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Wheel advice

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.
My mates rate Chinese wheels too, the direct-from-manufacturer ones.Those companies live or die by their reputation on sites like Weight Weenies, which is a good form of quality control.
I have Ultegra rotors on my cheap disc build, which has cable discs. I don't need fancy rotors for heat control, but they look much better. The black Dura ones look even better and will look killer with deep or deepish carbon rims. Now that even cheap gruppos like Sora have four-spoke crank and Tiagra has hidden cables off the shifters, most aesthetics about gruppos aren't a big deal. The rotors might be the biggest difference.
 
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.
Thats an awesome colour they've released.
The model above the SL6 seems to have a decent set of wheel on it.

Wheels are something that I have no idea on and am reading all the comments here for my own study. I went to my local bike shop that built my steel bike when I decided to upgrade. I asked him for 3 price point options so I could decide, went with the middle option and spent almost 80,000 which I almost baulked at but was one o0f the best buys I could've made for the bike. So maybe check with your local bike shop that builds wheels, see what options they can offer. Again your Emend is an amazing bike, nice light, zippy and awesome at climbing. While you might not be into the rides in the hills at the moment balancing a wheel set between aero & light will future proof it if the riding you do changes.
 
Another great vid from saibot. Another satisfied customer for Chinese wheels by the sounds. Interesting to hear the admission of occasional brake rub too with high-end hydro calipers. My low-end Spyre cable brakes have to be manually adjusted on both sides, and doing so to a "no rub ever" level produces something weaker than a rim brake.
 
You get what you pay for, if you have the cash I would go for well established brands. I have a set of campagnolo 38mm bora ones. Done 40000km never needed to be trued, brake like aluminum even in the wet.
Before that I had some of the locals and honestly worlds apart.

also if people are going to give reviews they should state if they are sponsored or receiving goods for free. That is only fair.
 
Another great vid from saibot. Another satisfied customer for Chinese wheels by the sounds.
"Chinese wheels" is a broad category. Most carbon bike parts are manufactured in Taiwan or mainland China. Nevertheless, often people use "Chinese carbon" in a derogatory fashion, sometimes with more than a racial tinge as they say. Chinese companies have built up a lot of expertise when it comes to the manufacture of carbon parts. The biggest differences IMHO is quality control, warranty and whether they do actual wheel design. Established brands like Enve and Zipp offer generous 5-year warranties on their new wheels, so if you break them in normal use, they will replace them. With many cheap "Chinese carbon" parts they save on quality control and warranty. Quality control is very important, because carbon parts may look perfect from the outside, if the lay-up is incorrect or you have defects of sorts, the part may be dangerous.

Also, @saibot's other weight weenie wheels (which are more expensive, I think) seem to be a nightmare if you want robust, dependable wheels. To be fair, I think he knew what he was signing up for. Regarding the new wheels specifically, I would say their inner width is way too small for a modern rim. Wider rims allow you to ride wider tires and lower pressures (without tire squirm). The recommended pressures for 28 mm tires on Zipp's new 303S wheelset are in the 50-60 psi range. Enve likewise recommends pressures that seem ridiculously low if you are a traditionalist.
 
You get what you pay for, if you have the cash I would go for well established brands. I have a set of campagnolo 38mm bora ones. Done 40000km never needed to be trued, brake like aluminum even in the wet.
Before that I had some of the locals and honestly worlds apart.

also if people are going to give reviews they should state if they are sponsored or receiving goods for free. That is only fair.

That's a very good point.

Astuto and Imezi have been good to me, so I speak of them positively. After sales service is a big point for wheels and if you want English speaking help, they are there for you.

Other wheels I have good feelings about are Mavic and at the top end of the market, Zipp and Gokiso.

With regards to 'Chinese carbon' it is worth noting that most major Japanese wheel builders use GIGANTEX rims.


These are good rims. So the overall quality of the wheel is determined by the skills of the builder and the quality of the spokes and hub.

Gokiso's hub is exceptional for example. And Imezi use DT Swiss which is also top end.

With the availability of rims, hubs and spokes these days, getting a shop that you can trust to build you a nice wheel based on your budget and riding needs is a very feasible option. And you get after sales service for life.

Hopefully!

Andy
 
I have Mavic UST and they are fine, but a little bit worried about Mavic's future.
Yeah, you could see this two ways: either this is a time to get a great deal on Mavic wheels (if you are ok with potentially not having warranty from the manufacturer) or Mavic is automatically ruled out.
 
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