Wheels of Fury

About a month ago I talked to my mechanic (because I own him) about wanting to buy new wheels. The wheels that came with my bike (Shimano RS-10) are good, but they flex a little when I sprint, feel loose when I ride above 30mph for extended periods (fun on downhills!) and are a little heavier than I would like. So out with the imperfect and in with the most perfect I can afford.


I headed down to Highroad around 12p and John actually had the time to set me up with four different wheels to test. He was even kind enough to blow out both of my tubes and sent me home with brand new ones. I only paid one damaged ear drum.

I explained to John that I wanted a lighter wheel that spun up quickly to help my pansy-ass on the hills, but something that was also stiff enough that I couldn't feel a ton of flex when sprinting. All for less than a grand.

John doesn't even blink. He just starts pulling wheels off the wall and we get started.

But first, a basic lesson in no-shit physics. A light weight wheel is easier to turn and a heavier wheel will spin longer once it's up to speed. More important is where the weight is placed in relation to the center of the wheel. The further from the center the weight is, the harder it is to spin the wheel, and the closer the weight, the easier. So some wheels that have a heavier weight than others can be easier to spin because of where the weight is in relation to the center. So a lighter wheel isn't always better if that makes any kind of sense.

The first set of wheels he had me try were the Roval Fusse SL's. They're a a light weight wheel (1450g according to Specialized's site) but their engineers spent most of their time making the rim of the wheel lighter so a lot of the weight is kept near the center of the wheel. They spin up quickly and, on the little hill on my test ride, they felt noticeably easier to accelerate up hill. Plus they looked good on my bike. I liked them. The $1050 price tag was doable, but not optimal.

Next up was the Bontrager Race X Lite wheelset. At 1535g (again, according to their website) they're a lightish wheel. The apparently use the same hubs as the Fusse SL's, but the rim is heavier and it feels it. With the weight further out from the center I didn't notice any increase in spin up from my Shimanos, but they were much stiffer when I sprinted. They felt nice but they didn't "WOW" me. The $900 price tag wasn't terrible.

To give me an Idea of what a stiff wheel really feels like, John suggested I next try Roval's Fusse Star wheels. They have a unique hub that's, you guessed it, star shaped. At 1750g they're heavy, but they don't feel heavier than the Race X Lite's do because, again, most of the weight is close to the center. The ride is just silly. The bike respondes instantly to any aplication of the pedals. It felt like the bike couldn't wait to get out from underneath me. I liked them a lot and at $930 they were within budget.

A while back I had tried Niko's wheels to see if I liked them. They're Mavic ES wheels and they're damn stylish. When I rode them I liked them because of how stiff they felt. Today I had John Put them on my bike and I went out confidant that I would be leaving the store with them. Nope. Of all the wheels I rode today they felt the worst. At 1485g they were the second lightest wheel but they felt the heaviest. All of the weight savings went to the hubs (wheel center) and the rim (furthest point from the center) are pretty heavy. So they're light weight wheels that felt harder to spin up than my Shimano wheels. And they were $990. They're not the wheels for me.

So, after three hours of testing wheels I liked the Roval Fusse SL's the best, but they were the priciest of the bunch, and I honestly felt like they weren't stiff enough for me. So John and I started talking about custom made wheel sets.

Like anything I consider buying, I did a crap-ton of research on the topic of wheels before I showed up. I even researched making my own wheels just in case I couldn't find the "perfect" wheel set off the shelf. The one thing I definitely knew was that I wanted Chris King hubs. They're light, strong and beautiful pieces. Apparently, most hubs have 24 toothed cogs and King uses 72 teeth. They have a 5 year warranty and they're even manufactured in the most environmentally friendly way they can be. They're also pricey, but we'll get to that in a moment. 112g front, 264g rear and $160 and $340.

For Rims, John suggested I go with IRD rims. They're a Niobium/Aluminum alloy and at 390g each they're pretty light. $70.

For spokes John said he was going to use DT Revolution's. I don't have any weight or price numbers for you. But total, after tax, everything will run me $816. The hubs and rims weigh in at 1156g and I can't see the spokes and nipples weighing too much, so I think I might have a sub 1500g wheel set that's stiff enough for me for less than a grand. Just like I wanted. I'll keep you posted.