Advice Needed on Wheel Upgrade

Browny1980

Hi All

Just after a bit of advice really on what's best to upgrade to

My bike is the Focus Cuelbro 2010 and am just using the normal wheels that came with it (DT swiss R1900 clincher) in races. I did the Beaver Half on Saturday and had a few problems with my front tyre so have decided that I need an upgrade.....any excuse tbh!!!

I've got about £800 to play with and it seems a good idea to get a couple of new wheels, I've looked at the Planet X site and they have a couple of good options and decent reviews. I haven't got much of a clue when it comes to wheels and tyres etc so if anyone has any other suggestions they would be greatly appreciated!!

Also, if there's any cash left spare I may get a new saddle...any ideas??

Cheers in advance

Matt

shadowone1

Clinchers? Tubs?

Deep rims? 50s? 100's?

You could look at getting a right good set of wheels for that cash. Depends on what you want and what your putting them. The PX's get great reviews tho...

Browny1980

In all honesty Shadowone, I'm clueless when it comes to tubs/clinchers choice....I know its been discussed on here before but I've always switched off, thinking that i'd never get to the point where I'd think about getting new wheels.

But, as is the obsessive-money spending world of Tri, I have now become hell bent on upgrading my bike, evemn without a clue on what to get (but isn't that always the way!!)

I have noticed that the PX's are Tubs, my current wheels are clinchers, what would you suggest?

shadowone1

Ah the clinchers v tubs debate.

Without question tubs are faster IMO. You can inflate them to 150psi or more depending on the wheels. Clinchers have their place as not everyone likes tubs. Clinchers tyres are about £30 for a decent tyre whereas a tub, for a really good one will set you back £50-£60 - so if you puncture it can be expensive.

I train in clinchers but race in tubs. If you puncture in a race then I can change a tub in 5mins. That includes wheel off, tub off, new tub on etc. If you do puncture you can always fill the tub with pitstop that will see you to the end of the race - just don't expect a fast split. More importantly if you flat a tub you can still ride even with no air!

People will wade in with the clinchers now, and as i said they have a place. Would I race in clincers again - no. I love the feeling of the tubs and the low rolling resistance. However Chrisse W races in clinchers and look at how fast she is.

In my opinion - get a set 50mm carbon rim or if you can 50mm front with 100mm rear. Don't go for a 100mm front and rear otherwise your sphincter will be twitching everytime there is a gust of wind as you get blown to the other side of the road. At the most 60mm front.

Also look at other wheels than PX - you can really good wheels from the like of Mavic for about £800. Try some bike shops as cash talks and you may be able to blag a discount if you have the readies there and then

Browny1980

Cheers Shadowone

Just been having a look online at various different wheels, mavic, pro-lite, shimano...there's an absolute bucket load to choose from!!!

Will definately pop into the LBS and see what if I can get any decent deals from them and hopefully come away with a bargain & 5 minutes shaved off my time!!!

Thanks again for the help mate, much appreciated....anyone else feel free to chip in!!

On another note, any recommendations on saddles?!?!

shadowone1

There are loads but when choosing the wheel pay particular attention to the weight. some of the cheaper wheels will be heavy as they have more resin in them than carbon.

No idea about saddles but I do like the look of the prologo's

I actually need a new saddle after twisting the saddle on my argon...

Browny1980

Yeah, I looked at the Prologo ones, great reviews

Back to the wheels, saw these online....any thoughts??

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/produc ... ?&id=15874

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/produc ... ?&id=13588

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/produc ... ?&id=10243

In terms of comparison with the PX ones really.

Cheers for your input with my (long drawn out! and uninformed!!) query mate!!

shadowone1

All of those wheels are fine. The SRAM's are the heavy buggers tho and generally this would put me off. Your looking at nearly 2kg for wheels - your supposed to be making it lighter!!

All of those are clinchers - except the classics which gave you the option of tubs.

There are few people on the other forum (bcttt) who have just bought the mavic cosmic carbones and they are truely a really really good wheel.

Its horses for courses mate. All wheels claim to be aero and you can go x faster on these. What you will find no matter which wheel you go for you will be faster. Go any deeper than 60mm on the front and you will be like a kite ie side wind will take you out. Whatever you go for my suggestion would be to get as deep a rim as you can at the back and a shallower front section say 110mm rear/ 50 or 60mm front.

I would say also go with the the tubulars.... in terms of comparison with PX - I can't say as I've never owned a set of PX...

Browny1980

Cheers for the help Shadowone

Think I may plump for the PX ones in all honesty. Haven't seen a bad review anywhere and as you say its horses for courses. I'm looking at a new saddle too and entering a couple more races so all in all getting the PX ones would be within the price range with everything else.

I'll let you know how I get on mate, cheers again

shadowone1

By all accounts PX are good wheels but I can't comment as I've never tried their goods.

Best of luck with the wheels - all I will say is to try and get the combo of deep rear and shallow front and enjoy the speed!

demonclimber

Ok, found this exchange fascinating and am sure will be absolutely slated for this reply as not knowing what the hell I'm talking about. As it's hard to put a tone to a bit of writing please read this with the slightly humerous (?) tone with which it is intended. Are you the MB 30ish that did the Beaver? Save your money, invest half the amount in a coach for 6 months to a year and get some well structured bike training done, then treat yourself if all goes well. £800??????!!!!!! I'm an aging pretend triathlete (closer to 50 than you, young whippersnapper!) and I'd hope to do the 56 miles of a middle distance race in just over 3 hours on my training wreck of a bike with its £80 wheel/tyre set up (ok, ok, I'd need it to be pretty flat, no wind). How much faster do you exactly reckon you'll go with this sort of cash spent? And I am not disputing for 1 second that for the same effort on the same course etc etc, lighter wheels = faster. You are a richer man than I, Gunga Din!

demonclimber

Ok, just read your post re Beaver puncture exploits and empathise completely - not sure whether I'd change my crochety old mind regarding above reply tho!

shadowone1

[quoteOk, found this exchange fascinating and am sure will be absolutely slated for this reply as not knowing what the hell I'm talking about. As it's hard to put a tone to a bit of writing please read this with the slightly humerous (?) tone with which it is intended. Are you the MB 30ish that did the Beaver? Save your money, invest half the amount in a coach for 6 months to a year and get some well structured bike training done, then treat yourself if all goes well. £800??????!!!!!! I'm an aging pretend triathlete (closer to 50 than you, young whippersnapper!) and I'd hope to do the 56 miles of a middle distance race in just over 3 hours on my training wreck of a bike with its £80 wheel/tyre set up (ok, ok, I'd need it to be pretty flat, no wind). How much faster do you exactly reckon you'll go with this sort of cash spent? And I am not disputing for 1 second that for the same effort on the same course etc etc, lighter wheels = faster. You are a richer man than I, Gunga Din!][/quote]

You are correct...coaching will give you a bigger benefit than wheels. But you need to remember if you look the part then you are fast. FACT. Nothing else matters. In all seriousness though deep rim wheels do make a difference. Think of it this way - say a deep rim wheel saves you 2mins over 40k, thats 2 mins less you are biking which then saves your legs a bit.

Naturally over time you will get more aerobic fit and you get even faster but guess what you already own the wheels so you can go buy a better bike.....than then means you look even blingier.... ergo you are now soooo fast that you have afterburners in your legs.

If you want the wheels then get them....

Browny1980

Ha Ha, Demonclimber, yes that is I, the chubby, pasty 30 year old who did the Beaver!!

Granted my bike time was appaling but as you read the "when races go bad" thread, you noticed why my bike split was as slow as it was!! I'm estimating that all the p155ing around that I did for both incidents equates to about 40 minutes but that hasn't taken into account the knock on effect that it had on my run and my mental sharpness (perhaps i'm painting a picture here of some kind of ice cool triathlete!!)and how that affected my time. I did come pretty close to giving up due to the wheel problems and the first lap was a nightmare!! Also, taking into account the weather, I think my time would have been pretty respectable as I got out of the swim in good time and felt good.

My bike is by far my weakest discipline, I know that, my swim is where I'm happy (interestingly I do have a swim coach) and my run can be better but I'm not too worried about that at the mo. Considering that last April I did my first sprint Tri, without any previous experience, the last time I swam properly was at school, the last time I cycled was when I was 16 and that was on a paper round and I wouldn't have even run for a bus!!! Taking all this into account, I'm pretty happy with my progress in all honesty!!

The truth is that I'm coming into a bit of cash and just thought I'd treat myself, if it makes me quicker then thats great, as shadowone says, I'll look good, even though my clubs Tri suit is the most homosexual looking thing since the Graham Norton show, and my body resembles a Cornish Pasty whilst wearing it!!!

I've thought about getting a coach but in all fairness, I need to get out much more on the saddle and get miles in, we all know that this is the main way to improve your bike time. I also think that the bike is the most difficult discipline to master taking into account all the variables but also the most important considering the time you can shave off with it. I'm sure that I'll get there!!

I'm doing another middle in september so I'll let you know how my bike split goes for that, my new wheels will be on the bike, hopefully I'll have shed a bit of timber so I'll see how different my time is!! Hopefully I won't have any tyre troubles!!!