Aluminum wheels - 2019

Mar 18, 19 18:47

Post #1 of 43 (15661 views)

Or aluminium as we call it in the rest of the world...

A good article and list of criteria was presented today:
https://www.slowtwitch.com/...t_in_2019__7197.html
(The only extra thing not mentioned that I've heard anecdotally is that carbon is worth getting for the ride quality as much as the aero. And also the womp...)

Quote:

I’ll give the short list of specs that you should look for with a modern set of aluminum wheels.
1. Internal rim width of 17 – 21mm. Outer rim width of 22 – 25mm.
2. Rim depth of 25 – 35mm. Deeper looks cooler and might gain an aero edge – at the expense of weight.
3. Tubeless compatibility – if that’s your cup of tea.
4. Bladed steel spokes
5. Beware of super lightweight hubs that contain tiny bearings that won’t last.

And I love cheap performance gains (currently on heavy, narrow 30mm rims), so this topic is right up my alley.

So, what's out there that meets this criteria? Personally I'm happy to go deeper (min 35, or 30 if there's aero credentials) at the expense of weight, but these get rare, or just don't exist without being grossly overweight and also very narrow (think cheap "fixie" wheels).

On the market that I'm aware of: (with claimed depth/width/internal/weight) <updated 21 March>
(Bold for those with depth 30+ and width 22+)

Wheels

Name Depth External Internal Weight
Alto A26 24.5 24.5 21.1 1447
American Classic 420 Aero3 34 22 19 1530
American Classic Argent 30 22 19.4 1392
American Classic Victory 30 30 22.7 18.1 1547
Boyd Altamont 30 24 19.86 1530
DT Swiss PR1600 32 21.5 18 1723
Easton EA90SL 27 24.5 19.5 1490
Fulcrum Racing 4 / Campy Scirocco 35 23.2 17 1725
HED Jet 4+ 46 25 20.7 1600
Kinetic One K1-45SL 45 21 17 1800
Kotavelo R42SE 41 24 18 1714
Mavic Cosmic Elite 30 23 17 1770
Novatec Jetfly 32 21.5 17 1435
Prolite Bracciano A42W 42 24 18.9 1919
Velocity Aileron 28 25 20 1835 (disc only)
Velocity Quill 25.5 24.5 21 1650
Veltec Speed AL-TR 42 23 16 1830
Vision Team 35 Comp 35 22 17 1850
Vision Trimax 35 KB 35 22 17 1530
Vision Trimax 35 KB 30 24 19 1495

Rims
Name Depth External Internal Weight
(Flo 30) 30 24 19.4 570
(Zipp 101) 30 24.5 x x
Aforce AL33 30 24.5 19.6 505
Boyd Altamont 30 24 19.86 485
DT Swiss RR511 32 22 18 530
Easton R90SL 27 24 19.5 455
HED Ardennes Plus 24.5 25 21
Kinlin XC279 28 23 17 490
Kinlin XR31T 31 24 19 500

Last edited by: MattyK: Mar 27, 19 15:34

Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [MattyK] [ In reply to ]

Mar 18, 19 19:03

Post #2 of 43 (15623 views)

I've been running Flo 30's for the last few years and they've been fantastic. Lots of fast riding on gravel and dirt roads and not even a little bit out of true. With the 19mm internal width, it makes 25mm gp4000's (with latex) so comfortable and fast on and off road. A 30mm rim depth means I don't need valve extenders. Only issue is the 24mm outer width doesn't quite match the 27mm width of the tire I run. If I could get this exact wheel in a 26-27mm width it would be absolutely perfect. When I searched though, I couldn't find anything wider than 24. Those Aforce AL33 rims sound very intriguing...

-Bryan Journey
Travel Blog | Training Blog | Facebook Page

Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [MattyK] [ In reply to ]

Mar 18, 19 19:12

Post #3 of 43 (15599 views)

MattyK wrote:

On the market that I'm aware of: (with claimed depth/width/internal/weight)

Fulcrum Racing 4 (35/23.2/17/1725)
Vision Team 35 Comp (35/22/17/1850)
Kotavelo R42 or R42SE (41/24/18/1714)
Kinetic One K1-45SL (45/21/?/~1800) Also K42: (42/21/?/~1900)
Prolite Bracciano A42W (42/24/18.9/1919)
Novatec Jetfly (32/21.5/17/1435)

Rims:

AForce Al33 (32.5/26.2/19.6/505)
Flo 30 (30/24/19.4/570) (no longer made)
Kinlin XR31T (31/24/19/580)
DT Swiss RR511 (32/22/18/530)

Anything else worthwhile? (mostly on the complete wheel side)

If you stretch your requirements out to 45mm deep you got a HED JET 4+ Black at:

- 45mm deep
- 1600 grams
- Bladed spokes
- Etched brake surface for superior wet/dry braking
- Black so the look of carbon
- 25mm wide at rim
- 21mm wide internal
- Tubeless
- Proven aero with provenance

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Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [Thomas Gerlach] [ In reply to ]

Mar 18, 19 19:16

Post #4 of 43 (15594 views)

Thomas Gerlach wrote:

If you stretch your requirements out to 45mm deep you got a HED JET 4+ Black

At that price you're deep into carbon price territory... I wish that was a decision I could afford to ponder.

Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [MattyK] [ In reply to ]

Mar 18, 19 19:39

Post #5 of 43 (15556 views)

I had a set of AForce AL33's built up on bitex hubs. 20/24 Sapim bladed spokes, brass nipples, with tubeless tape (even though I run tubes) weighed in at 1515 grams with no skewers. They're a solid build. Stiff, accelerate well, and makes for a comfortable ride with 25 mm Conti's and latex. No need to worry about valve extenders or extra long valved tubes. External nipples for easy truing and went with heavier brass instead of aluminum since we have rust issues here. I use them everyday on my road bike and bike race on them as well. I can't speak to their aero properties since it's pretty much impossible to compare while riding, but I'm certainly not getting blown around by cross winds.

For triathlons/TT, I'd probably opt for HED Jets just for a little more depth. The Jet 5 Blacks could be had for around $1200 a little while ago from MBS. That with a disc cover seems like a great all around set if you want to train, tri, TT, and road race. But since aero is less important to me, and I wanted a little less weight, the AL33's seemed like a good fit at half the cost.

Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [MattyK] [ In reply to ]

Mar 18, 19 20:34

Post #6 of 43 (15513 views)

I have been riding a set of Pacenti rims on my road bike that I built up myself for years now and love them. They even make a specific offset rear rim. A majority of time I for training don't notice any real difference to expensive wheels I ride only when you have the hammer down at speed a deep set of carbon wheels are definitely faster. Check out the link this company that build them up custom pretty cheap. I do froth over a set of Hed Ardennes Black though.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_odkw=&_ssn=oregondiecastmodels&item=262848975130&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2046732.m570.l1313.TR9.TRC0.A0.H0.Xpacenti.TRS1&_nkw=pacenti&_sacat=0

They build up Hed ardennes too...

https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_odkw=pacenti&_ssn=oregondiecastmodels&item=262848975130&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2046732.m570.l1313.TR7.TRC1.A0.H0.Xhed+ardennes.TRS0&_nkw=hed+ardennes&_sacat=0

Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [MattyK] [ In reply to ]

Mar 18, 19 21:07

Post #7 of 43 (15478 views)

Bontrager Aeolus Comp is a 50mm deep hybrid wheel that comes on a lot of the Trek bikes (Madone and Speed Concept). They aren’t super fancy but they are a very nice wheel. Durable, stable in crosswinds and the profile is supposed to be identical to Trek’s high end carbon wheels of that generation.

You can get a set new for around 550$, but the better deal is find a take-off set on EBay.

Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [MattyK] [ In reply to ]

Mar 18, 19 21:37

Post #8 of 43 (15464 views)

I broke a spoke on a pair of well worn wheels last year and was looking for a quick replacement.

Picked up a pair of American Classic Victory 30 for an absolute steal.
Not sure about the hubs but the rest of the wheel match the specs.
I think however they are now discontinued,

Funny, was talking to a riding buddy yesterday who has fancy carbon clincher ENVE's who said he would have preferred to buy my wheels. LOL.

Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [MattyK] [ In reply to ]

Mar 18, 19 23:35

Post #9 of 43 (15389 views)

MattyK wrote:

Thomas Gerlach wrote:

If you stretch your requirements out to 45mm deep you got a HED JET 4+ Black

At that price you're deep into carbon price territory... I wish that was a decision I could afford to ponder.

That is just for the Blacks with the special brake track which is a premium. You could go with the the Jet 6+ plus although now you are talking 1660g and 60mm deep. $1100 for those.

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Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [MattyK] [ In reply to ]

Mar 19, 19 0:28

Post #10 of 43 (15363 views)

Campagnolo shamal

Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [MattyK] [ In reply to ]

Mar 19, 19 0:32

Post #11 of 43 (15359 views)

Thanks Slowtwitch for the article and MattyK for the thread.

I have recently sold my Zipp 302's to move back to alloy wheels (pretty glad I did) and am trying to decide what to buy.

I will stick with my $100 second hand Bontrager RL's over winter then update later in the year keeping the Bontys as spares.

I'm currently looking at the difference between Fulcrum Racing zero's and Racing threes while trying to see if the extra cost for the Zero's is justified, so hopefully this thread may provide some thoughts on this and also what other wheels are out there.

Cheers

Travis

Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [frenchieTT] [ In reply to ]

Mar 19, 19 3:21

Post #12 of 43 (15265 views)

frenchieTT wrote:

Campagnolo shamal

I don't think your definition of the word "deep" correlates with mine...

(sorry, maybe I didn't make my thoughts clear in the first post. Looking at the list of 30+ mm deep rims only, preferably 35+)

Last edited by: MattyK: Mar 19, 19 3:36

Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [MattyK] [ In reply to ]

Mar 19, 19 3:27

Post #13 of 43 (15258 views)

You might consider also:
Campy Scirocco (same hubs and rim of Fulcrum 4's but with G3 spoke pattern on rear wheel)
Veltec Speed AL-TR; 42mm deep, 23mm external , 20/24 sapim cx, 1830g
Mavic Cosmic Elite; 30mm deep, 17mm internal, 1770g

Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [MattyK] [ In reply to ]

Mar 19, 19 6:53

Post #14 of 43 (15124 views)

I run the cheapest (and often heaviest) wheelset I can find for training. Currently I have a set of Shimano RS10 wheels that are very heavy, but stay true on some of the crappy roads I ride. Race day is for the nice stuff.

For climbing, I have a set of Alto A26's that I picked up used from a pro. Pretty light and good aero shape too.

Blog: http://262toboylstonstreet.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/NateThomasTri
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Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [MattyK] [ In reply to ]

Mar 19, 19 7:08

Post #15 of 43 (15112 views)

MattyK wrote:

frenchieTT wrote:

Campagnolo shamal

I don't think your definition of the word "deep" correlates with mine...

(sorry, maybe I didn't make my thoughts clear in the first post. Looking at the list of 30+ mm deep rims only, preferably 35+)

How about fast?

An old design but up until IIRC 2010 it was equal to Zipp 808.

Edit: sorry the shamal has changed a lot. Not the same wheel it used to be.

Maurice

Last edited by: mauricemaher: Mar 19, 19 7:13

Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [MattyK] [ In reply to ]

Mar 19, 19 7:21

Post #16 of 43 (15092 views)

Gotta say, I still love my classic carbon zipps (808/1080) with AL brake tracks. Plenty aero and stops on a dime.

Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA.
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Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [grumpier.mike] [ In reply to ]

Mar 19, 19 7:31

Post #17 of 43 (15077 views)

grumpier.mike wrote:

Bontrager Aeolus Comp is a 50mm deep hybrid wheel that comes on a lot of the Trek bikes (Madone and Speed Concept). They aren’t super fancy but they are a very nice wheel. Durable, stable in crosswinds and the profile is supposed to be identical to Trek’s high end carbon wheels of that generation.

You can get a set new for around 550$, but the better deal is find a take-off set on EBay.

That's what I was thinking - some take-off Bonty's. I might be out-of-date, but I'm guessing the Aeolus Comp is the new version of what I reviewed a few years back - the Aura 5.

The Flo 30 is a good choice, but I think it's only available as a rim-only. The Boyd Altamont is also interesting - $650, 30mm deep, 24mm external width, 20mm internal width, 1,645 grams. The Vision Trimax wheels I just got (and are in that article) are about 50 grams heavier and 2mm narrower, but seem to be good quality overall. I also failed to mention that the depth of the rims is listed at 35mm, but that's only right where the spoke holes are - the rim is machined out in-between, so the depth is more like 32mm for the bulk of the wheel.

Perhaps the biggest problem with "nice" aluminum wheels is that there isn't a lot of long-term consistency in the offerings. I feel like once the Zipp 101 really caught on, it was discontinued. There have been a good number of deep-ish alloy rims over time, but outside of the narrow Velocity Deep V, nothing seems to survive long-term. Cheaper carbon rims are just too close in price.

Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [MattyK] [ In reply to ]

Mar 19, 19 11:02

Post #18 of 43 (14969 views)

I'd add a couple of rims to your list.

Easton R90 SL is a 25mm wide 27mm tall rim. That is the closest to Greg's 25mm x 30mm wish that I have found.

The Kinlin XR-26T is close as well, at 24mm wide and 26mm tall.

Neither are terribly heavy at 452 and 455 grams respectively (from Fair Wheels Bike's site) and both are tubeless compatible.

But the Zipp 101 is still my favorite rim and makes for a sleeper aero wheelset.

Suffer Well.

Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [MattyK] [ In reply to ]

Mar 19, 19 11:08

Post #19 of 43 (14961 views)

Once you add the HED's that's a good list. I'm a huge fan of aluminum wheels. Are you thinking racing or training? I love the Kinlin XR31T for training and would go HED for racing. This is all rim brakes of course. Aluminum rims haven't really been updated for disc brakes yet.

Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [MattyK] [ In reply to ]

Mar 19, 19 11:43

Post #20 of 43 (14925 views)

Make sure to look at the Boyd Altamonts. Available in both a machined braking surface, OR PEO coated ceramic:

- Boyd Altamont (30/24/19.86/485)

I'm running a set of wheels built around the ceramic version and they are VERY nice.

http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [natethomas] [ In reply to ]

Mar 19, 19 11:45

Post #21 of 43 (14923 views)

I road race (Crits) on a 2017 Roubaix Elite running DT Swiss 470 db wheels, as well as ride the bike on open group club rides. I see lots of fancy wheels, both alloy and carbon and I don't see what they have over my OEM wheels. What I have over them is the ability to screw up and hit a hole once in a while, and as long as the tire survives I know the rim did as well. Even when the tire doesn't make it the rim is always still there to go again.

Now my TT bike has the bling wheels, but that is because a Transition looks stupid with the stock wheels on it (and the Flo's do make it marginally faster).

"...the street finds its own uses for things"

Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [gregk] [ In reply to ]

Mar 19, 19 12:29

Post #22 of 43 (14889 views)

Flo 30 at 40$ per rim....

“Buy now”

“Not currently available”

Maurice

Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [MattyK] [ In reply to ]

Mar 19, 19 13:20

Post #23 of 43 (14852 views)

I have a set of just about new American classic Argent wheels that I'm swapping out, I think they fit all of the criteria you listed perfectly.

Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [MattyK] [ In reply to ]

Mar 19, 19 13:30

Post #24 of 43 (14835 views)

https://www.dtswiss.com/...0/pr-1600-spline-32/

DT Swiss PR 1600 (or ER E P prefix 1600 (R32 in older versions)) come with a 32mm "522" V rim.
PR (32/22/18/1725)

I've been riding the R32 disc version for a few years (5000 miles+) SUPER solid under my 85kg, all the spokes are still inline and taught, they're $350-400 shipped, end caps for everything (plus you can make $40/set selling the extras off), tubeless good, Strava noticed the difference over my 24mm deep wheels, and they look really nice. Only complaint, you'll get some steering input in crosswinds - enough to move me around 3-4", but they've widened and U'd the rim 1mm or so since.
Definitely recommended at the price point. These are comparable to the Fulcrums at the same price, but not as nice as the AForce, Zipp 30, Bontrager, or Boyd wheelsets at 2x the price.

Last edited by: jfranci3: Mar 19, 19 14:05

Re: Aluminum wheels - 2019 [Tom A.] [ In reply to ]

Mar 19, 19 13:36

Post #25 of 43 (14820 views)

Tom A. wrote:

Make sure to look at the Boyd Altamonts. Available in both a machined braking surface, OR PEO coated ceramic:

- Boyd Altamont (30/24/19.86/485)

I'm running a set of wheels built around the ceramic version and they are VERY nice.

Careful! People will think I bought you off. Ha ha.
Nice getting to meet you at the NAHBS show.

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