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Wheel advice

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Warming-Up
Apr 22, 2020
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Hi community, just got my new trek Emonda sl5 (disc brake) and I am in love! The one gap I feel on this bike is the wheel set. Hoping to get some advise on wheel upgrades. Thoughts? Personal testimony? Favorites? Budget is about 1500 bucks.
 

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Enve has recently released its Foundation series, which are 45 mm (1,541 g) and 65 mm deep wheels (1641 g) that cost $1,600. You get lifetime incident protection and a 5-year factory warranty just like with their higher-end products. As you can see they are very light for their depth and price. While I haven't tried them, if they are anywhere near Enve's other wheels, they seem like a great investment.

A cheaper option are Zipp's new 303S wheelset that are also 45 mm deep.

All of these wheelsets are made for tubeless, wider tires and disc brakes.
 
Just to add something here: large-depth rims haven't seen to have caught on in Japan to the same degree. Even at the best bike shop in town (that is owned by a former pro mechanic) almost exclusively sells shallow-depth wheels. It seems that the roadie community is a particularly conservative subset of the already conservative roadie community.
 
Just to add something here: large-depth rims haven't seen to have caught on in Japan to the same degree. Even at the best bike shop in town (that is owned by a former pro mechanic) almost exclusively sells shallow-depth wheels. It seems that the roadie community is a particularly conservative subset of the already conservative roadie community.
They tend to bring out their deep rims for racing and use their regular (cheaper) wheels for training.
 
Dont most people care about the goal of a wheelset? I would not get deep rims for climbing/descending. I would not get shallow rims for TTs or the like.

An Emonda is all about being light. It is not an aero frame. If light is the goal, deep dish isn't the answer.

I have no idea what to recommend because i have no idea the purpose.

That said, the Enve name is great and you rarely hear a product complaint.

I have always built wheels from the hub out. Points of engagement are important to me as is reliability.
 
@bloaker thanks for the insight. Essentially I am look for a wheel set for speed, and distance. Not crazy climbing
In that case - the deep dish recommended above will help carry momentum and cut through the air well.
The biggest downside - crosswinds. The deeper the dish, the more you get pushed around.

But... IMO - this is the #1 reason to go disc. You have tons of carbon options to chose from with no fear of brake heat.
 
As suggested above, a lot of guys like GSAstuto. He has his own wheels - so you won't be able to research much on them on your own. I have not heard many complaints from his shop - but I do see them up for sale after a while. I am assuming due to upgrading? Since I run rim brakes, I stick to allow, so I don't pay too much attention.

Like I said earlier - I prefer to start with the hub (my road bike has Chris King) and build near indestructible wheels (read that as I like to jumps curbs, bunny hop potholes, and when the mood strikes.... take a trail or two on my road bike). So I go with 32 Spoke usually and a strong rim. I accept the weight penalty, but once rolling - they help me maintain speed and stay smooth.
 
Dont most people care about the goal of a wheelset? I would not get deep rims for climbing/descending. I would not get shallow rims for TTs or the like.
Unless you are only going up very steep hills, deeper wheels will always be faster. 45 mm seems to be the goldilocks depth of wheels, Zipp's 303S are 45 mm, 3T's new Discus wheels are 45 mm deep and Enve's AR 4.5 are ~45 and ~55 mm deep.
An Emonda is all about being light. It is not an aero frame. If light is the goal, deep dish isn't the answer.
AFAIK wheels make a bigger difference than the frameset. Also, the 45 mm Enve's just weigh ~1,500 g, I doubt there are other high-quality wheelsets in that price range which are (substantially) lighter.
They tend to bring out their deep rims for racing and use their regular (cheaper) wheels for training.
If I go what is in the shop on display and on my team mates's bikes, at least this does not seem to be the case here. And for a few money seems to be no object. Also at the races I have been to, few people run deep wheels. Ditto for disc brakes, although quite a few people have gotten the Venge.
 
Hunt Wheels are popular and budget friendly. These might be ok:

 
@andywood this is your lane.

Not sure what that means!

But I would second your recommendation for Astuto.

I've used his wheels on my road bike for years. Superlight and bombproof.

The only servicing you may need is bearing replacement. I'd recommend NTN bearings if you do it yourself or at a bike shop.

However, Tim will look after you and do all the regular maintenance you need. And if you are localish it's a no brainer.

Andrew at Imezi is also a good person to talk to. Basically he and Tim are working together to develop the best wheels for the best price.

If you have lots of cash to splash there is also Gokiso. The NASA of hub technology!

Andy
 
Any idea a good place in japan to pick up a set?

I think Intermax are the main distributor for SRAM and they have the RRP for their products on their site (I'm guessing you can't go direct and you have to buy from your LBS). Obviously, things can be picked up cheaper online, but then you run into other issues with international shipping and such like.

 
Nice bike! The Emonda is the lightweight Trek isn't it. I've got the lightweight Canyon, the Ultimate. It's really responsive.

Your wheel budget is way higher than mine, and I'll just say that it is enough to buy something you think is cool. You are beyond a point where you should be mostly thinking about cost-performance. Any 100,000 yen plus wheels will be good. If you are fitting cool wheels, I'd recommend keeping 10,000 yen or so back for Ultegra or Dura brake rotors, which will set your bike and new wheels off much better than the standard ones on there now.
 
If you are fitting cool wheels, I'd recommend keeping 10,000 yen or so back for Ultegra or Dura brake rotors, which will set your bike and new wheels off much better than the standard ones on there now.
Yes! Good advice. I have non-IceTech rotors on my road bike and they are not as good as the IceTechs on my mountain bike.

One other thing popped into my mind: with disc brakes IMHO it is not necessary to distinguish between "good" race wheels and your everyday wheels. With rim brakes this is sometimes advised because the brake track is an integral part of your wheel that wears. Not so with a disc brake wheelset, obviously. Enve says specifically that their wheels are to be used all the time. (Of course, if you are really fancy, you keep several wheelsets of different depths and choose accordingly.)
 
I know someone who got some Farsports Feder disc wheels recently. They come in at - few grams over 1200 which is damn light for disc wheels. Can't remember the depth but not super deep. 35mm rings a bell. He really rates the wheels.
 
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