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Upgrade the stock wheels on my Canondale

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  • November 3, 2014 at 2:13 pm #22674
    CRadoslavov

    Hi guys!

    Well, last night my chain jumped into my spokes when climbing and ruined my back wheel – 3 torn spokes, few more bent and the hub is not rotating freely anymore. Totally my fault for not properly adjusting the derailleur… :/
    What would be a sensible upgrade to the Maddux RS 3.0 wheels that came stock with the Caad8?
    I’m trying to keep it in the £120-150 mark and I was eyeing the Shimano RS21 wheels, but in the same ballpark are Mavic Aksiums, Fulcrum 7, numerous unknown to me other wheels, some custom eBay wheels on 105 hubs, etc…
    I’d rather get a set than just replace the rear wheel and I’ll fix the stock wheels myself in the future so I’ll have a spare set.
    I don’t care much about weight, I’m not doing any racing nor planning to. Durability is my main concern, I will probably use my 28 Gatorskins again for the winter.
    I’m about 85-90kg and I ride about 12-15 miles a day 4-5 days a week in London. Plenty of potholes 🙂

    Thanks in advance!

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  • November 4, 2014 at 4:30 pm #819745
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    DrJDog

    I’ve had Fulcrum 5s on my
    I’ve had Fulcrum 5s on my year round commuter bike, have been roughly 90kg for two years of that and they have been pain free. Had Fulcrum 7s before that, but I gave them to my brother after 6 months, so I can’t say anything about them, really.

    November 4, 2014 at 11:35 am #819743
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    jamtartman

    I weigh 84 kilos and commute
    I weigh 84 kilos and commute all year round approx 18 miles a day. I had rs10s originally, but they kept breaking spokes at the nipple end. rs21s dont look much better constructed, if at all. I changed to ksyrium elites last year and they have been bullet proof and needed no maintenance. Not sure what that says about Aksiums specifically, but I would favour Mavic based on my experience.

    November 4, 2014 at 10:48 am #819741
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    Must be Mad

    Aksiums are OK, but horrible
    Aksiums are OK, but horrible in a crosswind.
    They have stood up to the rough and agricultural roads down here in the South west reasonably well (Potholes in London? You should see the roads down here!). After 18 months or so, they are no longer true, but not so far off they are a concern.

    Personally, I would go for Fulcrum Quattros

    November 4, 2014 at 9:24 am #819739
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    Chris James

    I’ve had some RS30s for a few
    I’ve had some RS30s for a few years, they appear indestructible and usually attract positive comments. I weigh about 75 kg but a mate who is an ex rugby player also has a pair on his winter bike and has had no problems.

    November 4, 2014 at 9:24 am #819737
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    Chris James

    I’ve had some RS30s for a few
    I’ve had some RS30s for a few years, they appear indestructible and usually attract positive comments. I weigh about 75 kg but a mate who is an ex rugby player also has a pair on his winter bike and has had no problems.

    November 4, 2014 at 9:11 am #819735
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    JamesE279

    I don’t know the other
    I don’t know the other options, but I bought a set of RS21 and am pretty happy.

    The standards RS3.0 rear wheel started ‘losing’ spokes after ~1,000 miles, they’d go at the bend, so I’m expecting that the straight-pull spokes of the RS21s will overcome this issue.

    They are noticeably stiffer and spin easier at high speeds than the standard wheels, and so far have proved durable. I’m about 90Kg, and have ridden a few hundred miles on them over the usual mix of city road surfaces this spring-summer, with no problems.

    The pair are a bit under £120 from wiggle, only a bit more than buying a single rear wheel.

    J

    November 4, 2014 at 9:10 am #819733
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    dafyddp

    I’ve just upgraded the cheap
    I’ve just upgraded the cheap wheel that came on my Forme winter bike to slightly less cheap Shimano RS11s, which were £90 from Merlin Cycles. The RS11s have a low spoke count, so if rider-weight is an issue, an alternative might be the even cheaper R501s which are on sale for £75/pair. They’re not the lightest wheels around, but if you just want dependability, they’re a bargain IMO

    November 4, 2014 at 8:52 am #819731
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    DanTe

    I would steer clear of
    I would steer clear of Aksiums. I Was around the same weight as you and had lots of issues commuting and riding them.
    They can’t take a big hit from a bigger rider and can be a bugger for going out of true.
    I think I would go something like Ultegra hubs, open Pro and plenty of spokes.
    Get a decent local bike shop/wheel builder to sort it out.
    At the lower price end I would take a bigger weight penalty in a durability comfy trade off.
    Then if all goes well you can then start spending 4-500 which will get you into the decent, lighter, ‘summer’ wheel territory.
    I hate that term ‘bomb proof’, should be banned from forums. I have two sets of bombproof wheels, Aksiums and Ksyrium Elites and both are a long way from being bombproof..

    November 3, 2014 at 9:03 pm #819729
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    Nixster

    Aksiums were what I fitted as
    Aksiums were what I fitted as an upgrade on my Synapse – loads available on Ebay second hand or ‘nearly new’. With some decent tyres they were a big step up from the Maddux rims it came with. For factory wheels they’re fairly bomb proof too and decent hand-builts are a bit more than you budget really. I found the Fulcrums harder to find and generally more expensive than the Mavics.

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