loimpact

Flo wheels says so, so I'm goin all the way.

So 30mm deep? 50mm? 30 front, 50 back?

How 'bout these?

1275G Wheel Set 38mm Clincher Carbon Cycle Wheel 700c Bitex Hub Light Aero Spoke | eBay

(Yes, there's a little sarcasm spread throughout and then a moment of "wtf, maybe I should" sprinkled in there too)

colnago62

I have Zipp 808 for fast and flat.

gsa103

50mm is very standard for pro riders. Aggressive would be 80mm.

gregf83 

Why the sarcasm?

rpenmanparker 

Aero indeed trumps weight, but only with regards to overall speed increase. With regard to handling, handling in the wind, and responsiveness weight blows aero away.

loimpact

Well, despite Flo's recent test results, plenty will still go to the grave with their 1,100gram alloy wheels.

Also, I linked to a set of $400 complete w/ pads & skewers....carbon clinchers. Assuredly I say to you.....they will asplode, if not spontaneously combust.....or both.

And then I'd otherwise think that 50 deep carries a little penalty (although Flo's tests went up to 90's and even flat disc in the back proving otherwise) so my honest armchair opinion is probably somewhere between 30 & 40 for efficient all-around depth.

And all this to stoke the fire cuz it's Friday, just got paid & am shopping wheels.

gregf83 

I have the Flo 30s and they seem like good wheels and the test results indicate not a huge difference from the Flo 60s or Zipp 404s. The only consideration if you spend much time in windy conditions. We had fairly strong gusty winds this evening and it was definitely noticeable. Not really an issue, but I imagine it would be a little worse with 60s or 90s.

rpenmanparker 

Say what you will, and Flo can too, I will never again use rims that are CF and 38 mm or more deep. Too noisy, too unstable in the wind, too unreliable braking in the wet, etc., etc. I don't need and can't make use of the speed advantage so I won't put up with the BS for no good reason. I ride light, shallow aluminum rims, because I like how they sound, stop, ride and feel. I go as fast as I feel like whatever that may be. That is good enough even when it isn't terribly good.

gregf83 

All of the Flos have alum brake tracks. There's really no point in riding deep rims unless you're doing some type of competitive riding.

Flyingblind9

Some may like it for style points and that's equally acceptable!

Bunyanderman

If you are a light rider sub 130 pounds, 38 all around should be pretty nice. 38 and 50 is a pretty popular combo, even for some windy situations. I am 140 and I ride 50's, they are noticeable in the wind, but definitely not enough for me to crash. 60's can be a little hairy for the light riders, I would probably not go over 60.

My experience with deep wheels, and others that I rarely ride with in some groups.

Dunbar

I just got some new Zipp 404's. They aren't noisy and braking seems just as good as my AL rims with the supplied Zipp pads. They can be a handful in gusty crosswinds but I've heard 303's aren't that much better. I've also heard that 808's can bog you down in a paceline.

allen254

just go with some fulcrum racing zeros

Up North

Deep and wind don't mix very well, if windy in your area stay 35 and under.

datlas 

It's a tradeoff. I like my 38's, but I am light. Bigger guys are probably ok going to 50.

Homebrew01

Interesting to watch pro races, and on flat events, many riders are using low profile rims. You would think they'd all be riding 50+ mm rims based on the hype.

Personally, I used 50mm carbon tubulars for racing, and everything else is some basic low profile aluminum rim.

loimpact

Funny you say that, while you often hear about the 5's and 3's, I have been taking a hard look at the zeros! Hmmmm.

loimpact

Any notable differences in straight line speeds for you??

In a group??

Solo??

And curious as to what alu rims you had before the 404's.

TIA

Dunbar

I only ride solo. With my aero bike + 404's I notice the reduced drag compared to my 'standard' road bike especially riding along the coast with a direct crosswind (higher yaw angles are where deep wheels really shine.) Speed is not a great metric because it depends on the wind that day. My other wheels are Kinlin XC279's. FYI, keep checking PBK if you're interested in 404's. They had a set for $1835 up yesterday (figure another ~$125 in import duties.)

loimpact

Doh!! Noooooooo!!! Haven't scanned PBK in a while (import duties from PBK??) but now I'm gonna lose an easy hour or two today to browsing them now.

And your Kinlins are my other go to. My conscience keeps telling me that 27 is plenty deep, there's plenty of everything I want in a wheel like that and Bdop's kit is perfect. $300 and I'm out. I can learn to build up my own wheels. It'll justify me buying a few new tools (spoke tensioner, maybe even truing stand, etc.) and I'll have tons of money left over vs buying a $2K set of wheels which the wife would certainly hate me for.

Dunbar

Yes, wheels get sent tracked with PBK which means you pay duties. Smaller parts under $200 probably won't get hit. I don't know if you've seen the recent Tour magazine test but deep wheels definitely make a difference at higher yaw angles. By comparing the Shimano RS 010 vs the RS 32 you can see that a deeper AL rim like the new Kinlin 31T will reduce the aero penalty vs. deeper CF wheels.

https://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.c...;so=ASC;mh=25;

allen254

yeah man that is what i will be getting in the next month i feel that they are great wheels around 1400g ceramic bearings, they look good etc.. , i have read a lot of reviews on them and posts on here about them everyone seems to love them
i could get a carbon wheelset but nah plus i have some rough roads i think carbon wheelsets are for very smooth roads wich i dont have here where i live

loimpact

Nice!! Although I don't follow where they talked AL rims. Looks like the clear winner in that price/performance graphing was the Hadrons. Though they also don't say which Hadrons. Being honest, I can't say I've ever even heard of Hadrons (SwissSide?) before. Even converting from pounds to dollars, looks like they're a great deal if those graphs are accurate.

And looks like HOOPS has some nice Kinlin 31T based wheelsets ready to go. (Not that Bdop couldn't do them too)

(shrug?)

Thanks again! Great info.

Dunbar

They tested the stock wheels that came on the bikes, some of which were AL wheelsets, and compared them to the Swiss Side Hadron in the wind tunnel. I'm pretty sure it was the Swiss Side Hadron 625 since the 485 wasn't out yet at that time. It is an AL rim with a CF fairing but they are hard to beat for weight/performance at that price. Bike Hub Store sells their own branded version of the Kinlin 31T rim if you wanted to build them yourself.

SevenTwentyNine

I just started running 303 Rear/202 Front. Just perfect.
404's are 58mm deep. Up front that's just a bit much more often than not if there's any sort of wind.