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What Wheelset to Buy?
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I am finally ready to upgrade from the stock wheels on my Felt IA 16, rim brakes. I race mostly 70.3 and 140.6 and am looking to buy some speed.

Budget dictates that I stay at ~$1,500 or less and I have narrowed it down to:
Bontrager Aeolus Pro 5 TLR -- OR -- Reynolds AR 58

Wanted to get everyone's thoughts, personal experiences, input on which one to go with... also any other wheels I should be considering?
Thanks!
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Re: What Wheelset to Buy? [tritexas] [ In reply to ]
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I've had good luck with these: https://flocycling.com/
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Re: What Wheelset to Buy? [tritexas] [ In reply to ]
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I can’t speak to those wheels, but for that kind of coin, you should be able to get a new / slightly used Zipp 606 set. Others will argue that Heds or Enve foundation wheels are better. I’d be looking in that direction.
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Re: What Wheelset to Buy? [tritexas] [ In reply to ]
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If your goal is buying speed, I would vote those two options a resounding PASS.

I would go much deeper. 50-ish mm wheels do not really do that much compared to the potential speed of deeper wheels.

I have a Felt IA16, and my first set of wheels was a 60mm front 90mm rear. I regretted the conservative decision almost immediately. After riding that set about a year, I upgraded to 90mm / disc. I wish I had gone big from the start.

Unless MyBikeShop is having a great sale, you probably will not hit a $1,500 budget with a 90/disc set. But, I would at least get a 60/90 or 90/90. (Hint, a 60 looks anemic on the front of an IA16.)

Also, unless you have a strong aesthetic bias toward full carbon, or you never ride major descents, I would get something like the HED JET with aluminum brake tracks. My first set was all carbon. My second set was a pair of HED JET Black wheels. Love the braking of the Black wheelset.

For example, MyBikeShop has a set of HED JET RC9 Black wheels for $1,500. That would be my starting point. Give them a call or email, and they might have a bundle deal on a rear disc combo that could work.
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Re: What Wheelset to Buy? [tritexas] [ In reply to ]
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I got a set of hed jet 6 and they're the bomb. I love em. I train on them full time, too. Probably 8 to 10000 miles on em and they're as smooth rolling and pretty as the day I got em, no maintenance needed at all yet for me. Freehub sounds cool too! You can find them for well under 1500. Only downside is that the fairing is not structural. I think plenty of other wheels at this price point are similar but something to be mindful of. I've flown with them in a soft case and routinely strap them to my roof rack with no problem. They're modernly wide, and tubeless compatible.

No personal experience with them but at your price id look at Hunt as well. Could be hard to get your hands on those I know they were low on stock but a good option to look into at that price.
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Re: What Wheelset to Buy? [tritexas] [ In reply to ]
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Very very few race wheels get heavily used and the reality is that wheels can take significant punishment. I would be looking at used wheels or brand new wheels that are being sold because they came stock on a new bike and the owner doesn’t need them.

It is admittedly getting much harder to buy new oem rim brake wheels because most of the top end bikes have gone disc. The market is awash with older zip 808s and similar quality wheels though.
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Re: What Wheelset to Buy? [tritexas] [ In reply to ]
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If you're considering lightly used, I've got a set of "raceday only" Zipp 808 Firecrests that have just been hanging in the garage for too long now.
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Re: What Wheelset to Buy? [tritexas] [ In reply to ]
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I have the bontrager pro 5s. Nice wheels, but the bed jet blacks are much nicer. Go for them, as others suggested. Or, go with FLO. the 64/77 combo would be where I'd look.

Let us know what you decide

By the way. Hed is made in USA, and you'll get a good response from them.

FLO is imported, but they are great guys. I've owned 2 sets. Still using the older 30s as training wheels and they spin forever.
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Re: What Wheelset to Buy? [tritexas] [ In reply to ]
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I have a buch of the 3 sets of regular HED Jet+ wheels and I picked up a used set of the Jet+ Blacks this year for about $800. The turbine brake track on the Blacks is a huge upgrade compared to the standard aluminum brake track. I have a rim brake Madone and a disc SystemSix and the Madone with the Blacks stops as well as well as the Six. Maybe the modulation of the disc is a bit better, but the weight (at least 1.5 lbs) and hassle of hydralics makes me question the wisdom of disc brakes. If you are a slave to fashion, the black brake track matches really well with the carbon rim, so nobody will know you aren't rocking a full carbon rim.

I haven't tried anything like the Zipp ShowStopper brake track, but those are probably outside your budget even used.
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Re: What Wheelset to Buy? [tritexas] [ In reply to ]
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Yep, hard pass on your choice.
What others said - with your budget, get HED jets.
9/6 set, or 6/6, or disc/6, etc etc.....
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Re: What Wheelset to Buy? [PBT_2009] [ In reply to ]
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What size tires do you run on your HED Jet Black wheelset with the Felt IA 16? I was hoping to use 25mm but am getting some conflicting information from HED if they will fit.
Thank you!
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Re: What Wheelset to Buy? [tritexas] [ In reply to ]
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My wife has 25mm GP4k on her IA1x with Jet Blacks. They fit despite being larger than the new gen tires in the same nominal size
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Re: What Wheelset to Buy? [tritexas] [ In reply to ]
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You need a front 60 and a rear disc. I would do hed.
I don’t get why anyone would not buy the race setup first and training setup next.
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Re: What Wheelset to Buy? [tritexas] [ In reply to ]
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I am running 23mm front and 25mm rear GP5K on my IA16 with jet Black Plus wheels. They fit with room to spare. You could easily run the old 25mm GP4K2 front and rear, if you wanted to.
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Re: What Wheelset to Buy? [tritexas] [ In reply to ]
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This option is a bit outside of your price range, but the an AeroCoach Zephyr front and Aeox rear disc for rim brakes comes in at $1,601 USD right now. That should be a very fast combination, based on what testing and reviews seem to indicate.

https://www.aero-coach.co.uk/store/AeroCoach-AEOX%C2%AE-ZEPHYR-aero-wheels-p201820888
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Re: What Wheelset to Buy? [tritexas] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for all of the inputs, great stuff.... you sold me on 58 front 78 back and the HED's look great...
BUT another question for everyone:
- a friend of a friend is willing to sell me their Profile Design 24 58/78's (original version about 7 yrs old, 3 seasons of racing) for under $500, they are in good condition.
- is it a good deal, thoughts on these wheels? (or just stick with HEDs)

Thanks again!
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Re: What Wheelset to Buy? [tritexas] [ In reply to ]
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Here's a good review here of those original wheels: https://www.slowtwitch.com/...our_Series_3817.html

$500 for a good used set is probably a good value.

HEDs are wider, and especially interior volume. And, HEDs have aluminum brake tracks, if that is important. But, HEDs are going to be ~$1K USD more. So, it is a matter of weighing the ideal solution versus incremental cost. In other words, is there another major performance upgrade you would pursue if you had an unexpected $700-$1K on hand?
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