downhillmaster

Who knew a measly 500g was that much fun to a recreational rider?
Can you imagine if he simply brought one less water bottle?
It would potentially be euphoric.
Oh wait.
Water bottles are not rotational...

bigevil

Oh don’t worry, I only bring one on my road rides atm

SoSmellyAir

That is why the key to a good ride is taking a big poo beforehand.

downhillmaster

You are good then.
Of course only as long as you shave your legs...

WhyFi

I must tip my cap in awe at the amount of dumbness contained within this post. Kudos!

downhillmaster

Good job.
Because if you bring two, the extra weight will mean that your rides will cease to be fun

downhillmaster

You’re not good at this

bigevil

Lmfao I was only half serious. I take one for 20mi and under rides and 2 for longer rides.
Once again just I didn't want to invest in some solid wheels on my checkpoint if it’s ultimately moot. My take (thanks to all of your folks help!) is that I’ll see improvement, albeit measured. No wheel set will make me instantly a better or stronger rider. or even have me instantly flying, that’s my job and is going to take time and training.
That said, I might find it nicer and more enjoyable than the current stock wheel setup I've got and bridge the gap until I buy a dedicated climber (at which point the checkpoint will become my gravel grinder and likely endurance bike since it really is quite similiar to a domane when you throw road wheels on it.)

kingston 

I like your thinking, but I'd get the light bike first. I rode the 2020 cookie fondo double fudge on a pretty light titanium frame with SR & shamals and wished I had a lighter bike the whole time, well at least most of the time when I was going uphill. We don't have anything like that in the midwest.

bigevil

yes but throwing the 303s or Aeolus on my Checkpoint at the moment is do-able while the S-Works Aethos Di2 or Open MIND is going to require a kidney.

Seattle Forrest

Saving a couple pounds of bike weight isn't going to make you a lot faster up those hills. It'll make the bike feel more ... fun. A little more lively, easier to move under you, and, you know, it's nice to have a really nice bike. But it's not going to cut that much time off a ride up a mountain pass.

Having a gravel bike means you have more roads available to you. For me that's a big deal. It's fun to have a nice gravel bike too. The aero is nice to have when you're riding on pavement. It's not that much aero but if you're a cyclist it's all about the dopamine hit that comes from spending $$$ on something really nice for your bike. And then you wind up working harder because you're on better stuff that wants to go faster. And then you wind up more fit because you're riding harder. It's a self fulfilling prophecy.

I do most of my miles on pavement, but really enjoy the ones I ride on dirt and gravel roads. So it's a no brainer for me. I'm running 28s on wide rims. Really fast, supple tires, they work great on hard pack roads. The only way I really feel held back on pavement is the gearing.

WhyFi

You are awesome at spewing nonsense in such density that no one bothers to address it all. Kudos!

bigevil

the checkpoint fwiw is 19lbs!
and yes you’re right about fun. I took an Emonda for a quick spin a few weeks ago at trek and felt like a kid ripping around corners and dodging potholes (los angeles streets suck)

bigevil

is it too late to mention that I'm mostly riding on zwift, is that a factor in this?


kidding.

Rides4Beer

I spent most of last year using my gravel bike, Giant Revolt, as my road bike, with a second wheelset with 32mm tires, just like the OP. Then decided to get a new road bike, 2021 SuperSix Evo 105 disc. Using the same road wheelset/tires that I had on my gravel bike (FFWD F3ADs w/32mm GP5000s), the SSE is def faster (some of it's the aero touches they put into the new SSE, some of it's the 38mm aero cockpit I added, some of it is the lower position due to the geometry, but all together, it's def faster). It's only a lil over a pound lighter (with the same wheelset, obviously the weight difference is larger with the gravel tires), but the ride feel is very different, handling and speed.

If you can only have one bike, then def a gravel bike with two wheelsets. If you can swing a dedicated road bike, then go for it. I sold my last road bike because it was too similar to my gravel bike, it was a Giant Defy endurance bike, similar geometry and position. So I decided that if I got another road bike, it would be more focused on speed (yes, a full aero bike would be a few watts faster, but then there was also budget and availability lol). All depends on what you want to do, and your budget.

msu2001la

A race-oriented road bike is definitely faster than a gravel bike on the road. I don't think anyone is really questioning that, are they? Lighter, more aero, shorter, taller gearing, etc. Pretty sure the OP understands this too.

That said, I think a Checkpoint is a fine dual-use bike perfectly capable of being used as a road bike. A new lighter aero wheelset would make it even better on-road (and off), and the idea that there is some minimal fitness or measurable gains required to justify the purchase of said wheels is 100% elitist nonsense.

Rides4Beer

No doubt, I don't think anyone needs to justify a thing, if you want wheels, get wheels (I have a set of wheels on the way for the SSE, the might be a lil faster, but they'll also look great and make that cool deep carbon whooshing sound lol). There is truth in riding more/better if you feel good about your gear and it makes you want to ride more. Just wanted to point out that there are some tangible gains in a purpose suited bike. N+1 is always the answer, unless the budget doesn't allow for it, in that case, then def get the wheels!!

ericcox

If you can afford it and want new wheels while waiting to save up for a nicer road bike, go for it. Some really great advice I've seen on this board from time to time is any upgrade is worth it if it a) makes you ride more; and b) makes those rides more enjoyable.

bigevil

Epic ! Agree. Will likely pull trigger.
my trek dealer seemed to think running smaller than 32mm tires on the checkpoint wouldn’t be great (no idea why) so perhaps that helps solve the problem for me. Thinking a great carbon set that could be great for road riding and essentially turn my checkpoint into a domane for tarmac days feels right. Then I’ll do a separate Climber bike at some point soon.

So the question becomes Zipp 303s or Aeolus Pro3V / Pro 37

WhyFi

You're light enough that you'll never have to worry about bumping in to the PSI limit on hookless rims so, to me, the question becomes "are you ready to commit to tubeless or not?"

If you're not, the Zipps aren't for you - get one of the Aeolus wheelsets.

If you are sold on tubeless and there's a chance that the wheels spend a good amount of time running gravel duty on the Checkpoint, either now or in the future, then the Zipps are interesting with the straighter tire/sidewall transition and should be more robust against hard dings (and they carry a '**** happens' lifetime warranty).

Also, I wouldn't put any stock in to the LBS recommendation of not going narrower than 32mm - there's no reason that you can't or shouldn't and, with something like the Zipps, they're optimized for 28mm tires.

Dave Mayer

Want an upgrade for the road... I think the obvious has been missed here. get a dedicated road bike, as it will be cheaper than the wheel options being tossed around here.

My recommendation: a used road bike circa 2015. A UCI-level carbon road bike, 23-25mm tires. The narrower higher pressure tires will save a whole whack of wind resistance, rolling resistance and rotation mass. The rim brakes will save 1-2 pounds of useless weight, much of this on the wheels. If you are suffering to keep up with the fast crowd, upgrade to low-profile carbon tubulars, as this will save another 1-2 pounds of critical rotating mass.

Say you were to get cozy with your local race team, and did some begging for their cast-offs, you should be able to bring this in for $1,500. So a race-ready bike at under 16 pounds. On the road, particularly during climbs, this bike will be a revelation. Your old bike, even with $1,500 wheels, will ride like a farm tractor.

Seattle Forrest

I bought a pair of Salomon Snowscapes in December, the winter version of a gravel bike. They're 25 mm wider, adding stability but also drag. Metal edges are like disc brakes, they don't work a lot better on the groomers but get them on ice and you still have some control. Etc. They're a little slower in the best conditions but I can use them more places.

I haven't been on my race skis since.

jaxgtr

I have the Domane and I have the Bontrager Aeolus Pro3V and they are very nice wheels and will run around 1.2K or something like that. You can run 28's to 38's tubed or tubeless.

bigevil

Almost pulled trigger on the 3Vs at the store today but I want to not be as impulsive!
how have the hubs been noise-wise ? And you think I could eventually run 40mm gravel wheels on them ?

for the meantime I’d be running 32mm road tires on either these or the zipps!

pro 37s looked cool too, they’re more arrow but less wide so some trade offs on tires I suppose

Doomrider74

The Checkpoint looks like a nice bike, and very road-like for a gravel bike. I reckon it would fly with some decent, lightweight wheels on it.

If cash is an issue, and it was me, Id get the new set of decent wheels and thrash it for a while. As you say, if the wheels are good, then you could always put them on a new road bike if you decide to go that route in the future.