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50mm aero wheels – advice appreciated

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  • February 11, 2014 at 1:59 pm #20672
    Hedgerow

    Hi all, this is my first post having been a long-time browser.

    I’ve got a budget of £850 ish for a pair of 50mm aero carbon clincher wheel with alu braking surface. To be used for racing in sprint / olympic distances and 1 half IM triathlon this summer, plus training (fair-weather only!) I’m looking at:
    * Fulcrum Red Wind 50 1755g @ £850 ish
    * Mavic Cosmic Carbon SL 1595g also @ £850 ish
    * Wheelsmith RACE50 1565g @ £710

    On the stats alone, Wheelsmith wins, they also seem highly recommended. Too good to be true?

    Have read reviews on the first two, but any useful feedback appreciated

    Thanks

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  • February 17, 2014 at 12:40 pm #773537
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    Old Cranky

    I can’t comment on the three
    I can’t comment on the three you have listed but I do have the RS80 C50 wheels and they are superb. The only criticism is the longevity of the bearings/grease but you can buy service kits at a reasonable price and it is straightforward to do. I have never had issues with spokes and the wheels have never required truing in 2 years of regular use.

    Hardly scientific, but I have a 17mile training route which is a bit lumpy and back to back average speeds with C50 vs. C24 is the same; I’m a little slower climbing on the C50 wheelset but faster on flat 25mph+ segments.

    February 17, 2014 at 10:30 am #773535
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    mooleur

    This thread made me sick in
    This thread made me sick in my mouth.

    February 16, 2014 at 12:28 am #773533
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    faz.

    Have you considered buying
    Have you considered buying second hand? A lot of team riders sell their sponsor wheels for cheap at the end of the season – I picked up some FFWD F6R’s (so 60mm) which are 1350g for sub £700 and they’re as new condition… super stiff, very aero, and tubs. Seems pretty ideal for what you want.

    February 15, 2014 at 2:01 pm #773531
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    700c

    The ‘aero’ thing might be
    The ‘aero’ thing might be slightly overstated by manufacturers / certain consumers, however unless the OP is very weak, (unlikely given his aims for this year), then they will make a difference particularly on the flat.

    If you’re going to spend £850 on wheels, you might consider spending a bit more actually – on a stiff carbon tubular wheelset with decent braking capabilities. This would give you more of an all-round wheelset which will benefit uphill as well.

    Of course it’s pretty pointless if you then neglected your training, but all this ‘you won’t get any benefit unless you’re a professional athlete’ attitude is just BS, and fortunately must of us realise this is just snobbery/elitism or whatever label you want to give it..

    February 15, 2014 at 11:55 am #773529
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    notfastenough

    What if the OP wasn’t
    What if the OP wasn’t competitive? He could be fit and fast but if not into racing, wouldn’t be interested in his FTP. Does that mean he shouldn’t buy nice wheels? We’ve all smiled at the guy with top-end gear who makes too little effort, but that’s not what this is about. Should we all be forced to ride cheap bikes until we ‘earn’ the right to better ones?!

    February 15, 2014 at 9:47 am #773527
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    Nick T

    Ugh, a Pinarello Dogma?
    I
    Ugh, a Pinarello Dogma?

    I wouldn’t be seen dead on something so mainstream.

    February 15, 2014 at 9:13 am #773525
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    Flying Scot

    An awful lot of snobbery
    An awful lot of snobbery here, I don’t know if the OP is fit or competitive! either way, he has the funds or has saved up and wants some gear he likes the look of.

    My main bike is mostly C Record (apart from the delta brakes) feel free to slag me off as not being fit to shine Stephen roche’s shoes, let alone win the Tour in 1990.

    Guy likes the look of the kits and asks is it any good, if you can, advise him.

    February 15, 2014 at 9:03 am #773523
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    andyp

    ‘If someone is prepared to
    ‘If someone is prepared to drop that kind of money on wheels to attain speed one would assume that the person has also fine tuned the body’

    I’d just assume that they want to buy those wheels.
    If they came to me for coaching advice I’d talk FTP with them.

    February 15, 2014 at 8:35 am #773521
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    Angelfishsolo

    Surely a snob would demand
    Surely a snob would demand that no one leave the house on anything less than a Pinarello Dogma?

    If someone is prepared to drop that kind of money on wheels to attain speed one would assume that the person has also fine tuned the body (the most critical component of the man/machine mix).

    Anyway, have fun on the deep rims and then do some research when you have not improved your performance.

    February 14, 2014 at 10:40 pm #773519
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    Nick T

    Anyway, the question was of
    Anyway, the question was of which wheels to buy and this advice, however well meaning, offers diddly squat in the way of help. You might suggest he saves his money, but for all we know the OP is actually Alan Sugar.

    February 14, 2014 at 10:33 pm #773517
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    Nick T

    So no one deserves to drive
    So no one deserves to drive an Aston Martin unless they’re on the redline at every opportunity either, by that logic.

    February 14, 2014 at 10:13 pm #773515
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    Valleys cyclist

    Each to their own but I have
    Each to their own but I have to agree with Angel… really doubt anyone who does not have the first idea of what an FTP test even is a serious racer, rather just “banded” the term race about as justification for buying such expensive wheels. Most riders harbour a secret desire to become a faster cyclist underneath that desire for bling. Some put in the necessary training (not always more), others simply believe it possible to “buy” their way faster. The latter must be a marketeers dream.

    Sure no offence was intended towards anyone who has commented on here, so apologies if that was the case. I think we are all adults after all. To the guy with the with the FTP above 4 Watts/kg, those wheels would make a small difference at your level, but with such power, they would not be needed to beat most slower riders. I am guessing you are at very least Cat 2 and that FTP test has been done outside as opposed to on a Turbo Trainer?

    Anywhere below 3 Watts/kg though, you may as well get a set of chocolate pedals to go with the aero wheels for all the extra good they will give you.

    For the record I used to work for a company involved in wind testing cycling components so do know quite a bit about what makes a difference and what does not. When you consider that all wind tunnel testing is done at 30mph (industry standard) a lot of the “claimed” energy, power savings etc. really do not kick in for all but the very best Cat 1, elite, pro riders etc. and even then cross winds come into the mix. Hence the reason even the pro riders do not use deep dish aero wheels all of the time.

    Knock yourselves out guys, just don’t be too disappointed when you realise that your prized “bling” really has not made you any faster, but hey if it makes you happy I am sure you will get a nice Xmas card off your LBS. 🙂

    February 14, 2014 at 6:39 pm #773513
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    allez neg

    FTP – when I were a lad it
    FTP – when I were a lad it was an encouragement to have an amorous encounter with the local constabulary

    February 14, 2014 at 5:11 pm #773511
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    notfastenough

    File Transfer
    File Transfer Protocol.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Transfer_Protocol

    Oh. Sorry.

    Anyway, how long do you have to hold it for, for it to be your FTP? 30 secs? 5 mins? 30 mins?

    February 14, 2014 at 4:49 pm #773509
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    700c

    notfastenough wrote:andyp

    notfastenough wrote:
    andyp wrote:
    This thread should win a prize for featuring the snobbiest response of ALL TIME.
    OP. Go buy your wheels. Ride your bike. Have fun.

    So, who do you think wins? It appears to be a 2-horse race between valleys cyclist and angelfishsolo… :D

    well… Valleys cyclist was reasonably polite with his/ her snobbery, angelfishsolo kind of jumped on the bandwagon afterwards..

    I think now that the snobbery’s been called, there might not be any more of it. I quite like the way the forum ‘self-polices’ in this way!

    On a related note, I now want to find out what my ‘FTP’ is!

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