Wheel weights
 

I'm curious to what wheels typically weigh, there's a set I want for a single speee build and looking at the weight of them, I decided to look at others as reference to find typical weights... in pounds. I don't know jack squat about metrics. I do know most around here are some weight wenie to various degrees, and heavy to them would be light weight to the pragmatic world.

I think wheels on my mtb are about 2 or 3 lbs, which to me, is pretty light and is not the equivilant of bolting two roadmasters to the hubs, some would try to convince, I'm sure. This is a bike that will be ridden in the city, curbs, pot holes, jumping steps... like pretty much all of my bikes, sans the roadbike.

Regular old Sun CR18s with something like Surly hubs weigh about 1050g for the front and 1150g for the rear, give or take. 450 grams = 1 pound. Your phone has a calculator.

I'm just gonna guess those are like 3lbs, then?

I have a set of Mavic Ellipse track wheels on my Single speed build.

strong, ride nice and look great. Feel nice and fast too. They weigh 4.1lbs for the pair.

When I was looking for wheels for my SS it seems that they tend to be heavier than the equivalent level road wheels.

Closer to 5 pounds.

A durable front wheel can come in as light as 2 or 2.1 pounds. Rear wheels start around 2.4 and can easily get to 2.9.

A few general principles to note:

- rim weight is far more important that hub or total wheel weight

- tire and tube weight are as important as wheel weight

- lower weight and (especially) higher quality of a wheel and tire are usually the most cost effective bike upgrades you can buy

- the law of diminishing returns comes into effect quickly as you go up in price with any of the above components

All this is to say that if you have a cheap, heavy set of wheels, you can make a big improvement to your ride with moderate spending, by getting a set that is lighter, stronger, and/or smoother. Spending still more on premium wheel and tire upgrades will bring further improvement, but less so than the initial step up from cheapo to mid-grade.

Here's a set of the aforementioned CR18's on formula hubs. Could also look at Velocity A23's which are pretty robust.

https://www.velomine.com/index.php?m...2behu9daigjal5

And the A23's.

https://www.velomine.com/index.php?m...2behu9daigjal5

SS/FG wheels can be really light if you want them to be -- there is still active development in track wheels, after all. ;)

Digital scales are cheap, but can cost you a lot of money in the long run. So be careful!

Just wanna second all this stuff as a road, track and TT racer. More specifically, tires and tubes are the most effective upgrades you can buy. Coincidentally they're also the least expensive. Speedy tires and latex tubes on box rims are faster than gatorskins and butyl tubes on some fancy wheels, for example.

If you do have a burning hole in your pocket that you wanna put out, I agree that some nice wheels is the next best place to go.

As long as you're not trying to haul a beach cruiser around, your position on the bike and execution (power application) will make the biggest difference in your overall speed. The equipment stuff really doesn't matter that much, it's mostly about your fitness and that big lump on top of the bike that you're trying to push through the air.

The reason I was wondering about general weights, isn't so much trying to find the lightest or fastest, but I was looking at a alloy mag wheelset and it said they were 4lbs each. And I could afford them. Sometimes durability and ease(lack of, even better) of maintanance trumps light weight. The bike worlds depictions of light and heavy are usually skewed, since the engine is human. Like for a car; 15lb wheels would be light.

I can move my cruisers at a pretty good clip, they usually are not typical cruisers. The bike in question, though; is a 80s Nishiki Olympic I'm converting to single speed. Math is not my strong suit, writing is. I was just hoping they weren't too heavy from a pragmatic view point.

I don't know about writing being your strong suit considering how many posts it took to get to your bike being an old Nishiki and you still haven't told us your budget.

Anyway, over several years I investigated chea...err... budget friendly, slightly wider rimmed wheels for my sw8 phiksie beach cruiser that I ride pretty slow all over town but that I still bang around on curbs. potholes, small jumps, etc.

stevel610 is right that Velomine is your friend when it comes to chea...err... budget friendly ss/fg wheelsets. I insisted on all silver wheels for that bike and ended up with a 36h version of the CR-18/Formula wheels he linked that they don't seem to carry anymore. They are way sturdy and reliable. But to be candid - AFAIAC they ride like crap. I don't know if its the rims, hubs, spokes, or big (for me) tires but no matter the tire pressure I choose - they feel pretty dead and give no feedback to whats going on under them. I had some Sun M13s from Velomine awhile back that were fine, so this is quite a disappointment. But...

I like what I see about the silver version of the A23's that stevel610 also linked and may not be able to stop myself from trying a set :p

Ride safe and good luck - you're going to need it...

Jax Rhapsody , if you’re looking at an eight pound set of mag wheels for a single speed conversion, and you like it because low maintenance is a priority, while low weight is not… I say give ‘em a try. They are really heavy, by any bike standards. Obviously would not be heavy on a motorcycle or bulldozer, but as you noted YOU will be the power source. They will also be pretty tough; you shouldn’t have to worry about riding carefully to avoid damage. Personally, I don’t like wheels that heavy on any of my bikes. The sweet spot between light weight and durability for me is a lot lighter.

I apprrciate it. My concern was weight of wheels specifically. Sure the bike is some concern, but I was avoiding the bike and budget tangents to get the answer I was going for. I've heard aerospoke were heavy, and deep vee's where heavy, so I was looking for sincere answers. I'm kinda second guessing them now. I would like to have a set of deep vee wheels. I happen to be a pretty good writer.
That's mostly my concern if they would be heavy by any bike standard. I was standing in my kitchen curling a bag of sugar like; "hmmm...?" I generally don't want heavy wheels either. I have alloys on every bike, my High Sierra is my heaviest bike at probably 35lbs.

These are the ones I were looking at. https://www.citygrounds.com/products...YaAqIQEALw_wcB

Those are designed for style, a.k.a fixie points. They’re quite tough, to withstand the abuse of BMX stunts. They will also turn your bike into a lead sled when accelerating from a stop or climbing hills. I have a set of wheels with Velocity Chukkars and 48(!) spokes. The Chukkar is like the Deep-V, but a little wider and even heavier. These wheels were meant for bike polo, where durability is important, and close spacing between spokes keeps the ball blocked. My set is probably considerably lighter than the ones in your link. They are not much fun to ride on, because they feel sluggish and inefficient. Deep-V, however, is not super heavy. It’s not a weight weenie’s rim, but it’s not bad. I frequently ride on a set of these. Remember that tires and tubes also play a major role.

You have to ask yourself what you’re going to use the bike for, and how tough the wheels need to be. Don’t choose wheels much tougher (heavier) than necessary—they won’t be very fun. That is, unless the bike will mostly be used at a skate park. In that case, it probably doesn’t matter.

Alright. Best not buy something I might regret. The Olympic is not that light. There's another set I want, that was my first choice, but they're sold out. A little style is nice, but those mags are practically superfluous.

Bingo!

A little style certainly is a good thing. But if you're getting wheels for a bike that you plan to ride rather than just look at, form should follow function. Look for something in the neighborhood of 2200 grams (4.9 pounds) or less combined weight.* This is reasonable for wheels that you expect to withstand normal use. If you're going to subject them to really harsh treatment, you can go a little heavier. Just understand that they will be less responsive with every ounce added.


* Front and rear complete wheels, minus cog, rim strips, tubes, and tires

These were my other choice https://www.mrbikeshop.com/collectio...m-wheels-black