good solution, but still they are around 1000 euros in Europe and I would have liked something cheaper. Then, I came to the realization that aluminum wheels still exist and they don’t look as bad as the rim brakes versions
So, I ended up buying a pair of Fulcrum Racing 4 DB at 370 euros, I didn’t realize they would be so cheap (I was thinking around 500€) and they are simply awesome. Tubeless ready, 34mm depth, 19mm inner rim width and they ride great! I don’t feel like I’m on a cheap set of wheels when I use them and now I’m more relaxed when riding in bad conditions or on rough terrains. Obviously, the main drawback is the weight since they come in at 1710 grams, but personally I don’t mind it at all since when weight matters (races or race rides and koms ) I’ll be using the Cadex.
Oh and last thing, maybe the most important for some people, the free hub sound. I was used to the Cadex one that is insanely loud and very useful on shared cycling paths, however the Fulcrum one is completely silent and I had to go back using a bell.
I’m in a similar quandary and I’m coming around to just riding on AR46mm LB all the time.
I have some LB AR35 ultralight rims sat a in box, the idea was they would be better in the Alps where high winds made me a little nervous on the AR46. They’ll build 200-300g lighter but it’s starting to feel like an extravagance for a few days of the year and are only marginally shallower.
Unpopular opinion but ride the new bike for a while (you haven’t even got it yet) in all weather before you blow $$$ on a wheelset you probably (definitely) don’t need.
Another consideration is whether rotors on two sets of wheels will line up perfectly. If you have the exact same hubs and rotors on both wheels, you’ll have a greater chance of perfect alignment after a swap.
Personally, if I had to adjust the calipers every time I swapped wheels I’d probably never do it.
remember the rim is no longer a wear item with disk brakes. I run cheap aluminum wheels during the winter (still on rim brakes) because I don’t want to wear out my carbon rims with wet sand and muck from the roads.
) I’ll be using the Cadex.