SW Aethos build - what wheels?

[seinberg]

I'm nearly complete with an SW Aethos build - SRAM Red AXS build. I'm largely keeping it stock components but not sure what I want to do with the wheels yet. I already have an SW Tarmac SL7 with the new Zipp 454 NSWs and the Rapides that came with it stock. So already have decent all around wheels I can put on it and am looking for lightweight climbing wheels. I'm debating whether to get the Alpinist CLXs, 353 NSWs (hard to find in stock), Bora Ultra WTO 33, or something else folks here prefer. I prefer to run tubeless but it's not necessarily a deal breaker. Curious what you're running and any words of wisdom or advice you have. Cheers!

[tiz92]

You could also go for some Farsports chinese 35 mm or 40 mm wheels. Or Lightbycicle. Will be lighter than all those and for sure equal quality.

[WouldLikeToBeLighter]

I've got some Tune Schwarzbrenner wheels for my SW Aethos, they have Scapin super spokes and come in at 1,098g and are tubeless.

If I were doing it again and wanted an even lighter wheelset I'd have gone Stan's Grail CB7 rims (same as on the Tune), extralite hubs and Berd Spokes. I suspect I might have gone done to close to or just below 1,000g. They didn't make black berd spokes at the time of the build and I really didn't want white ones.

[polpy]

25mm Farsports Feder, DT180 with CX Super should be under 1000g, with CX Ray slightly above 1000g. Extralite Hubs should be a little lighter but are weaker.

[yingyu]

I'm nearly complete with an SW Aethos build - SRAM Red AXS build. I'm largely keeping it stock components but not sure what I want to do with the wheels yet. I already have an SW Tarmac SL7 with the new Zipp 454 NSWs and the Rapides that came with it stock. So already have decent all around wheels I can put on it and am looking for lightweight climbing wheels. I'm debating whether to get the Alpinist CLXs, 353 NSWs (hard to find in stock), Bora Ultra WTO 33, or something else folks here prefer. I prefer to run tubeless but it's not necessarily a deal breaker. Curious what you're running and any words of wisdom or advice you have. Cheers!

I have an SW Tarmac SL7 and have tried Rapide CLX (stock), Bora Ultra WTO 45, and 353 NSW. They aren't all the same wheels you are considering but hopefully some of my experiences would help.

Rapide CLX (GP 5000 28mm + latex tubes)
They feel aero to cruise but sluggish to accelerate or climb. My friend broke the rear wheel's DT Swiss EXP internals (viewtopic.php?t=165826) so I brought it to LBS for warranty repair. LBS said my wheel's serial number wasn't in the range affected by the engagement problem (what?) and didn't tell me how Roval fixed the issue. After fixing, its freelwheel sound became louder (my friend loves it) and the drag increased to be able to move the cranks when spinning on a repair stand. I have ridden other wheels with DT Swiss internals and don't like how they engage.

Bora Ultra WTO 45 (GP 5000 25/28mm + latex tubes -> GP 5000 S TR 25mm)
They look absolutely classic and beautiul. They came out of factory perfectly true and stay that way AFAICT. They respond to road vibrations with a pleasent humming. The rides were harsh when I ran tubes with pressures recommended by https://axs.sram.com/guides/tire/pressure, but became much more comfortable when I ran tubeless with pressures 5 psi lower than recommended level. (I didn't want to drop pressure and risk pinch flats with tubes.) During acceleration, they feel stiff yet supernaturally smooth. Probably due to the narrower rim (19mm) and tire widths, they are more nervous when cornering. WTO 33 has rim ID 21mm so may be more stable. Overall I would describe their rides as "playful".

353 NSW (SW Turbo RapidAir 2Bliss Ready 28mm -> GP 5000 S TR 28mm)
Their low rim weights mean less efforts to change moving direction. 454 NSW + 25mm tire should have similar moment of inertia as 353 NSW + 28mm tire, so this handling feel should be familiar. Meanwhile, 353 NSW's wider rim and tire widths means stabler cornering. I personally find my SL7's handling more intuitive with 353 NSWs than with stock Rapide CLXs. They absorb road bumps and cracks well so I don't need to swerve as much to dodge hazards when descending. With recommended low tire pressures, they could feel less stiff when accelerating because the rear tire would sink more. Road gradient changes are harder to tell from road feedbacks -- they feel more like someone dialing up the trainer resistance. Racers doing hill sprints may be unsatisfied but I like this smooth efficiency. I got mine from https://www.beyondaero.com/products/zip ... c-wheelset. The rear hub initially made embarrassing noises when engaging. I noticed the wheels were slightly out of true, tried to adjust spoke tensions, but couldn't eliminate the noises. I brought the wheels back to Beyond Aero. The shop owner wasn't sure what happened, but he took apart the hub, relubed pieces, reassembled the hub, and fixed the issue. I am running 353 NSWs most of the time because they descend like a dream and are comfortable on bad pavements and light gravels.

Some more random thoughts:

- A tubeless setup can safely drop more pressure to tune ride quality based on road conditions. Also I suspect tube-mandatory wheels e.g. Rapide and Alpinist wouldn't retain values well as tubeless technologies e.g. GP 5000 S TR continue to progress.

- Bora Ultra WTOs have the best build quality. I've experienced hub problems with both Rapide CLXs and 353 NSWs.

[JHeiro]

Just finished my S-Works Aethos build a week ago. Spent quite a long time considering wheel choice as well.

For clarification: this bike will not be used for racing. Focus is on three things: responsiveness, comfort and ride quality. I have several other bikes, including Cervelo R5 & S5, Pinarello Dogma, BMC Teammachine, and a good selection of wheels from which to choose from (ZIPP 353 & 454, Enve 5.6, DT ARC 1100, BikeAhead BiTurbo to name a few).

For this bike I built a set of Enve 3.4ARs laced with Carbon-Ti X-Hub and Sapim CX-Rays, with a final weight of 1298g. Continental GP5k TR 30mm measure 31,2mm on these. Haven't test-ridden the bike yet, as just after the photo session a blizzard hit the area where I live, and now there's 30cm of snow on the roads!

I might use the 1190g BikeAhead wheels on this bike as well, but while they are super stiff and climb like a dream, they are also very harsh riding.

[Pukutis]

Just finished my S-Works Aethos build a week ago. Spent quite a long time considering wheel choice as well.

For clarification: this bike will not be used for racing. Focus is on three things: responsiveness, comfort and ride quality. I have several other bikes, including Cervelo R5 & S5, Pinarello Dogma, BMC Teammachine, and a good selection of wheels from which to choose from (ZIPP 353 & 454, Enve 5.6, DT ARC 1100, BikeAhead BiTurbo to name a few).

For this bike I built a set of Enve 3.4ARs laced with Carbon-Ti X-Hub and Sapim CX-Rays, with a final weight of 1298g. Continental GP5k TR 30mm measure 31,2mm on these. Haven't test-ridden the bike yet, as just after the photo session a blizzard hit the area where I live, and now there's 30cm of snow on the roads!

I might use the 1190g BikeAhead wheels on this bike as well, but while they are super stiff and climb like a dream, they are also very harsh riding.

I would be interested to know your experience, considering that you have used different brand bikes and wheels.


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[seinberg]

This is great feedback. I got a private message from someone who suggested looking at the Princeton Peak 4550 wheels as well, which I've thrown into the equation. The Enves look nice too. If Roval had just made the Alpinists tubeless it would make the decision a bit simpler Very curious to hear more personal experiences like yingyu (thanks!). BTW, is beyondaero.com actually trustworthy? I tried looking them up (had never heard of them) and it seems to get a fair number of really negative reviews so while they seem to be the only place with the 353s in stock I'm reluctant to order from them!

[spdntrxi]

I've purchased some small items from them on ebay and never had an issue. I'm local too them but have never been to their storefront as it's appt only.

[yingyu]

BTW, is beyondaero.com actually trustworthy? I tried looking them up (had never heard of them) and it seems to get a fair number of really negative reviews so while they seem to be the only place with the 353s in stock I'm reluctant to order from them!

I pre-ordered my 353s on beyondaero.com in late April and picked them up in store (one hour drive from South Bay) later in July. The owner Andres said he secured a very early batch of 353s from SRAM. Curious where you see the negative reviews? My casual search shows mostly positive ones. In any case, it'd be wise to double check the inventory via email or phone.

[seinberg]

BTW, is beyondaero.com actually trustworthy? I tried looking them up (had never heard of them) and it seems to get a fair number of really negative reviews so while they seem to be the only place with the 353s in stock I'm reluctant to order from them!

I pre-ordered my 353s on beyondaero.com in late April and picked them up in store (one hour drive from South Bay) later in July. The owner Andres said he secured a very early batch of 353s from SRAM. Curious where you see the negative reviews? My casual search shows mostly positive ones. In any case, it'd be wise to double check the inventory via email or phone.

It was on Yelp mainly. A few locals and a couple online orders that went awry. But I was in touch with the owner who seemed ok so I might just go with the 353s - that's kind of my default choice. Curious if there are others anybody suggests or has experience with.

[thebikemanguy]

This is great feedback. I got a private message from someone who suggested looking at the Princeton Peak 4550 wheels as well, which I've thrown into the equation. The Enves look nice too. If Roval had just made the Alpinists tubeless it would make the decision a bit simpler Very curious to hear more personal experiences like yingyu (thanks!). BTW, is beyondaero.com actually trustworthy? I tried looking them up (had never heard of them) and it seems to get a fair number of really negative reviews so while they seem to be the only place with the 353s in stock I'm reluctant to order from them!

No experience with the 4550s, but I've ridden both the 6560's and the 4540's and they're the best wheels I've ever been on, hands down. They're honestly a pretty different wheel to the 353s though. The PCWs are narrow by modern standards and are designed to be out-and-out fast all-around/climbing road racing wheels. The zipps are super wide and generally optimized for a broader range of use cases. I'd personally consider that 18.5mm internal width on the PCWs to be a dealbreaker but if you want to run 25s then it wouldn't be as much of an issue. But I also wouldn't be super stoked to spend $4k for a pair of zipp-branded hubs, and that price is still pretty wild even considering the other wheels you've mentioned. Tradeoffs.

[seinberg]

Ended up going with the Alpinists. I got a great deal on them from a LBS that's sourcing many of the components for me so decided to keep it simple. Can always sell them if I really really wanna go tubeless in the future.

[Mocs123]

Ended up going with the Alpinists. I got a great deal on them from a LBS that's sourcing many of the components for me so decided to keep it simple. Can always sell them if I really really wanna go tubeless in the future.

Probably the perfect wheelset for the your bike anyways. They are super light and though they aren't super deep/aero - they fit the personality of the Aethos. Though I am about to change one (rim brake) bike to Tubeless, road tubeless is probably over-rated for disc brake bikes anyways unless your in an area where you get a ton of punctures (goat heads, etc). Tubeless is no faster than a Clincher and a latex tube.

Congrats on your purchase!

[yingyu]

Though I am about to change one (rim brake) bike to Tubeless, road tubeless is probably over-rated for disc brake bikes anyways unless your in an area where you get a ton of punctures (goat heads, etc). Tubeless is no faster than a Clincher and a latex tube.

I used to think that way and had good luck with latex tubes in 2020. This year, maybe because economy activities had recovered, I got a lot of wire bits (from car tires) in my tires and thanked tubeless a lot. YMMV.

Discoveries when cleaning up a tubeless tire: