So I’m looking to get a set of wheels for my road bike, so I don’t have to keep swapping back and forth from my tri bike. I think I have it pretty well narrowed down to what I’m looking for- clincher, as aero as I can manage on my budget, lower spoke count (I weigh 145 on average), good reputation/quality. Budget is under $500.
Performance Titan- 1750g, 27mm rim, bladed spokes 16/20h, $140 plus shipping
-This one is attractive because they’re well within my means and mostly good reviews. Downside is that I’d have to get rim tape/skewers separately and the’re not exactly sexy. I don’t need a stellar setup (can’t afford one anyways), but I have always liked name brands a little better.
Lighter, still well within my means, and comes with rim tape and skewers unlike the Titans. Probably stronger than the Titans, but not as many reviews around.
Easton EA90 TT front /Aero rear- ~1550g, 32mm rim, Sapim bladed spokes, 16/20h, $405 plus shipping
-Lighter, much higher quality hubs/rim/spokes than either of the previous wheels, great reputation, and I can get these for a great deal through work. Doesn’t leave much room in the budget for tires/tubes.
I really, really want those Eastons, but I don’t have much $$$ to work with at this point. I’d love even more to save up and get a set of the EC90 Aeros, which I can get for about $1k, but I don’t want to be “that guy” at group rides with his 56mm carbon wheels for training. (If your training wheels cost as much as the whole rest of your bike… you might be a fred). Plus it would be a stretch to replace them should something happen.
So what say you ST? Tap out my remaining bike budget for the year, get something I really want, and hope nothing breaks? Or go cheaper and less sexy? They’re going to mostly be training wheels after all, I don’t do cycling races (yet). Are there any wheels in this neighborhood that I have overlooked?
It’s just my opinion, but 32h box section rims hand-laced to some high quality hubs make the best training wheels. Even if you’re light, having a super high quality and durable wheelset for training makes the most sense. Again, in my opinion.
I’m currently riding IRD/Kinlin rims laced to White Industries hubs. The set weighs about 1560g, and cost me about $400 from www.prowheelbuilder.com He makes awesome wheels and I’ve never had any problems. The way they are built, I should be able to bequeath them to my son in my will.
I’ve also seen mavic open pros with ultegra, dura-ace, and 105 hubs at great prices from www.bicyclewheelwarehouse.com as well.
I think the only issue I have with the 32h box rims is that I do want to race at some point, and tri race wheels are Hed 3s. Don’t have anything against racing on box rims, but I’m not exactly what you’d call good, and could use any advantage I can get.
Agree with the other posters. Get a local wheel builder to lace you some 32 spoke Mavic open pros. Spend the money on a nice set of DT swiss 240 hubs. Bomb proof wheels for people who ride a lot.
I think the only issue I have with the 32h box rims is that I do want to race at some point, and tri race wheels are Hed 3s. Don’t have anything against racing on box rims, but I’m not exactly what you’d call good, and could use any advantage I can get.
My personal racing/coaching experience has taught me that if you don’t consider yourself “good”, you’re better off racing on 32h indestructible wheels than some kind of fancy carbon job. You can repair them easily when you inevitably crash, and road racing is FAR AND AWAY more about tactics than technology. I believe even Jackmott can agree with me on that point (in this scenario).
I apologize. It appears as though the prices have changed. To be completely transparent, his warehouse is local to me and I purchased my wheelset when he first started carrying the rims so he may not have set his pricing in stone. I apologize if my pricing was misleading. It looks like my original set was $480 and not the $400 I stated. They have still been worth the money.
No biggie. I certainly understand the idea behind the 32h wheelset for a noob like myself, especially if I’m not going to be contending for anything. On the other hand, if I can get a lighter, slightly faster wheelset of high quality, and keep it inside my budget…
Titan from P bike if your under 175 and not driving in to potholes should be fine. And if they break just take them back. Not going over budget should be the most important factor
By my count they are the best price/quality wheel that you can find. I have absolutely no experience with these wheels but I have read about them on forums and people say they are pretty good.
I’ve heard rumor that Performance Titans are rebadged Neuvations. If you google ‘neuvation titan’ you’ll see I’m not the only one to have heard this. Dunno if it’s true.
About four years ago I wrecked a front wheel and, being broke, got the Titan. Four years, many miles and many potholes later, it’s still round and rolls. Not the lightest wheel you’ll ever own, but I’ve been delighted. Big upvote.
I’ve also been a very happy Titan owner, after I bent a stock rim going too fast over a bridge expansion joint. I liked them so much that when I bought my last Fuji I asked the store manager if he could swap out the stock Shimano R500s for Titans. He said no because he thought that was a downgrade. His reasoning was that he’s seen them come back because the hub failed. But 1/ That never happened to me, 2/ I think the design was revised a long time ago to fix that (the issue IIRC was with the flange), and 3/ It’s Performance so I knew that they’d be exchanged if they ever failed.
Rim tape is $7 and lightweight skewers are $16. You’d still be way ahead than any of the other wheels and have a super solid setup.
So if it were me… it would be either the Titans or the $1,000 56 mm deep wheels. It seems like the deep wheels are what you dream of (so you’ll be stoked to have them even if you extend yourself financially) and the two “middle of the road” wheels are just compromises (one is not nice enough for double the price of the Titans, and one sis too pricey yet not sexy enough for a wheel that stretches you out).
RE: the every day deep wheel. I don’t (and you shouldn’t) mind being “that guy.” If I spent $1,000 on wheels and they were solid enough to be everyday wheels, I’d rock them everyday. And I think that’s why whoever designed the wheel designed it as a solid wheel, and it’s good to put the wheel top use. Actually, I sold my 9 speed road bike and got a 10 speed just so I could run my Reynolds Strike on the road bike. It’s sweet.