JasonD67

I'm looking at buying a new road bike to replace my 1990's Cannondale I bought new and have ridden ever since. I only have two requirements: Di2 and disc brakes. Unfortunately, most new bikes I'm looking at (Cervelo R3D, BMC SLR02 disc, Cannondale Evo Six) all come with heavy (do I dare say cheap?) alloy wheels. These wheels would be fine on say a $2k bike, but at 5 grand or so I'd expect higher quality, lighter, carbon wheels. Only the new Trek SL 7 disc comes from the factory with carbon wheels. Canyon also, but I'm not convinced on Canyon just yet.

I ride a lot but I've not kept up on what are the best wheels out there. So my question for the learned masses is what would be a good carbon wheelset to look at as an upgrade if I get one of the bikes with alloy wheel? I'd consider myself an "enthusiast" rider, my racing aspirations are long gone so I don't need to speed thousands on aero wheels. Just a good quality, lightweight, and not terribly expensive wheelset.

Seattle Forrest

That's pretty normal, the wheels being several runs below the bike. A lot of people already have wheels when they buy a new bike. If you already own expensive carbon hoops (you don't already, many people do; I did when I bought my C3) you don't want to pay that much into a bike that comes with fancy wheels.

You'll get better recommendations if you give your budget. You can spend anywhere from $400 to $4,000+ on carbon wheels, some from the far east, others from exotic boutique builders. At any level you'll find people who like them.

Final note, if you're considering an R3D, you should test ride a C3 as well. Might not be your cup of tea, but you ought to try one.

TrojanHorse

That CDale you're looking at is 4k and the trek is 5k... it's all about features and price point.

Regardless, as Seattle mentions - it's probably more common for people to already have fancy wheels and if they give you some decent aluminum hoops, you can buy what you want and keep the old ones for spares. At least you don't have to try and sell OEM carbon wheels because they're not really what you want!

Carbon wheels are not without limitations btw... although disks address the largest one. You can probably find some Reynolds on sale at Performance for about a grand, or you can mail order some from China for 500 or so. They certainly look cool.

Cyclist0108

It might be worth taking a look at custom options:

https://novemberbicycles.com/collect...on-disc-wheels

JasonD67

I guess I'm in the minority...the only wheels I own are on my bike now. Even weirder, I've only ever owned one bike (and I've been riding since the mid-80's). Needless to say, when I started test riding new bikes I was rather shocked as I had never ridden a newer bike than my late 90's C-Dale with it's 9 speed Ultegra. Disc brakes and Di2! It was like a cave man seeing a lighter for the first time...

I was thinking about a grand for the new wheels. The LBSs said they will give me some credit for the wheels that come on the bike. Those November Bicycles wheels look interesting. How about something like the Mavic Cosmic Pro Carbon?

TimothyH

I'm not sure that alloy to carbon is always an upgrade when it comes to wheels.

Not trying to start a carbon vs alloy debate at all.

Weight, ride characteristics, aero, aesthetics, durability and serviceability all matter but I'm unconvinced that carbon does any or all of those things better than alloy for comparable prices. I'm open to correction, especially when it comes to weight. I'd purchase carbon clinchers in a heartbeat if they could beat the weight of my Dura Ace C24's for the same money or even much more money.

The possible exceptions are aerodynamics and aesthetics when it comes to deep section wheels where carbon seems to the the predominant, if not only choice.

I guess I just don't understand why everyone automatically assumes that carbon wheels are an upgrade just because they are carbon. Whatever material gets the job done the best is the right choice for me.


-Tim-

redlude97

Under 30mm depth I'd agree, cost to weight/aero gain going to carbon isn't going to be much, one case that would beat the C24s is the zipp 202 FC which are ~100g lighter while being wider and taller but at over double the cost no one can make a 40+mm depth aluminum wheel that is even close the weight of a carbon or hybrid carbon rim.

Steve B.

LAJ

Son, that ain't right.

Kidding, but in all honesty, that's pretty refreshing. Especially the part about your first ride on a newer bike. That's just neat.

I have November wheels, and an actual November Wheelhouse bike, and can honestly say, you can't go wrong with those guys. Mavic is spendy and heavy, but are also the choice of many. It's not a bad wheel, by any means.

Cyclist0108

I'm very pleased with Dave @ November's build. I had them build a wheelset with HED Belgium Plus aluminum rims and White Industry hubs. They have been great. Now that they have carbon options (which they say are as good as the HED aluminum ones) and comparable in price, I am coveting that as my next wheel-set. They have a refreshingly honest and straightforward approach, and are very generous with helpful advice.

Seattle Forrest

One of the Canyon bikes comes with Mavic Cosmic Carbons, I'm not sure which model. Saw one yesterday on a ride, blue frame, looked nice. I personally wouldn't buy a bike without test riding it, but that's one option at your disposal.

You can get carbon hoops at Performance as mentioned upthread, something is always on sale there, and you'll get enough "points" for a free pair of shoes out of it.

If you're willing to consider Chinese open mold rims, you have a great many more options. The usual concern people have about those is with braking, but because you're going with disc brakes, that's a non issue. You could get two sets for your budget, a really deep one for calm days on flat ground and a shallow one for gusty weather and for climbs.

Everybody around here who's bought something from November seems to really like it. Haven't seen a thread about buyer's remorse with them. Or Boyd. A small wheel builder like that is an excellent choice. They'll be able to sell you something off the shelf, or talk to you about the kind of riding you do and build something just right for you. Which is still going to cost less than a race wheel from a big name.

TimothyH

Pretty much, yeah.


-Tim-

Seattle Forrest

It's just the default assumption that carbon will be lighter than metal. That's what carbon is known for, being light. People assume carbon wheels will weigh less, and that lightness is one of the things that makes a great bike. Not saying that's where the OP is in all this, but in general that's a big part of the appeal.

cpach

You could check out the Giant Defy Advanced Pro 0. $4800 MSRP, new Di2 Ultegra/Hydraulic. 1380G 30mm carbon wheelset. They ride nice. Or the Advanced SL 1 which gets a seat mast and a higher modulus frame with otherwise similar for $5610 MSRP.

Some nice saner priced carbon wheelsets are the current Bontrager Aeolus Pro range, Praxis wheels, etc. Of the direct Chinese/Taiwanese stuff I've seen good results with Nextie carbon rims (have built a handful, seen a few dozen, etc) and would probably build myself some of their road disc rims onto DT 350s or similar.

Stormsedge

JasonD67

Thanks everyone, some great suggestions here. I'll have to add the Giant to my list of possible bikes.

My only reason for wanting to upgrade is weight. The few bikes I've found to test ride seemed hampered by the excess wheel weight. The Emonda; however, really felt sweet...I'm sure helped by the carbon wheels.

Sy Reene

Not sure, but I'd probably tend toward building up a frameset vs. buying a complete, if the wheels aren't something you're willing to live with on the complete. Even taking that Trek SL7 example, a frameset only is $1680, and complete is $5500 (Domane). That's $3800 to play with to build with. Ultegra Di2 is about $1500 or less (depending on 8050 vs 8070), still leaving about $2300 to play with for wheels and cockpit stuff.

chicagogal

Jazzguitar

noodle soup

saddle, seat post, handlebars, stem, and pedals are the "cockpit stuff". A fork is part of the frameset, and the BB comes with the groupset.

rpenmanparker 

noodle soup

I agree 100%.

I love their shoes, and clothing, but would never recommend their wheelsets to anyone.

bikejrff

Here's my 2 cents. I was building my "dream" bike and my "guru" suggested carbon wheels. I have some pretty decent aluminum wheels on my other bikes. Wheelsets by November, Psimet & Boyd, using CK & White Industry hubs, and mainly CX Ray spokes. I did a lot of research on carbon wheels, I did NOT want a wide profile rim and the new bike has disc brakes...perfect for a carbon wheel. My second choice ended up being the TCG36 wheel from November. My new wheels were built by Spark Wheel Works; rims are Alto CCX28, CK disc hub and CX Ray spokes. Kinda pricey, but since this is my DREAM bike I was not going to skimp.

The bike is awesome and I think it is mostly due to the wheels. They are badass fast, smooth, just perfect.