Upgrading wheels

+1 for buying a slightly used set! Worth sifting through triathlon FB groups or any Buy & Sell sites for wheel sets. Typically athletes with injuries, new sponsors, or simply unused items sell their gear for good prices!
Chat to your Bike Shops, often they may know if their customers are wanting (or suggest to them) to sell their gear and give you a heads up! :wink:

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Good discussion. I’m considering a Flo Cycling wheelset, but eventually I want to switch to disc brakes, so kinda seems pointless to upgrade now with a rim brake set. Figure I will just end up doing all of it at once - road frame, wheels, disc brakes.

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I have not been impressed with the DT Swiss inner to outer rim width ratio. Both of the ones listed are 2mm per side, which, as far as I am concerned is pinch flat city, even on tubeless.
Even the Prime Blacklabel 38s Disc get you 4mm per side.

The ER 1400s have a better hub and are lighter, but at essentially the same rim width and depth will perform similarly. Yes they are better wheels, but not worth the upgrade.

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I’ve pulled the trigger on a set of HUNT wheels. Opted for their 50mm aero option. They are carbon but I also ride a CAAD 12.

For the price, I thought they were very competitive and a few of the guys I ride with own several pairs and rave about them. I don’t doubt that they’re no ZIPPs but you buy what you can afford :+1:

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Going to argue this point too. A set of 40mm carbon wheels would be the best $ vs Speed upgrade avaliable. You would notice significant imporvements with this sort of wheel set.

IF staying with Alu is wour wish have a look at a lightly used set of Camapg Shamal Ultras OR Fulcrum Zero. I own the Ultras as my daily wheels on my canyon and they are amazing. LIght strong and spin very very well.

As mentioned earlier wheel choice comes down to budget and what you want to get from them…
good luck shopping its the fun part…

Does anyone have any feedback on Prime wheels?

Also, don’t write off carbon wheels because your bike is aluminum. Many crit racers use the specialized allez sprint with carbon wheels that are worth as much as other people’s bikes.

If you look for sales on carbon wheels you can get many for around $1000-1500 usd. Maybe less. Personally, I’m weary of buying used carbon unless I can be sure of their history, but that’s probably too conservative.

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Had my E1800’s for over a year. Not running tubeless. Not one puncture. I’ve gone and jinxed it now no doubt! :grin:

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I recently thought a little about a wheel upgrade, just because I’ve read so much how great of an upgrade they can be, but I struggle with determining a) how much of an upgrade they really are for me who is mainly a solo rider and not doing a ton of road racing or group rides, and b) how much money to really see an appreciable difference from a stock wheelset. Also I have a powertap 32hole with a velocity a23 rim, so I’m stuck with that unless I upgrade to pedal or crank based power.

If you’re not concerned with getting faster (not racing or group rides), why would you upgrade? (Meant as a question, not as sarcasm)

If it’s for comfort, you can get quite an upgrade just by changing to softer or wider tires, or even just dropping a few psi.

No, you’re right on, which is why I kind of dropped the notion of upgrading. I do an occasional crit and road race, but not enough to justify going nuts with other stuff, and I’ve always felt fitness/technique is king over gear. Comfort is fine with what I have, I use 25mm conti 4000s and no complaints with the setup.

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I was amazed by the difference I felt moving from 23mm older Maxxis road tires to 25mm Conti 4000s, and stepping my pressure down to 90F/95R on the same Ksyrium Elite wheels. Way more compliant, felt more in control. Probably faster, but who really knows? Just felt better for sure.

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I have a set of Prime RR-38 that I bought last year. They’ve served me very well. I have a limited budget and they filled my needs; very light, stayed true, and haven’t given me any reason to complain.

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I’ve got an aliminuim bike too and I tought in buying some better wheels with a similar budget, but…

For that money you can only get heavy aluminium wheelsets.

Yeah, the the desing, the noisy hub, but not functional at all.

Then found some cool chinese wheels, some have UCI approval like Yoeleo, and they’re cheap, but…

For a mediocre aluminium frame… If a least it was 1kg aluminium frame like a Caad or Emonda one…

Until I reach 4.5w/kg, I don’t jump to carbon

Good points here. I don’t want to end up looking like “all the gear, no idea”.

It’s worth thinking through what the benefits to a wheel upgrade are:

  • many lower end bikes come with bombproof but heavy stock wheels. If your stock wheels are in this category, you can upgrade to lighter wheels that feel considerably more responsive without spending too much money.
  • If your rims are older, switching to a wider internal width may allow you to run wider tires, offering more comfort, grip and speed. But most newer rims will already allow you to run 28mm safely.
  • newer rims may be tubeless compatible
  • Switching to deeper section rims offer a speed advantage. And you don’t have to be a racer to get this benefit. A century rider will get 10’s of minutes of savings over that distance. If you are a TT’er on a budget, you can pick up alloy 40mm deep wheels without breaking the bank, but at a weight penalty. If you want depth and light weight, you are looking at carbon (and $$$). However, to get the benefit of deep section aero wheels, you need to match them with the appropriate tires - the external rim width needs to be slightly wider than the tire you are running. Most deep section rims are currently optimized for 25mm tires, only a handful of manufacturers currently offer deep section rims optimized for 28s (look for external rim width around 30mm), and charge a price premium for this (although I’m betting that most manufacturers currently have development of rims in this category as a top priority).

What benefits are a newer wheelset are the highest priority for you??

Also, most upgrade wheelsets will be less than 32h, which means you will be up for the cost of new crank/pedal PM to replace your powertap.

Anyone have first hand experience with Boyd carbon wheelsets? They seem to be priced affordably for the value they provide. Thoughts?