R-SYS wheels

Richard Hunter

Can anybody help? I am in the market for a new set of wheels as I have sold my old Kysirium SLs. Problem is that I am quit large for a cyclist at 6'3 and 90 KG. I mainly train for TTs and produce from 360-400 watts when racing. I want a set of wheels for my road bike that I might do the odd road race on, spotives and holidays in the alps etc. I have a BMC pro machine so would like a nice, fairly light but stiff wheel (clincher) I had ordered a set of mavic R-sys but have since read a few reviews on their lack of areo performance ? I don't need these wheels for time trialing but if I do have a go at the odd road race I don't need a couple of parachutes slowing me down as I am not the most areo of shapes anyway. Any thoughts, I will use these wheels quite a bit so reliability is also important

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Ricky H

Peter@vecchios

At $1400, poor aerodynamics, expensive spokes(even available?), and poor rear hub, I think there are better choices out there, particularly for someone who is 'not small'.

DT hubs, DT 1.2 rims, 18 Aerospeed front spokes, 1/2 Aerospeed rear onna 28h, DT hub laced 3 cross?? Just a suggestion and about 1/2 the price. Aluminum spokes aren't aero, fat carbon s[okes aren't either. As much as the wheel makers would like it to be so, stainless steel spokes are still more aero.

Fizzy23

I agree consider going Open Pro with the 240 hubs. The DT Swiss hoops are not as good. Braking surface for the DT's are not great either.

I am a big guy and am running 28 radial front and 32 cross in the back with 240 hubs and Opne Pro hoops with no complaints.

I did have DT hoops and replaced them with the above FYI.

All my opinion no less!!

Richard Hunter

Any thoughts on the easton EC70 sl or some of the other main stream companys, or ZIPP or the new durace when available (June), thanks for the quick replies

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Ricky H

Richard Hunter

Just been looking at the HED Ardennes it seems to be quite light and strong according to their blurb

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Ricky H

Peter@vecchios

Did ya have the single eyelet? Just from my experience at building a 'few' that the DT dbl eyelet 1.1 are some of the best rims out of the box I have seen. Far better than Mavic. Easier build=more equal tension=better wheel, all other things being equal. IMHO also, of course.

Peter@vecchios

I think at your size and power out you will have reliability problems with the mentioned wheels.

No such thing as a free lunch. If the wheels are light, they will be less reliable.

dhk2

I think you have been over-sold on the benefits of "aero" wheels. The standard build wheel sets recommended to you with DT or OP rims are certainly not "a couple of parachutes". If I was your size, and had your awesome power output, I'd first pick strong wheels and not worry about saving a couple of watts at 25 mph. Keep the aero wheelset for your TT bike where it's going to save you a few seconds.

You say reliability is also important, but we all seem to have a different definition of reliability/durability. If you could get a full season of training and racing out of a wheel, say 10 K miles, would you consider that good durability?

alienator

Good points and questions. Of course, no one has yet to show that aero wheels are less durable as a group. Durability needs to be judged based on build quality, intended use, and the rider's needs. Unfortunately, that can't be done only using quaint ideas from the past about metal rims vs. CF or whatever. There are more than a few durable aero rims out there, just as there are more than a few crap metal wheel sets out there.

As quick as the cycling community is to adopt new flashy things, it is just as slow to learn anything meaningful and factual about materials, construction methods, et al. This is true whether you're sampling riders, reps, wheel builders, or shop owners.

Personally, if I could an aero wheelset that met my durability needs (let's say, arbitrarily, 10k miles a year of use), then I'd gladly take the small aero gains over weight gains any day. The astonishing thing is you can get that, and it doesn't have to come in the form of 28/32 spoke wheelset built with OPs, Velocity Aeroheads, Ambrosia Excellence, or whatever rims/components are that give the wheel builder doing the sales job a chubby.