How to compare wheels? Mavic Aksium v. Easton Vista

Triathlon Forum
1

background story (you can skip this part and go to the question below
At the beginning of this season, I was riding a Giant OCR1 road bike that I used for 3 years using the wheels that came with the bike.

Anticipating another year using this bike, I purchased a set of race wheels that were way better than what I had been using.

The wheels are the Mavic Aksium.

Then about a month ago, I went out and bought a new bike, the Cervelo P2SL.

The new bike comes with Easton Vista wheels.

I am now concerned that the Mavics – once great new wheels for me – are not worthy of the new bike.

I wonder if the Easton Vista wheels that come standard with the Cervelo are better… making it ridiculous for me to carry around the Mavic s in wheel coverbags and swap them in for races.

I will probably get better wheels in the future, but for now:

QUESTION FOLLOWS

How do I compare the wheels I have? what specs do I look at?

Here are the specs pages from the company Web sites:
http://www.eastonbike.com/PRODUCTS/WHEELS/wheel_vista.html

http://mavic.com/ewb_pages/p/produit_roue_aksium.php?onglet=2&gamme=triathlon

Thanks for any help and guidance you can provide.

2

Both wheels are fairly low-end and don’t offer any real aerodynamic benefit because of their shallow rim depth. There’s likely no difference in aerodynamic qualities between the two sets of wheels, nor is there enough of a weight difference to care about.

No use swapping wheels back-and-forth.

3

Similar wheelset, similar quality, similar price range. These rwo are good training wheels, not the greatest, not the lightest, but sturdy and reliable training wheels.

4

so the flat spokes of the Mavic don’t really make a difference?

I mean, other than being cool looking?

5

They might make a difference, but I doubt it’s enough of one to justify the energy spent moving wheels between bikes. Neither wheel is a race wheel and in the low-end range one wheels is pretty much as good as another, especially when the wheels have similar rim depths.

You can pay for the aero wind tunnel data at biketechreview.com and compare different wheels’ aerodynamic data. Personally, unless you’re going for a set of all-out, deep-dish race wheels, I’d stick with what you currently have (either set).

6

I like the Vista’s as a training wheel, I have been beating the piss out of mine and they are still as true as when I first got them.

7

What makes a wheel deep dish?