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?
I likely costs more to manufacture a deep dish wheel than a disc. I would look at HED/Reynolds/Corima/Zipp for top quality deep dish wheels.
Hmmm, no Spinergy on your list, that says something.
Perhaps I should clarify my earlier post, I think $700-900 for Ksyriums, Dura Ace, etc. aluminum-rimmed wheels is considerably more than these wheels should cost. It should be quite feasible to manufacture and sell deep-dish wheels of decent quality at the same price point. Whether that will actually happen is another matter. It may be that the marketplace demand for these wheels doesn’t support the economies of scale necessary to produce these wheels profitably at a moderate price point, they are perceived as niche-market, race-only products. The markeplace is so focused on weight that the real performance advantage of deep-dish wheels goes unrecognized. Or it may be that the willingness of consumers to overpay for so-called ‘boutique’ wheels and many other premium branded components is showing the industry that the path to higher profits lies in premium branding and pricing rather than gaining larger market share through providing products that offer superior price/performance ratios.
Odd, isn’t it? My P2K is stone age by a triathlete’s standards (2000) and has a pair of Campag Zondas on it. They were great-deep rim, 16 bladed spokes and only 300 quid a pair (~US$500). But now the Zonda is completely different, having no V-shaped deep rim and more spokes. Not an aerodynamic wheel at all; a completely different animal. I have no idea why things like the Ksyrium are so popular, being not particularly light, not aero, insanely expensive and hard/impossible to repair as they don’t use standard parts.
Gipiemme make a similar wheel to the old-style Shamal/Zonda, I believe.
I think the Hed Stinger is a move in this direction. Cheaper than the Alps and Zipps. If you order online there are some good deals. I was able to get a set (all3sports.com I think) with tires thrown in. When you factor the cost of tubulars in and I didn’t have to buy new ones, it’s a very fair deal.
I just bought a used Vento (with a 40mm deep Shamal rim) for about $100.00. After researching this forum and the net in general I determined that this was by far the best bang for the buck deal out there on aero front wheels. The Rolf and Spinergy were too pricey for my tastes. I was also on the lookout for an old Specialized or Hed Trispoke wheel but never found the deal I wanted.
Velocity makes some pretty good wheels. I put a few thousand miles on a set of Spartacus Pros before my wife taco’d them with the bumper of her car in the garage… Have seen them online for under $300 - a great buy for the money.
I think this is a great post and a great topic. You cite Renn as a manufacturer of a great mid-priced wheel. I think that is a great example of what the bike industry needs. It’s very unlikely that an established company will be one to come out with reasonably priced products. I’m not saying that a set of 404s should cost $600. It just seems to me that there ought to be some middle ground between no offering and 4 figure wheels. Hed Stingers were mentioned, and I think they are a great wheelset, but they are by no means “moderately priced” IMO.
Would an aero rim, built around an Ultegra quality hub sell? I’d like to think it would. Something with a nice deep profile, hell the profile could match a 404 exactly, but is not as light as some of the high end wheels.
I think the Rolf Prima Vigor or the Tillium is as close as one can get right now. I personally love Rolfs and would love to pick up a set of Vigors but I’ve got other things to spend my money on at this point. Not everyone likes Rolf, it’s one of those cult things. I dunno, but I tried the Kool-Aid and I thought it tasted neato. The Spinergys certainly look great but I’ve got some reservations about Spinergy.
The Vigor looks more aero than most of the “boutique” category, with its medium rim and minimal spokes, but I don’t think 34 mm deep really offers enough aero advantage to fit my category. The Jet 60 seems like one affordable option, although according to Hed’s site they aren’t quite as aero as hed’s other comparable offerings, perhaps because they have more spokes? While I am trying to be a reformed weight weenie, the Jets are still on the hefty side (a little under 1900 grams a set for tubular, a bit over for clincher).
While I’d thinking 50 mm or deeper would be ideal, the Tillium seems like an option @ 45 mm deep, and the weight seems reasonable for the price, but reliability is a questionmark for me.
I didn’t see any reports from Interbike that seemed promising. I do think there is a market opportunity in this category I’m defining, but I’m hardly an expert on the bike industry…
I don’t think it would be so hard for them to make them. If Zipp went back and produced today the 404’s they were making back in 1994 it would not be had to sell them in that price range. I have one of those wheels in my garage and it is 50mm deep, all carbon and tubular, approx 700g. It’s an awesome wheel still today but not as good as the current 404. But it would certainly make an excellent mid priced alternative. HED could do the same if he brought back the CX.
Pooks, what if you were able to get an $80 tubie thrown in with the Stingers? All of sudden, the wheels are pretty well priced. Of course you have to get the “tire” deal.
And I’ll have my cassette off your disk this weekend. Don’t know if you saw my earlier post, but I had an exciting Sunday morning in T1!!
I have a tilium SS on the front of my “budget” TT/Tri bike with a used HED on the back. It has given me no problems to date, although I dont use it a lot. Run it with a 700x20 conti and you have a fairly fast combo at a reasonable price. I would love a H3 or zipp 404 but couldnt justify or afford the price difference.