Wheel Upgrade Trek Domane?

[pjmsj22]

My wife and I are purchasing two Trek Domane's after ten or more years on our current bikes. We're considering swapping the stock wheels for the Bontrager Aeolus Pro 37V. I am not sure what the dealer would charge for this upgrade but I'm guessing somewhere in the $800ish range.

Which prompts the question what other carbon options should we consider. These would be primarily used as all road wheels, but more paved roads. We plan on running Rene Herse 38c ties.

Any thoughts? TIA

[ridethecliche]

If you're going to be using them as a do it all wheelset, then that's a pretty good choice for wider tires and some gravel use.

I think in your situation, you want to run wheels for the roughest conditions you'll encounter so something more gravel oriented like those ones makes sense!

[jh_on_the_cape]

Last winter I upgraded my very old bike to a new Giant Defy Advance. I also looked at Domane. First of all, if your experience is like mine, you will really enjoy your new bike.

I rode my stock wheels for about 1000 miles. I then upgraded to a barely used set of carbon Bontrager Aeolus Pro. Is it an upgrade? Yes, but not nearly as big of a difference as it made on my mountain bike. It came with better tires and I think that was the big upgrade.

So unless they give you a sweet deal at the shop on the upgrade, just ride the stock wheels for a season. Upgrade the tires and run tubeless. If you still have the itch, get new wheels next season and you can keep the stock wheels to run gravel tires or something. Then you will feel and appreciate the upgrade.

In terms of what other wheels, I looked around and almost got some chinese carbon but found a good deal. I suggest getting the carbon upgrade with the new bike so it's all fresh and installed correctly and under warranty.

Originally Posted by pjmsj22

My wife and I are purchasing two Trek Domane's after ten or more years on our current bikes. We're considering swapping the stock wheels for the Bontrager Aeolus Pro 37V. I am not sure what the dealer would charge for this upgrade but I'm guessing somewhere in the $800ish range.

Which prompts the question what other carbon options should we consider. These would be primarily used as all road wheels, but more paved roads. We plan on running Rene Herse 38c ties.

Any thoughts? TIA

[ridethecliche]

Actually, to update my earlier post...

If you're going to be using the bike as a do it all bike, I'd actually recommend using the stock wheels for gravel and getting a new set of wheels to ride on the road.

[pjmsj22]

Originally Posted by ridethecliche

Actually, to update my earlier post...

If you're going to be using the bike as a do it all bike, I'd actually recommend using the stock wheels for gravel and getting a new set of wheels to ride on the road.

If we encounter gralvel, it is usually part of a route that involves both paved and gravel.

[NHAero]

I don't know what the stock wheels are, but in my experience with my all road bikes I am really liking how the carbon rim wheels (on which I run mostly 38 but occasionally 42 tires) stay true compared to my long experience with alloy rims. And I run that size tire tubeless, as others suggest.

Depending on the hubs those wheels are built with, it's likely you could get a new set of wheels from BTLOS or similar for $900 with DT350 hubs (or under $800 with Bitex). I have three sets of wheels from BTLOS and they've been great.

[benb]

It’s only a good deal if you walk with both sets of wheels and can put two different sets of tires on.

If they’re keeping the stock wheels it’s not a good deal as $800 is very close to MSRP, and there are lots of non Trek options in that $800-1200 range that involve you keeping the stock wheels.

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by benb

If they’re keeping the stock wheels it’s not a good deal as $800 is very close to MSRP

The Bontrager Aeolus Pro 37V is a ~$1600 wheel set...

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/e...wheel/p/44492/

If the dealer is able to do $800/set for new wheels, that seems like a good option. Most of the equivalent options are going to be at least that amount. Even BTLOS or Light are going to be in the that ballpark.

[pjmsj21]

My error on the price which was a guesstimate. It turns out that the Trek site quotes prices for individual wheels, not for a wheel set. I’ll check with them but I am guessing, the better route is to ride the stock wheels and replace with another option in the year ahead…my apologies.

[ridethecliche]

I still think the best course is to run two sets of wheels.

-Set one: For road only duty with road tires
-Set two: More gravel oriented tires for rides when you'll be doing more gravel.

You can get away with one set of wheels just fine if you're open to the compromise. If gravel to you means just dirt roads and and unpaved stuff and nothing that's really gnarly, then running one set of tires that are 32-35mm for everything will be just fine.

[NHAero]

Originally Posted by ridethecliche

I still think the best course is to run two sets of wheels.

-Set one: For road only duty with road tires
-Set two: More gravel oriented tires for rides when you'll be doing more gravel.

You can get away with one set of wheels just fine if you're open to the compromise. If gravel to you means just dirt roads and and unpaved stuff and nothing that's really gnarly, then running one set of tires that are 32-35mm for everything will be just fine.

Yes, and it also depends on what the roads are like. In New England, "gravel" is mostly dirt roads and I ride those just fine with a 38 GK slick, which also rolls fine on paved roads. And I ride 25s here on Martha's Vineyard on the road bike because the pavement is excellent, but where I used to ride in NH and VT, the pavement is often worse than the dirt roads, so the 38 slick becomes the one tire to do it all and therefore a single pair of wheels works

[MikeD]

Maybe it would be cheaper to buy the upgraded Domane that comes with carbon wheels?

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by ridethecliche

I still think the best course is to run two sets of wheels.

-Set one: For road only duty with road tires
-Set two: More gravel oriented tires for rides when you'll be doing more gravel.

FWIW, I've found the latest generation of gravel tires (TerraSpeeds, etc in ~40mm) to be ~1mph slower over a 2-3 hour paved ride vs a good 28mm road tire. For casual riding, that's totally within the noise. I really only noticed a difference on group ride where the pace was spicy.

Of course I say this having 3 sets of wheels across two bikes... first for chunk, second for smooth gravel and racing, and third (and 2nd bike) for pavement. But, I keep thinking I should simplify because I have too many bikes (haha no such thing).

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by Alistair

FWIW, I've found the latest generation of gravel tires (TerraSpeeds, etc in ~40mm) to be ~1mpg slower over a 2-3 hour paved ride vs a good 28mm road tire. For casual riding, that's totally within the noise. I really only noticed a difference on group ride where the pace was spicy.

Of course I say this having 3 sets of wheels across two bikes... first for chunk, second for smooth gravel and racing, and third (and 2nd bike) for pavement. But, I keep thinking I should simplify because I have too many bikes (haha no such thing).

That's my experience too. One reason is that most gravel tires are lower rolling resistance because they are built more sturdily (R-H tires may be an exception).

[pjmsj21]

OP here… the paved roads that we ride are technically paved but in less than good condition. Moving to the Domane’s is really predicated by safety concerns with the added capability to get through patched and repatched asphalt without a whole lot of concern for keeping the bike on the road. I should preface, this by sharing that we run Arenberg and Raven tubulars, but even with these supple tires, paved riding conditions aren’t great, to put it mildly.

So I’m now thinking we will get the stock wheels but change to the Rene Herse 38c Barlow’s and evaluate after some time on the bike. This will be my first big brand carbon non-custom bike in 20 years. So I’m certainly not selling my Serotta Ti…maybe my custom Geo Gunnar Sport but I’m excited to get out on the road with the Domane.