Analysis paralysis - wheels - weight or aero?

[mk92]

Hi everyone,

I’m currently building an Aethos and I'm stuck deciding on the wheels. The options are between the Lightbicycle AR25 (990g, 25mm) and the Wheelsfar Hyper (1190g, 50mm). The change would bring the projected weight from 5.6kg to around 5.4kg.

The Aethos will be my second bike, with my primary bike being a Dogma with ENVE 4.5 wheels, weighing a total of 7.4kg. Given this, would it make sense to go for the lightest possible wheels to create a noticeable difference between the two bikes? On the other hand, since I live in Sydney, Australia, where the terrain is more mixed than purely climbing-focused, maybe the 200g penalty for the deeper rims is worth it for the added aerodynamics.

Thanks in advance!!

[TobinHatesYou]

Get the AR25s, though keep in mind their “hybrid hooks” may as well be hookless. Don’t use narrower tires than 28s, and note the max pressure rating for the rim is 70psi, not even 72.5psi.

[cheapvega]

Going fast and holding speed is fun. I would go with the 50mms.

[HannibalLecter]

Both.
Id buy the new turbo wheels, 50mm depth, the quality is exeptional. When laced with carbon spokes they are probably below 1300g.
My ideal build would be these rims, nonplus hubs, titanium spokes. 1200g, reliable metal spokes, nothing too proprietary. And although not by any means cheap, still below 2000.
I have the ar465 rims and I can attest to the quality.

[Requiem84]

Hi everyone,

I’m currently building an Aethos and I'm stuck deciding on the wheels. The options are between the Lightbicycle AR25 (990g, 25mm) and the Wheelsfar Hyper (1190g, 50mm). The change would bring the projected weight from 5.6kg to around 5.4kg.

The Aethos will be my second bike, with my primary bike being a Dogma with ENVE 4.5 wheels, weighing a total of 7.4kg. Given this, would it make sense to go for the lightest possible wheels to create a noticeable difference between the two bikes? On the other hand, since I live in Sydney, Australia, where the terrain is more mixed than purely climbing-focused, maybe the 200g penalty for the deeper rims is worth it for the added aerodynamics.

Thanks in advance!!

The more logical choice will be the 50mm's.

200grams won't give a meaningfull difference during the climbs in speed. It will FEEL faster when you stand up or accelerate. But when you'd do a timing of your loop you won't see much difference. The 50mm's will be a bit faster (especially if there is some yaw). And it looks MUCH better (imo).

In the end also the 50mm's will not be MUCH faster, so the best answer probably is 'buy what you like the most'.

[TobinHatesYou]

He already has a semi-aero bike with ~50mm deep wheels. The logical choice is to avoid redundancy.

[Requiem84]

He already has a semi-aero bike with ~50mm deep wheels. The logical choice is to avoid redundancy.

Adding 200grams to his 5.4kg bike won't make it the same as his 7.4kg aero bike.

[MagicShite]

I actually agree with THY, just get the lightest low profile you can get. It's an aethos, why bother with aero?

I wouldn't want to use tubeless tho, much prefer running TPUs with clinchers.

[OtterSpace]

Yup, pretty obvious choice if you already have another faster bike. Optimize each for what they are good at.

If you only had the aethos something around 40mm would be a good bet but you already have an on meta bike. Build this one up light towards the advantage of the aethos platform. Id avoid tubulars and anything super exotic as I think those match better with rim builds.

[gurk700]

Doesn't matter. Shallower profiles look better on Aethos.

[Yoln]

I'm in the wheelsfar train, mostly because the LR25 with CX-ray are going to be noodly. but 50mm is a bit much IMO to climb, just don't like the feeling of it.

Carbon spokes, 35/45mm deep, hooked rims, is the sweet spot for me.

If your user case is to keep some versatility for your bike that would be my choice. If your goal is to make a HC wheelset that you use only for KOM chasing and HC racing once in a while, I would go with the 25mm.

[cheapvega]

I actually agree with THY, just get the lightest low profile you can get. It's an aethos, why bother with aero?

I wouldn't want to use tubeless tho, much prefer running TPUs with clinchers.

Because speed is fun. I run 60mm wheels on my external cable bike. It's a little less snappy up climbs but I get way more back elsewhere. 40-50mm is good and 25mm is to far IMO.

[spdntrxi]

since Enve 4.5 are already owned... shallow wheel makes sense.

[Tpduke112]

Buy the shallow wheels and put the Enves on if you want aero.

[wltz]

I'd probably go with Farsports Hypers, but in 35mm. Shallower wheels will match the Aethos lines better, however LB's AR25 aren't even marketed as a road wheelset, and I agree their spec suggests they will be noodly.