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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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Viewing 15 replies - 16 through 30 (of 34 total)
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  • February 14, 2014 at 2:31 pm #773507
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    notfastenough

    andyp wrote:This thread

    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… 😀

    February 14, 2014 at 2:03 pm #773505
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    farrell

    andyp wrote:This thread

    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.

    Who are you to tell anyone to go ride a bike or have fun? Are we supposed to take orders off you without even knowing what your FTP is?

    February 14, 2014 at 1:39 pm #773503
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    andyp

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

    February 14, 2014 at 12:26 pm #773501
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    notfastenough

    I think the OP should have to
    I think the OP should have to sticker-print his FTP (re-sampled monthly, obviously!) on the deep-section rims he buys. Oh, and the shop should demand to see his shaved legs before allowing him to buy them.

    What a load of nonsense.

    If you fancy dropping some cash on nice wheels, then drop some cash on nice wheels.

    Wheelsmith reckon that their handbuilts are superior to anything available commercially. That’s a fairly bold claim, and basically rests on the idea that the pro’s use Dura-Ace or Zipps or whatever because the large rim area is just too ripe for advertising space. For those of us without obligations to sponsors, go for the handbuilts.

    As for Mavics, I’ve only got Kysrium Equipes, but they are outperformed by the stock Bontrager Race wheels on my Trek. I don’t think I’d go for Mavics again.

    February 14, 2014 at 11:38 am #773499
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    allez neg

    I can kinda see both sides of
    I can kinda see both sides of the argument (and have a quietly bemused but benign chuckle at people who try to spend themselves fast instead of just eating less and training more) but as the guy states, he already races and is thus deserving of respect.

    There’ll always be someone able to spend more, and there’ll always be someone who is able to train more (and some who can do both), so if shelling out on new wheels helps level the odds a bit (and will probably in itself be incentive to train more) then fair do’s to him.

    February 13, 2014 at 9:09 pm #773497
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    Gman59c

    Yep, your money, your bike,
    Yep, your money, your bike, your decision. If you want to get them go for it, if you listened to every opinion on the internet you’d never buy anything.

    Enjoy your passion while you can, if they don’t work put for you, you can always punt them on to somebody else and use the cash for something else.

    February 13, 2014 at 8:12 pm #773495
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    mtbtomo

    I’d like to hope some of
    I’d like to hope some of these comments are not for real (and I mean the more serious posts!). Just why shouldn’t people buy kit they can’t justify??

    If you have the disposable income and cycling is your passion then why shouldn’t you spend it on nice kit?

    February 13, 2014 at 7:29 pm #773493
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    Nick T

    HOW DARE YOU even consider
    HOW DARE YOU even consider buying a bicycle without first establishing your BMI, your fat percentage, your optimum fat percentage, your FTP, your http://, which flavour gel you like best, your summer training regime, your winter training regime, stocking the freezer with ice for post interval recovery ice baths, deciding which milk is for you, starting your training blog, buying a turbo, buying sufferfest to use with the turbo, buying the Hugh Grant Essential Collection for watching while doing recovery rides on the turbo, memorising the Training Bible and choosing which races you want your season to “peak” for.

    Don’t you know anything.

    February 13, 2014 at 7:26 pm #773491
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    lc1981

    Just to mention that Planet X
    Just to mention that Planet X are selling Shimano RS80 50mm wheels for £399 at the moment, reduced from £849. They’re probably not as good as the options you’re looking at, but at that price they might be worth a look.

    February 13, 2014 at 7:09 pm #773489
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    MNgraveur

    So what exactly is the magic
    So what exactly is the magic number, w/kg or speed where 50mm wheels will make a difference? I’m curious as I just bought some “for the heck of it”, those same FarSports clinchers someone blogged about here.

    47M
    Most recent FTP: 325w
    Winter weight: 74kg

    so 4.4 w/kg at the moment. I’ve done 347w for 60 mins once, and been as low as 72kg, so I have room to improve.

    February 13, 2014 at 6:13 pm #773487
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    Angelfishsolo

    If you have not even had an
    If you have not even had an FTP test you do not want to be looking at new wheels. Your body is the most critical component of the bike and without fine tuning that you are just going to be like a boy racer sticking a huge spoiler on a 1ltr Saxo.

    February 13, 2014 at 6:12 pm #773485
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    Gman59c

    I just took delivery of some
    I just took delivery of some 50mm Carbon Clinchers from Wheelsmith this week. Really can’t wait for some good weather to get out on them. They look well made and come with brake pads and titanium skewers.

    Might be an idea to contact Derek, he gave me advice on best wheels for my weight and what kind of cycling I do.

    Great service and hopefully great wheels!!

    February 13, 2014 at 4:41 pm #773483
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    Hedgerow

    Thanks for the replies (all
    Thanks for the replies (all of them…)

    Will definitely check out Wheelsmith, have since more good things about them. As you say oozaveared, no brainer

    I don’t know what my FTP is but I will try and find a stand at the Bike/Tri Show this weekend that might be able to give me a clue …

    I understand aero benefits are felt above 20mph, which is realistic when racing sprint/OD distances. This justification sits in a list alongside “because I think they look ace” and “because I like the noise they make”

    And I have said to my wife in the past that if we win the lottery I would go down to somewhere like poshbikes long before I considered Ferrari/Bentley showrooms…

    February 13, 2014 at 4:35 pm #773481
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    mooleur

    Mmmmm I’d buy an Impec <3
    Mmmmm I’d buy an Impec <3

    February 13, 2014 at 4:01 pm #773479
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    Anonymous

    oozaveared wrote:Valleys

    oozaveared wrote:
    Valleys cyclist wrote:
    Just to throw a slightly different slant on this, I am interested to know why you consider spending so much money on a set of wheels as your answer to making you a faster rider? I am assuming your true current FTP (Functional Threshold Power) is in excess of 3.5 Watts per kg and you are able to ride at a faster enough average speed to make the “aero” difference have an impact? If not then please look at your training first rather than end up very disappointed at spending so much money, only to find it makes you no faster.
    Very best of luck.

    Cos he wants some aero wheels. Blimey the whole cycle and component manufacturing industry would be straight out of business if we all had to justify our nice kit in those terms.

    If he thinks they’ll make him go faster and he can afford them then that’s up to him. At least it’s one less excuse to be slow.


    Damn right. As I’ve posted before, if I win the lottery I’m going to go out and buy a Cannondale Evo Nano and some Zipp 404s. I’ll be the most overbiked person in history, but I’ll be the overbiked person with a £10k bike in my living room that I can sit and stare at and I won’t care what anyone thinks.

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