In article said:How much of a performance gain will I get if I upgrade my Matrix Aurora wheelset to hand-built
Mavic Open Pros?
If you use high quality hubs and butted spokes, it's likely that the Open Pro wheelset will be a
little lighter and you may be able to get better bearing quality in a different hub. But the
difference in performance will be quite small, even on a climbing course. You can do the comparison
yourself if you can accurately weigh your Matrix wheels and compare to Open Pro wheelset by plugging
in the numbers at analyticcycling.comWheelsClimb Page.htmlOpen ↗
If you are really asking "what kind of wheel should I buy to get better performance?" then the
answer depends on the kind of riding you do, how big you are, how much you're willing to spend, how
long the wheel needs to last, and whether you want something that can be easily serviced or
something proprietary.
The main advantage of hand-built wheels is reliability, which is certainly a factor in race
performance but I suspect that's not what you are asking.
If you're planning to start racing, entry-level racing often involves some crashing, so having fancy
race-day parts doesn't make much sense - better to replace things as they need it, which will happen
soon enough. New rims are not going to set you apart from the field - if you have the legs you will
do just fine on a pair of Matrix Aurora's.
--Paul