Rim brake wheel suggestions for the hills
 

I bought a rim brake bike with beautiful Enve 3.4 Gen 1 wheels. I'm thinking about buying new wheels that have a better braking surface and tubeless functionality.

I'm looking at WTOs, Aeolus XXX, Enve Gen 2, Zipp 303, and custom Light Bicycle wheelsets with 28mm tires. Almost all of my riding is in the hills with 1k climbing for every 10 miles. I'm not a strong or fast rider, but am following structured training to slowly improve this year.

What wheel depth(s) should I get? I've generally been looking for 45mm wheelsets that are 1400g, but am also considering staggered where the rear would be up to 60mm to get some aero benefits. I'm also considering 30mm front and rear wheelsets to minimize weight.

Are there any other wheelsets I should consider?

I'd put BTLOS on your list. Plenty of choice on rim depth, hub brand, braking texture, all at excellent prices and responsive customer service. I recently had them build a pair of ~35mm depth with Bitex hubs that I'm very happy with. I would likely be even happier with a set of WTOs but these fit my budget.

Edit: FYI, almost all of my rides are at least 130' of elevation per mile, braking is not quite as good as my HED Belgium Plus but more than adequate.

what rim brake bike are you riding that clears 30s on modern wide carbon rims!?

He’s talking about 30mm rims, not tires.

I would recommend getting in touch with "Old Potatoe" on this forum. He builds wheels that are the best I have seen. I have a couple sets and they are stellar. PM him with your questions.

I didn't consider BTLOS. Looks like I can get a wheelset that's similar to my planned Light Bicycle AR465 configuration with DT Swiss 240 hubs, but save almost $300!

Yep, great value all around. As noted above, Peter (Old Potatoe) will build you an excellent set of wheels, and that includes BTLOS rims.

If you don't mind used these seem like a good deal to me.

HED Ardennes Black RA.

I also got gen 1 ENVE 3.4 wheels as part of a bike purchase. I don’t know what hubs you have, mine are Chris King, but am considering having Old Potatoe replace the ENVE rims with BTLOS rims. I haven’t yet gotten a quote, but it might be worth reaching out if you want to go this route.

Caden
 

I’d add Caden wheels to your list of consideration. Should be under the 1400g you mention.

Tubeless: https://carbonbikewheels.com.au/us/c...eless-wheelset

I had a tubular set that was excellent. Only sold them because I had no need for 60mm profile wheels. If you want staggered, pretty easy to order via their site.

I recently purchased a pair of BTLOS 45mm deep clincher carbon wheels and put on 700x30 Vittoria Corsa tires on my 2014 Trek Madone and love it! The 30mm wide tires definitely clears.

When I ordered the wheels it was supposed to weigh 1325g +/- 25g. When I got the wheels, they each had a tag with the weight. My front wheel weighed a whopping 576g and the rear 729g for a total of 1305g?! So far, the wheels has held up to my 200lb weight, but with all the rain we’ve been having I probably have less than 500 miles on the wheels. Nevertheless I can feel the difference and highly recommend them especially when they cost under $750 shipped!

Of course, YMMV!

Good Luck!

And, be happy to do that..

cp51errc@gmail.com

As for the OP..hard to beat BTLOS, either as a wheel set or rims, if you have hubs..If ya need a builder...email above or PM me.

The BTLOS arc braking surface with campy red pads is absolutely fantastic. Best carbon rim braking I have ever experienced even on step descents.

My next set will be for climbing days, extralight rims, 35mm deep, carbon spokes, using their carbon spoke specific hubs.

For carbon I'd go for Enve 3.4 rim brake if you can find a decent set.

For aluminum I'd go with HED Ardennes Black which are still available new. The barking on these is phenomenal. Enve's are OK but I always dreaded getting stuck behind a car on a descent being forced to ride the brakes...

That's a whole lotta consecutive posts for one day. Makes sense now --classifieds.