Lighter older wheels vs newer heavier... whats better?

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Shiversolitude
Posts: 36
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2011 5:54 am

by Shiversolitude

This may be a silly question. But I have two vintage/ (read old) road bikes. A motobecane, and a Peugot. I have given each the TLC to get them riding good and am using the motobecane for commuting. I was on a tight budget at one point and had to replace the wheels on the motobecane. I ended up with some cheap alex rims that are rather heavy but they are nice and stiff.

The peugot still has old rims from the 80's on it. They are much much lighter (it was triathlon bike in its day so its fairly high end albeit old). Anyways... wondering what would be better to ride on. The older wheels that are really light, but seem to have a fair amount of side to side flex or the newer wheels that are stiffer, but heavier.

Personal preferences anyone?

Not in the budget to buy anything new at the moment... just thinking about swapping some parts around between the two bikes.

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User Name
Posts: 611
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2005 3:32 pm

by User Name

how much heavier? Which have better hubs?
Which would you say are more aero?
Last edited by User Name on Sat Nov 29, 2014 3:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

bm0p700f
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by bm0p700f

I would say the new rim would build into a better wheelset, it does depend on what the old rims are though. A bit of extra weight is not going to slow you down much.

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