rubiksoval

Neither, really. More slowtwitch driven I guess? example: Aero road bar width: Triathlon Forum: Slowtwitch Forums

Hard to take various manufacturer's numbers at face value, but I figure if even a watt or two, that should do. They look fast, too, which is a mental boon. ;D I wanted a narrower bar so went ahead and got a pair of the chinese versions from velobuild after not being able to find anything I wanted under 150 on ebay. They look and feel very nice, but haven't tackled putting them on and dealing with the cable routing. My whole opinion may change completely if that turns out to be a disaster, but hopefully it'll go smoothly.

TheKillerPenguin

Heh, yeah. Every time I'm ready to buy a pair I get sticker shock and then I'm all like "well, my current ones ain't broke so..."

Hopefully there are sales this winter or the gbp continues to fall. If the wintunnel (sigh...) chart is to be believed it's a pretty good investment as far as watts saved per dollar goes.

cyclezen

here:
Shimano RS81 C35 wheels review - BikeRadar USA
so, they were reviewing the c35... and at $1299 (in '14) not exactly in the price point being discussed... but like I said, I don;t really know much of anything about these. seem quite lower price in the UK...
Hey, I've always liked the latest versions of Shimano Wheels and prolly would also like these...

FIVE ONE SIX

bike24 is usually less than half of what US prices are for Shimano stuff...

https://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;product=60982;menu=1000,4,123,30 less than $465usd...

https://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;product=88876;menu=1000,4,123,30 less than $465usd...

www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;product=60995;menu=1000,4,123,30 less than $600usd...

Stratocaster

Man, I wish I would have read this before my most recent purchase. Like the OP, I have RS11's on my CAAD 10.
I wanted an upgrade "just because"...I think the RS11's are fine, but I suppose I wanted to try something lighter. So I bought a set of Fulcrum Racing 3's.
On the bright side, they are a little more aero than the RS11's...and lighter.
Plus, they came with Conti GP4000II, all for under $500.

On another note (and I'll probably get blasted for this) - I find the prices on wheels obscene. So many wheel and sets are over $1K...many are over $2K...and some over $3K.
Hey, if you can afford it - go for it. I find it utterly ridiculous.

ltxi

I swapped out the RS11s that came stock on my BMC GF02 for Ultegra 6800. Not a huge difference but overall noticeable/like them better. Would not have done it other than I really wanted to change out the heavy wheels on my Cannondale Synapse....that's where the RS11s went, Big change there.

garysol1 

Does anyone else find it a little humorous that the guy asking about the value of light and aero wheels has the user name Anti404? I did

Anti404

Definitely didn't think of that, but the moniker actually comes from the 404 Web error, not the Zipp branded wheels

f4rrest

I demo'd the RS81 C35 for a week back in 2014 and really enjoyed them. They felt faster than my Eastons. Rode them in fast rides, climbed mountains, and I almost bought them, but ended up getting a new bike instead.

Fast forward to this year, I picked up a set of Dura Ace C24 CL for under $700 at nashbar. I think they're clearing them out for next year's wider version. These are great too, but i still think I enjoyed the RS81 C35s more.

Stratocaster

Out of curiosity, what wheels were originally on your Synapse?

Larry77

My 2016 Synapse had Mavic Aksium's which were switched out to Zipp Course 30's before delivery. I use the Aksium's as my "road" wheels for my gravel bike (BMC GF02). I felt like the Aksium's didn't belong on a bike with Di2 and hydraulic disc brakes (way under spec'd).

My other road bike has Ultegra 6800's on it and I have been very happy with them, they roll for days, are medium weight, seem to be strong, and are stiff enough. A great value for the less than $300 I paid for them.

Stratocaster

Nice.

jordanair45

I have the c24's . I love them, great for the $.

OP, there is no price point that makes a wheel really different. The gains are so marginal for the cost. Are you racing? Does your career depend on it?

PepeM

Can't say I notice any difference between my $80 Shimanos and my Vittoria Elusion wheelset. They look nicer and the hub is louder, but that's pretty much it. I mean, I know they are a good 500 grams lighter (probably a kilo if we also consider tires and tubes) but I don't really feel that it helps anything.

jordanair45

If you were climbing you would def. feel it. I do a lot of climbing which is why I bought a set of C24s.

Compared to my stock Axis wheels, there was a huge difference off the bat. Best upgrade I've even done. 50% the cost of the bike, but totally worth it

PepeM

Nah, I reckon I wouldn't. I'm probably just not as attuned to the minutiae of performance as some of you lads are.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am not saying that the difference does not exist. I'm just saying that it is not something perceptible to me. I know lower weight will lead to faster times for the same power output, that is not up for argument. What I am saying is that when I am pedaling up a hill I never think 'my, I sure am glad I am carrying one kilo less of weight here, it makes all the difference.' My body weight varies by that or even more on a day to day basis after all.

If I thought it was totally meaningless I would just race on those Shimanos with the crappy tires I have mounted on them instead of having a separate wheelset with fancy tires and latex tubes for that purpose. But now that racing season is over I am happy to roll on those crappy wheels with even crappier tires and full fenders.

mvnsnd

I went from Shimano RS10 on my CAAD10 to Reynolds 46 carbon with a Powertap rear hub. I still saved weight over the Shimano and I did notice the difference in both weight and general speed.

ltxi

Maddux RS3.0

rpenmanparker 

I really notice light wheels and also a light bike when I push off from a stop. If I push the bike forward with my hands as I am mounting up, I can really feel how responsive the light wheels/bike is to the push.

arimajol

is this thread title a play on words?

fietsbob

Placebo effect often in Play.

JetBadger

This is good advice. I would add latex tubes to the top of that list. As long as you don't mind pumping up your tires before every ride, in terms of upgrading equipment they are probably the greatest bang for your buck in terms of increasing your speed.

Wheels are an expensive way to squeeze out an extra 1%.

OnyxTiger

GCN did a segment on stock vs upgraded wheels. In a nutshell, Simon reported that the gains were fairly marginal with a deep dish carbon wheelset vs. a stock alu, whether on climbs or full out sprints. In the tests he performed, it didn't seem that the fancy wheels truly eeked out a marked improvement so as to render stock wheels vastly inferior... at least not as much to fully justify the investment cost.

An interesting point he made though - one that I didn't see mentioned here - was the upgraded wheelset's appeal to our vanity. Some can very well argue that looks don't play a part in performance. And I can acknowledge that arguments' merits. But, in agreement with Si, if your wheels transform your bike so much so that it makes you want to go out and ride it more, then indirectly, it could be said that you will see a marked improvement in your performance. There's certainly a mental boost when you know you're riding high quality, premium wheels. For me, it takes the guesswork out of the idea that the bike (and its components) are holding me back. Couple that with performances on, say, Strava, and it's easy to find reason to keep training, knowing that others are faster/stronger than you, whether riding same quality equipment or less even.

Personally, I admit that one of the facets I love about cycling on the road is the kit itself. There's something to be said about liking what you're wearing, and loving what you're riding. Whether that means that the performance of that beautiful kit/bike was done with the most efficient use of money is only part of the equation. An important variable to consider is also whether or not your experience of the sport was enhanced by purchasing said upgraded equipment.

I love the signature of one of the forum members here, don't know who it is. "Life is too short to ride a crappy bike." +1 here.

cyclezen

if this is the video
the difference between the 'stock' and a reynolds assault carbon set was 500g, assuming the same tire & tubes.
the reynolds weight in at 1550g/pr - which is not exactly that light...
and if there was any real comparison during the ride test, other than mentioning a small 'time difference' in accelerating from a dead stop.. not really placed in any real context.
their claim that rotating weight is strictly same as simple mass difference might hold for a little while riding on flat, but not the same for climbing.
simple experiment you can do... no equipment changes needed... use you butt-O-meter for 'power' reading...
ride at 10 mph for ... 400 yds , pick a medium gear that you will spin at 50-60 rpm (you decide) - use butt-O-meter to measure effort.
now
find a 5-7% grade, also about 400 yds, pick same gear, spin same rpm - use butt-O-meter again.
butt-O-meter will show that each pedal stroke on climb is way harder. and getting into the next sptroke is way harder.
whatz goin on?
regardless of flat or climb, you/bike accelerates with each stroke and then decelerates between each stroke. You accelerate both wheels on each pedal stroke. There is some conservation of energy thru momentum, but never 100%
on climb: the decceleration is much greater, depending on the effect of gravity, more slope more gravitational slowing between each stroke, less conservation of energy.
SO, the more mass, the greater the slope, the more you power you have to apply to accelerate to the resulting same speed. The more you have to accelerate the greater the effect of rotating mass.
this is what you feel, your butt-O-meter feels, as you grind up the slope.
Anytime you are on anyhting not perfect horizontal, this is the effect - rollers, whoops, short driveways, false flats...
bummer is no one out-pulls/spins gravity...
you can go at a speed where you can spin like crazy and the feeling of accel/decel is minimized, but never completely removed - gravity always is faster and always wins...

and we haven't even considered air resistance... another bummer... even on the total flat, air resistance is just like gravity, between each power portion of the pedal strokes the air resistance causes deccel. Again, we never win, air resistance decel cannot be overcome, it can only be minimized. Anything which resists accel (rotating mass) is additive to air resistance and gravity.

Add the two major forces and you have cycling, what a bummer!
and we haven't considered other additive bummers, like rolling resistance...
cycling is such a bummer... better to stay home and play video games...

anyone can watch the vid and then decide if this was much more than video filler...
I enjoyed it, but then anything with bikes in it is good entertainment to me.

69chevy

I've never seen any data supporting aero handlebars...


Who knows.