Recommended Wheels for Light Rider

[comish83]

Any recommendations for a race wheel for a light rider (<130 lbs) that will be racing on relatively flat roads? I am assuming the spoke count will be lower with the lower weight but any suggestions? Would a deep dish wheel be more desirable since the terrain is flatter and cruising speeds will be higher?

[Dead Man]

Have a budget? Carbon or alloy? Tubular or clincher?

Deeper rim wheels could be beneficial.. But how are the crosswinds? I absolutely hate fighting my front wheel in a crosswind

[kramnnim]

Road race or crits or?

Is the rider planning to go off the front in a breakaway, or is he like Caleb Ewan and able to sprint with the big guys?

[beeatnik]

303's if you have the fitness to podium.

C24's if you're racing for personal accomplishment.

Boyd 44mm if you want your bike to look good, have an outside chance at a decent finish and know that your 401K has a better ROI.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by comish83

Any recommendations for a race wheel for a light rider (<130 lbs) that will be racing on relatively flat roads? I am assuming the spoke count will be lower with the lower weight but any suggestions? Would a deep dish wheel be more desirable since the terrain is flatter and cruising speeds will be higher?

Creates more questions..type race, Campag or shimano, tubulars(recommended) or clincher? Budget, riding style, tough on stuff or easy. Hand built light racy wheel(Ergott has done a lot of these) or wheelouttabox? Fulcrum/Campag, shimano.

[martl]

For flat profiles, aero beats lightness (some say, it even does so when climbing).

The main advantage of being of low weigh is that one doesn't have to care as much about stiffness/rigidness. Downside is, the lighter you are, the more sensitive you are to bike weight and sidewind sensitivity.

With that in mind, pick something reasonably light and reasonably aero.

[comish83]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Creates more questions..type race, Campag or shimano, tubulars(recommended) or clincher? Budget, riding style, tough on stuff or easy. Hand built light racy wheel(Ergott has done a lot of these) or wheelouttabox? Fulcrum/Campag, shimano.

Shimano Compatible 10 speed (tubular preferred) and the ideal races are road races since I am a pretty good climber. Problem is, most races in the DC/WMA are relatively flat. Hand built or out of the box doesn't matter but ideally I would like to get the best set of race wheels, tires and tubes for $400-450 (I know I'm cheap...). Riding style is definitely frequently out of the saddle and attacking. Relatively tough on stuff. Edit: The goal is for podium finishes thanks to the structured training and mileage I am doing.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by comish83

Shimano Compatible 10 speed (tubular preferred) and the ideal races are road races since I am a pretty good climber. Problem is, most races in the DC/WMA are relatively flat. Hand built or out of the box doesn't matter but ideally I would like to get the best set of race wheels, tires and tubes for $400-450 (I know I'm cheap...). Riding style is definitely frequently out of the saddle and attacking. Relatively tough on stuff. Edit: The goal is for podium finishes thanks to the structured training and mileage I am doing.

I or others could make you a light, tubular wheelset, say Velocity escape, 20/24, thin-ish spokes, light hubs but isn't going to be $350(assuming decent race tubulars are about $100)...look used.

[Andy sti]

Originally Posted by comish83

Shimano Compatible 10 speed (tubular preferred) and the ideal races are road races since I am a pretty good climber. Problem is, most races in the DC/WMA are relatively flat. Hand built or out of the box doesn't matter but ideally I would like to get the best set of race wheels, tires and tubes for $400-450 (I know I'm cheap...). Riding style is definitely frequently out of the saddle and attacking. Relatively tough on stuff. Edit: The goal is for podium finishes thanks to the structured training and mileage I am doing.

Are you budgeting tire money in that? Not one reason to use tubulars if you are going to put cheap tires on. You will have a heavier set with really poor rolling resistance. I'd go with clincher wheels, GP4000 tires and latex tubes. Perfect for what you want. There is a set of AmClassics for sale right now that would be awesome.

[cmg]

Shimano RS81 C24 Carbon Road Wheelset, light at the rim and can be found at your price point.

[Andy sti]

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showth...light=american

Plus some GP4000s2 and latex tubes and you're good to go.

[Dead Man]

What you want isn't gonna happen at the budget you've set.. but something like this can work if it's race-only. and you're gonna do all your training and basemileing on something else

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Road-Bike-Wh...0AAOSwImRYVDGh

Spend the rest on GOOD tubular tires to put on 'em, and train on ****ty clinchers

[Dead Man]

Originally Posted by cmg

Shimano RS81 C24 Carbon Road Wheelset, light at the rim and can be found at your price point.

thems clanchers tho aint they

[doomridesout]

Try to find some rich dude who's unloading a set of tubular Fulcrum Zeros because he's tired of dealing with tubs. Boom.

[soulspinner]

Originally Posted by beeatnik

303's if you have the fitness to podium.

C24's if you're racing for personal accomplishment.

Boyd 44mm if you want your bike to look good, have an outside chance at a decent finish and know that your 401K has a better ROI.