ergott wrote:Just look for the following attributes.
1) at least a semi aero profile
2) availability of parts for service (I hate the concept of disposable wheels).
3) hubs that can be serviced and don't require a lot of maintenance.
Sensible criteria indeed. I'd go for wheels that give the best response for what we throw at it. So preferably with wider rims or tubulars, (semi-) aero profile or not. And well-engineered hubs. So many manufacturers change their hub designs year after year, it makes one wonder if the previous version wasn't good enough in the first place.
Generally, most wheels are repairable, these days even wheels with full carbon rims. I think this issue is more a matter of repair fees, often proportionate to the cost of the wheels, and how much the owner is willing to pony up.
ergott wrote:Things to avoid
1) wheels that you can't find replacement rims for (face it, damage happens).
2) hubs that don't need constant attention to bearings or adjustment.
Are we talking about e.g. light one-piece carbon wheels predominantly aimed at race participation? Or generally anything light and too fidgety, or hubs not engineered for easy of maintenance?
ergott wrote:Mavic is love/hate with some swearing by them, but there are enough people out there that are annoyed by the hubs.
I think it's irresponsible to use wheels that require replacing the entire wheel if you damage a rim. With great wheels, you can wear out the rims after 10s of thousands of miles and rebuild them.
I once damaged the rear rim of one of the earlier tubular Ksyrium wheels, due to wear really. After many years of use, one of the threads in the rim was damaged, rendering the entire wheel useless. One spoke broke and I ordered new spokes and a new rim, rebuilt it to put it back in working order. I got rid of the wheels after that, never to ride another Mavic wheel again.
ergott wrote:sawyer wrote:
In what sense irresponsible?
Wear out brake track or damage it hitting something, throw out wheel.
Not cool.
Wear out brake track or damage it hitting something, order replacement rim and rebuilt.
Cool.
It's a feature not limited to custom wheels. Hubs can have a far longer lifespan than one rim.
My wishlist for a an ideal allround wheel include:
Hubs that:
- have high as possible flanges with a wide as possible spacing for an even spoke tension between drive side and non-drive side
- are as light as possible with a big diameter axle or really wide bearings spacing
- have a high bearing load capacity
- feature a bearing preload mechanism, for bearing lifespan
- are easily serviced and pulled apart, without requiring (expensive) specialty tooling
- ideally, allow triplet lacing
Spokes that:
- are light, like <4 grams per spoke
- can take a high tension of >130kgf
- don't twist excessively when truing
- are easy to replace when damaged
- can be replaced by an easy to find alternative
Rims that:
- are aero enough but not necessarily the most aero (since rider position has a bigger impact on air resistance)
- are sturdy, perhaps around 400-450g for alloy or lighter for carbon, no thin sidewalls
- are stiff enough to work with a low spoke count
- are wider, which often results in better stiffness, lower spoke count and increased tire volume with lower pressure for better grip and lower rolling resistance
- if not disc-only, have a wear-resistant brake track, e.g. coated with Keronite like Mavic wheels with Exalith or Fulcrum Zero Nite/Campagnolo Shamal Mille
And if this wheelset could be around 1100-1200 grams without cassette, skewers and tires, that would be fabulous!