Anyone use these as race wheels? Would a premium 30mm wheelset with an aerojacket be much gain over the standard Shimano r501s?
Any other “racing” 30mm wheel you’d recommend?
With Zipp 101’s, you can spend almost 900 dollars on, IMO, name brand products. Or for about a thousand, you could get a Flo 30 front and Rear, and a 60 front. Train on the 30’s, race on 60 front, covered rear. That’s what I’d do.
Any other recommendations since flos are seem to be so hard to get a hold of?
Sram S30s are basically the same wheel as the Zipp 30 and can be found much cheaper. I raced on a set for a while.
The Fulcrum Red Winds seem to be nice looking wheels, although I’ve not ridden them, and they’re a bit deeper than 30mm. Though I train on 52mm Mavics, older generation and love them.
The Flo’s are great. Flo 30’s can be gotten hold of. You could also order the Flo 30 rim to build up a front wheel, and then put an aerojacket on a rear wheel. That will make for a decently fast set up.
I think both those Zipp options are over-priced. If you can’t get Flo’s, build up Hed Belgium rims – they’re 25 mm wide and make great wheels.
You also might try eBay for a used set of race wheels.
Sram S30 wheelset new on eBay for 495. Seems like a pretty good deal.
But will a 30mm rim like these with a back cover be any better than the r501s that came on the bike?
Fulcrum Racing Quattro are a 30mm alloy all purpose wheelset, not super light at 1700grams +/-, but the price is great.
Online for <$375
82/101 planet X’s for 599. I really don’t want to deal with tubulars or changing brake pads.
I just got the flo30 rims in. I wasn’t sure what to expect since they are only 80 per rim, but they are way nicer than I was expecting. I can’t wait to get them built up.
I think flo30s with a wheel cover is a solid set of race wheels. You could just get the rims like I did and put whatever hubs you want in. I am putting Chris King hubs with ceramic bearings. After seeing how nice the rims are, I am sure Flo has quality hubs as well, however I am a full fledge Chris King fanboy.
I was wondering what you meant by building up the rim. Had no idea you could buy separate hubs. Where did you get your flo 30 rims and for how much?
You get them from Flo, they just started offering them for $80 last month.
https://www.flocycling.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=135
Sram S30 wheelset new on eBay for 495. Seems like a pretty good deal.
But will a 30mm rim like these with a back cover be any better than the r501s that came on the bike?
Two things to look for over the R501, which I believe are 1900 grams and 20.8 mm wide, and 30 mm deep:
- Wider rim of 24-25 mm – better rolling resistance, stability, and aerodynamics.
- Wheelset weight around 1500 grams.
Together those will be faster than the Shimanos. With an aerojacket, they’ll be even faster. They’ll also be great for all conditions. Also: when you get this wheelset, get good racing tires: that will help with speed.
The Flo rims should be getting easier to procure – they’ll get to a point soon where they don’t run out of them any more. I have Flo 30’s and love them.
Generally it is insane to pay a lot for a 30mm wheelset. The Zipp 101 is a pretty good wheel but for the price there are faster options.
The Flo 30 is pretty good for the money, so that is a great budget option.
The Zipp 30 is completely pointless.
Wider rims don’t really improve rolling resistance, and they only improve aerodynamics IF you are using wider tires and IF the wheel was shaped to accomplish better aerodynamics with wider tires.
The Mavic Cosmic Elite happens to be pretty aero and not crazy expensive, so if you can’t get a hold of a Flo 30 they are a nice budget option as well.