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…)
I’ll give the short list of specs that you should look for with a modern set of aluminum wheels.
Internal rim width of 17 – 21mm. Outer rim width of 22 – 25mm.
Rim depth of 25 – 35mm. Deeper looks cooler and might gain an aero edge – at the expense of weight.
Tubeless compatibility – if that’s your cup of tea.
Bladed steel spokes
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+)
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…
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 $1200 a little while ago from MBS. That with a disc cover seems like a great all around set if you want to train, tri, TT, and road race. But since aero is less important to me, and I wanted a little less weight, the AL33’s seemed like a good fit at half the cost.
I have been riding a set of Pacenti rims on my road bike that I built up myself for years now and love them. They even make a specific offset rear rim. A majority of time I for training don’t notice any real difference to expensive wheels I ride only when you have the hammer down at speed a deep set of carbon wheels are definitely faster. Check out the link this company that build them up custom pretty cheap. I do froth over a set of Hed Ardennes Black though.
Bontrager Aeolus Comp is a 50mm deep hybrid wheel that comes on a lot of the Trek bikes (Madone and Speed Concept). They aren’t super fancy but they are a very nice wheel. Durable, stable in crosswinds and the profile is supposed to be identical to Trek’s high end carbon wheels of that generation.
You can get a set new for around 550$, but the better deal is find a take-off set on EBay.
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.
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.
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 $100 second hand Bontrager RL’s over winter then update later in the year keeping the Bontys as spares.
I’m currently looking at the difference between Fulcrum Racing zero’s and Racing threes while trying to see if the extra cost for the Zero’s is justified, so hopefully this thread may provide some thoughts on this and also what other wheels are out there.
I run the cheapest (and often heaviest) wheelset I can find for training. Currently I have a set of Shimano RS10 wheels that are very heavy, but stay true on some of the crappy roads I ride. Race day is for the nice stuff.
For climbing, I have a set of Alto A26’s that I picked up used from a pro. Pretty light and good aero shape too.
Bontrager Aeolus Comp is a 50mm deep hybrid wheel that comes on a lot of the Trek bikes (Madone and Speed Concept). They aren’t super fancy but they are a very nice wheel. Durable, stable in crosswinds and the profile is supposed to be identical to Trek’s high end carbon wheels of that generation.
You can get a set new for around 550$, 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.
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.