Wheelset question...

This is your lucky day 'cuz if you'll pay attention, I'll help you save about $300 to $400. Go to
www.oddsandendos.com. That's the website for a wheelbuilder in Florida named Mike Garcia. I have
no connection to him except that I'm a satisfied customer. He builds a set of wheels designed to
go head-to-head with Ksyriums. They weigh the same and have a similar performance profile. THEY
COST ABOUT HALF! And the best part is that they use parts that could be easily serviced or
replaced by any LBS.

Do yourself a big favor and check out www.oddsandendos.com. Note that the website can take a while
to load ... so be patient.

Good luck, Bob C. "Rivermist" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:rhKfa.201997$eG2.28333@sccrnsc03...

Quoted message said:

I am thinking of buying some new wheels and am considering the Mavic

Ksyrium

Quoted message said:

wheels.

First.. Any opinions on those wheels?

Second... I notice there are some house brand wheels sold by Performance such as the Performance
Fuego wheelset whose specifications seem to be

about

Quoted message said:

the same as far as weight and description go -- but at 1/4 the price. Should I be considering
brands such as these?

Thanks in advance...

Quoted message said:

I am thinking of buying some new wheels and am considering the Mavic Ksyrium wheels.

First.. Any opinions on those wheels?

Second... I notice there are some house brand wheels sold by Performance such as the Performance
Fuego wheelset whose specifications seem to be about the same as far as weight and description go
-- but at 1/4 the price. Should I be considering brands such as these?

Thanks in advance...

It really depends on what you are looking for in a wheel set.

If you want to impress your friends with how much money you spent or with flash, then definitely get
the Mavics.

If you want a durable, reliable wheelset, then consider some standard rims with a 32 spokes and
Shimano hubs built properly. This means not only true and round but properly tensioned and stress
relieved. Most inexpensive wheel sets are machine built and suffer from insuffiicent tension and
lack of stress relief.

But this is easily taken care of, either by a competent wheel builder or by you.

Sheldon Brown (www.sheldonbrown.com) has some information on wheel building. The Bicycle Wheel by
Jobst Brandt is good source of information.

A third option is to find a local wheel builder who builds a reliable wheel and let him build you
something.

jon isaacs

I am not just interested in durable and reliable. I am also interested in light and aero. I am not
sure that standard rims and 32 spokes will get me that.

One guy did point me to www.oddsandendos.com which is a wheelbuilder which makes cheaper wheels that
fit the bill.

"Jon Isaacs" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I am thinking of buying some new wheels and am considering the Mavic

Ksyrium

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

wheels.

First.. Any opinions on those wheels?

Second... I notice there are some house brand wheels sold by Performance such as the Performance
Fuego wheelset whose specifications seem to be

about

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

the same as far as weight and description go -- but at 1/4 the price. Should I be considering
brands such as these?

Thanks in advance...

It really depends on what you are looking for in a wheel set.

If you want to impress your friends with how much money you spent or with flash, then definitely
get the Mavics.

If you want a durable, reliable wheelset, then consider some standard rims

with

Quoted message said:

a 32 spokes and Shimano hubs built properly. This means not only true and round but properly
tensioned and stress relieved. Most inexpensive wheel

sets

Quoted message said:

are machine built and suffer from insuffiicent tension and lack of stress relief.

But this is easily taken care of, either by a competent wheel builder or

by

Quoted message said:

you.

Sheldon Brown (www.sheldonbrown.com) has some information on wheel

building.

Quoted message said:

The Bicycle Wheel by Jobst Brandt is good source of information.

A third option is to find a local wheel builder who builds a reliable

wheel and

Quoted message said:

let him build you something.

jon isaacs

In article P3_fa.209542$eG2.30981@sccrnsc03 said:

I am not just interested in durable and reliable. I am also interested in light and aero. I am not
sure that standard rims and 32 spokes will get me that.

Actually what you will find is that manufactured wheels will get you aero but they don't really get
you light weight compared to conventional wheels. The cost per gram of weight savings is
astronomical because the weight difference is tiny or nonexistant and the price difference is high.
Additionally, aero rims are heavy, and rims designed for building with not enough spokes are even
heavier since the rim needs to be very stiff to avoid meandering back and forth from spoke hole to
spoke hole.

You didn't say how big you are, how much you ride, typical road conditions where you ride, how much
money you want to spend, the terrain and type of riding you want to optimize the wheels for, type of
drivetrain on the bike, etc. Those things all help determine what your wheels should look like.
Terrain and type of riding will determine whether an aero wheel matters in any significant way. Your
weight and road conditions and expected wheelset lifespan will determine how many spokes you use and
set some minimum standards for the rim weight.

If you are not a huge rider, and want something light, doing a 32-hole rim 3x with 15/16/15 spokes
in back is not a bad balance between lightness and reliability, depending on the rim, and will
compare favorably to the weight of many ~24 spoke manufactured wheels. Doing 28-hole on the front
can also make sense for some riders in search of low weight, but as you lose spokes you also lose
reliability, and if you break one it will have a significant effect on the ridability of the wheel.
For most riders this isn't worth it.

--Paul

"Rivermist" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:rhKfa.201997$eG2.28333@sccrnsc03...

Quoted message said:

I am thinking of buying some new wheels and am considering the Mavic

Ksyrium

Quoted message said:

wheels.

First.. Any opinions on those wheels?

Second... I notice there are some house brand wheels sold by Performance such as the Performance
Fuego wheelset whose specifications seem to be

about

Quoted message said:

the same as far as weight and description go -- but at 1/4 the price. Should I be considering
brands such as these?

Thanks in advance...

I have friends that own Ksyriums. To a person, all have broken spokes. The interesting thing about
the Ksyriums is that they use that special AL spoke, and not every LBS is going to have them. One of
my teammate's brother keeps breaking his Ksyrium spokes out in outer BFE...

The only way to go light AND aero are carbon wheels (Zipp, Reynolds, Campy, etc.) but then you're
talking about a LOT of money.

You can have either light OR aero for not too much money. Pick one.

I have a pair of Ritchey Pro wheels that I really like for an "intermediate aero" wheel, but for all
out speed, I really like my Cosmics and Zipp 404s.

Performance's house brand stuff is usually designed in Chapel Hill and then made in Taiwan, or is
re-badged by PBS from existing stuff. Quality is just OK from what I've seen, definitely not on par
with Mavic/Campy/Zipp/Am. Classic et al.

I'm one of those guys that believe that for every job there is a proper tool. For all 'round riding,
go ride your 32-hole Open Pro wheels. If you want to go do some high speed racing/training, ride a
Cosmic/Cosmic Carbone/Zipp/etc.

I've noticed over the years that until you're getting over 25mph or so, aero wheels are just really
big heavy wheels that don't do much good. After that, they really come into their own.
www.analyticycling.com has a comparison of some of the more popular wheels that you can compare time
savings v. standard wheels over certain courses/distances/speeds.

Mike

I've had the Mavic Ksyrium SSC SLs for a year and like them very much. They're very durable
(pot-hole tested) and great on climbs (including the col de la Madeleine and Columbiere). I bought
them on an Irish website: totalcycling.com, and saved about $250, including the $25 shipping charge
to the U.S. (no tax or duty). I just checked the site and they're now selling them for $585, a bit
more than I paid, and probably reflecting the weakened dollar.

JAZ

"Rivermist" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:rhKfa.201997$eG2.28333@sccrnsc03...

Quoted message said:

I am thinking of buying some new wheels and am considering the Mavic

Ksyrium

Quoted message said:

wheels.

First.. Any opinions on those wheels?

Second... I notice there are some house brand wheels sold by Performance such as the Performance
Fuego wheelset whose specifications seem to be

about

Quoted message said:

the same as far as weight and description go -- but at 1/4 the price. Should I be considering
brands such as these?

Thanks in advance...

(Jon Isaacs) said:

Quoted message said:

I am not just interested in durable and reliable. I am also interested in light and aero. I am not
sure that standard rims and 32 spokes will get me that.

Not sure those Mavic wheels will be much of an improvement. From the reading I have done on
Aerodynamics wheels, spoke count has little to do with it, the major factor is the rim depth. Deep
rims like Hed Jets, H3's(Trispokes) and disks can make a significant difference.

Anyone check out the "Topolino" wheels? Probably just the ticket for any climb done at under 5mph.
Those big "lumps" on the fat spokes have to make the things less aero than my old Schwinn cruiser's
wheels. Egad...

Quoted message said:

Weight is a non issue, most truly aero wheels are heavier than a standard wheel.

Too true (though some of the Hed wheels aren't too heavy - though they're really just a "normal
wheel" with a carbon fiber fairing).

Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles habcycles.comhabcycles.comOpen ↗ Home of the $695 ti frame

Mark Hickey said:

Anyone check out the "Topolino" wheels? Probably just the ticket for any climb done at under 5mph.
Those big "lumps" on the fat spokes have to make the things less aero than my old Schwinn
cruiser's wheels. Egad...

Yech. And they talk about the spokes being "bladed aero profile". But with those big lumps within an
inch of the rim, who would care. Anything to make a buck.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | "Business!" cried the Ghost. "Mankind was my business. The _`\(,_ | common welfare was my
business; charity, mercy, forbearance, (_)/ (_) | and benevolence, were, all, my business. The
dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!"
--Dickens, "A Christmas Carol"