Help me choose my wheelset (Swiss hilly road)

[Antoine22]

Hello to all

I started cycling recently (2 years ago) and I have mounted my first bike (BMC teammachine slr02)
I now want to start upgrading my bike (darimo seatpost on its way already) so I turn to my wheels.
I have the most basic wheelset : mavic aksium (1900g)
I ride in Switzerland, mainly in very hilly terrain (a 1'000 - 2'000meters of elevation is a pretty standard ride)

My research led me to :

Campagnolo Bora one 35 tubular (carbon)
Campagnolo Shamal ultra (alu)
Dt Swiss oxic (alu with ceramic coating)

Or something else you suggest?

So I don't know yet if I choose a carbon or alu wheelset knowing that :
- I'm not an excellent descender (rim overheating on carbon?), I think that every time I brake, my conscience won't be at ease imagining that I'm destroying my nice carbon rim pair
- Riding in tubular doesn't scare me, on the contrary I would like to try
- I love the look of carbon rims (the oxic are a good compromise but I don't know what they are worth?)

Thanks for reading

[Aeo]

Shimano Dura-Ace C24

Totally depends on your budget

[Antoine22]

Shimano Dura-Ace C24

Totally depends on your budget

thanks for the recommendation

Budget is around $1'000 and don't mind buying second hand wheelset

[Alexandrumarian]

I use both Bora 35 tubs and an alloy set I build myself with dtswiss rims and many spokes - i range from 90 to 100Kg! The Boras touch the brakes more easily otherwise I had no problems, they never went out of true. The carbon has no problems with overheating, it is good quality /good resin BUT - even if the heat doesn't affect the carbon, it still goes into the glue. I had an event once after a hot weather + very steep + narrow, bad surface descent where I had to drag the brakes hard. Glue softened, tire (probably during braking) stretched and slipped resulting in a bulge. It didn't go over the rim but reset with the bulge and i had to limp back to the car. Experiments I did later with an oven show that the usual tub glues soften completely after about 10 minutes at over 100 deg Celsius. As it cools it rehardens pretty fast but that in-between spot can be dangerous.

For alloy you can't go wrong with a top wheel from Campy or DTswiss. They might even be a bit faster downhill as a good clincher has lower RR than a tub. Climbing, I can't see any significant time difference. Looking at multiple tries on certain climbs, spread over a few years, it tracks. In the same W interval (say 245-255W) the times are the same give or take a number or seconds despite using 2 different wheels sets and 3 frames.

The tubulars do feel subjectively much nicer to ride in terms of feedback. On the alloy wheels the ride is more muted. But I do not feel that power transfer is in any way inferior.

Despire the fear of melting the glue, I think I still feel a bit safer descending on tubs than on clinchers. Fwiw, statistically I get fewer flats on tubs.

[Antoine22]

I use both Bora 35 tubs and an alloy set I build myself with dtswiss rims and many spokes - i range from 90 to 100Kg! The Boras touch the brakes more easily otherwise I had no problems, they never went out of true. The carbon has no problems with overheating, it is good quality /good resin BUT - even if the heat doesn't affect the carbon, it still goes into the glue. I had an event once after a hot weather + very steep + narrow, bad surface descent where I had to drag the brakes hard. Glue softened, tire (probably during braking) stretched and slipped resulting in a bulge. It didn't go over the rim but reset with the bulge and i had to limp back to the car. Experiments I did later with an oven show that the usual tub glues soften completely after about 10 minutes at over 100 deg Celsius. As it cools it rehardens pretty fast but that in-between spot can be dangerous.

For alloy you can't go wrong with a top wheel from Campy or DTswiss. They might even be a bit faster downhill as a good clincher has lower RR than a tub. Climbing, I can't see any significant time difference. Looking at multiple tries on certain climbs, spread over a few years, it tracks. In the same W interval (say 245-255W) the times are the same give or take a number or seconds despite using 2 different wheels sets and 3 frames.

The tubulars do feel subjectively much nicer to ride in terms of feedback. On the alloy wheels the ride is more muted. But I do not feel that power transfer is in any way inferior.

Despire the fear of melting the glue, I think I still feel a bit safer descending on tubs than on clinchers. Fwiw, statistically I get fewer flats on tubs.

Thanks for this! My heart goes to the bora because love the look of them but my brain keeps being paranoid I will brake them during some descent

[alanyu]

I have lived in Swiss for about 1.5 years. I was a slow descender at that time and almost everyone else could overtake me easily during the desending. I was not familiar with the course there so I braked a lot more.

However, I have never worried about overheating. I know how to brake "correctly" as other good descenders do: no dragging over 30 sec, braking hard before cornering, etc. The brake track of my super light Chinese rims has been almost worn out, but still no any mark of overheating.

[Antoine22]

I have lived in Swiss for about 1.5 years. I was a slow descender at that time and almost everyone else could overtake me easily during the desending. I was not familiar with the course there so I braked a lot more.

However, I have never worried about overheating. I know how to brake "correctly" as other good descenders do: no dragging over 30 sec, braking hard before cornering, etc. The brake track of my super light Chinese rims has been almost worn out, but still no any mark of overheating.

Thank you. And you worn the brake track during the 1.5 years or riding in switzerland ?

[alanyu]

I have lived in Swiss for about 1.5 years. I was a slow descender at that time and almost everyone else could overtake me easily during the desending. I was not familiar with the course there so I braked a lot more.

However, I have never worried about overheating. I know how to brake "correctly" as other good descenders do: no dragging over 30 sec, braking hard before cornering, etc. The brake track of my super light Chinese rims has been almost worn out, but still no any mark of overheating.

Thank you. And you worn the brake track during the 1.5 years or riding in switzerland ?

During 1.5 years including quite a bit rides in rain. The brake track wall is also thinner compared to other normal weight rims.

[Renault78law]

Peace of mind is nice, only you can decide if the carbon look is worth the compromises. I have 50mm Boras clincher and braking is good though not as good as Al, IMO. Others seem to disagree. I worry about overheating my carbon a little, I'm a heavier rider, and never had a problem, but I don't live in the Alps. If I was going with a shallower wheel, I would probably go with Al. Deeper rim, I would still go carbon.

[Antoine22]

Peace of mind is nice, only you can decide if the carbon look is worth the compromises. I have 50mm Boras clincher and braking is good though not as good as Al, IMO. Others seem to disagree. I worry about overheating my carbon a little, I'm a heavier rider, and never had a problem, but I don't live in the Alps. If I was going with a shallower wheel, I would probably go with Al. Deeper rim, I would still go carbon.

I'm not heavy (70kg max) but I do quite a lot of hilly riding. Can't afford 2 set of wheels at the moment but I think it's what I will end up with in the future

[tommyboyo]

Dura Ace c24/c40 just a bomb proof, no fuss wheelset.