So when will the era of moderately-priced deep-dish aero wheels be upon us? It’s now become commonplace for folks to pay $600-$900 for aluminum-rimmed so-called boutique wheels, like the Ksyrium, Dura Ace, Bontrager, etc. The top of this price range overlaps the low end of wheels that offer much better aero performance, but that tend to be considered race-only wheels due to cost and/or perceived/real fragility. Wheels such as the Hed Alps can be had for less than $900, while the Zipp 404 and 303 retail for $1350 but can be purchased on ebay for $930 (although it is unclear to me if these are covered by warranty). In terms of performance, these wheels blow Ksyrium/DA/Bontrager etc. wheels out of the water, but they’re still more expensive than what I’m looking for. I’d like to see wheels with nearly comparable performance in the $600-800 range.
So far, I see only one entry in the moderately priced deep-dish wheel category, the 45 mm deep clincher Spinergy Tillium SS, which lists for $900 but is commonly discounted to $700-800. (The PBO version is too expensive to be considered for this category that I am inventing, and I suspect the fiber spokes sacrifice aero performance for weight). Searching this board about the Tillium shows some people have them and like them, and some people question their reliability. I tend to take forums such as roadbikereview.com with a grain of salt, as they are susceptible to manipulation by industry reps fabricating reviews of their own or competitor’s products, but nonetheless the reviews that are posted about the Tillium are not very confidence-inspiring.
We have one highly-regarded manufacturer of moderately priced disk wheels, Renn. So where is the Renn equivalent in the moderately priced deep-dish category? I’ve been hoping to see the competition heat up, but so far I’m not seeing any evidence of this actually occurring. Are there some good entries in this moderately priced aero wheel category in the pipeline, or is the marketplace so fixated on roadie lightweight, shallow-rimmed wheels that deep-dish wheels won’t make it into this mid-tier price point in quantity any time soon?
So far, I see only one entry in the moderately priced deep-dish wheel category, the 45 mm deep clincher Spinergy Tillium SS, which lists for $900 but is commonly discounted to $700-800. (The PBO version is too expensive to be considered for this category that I am inventing, and I suspect the fiber spokes sacrifice aero performance for weight). Searching this board about the Tillium shows some people have them and like them, and some people question their reliability. I tend to take forums such as roadbikereview.com with a grain of salt, as they are susceptible to manipulation by industry reps fabricating reviews of their own or competitor’s products, but nonetheless the reviews that are posted about the Tillium are not very confidence-inspiring.
We have one highly-regarded manufacturer of moderately priced disk wheels, Renn. So where is the Renn equivalent in the moderately priced deep-dish category? I’ve been hoping to see the competition heat up, but so far I’m not seeing any evidence of this actually occurring. Are there some good entries in this moderately priced aero wheel category in the pipeline, or is the marketplace so fixated on roadie lightweight, shallow-rimmed wheels that deep-dish wheels won’t make it into this mid-tier price point in quantity any time soon?
