I'm looking at building a set of wheels for a new bike and I'm deep into rim selection.

169cm, 55kg, I can climb and roll in a group with the fast guys but on the flat into the wind, I'm a dead man.

My daily riders are Ambrosio Excellence, 36, 3x, 25c Conti 4season

Weekend rides including Kinlin 270, H Plus Son Archetype, Soul 2.0 wheels and Gigantex 46mm carbon clinchers. All of those are 20/24 combos with mainly WI hubs. Terrain in Singapore is dead flat but chances are I will be moving to an area which has rolling terrain.

I haven't decided Al vs Carbon.

Al is narrowed down to Archetype or Stans 340 VII. I can figure that one out although if anyone with 340VII build experience can tell me if all that crap about lower tension is BS or not, that would be appreciated. Also, how stiff does VII build up in the rear (24 2x DS and NDS)?

Carbon- Enve 6.7 or 3.4 clincher...expensive but....go with 6.7 or 3.4? I've never been a hard core weight weenie but I've ready widely varied reports regarding the 6.7 in crosswinds. How bad can they be? I had a pair of Spinergy's back in the day and in crosswinds, they were downright dangerous. My 46mm Gigantex are fat sectioned, U vs V, and easy to ride in cross winds if that helps.

I've been looking at the newer, since 2011, Reynolds 32 and 46. Any users out there?

Not worried about heat from braking and delamination issues given my weight and terrain.

More curious about wet weather braking performance, maximum spoke tension and how they handle in cross winds. Pricing is better than the Enve's and I recognize, no bling factor and not cutting edge but I'm a vinyl and tube guy so that says it all.

TIA

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The facts, while interesting, are not relevant.......

I know this isn't an answer to your questions but I think that "vinyl and tube" guy deserves tubulars only

I'm about the same height and weight as you are, a tad heavier and i'm giving enve 6.7 a go mainly i like sprinting and i can also climb well and i live in rolling area and there are no climb higher than 100m here. Currently running zipp 101 and from what i know 101 and 6.7 has similar weight and i climb on my 101 just fine so i suppose the 6.7 is not going to hold me back so much. my only concern is in crosswind where winds are usually around 5-15mph but i'll see how they behave. I'll be getting them by january and i'll let you know how it goes

Between the 6.7 and 3.4, I would pick the 3.4 90% of the time. I think that it is the most versatile rim combination that Enve offers. They handle very predictably in crosswinds, and they feel quite a bit snappier upon acceleration than the 6.7, but that's to be expected.
With that said though, the 6.7s perform better than any other rim in that depth range. I have a set of the older Edge 65s (ie similar depth, much narrower) and they are extremely squirrely in the crosswinds. Where as the 6.7s almost seem to stabilize when you get a crosswind (probably due to their much fatter profile).
I'm not sure I would recommend the Reynolds though. I have a set of the MV32s and they howl terribly unless I keep the brake tracks/pads extremely clean. The Enves really are on a higher level it seems.

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http://www.zencyclery.com

http://www.wheelbuilder.org

yeah, enve's...and back to that 3.4 or 6.7 discussion....thanks for the replies and yes, i rolled on tubs for 30 years before going to clinchers when I lived in London due to the broken glass in the capital city...will have to check the piggy bank for enves...

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The facts, while interesting, are not relevant.......

The Enve 6.7 will behave better or equal to your Gigantex 46's in Cross-wind and hold speed better. Reynolds will not be better in cross wind.

Braking wise the Enve are good. You might also consider Zipp 303 which will be very good Aero wise, have damn near no cross wind effects (reletive to other wheels) and the braking is better with the latest pads, wet or dry, than Enve. (the same for 404's which will be better at speed and still be very good in cross winds.)

If I were buying deep section wheels and had genuine cross wind concern, it would be limited to the more rounded sections like Firecrest / ENVE and at depths no greater than the 3.4 / 303 / 404.

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charles@pezcyclingnews.com

Unless my mental calculator is failing me, 55 kg is around 125 lbs?

I have Enve 3.4 and 6.7s. I'm 145 lbs. Descents on the 6.7s in a crosswind are terrifying. So much so, in fact, that I am considering getting rid of them. I really don't need to be blown off the road at 50 mph.

The 3.4s are a much better all-purpose rim. I also have some 303 tubulars, and my experience has been that the 3.4s are less susceptible to cross winds than the 303. Either wheelset is easily controllable even with strong side winds.

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Riding the Catskills

Thanks for the replies. I was thinking about this today riding in a driving rainstorm, it is rainy season now in Singapore, and happy that I was riding aluminum rimmed wheels. Sounds like the 3.4's are the way to go if I'm going carbon rims.

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The facts, while interesting, are not relevant.......

If your only gona buy one set of carbon wheels then the 3.4s are the best allroundies monies can buy..
I got a set of the 6.7s recently and the only reason I chose them over the 3.4s was I already own a set of 1.45s.. Had I brought the 3.4s I don't think I would have ever used the 45s again. Big waste of a 3k wheel set. Having both the 45s and 6.7s now gives me a nice selection for different conditions. If its windy I always go to the 6.7s i'm 85kgs and I find them really good on windy days... And I'm talking windy.. 10-35mph...

If I was at the begining of my turn to the world of carbon wheels I'd be buying 3.4s, it's a no brainer

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http://fairwheelbikes.com/cycling-blog/ ... ee-z5.html

I went through the 3.4 vs 6.7 recently and ultimately went with the 6.7 set. Soon after I got them we had strong winds (30mph) on a long ride and while I wouldn't say they were always easy to ride, they handled really well considering the depth. Guys on box rims were struggling with their bikes as well at times and anytime we had a head/tail wind, I had a noticeable advantage. I will qualify that I'm almost 74kgs and more of a TT/breakaway style rider. I've actually liked the 6.7 so much I'm considering a set of 8.9 for the TT bike.

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Ridley Noah FAST = 7.38 kg
BMC TM01 = 7.96 kg
Raligh HiLife = 7.46 kg
http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=104672

No pun intended but you are living in singapore for crying out loud. It's dead flat and the hills you can find is less than 100m and the wind never gets too bad for deep wheels. if i were you i'd go for 6.7 but its your money so you can get anything you want. i'm just saying. Unless you're planning on racing a road race with long climbs or steep climbs, you're better off with 6.7

How abt. Zipp 202 tubular? I'm abt. the same size and currently have Reynolds Attack on my bike but plan to switch to Zipp 202 next season.