SL7 Wheels

[yingyu]

454 NSWs on my SL7




Only a short 30 mile ride on them so far but they felt pretty good.

Your front gp5000 tread pattern seems to run backwards.

[tonytourist]

Oh no, I was too busy doing some other stuff in the morning and threw the tire on. I'll have to get that sorted ASAP!

[tonytourist]

Fixed this after it was pointed out:

Excuse the pile next to mine from last weekend

[yingyu]

Nice

My SL7 runs the little brother 353

[LedZeppelin007]

I’ve given it some more thought after today’s ride.

My background is 6’2.5” (189cm) and about 205lb (93kg) and lowering. My FTP is around 310 watts right now and rising and I’m generally feeling pretty fit. I know I weigh too much, but I weighed 69-70kg in college and I’m confident I can get back down to 75kg while still improving my power.

I have the SL7 Pro, essentially stock, but with a 46/33t, 10-36t gearing set up that suits me great.

I get off work early on Fridays and generally enjoy going for 30-60 miles after work. I usually do the same on Saturdays. There is no such thing as flat or well maintained pavement in northern Jersey. There are also quite a lot of cars.

Today’s ride was 61.6 miles (roughly 100k) with 4,500 feet (1370 m) of climbing. Some of the climbing was very steep with numerous grades exceeding 15% and one peaking out just shy of 20%. Generally, rides tend to be very rolling. I took it at a recovery pace while putting in a couple of efforts on segments. Average speed was 15.7 mph (25.3 kph), average power 169 watts (normalized 221 watts). Average cadence was around 90 rpm.

It was a beautiful ride, somewhat marred by traffic that had me on the shoulder much of the time (passed by 509 cars over the course of the ride) and just getting the veal kicked out of me by the road, especially on downhills where it was hard to always see/be able to take the best line due to shadows and traffic.

If I have one complaint about the SL7 it’s that it’s very stiff. The Rapide CL wheels are fairly stiff too, but the combo of stiff bike and stiffish wheels running latex tubes and 28c tires at 75-85psi just hurts sometimes. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fast setup.

I miss tubeless and I miss being able to run 28c+ tires at lowish pressure. I’m also missing out on a lot of the aero benefits of deep wheels considering there is almost no flat part of the road here and I can’t often bomb the descents because of traffic.

I like hookless, but am mad at Enve for the 4.5 fiasco.

My mind is mulling Zipp 303 FCs versus Zipp 353s.

I’d say my priorities are this:

1) Comfort
2) Speed
3) Weight
4) Strength/Stiffness
5) Warranty
6) Controllability

Anything else I should consider? Are the 353s actually better than the 303s?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Aesch]

Bontrager RSL51 maybe?

[wheelsONfire]

I’ve given it some more thought after today’s ride.

My background is 6’2.5” (189cm) and about 205lb (93kg) and lowering. My FTP is around 310 watts right now and rising and I’m generally feeling pretty fit. I know I weigh too much, but I weighed 69-70kg in college and I’m confident I can get back down to 75kg while still improving my power.

I have the SL7 Pro, essentially stock, but with a 46/33t, 10-36t gearing set up that suits me great.

I get off work early on Fridays and generally enjoy going for 30-60 miles after work. I usually do the same on Saturdays. There is no such thing as flat or well maintained pavement in northern Jersey. There are also quite a lot of cars.

Today’s ride was 61.6 miles (roughly 100k) with 4,500 feet (1370 m) of climbing. Some of the climbing was very steep with numerous grades exceeding 15% and one peaking out just shy of 20%. Generally, rides tend to be very rolling. I took it at a recovery pace while putting in a couple of efforts on segments. Average speed was 15.7 mph (25.3 kph), average power 169 watts (normalized 221 watts). Average cadence was around 90 rpm.

It was a beautiful ride, somewhat marred by traffic that had me on the shoulder much of the time (passed by 509 cars over the course of the ride) and just getting the veal kicked out of me by the road, especially on downhills where it was hard to always see/be able to take the best line due to shadows and traffic.

If I have one complaint about the SL7 it’s that it’s very stiff. The Rapide CL wheels are fairly stiff too, but the combo of stiff bike and stiffish wheels running latex tubes and 28c tires at 75-85psi just hurts sometimes. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fast setup.

I miss tubeless and I miss being able to run 28c+ tires at lowish pressure. I’m also missing out on a lot of the aero benefits of deep wheels considering there is almost no flat part of the road here and I can’t often bomb the descents because of traffic.

I like hookless, but am mad at Enve for the 4.5 fiasco.

My mind is mulling Zipp 303 FCs versus Zipp 353s.

I’d say my priorities are this:

1) Comfort
2) Speed
3) Weight
4) Strength/Stiffness
5) Warranty
6) Controllability

Anything else I should consider? Are the 353s actually better than the 303s?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I don't have disc brake version of FC 303, but i can say the rim brake dito gives a plush ride feel. My Schmolke doesn't ride like this at all. I like the Zipp wheels for this fact. It's like going from hard tires and high psi + butyl tubes to latex and plush tires with lower pressure even though you don't.
Maybe you can read some sense into it!?

[CampagYOLO]

Which tyres are you using? If it's GP5000's then there's definitely more comfortable tyres out there from Veloflex, Vittoria and Turbo Cottons.

[LedZeppelin007]

Which tyres are you using? If it's GP5000's then there's definitely more comfortable tyres out there from Veloflex, Vittoria and Turbo Cottons.

I’m using Turbo Cottons. They are great tires, but In order to avoid pinch flats, I’ve been running them at 75-80 PSI.

I had a Road Bike Time Trial today and put in 80 PSI, thinking the roads would be smooth. They weren’t and it definitely affected my rhythm and comfort (although I ended up doing fine — first podium!). I suspect that I may have been at the point at which rolling resistance impedance had kicked in. I rode on the drops and measured my CDa at approximately 0.35 with an AeroPod, which is definitely higher than I expected given that I’m generally in the 0.28 range in the drops around here on smoother roads. I suspect that the difference was rolling resistance (as that is estimated and remains stable across rides with the AeroPod). I generally use 0.0033 for my Crr. Today, I think I was easily in the 0.005 range.

Today would be an example of when I would’ve been better off with larger tires, hookless rims, and lower pressure, even if the wheels aren’t as aero IMHO.


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[yingyu]

Zipp 353 NSW is noticeably more comfortable than other wheels I own, including Roval Rapide CLX (gen 1) that comes stock with my SL7, Zipp 454 NSW, and the newest Enve 2.3. I can take many potholes that I'd avoid on other wheels. I don't have the newest 303 for direct comparison. The only comparative review I know https://intheknowcycling.com/best-climbing-wheels/ seem to rate comfort in the order of Zipp 353 > Enve 3.4 > Zipp 303. I weight 61 kg and run my Zipp 353 + Conti 28c at 46/49 psi, a bit below Zipp recommendation and closer to Enve's. The comfort level of wide tires is very sensitive to pressure. They will feel rock solid on every bump with 5psi excess.

[CampagYOLO]

Which tyres are you using? If it's GP5000's then there's definitely more comfortable tyres out there from Veloflex, Vittoria and Turbo Cottons.

I’m using Turbo Cottons. They are great tires, but In order to avoid pinch flats, I’ve been running them at 75-80 PSI.

I had a Road Bike Time Trial today and put in 80 PSI, thinking the roads would be smooth. They weren’t and it definitely affected my rhythm and comfort (although I ended up doing fine — first podium!). I suspect that I may have been at the point at which rolling resistance impedance had kicked in. I rode on the drops and measured my CDa at approximately 0.35 with an AeroPod, which is definitely higher than I expected given that I’m generally in the 0.28 range in the drops around here on smoother roads. I suspect that the difference was rolling resistance (as that is estimated and remains stable across rides with the AeroPod). I generally use 0.0033 for my Crr. Today, I think I was easily in the 0.005 range.

Today would be an example of when I would’ve been better off with larger tires, hookless rims, and lower pressure, even if the wheels aren’t as aero IMHO.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Sounds like you've done what you can with your current set up. I'd be tempted to get the Roval Rapides as they're so wide that 30mm tubeless tyres at lower pressures should work well.

[Noctiluxx]

Personally I'd go with the new Cadex 50 Ultras. They look amazing and have top notch specs plus Giant has more experience with carbon than than all the manufacturers above combined.

[pmprego]

Personally I'd go with the new Cadex 50 Ultras. They look amazing and have top notch specs plus Giant has more experience with carbon than than all the manufacturers above combined.

As long as you can bear the price. They are expensive but... they are very light and aero. If price is not a concern, hell yes, the new cadex!!

[CampagYOLO]

Personally I'd go with the new Cadex 50 Ultras. They look amazing and have top notch specs plus Giant has more experience with carbon than than all the manufacturers above combined.

As long as you can bear the price. They are expensive but... they are very light and aero. If price is not a concern, hell yes, the new cadex!!

The OP is asking for wheels that provide a degree of comfort on their rough roads. No one will have ridden the Cadex wheels yet to say how they compare to other brands wheels when it comes to comfort.

[pmprego]

Personally I'd go with the new Cadex 50 Ultras. They look amazing and have top notch specs plus Giant has more experience with carbon than than all the manufacturers above combined.

As long as you can bear the price. They are expensive but... they are very light and aero. If price is not a concern, hell yes, the new cadex!!

The OP is asking for wheels that provide a degree of comfort on their rough roads. No one will have ridden the Cadex wheels yet to say how they compare to other brands wheels when it comes to comfort.

Ben Delaney did. As he said, 25c tires will always be 25c tires but one can always put something bigger.