What's new

Wheels for climbing

xDOMx

Maximum Pace
Nov 21, 2014
546
421
As the title suggests, after some wheels for climbing.

I have Zipp 60s at the moment with SRAM red and I feel like I could do with something lower profile etc.

I was thinking of some HED Ardennes LT or similar but am open to suggestions as I am kind of new to buying components here and know you guys may have some suggestions.
 
I was ideally after clinchers but point taken!
 
Ah OK, well you can go lighter than that for clinchers too.

Are you after a metal braking surface?
 
Preferably although I'm easy on that. Just something that's not crazy expensive.
 
(Sorry if you know all this)... Simply, building wheels yourself will get you way more for your money, so if cost is a consideration, and you want a sick set of wheels, you may want to consider building them yourself. Generally, wheelsets from the large manufacturers don't dip below 1300g until you start spending quite a lot of money, and you can add even more to that merely by being in Japan, with how they ramp the prices up on the big brands here.

The lightest that wheels get at the moment is about 880g for the pair. That is with a super exotic and high maintenance pair of hubs, very light spokes, and low profile carbon tubular rims. That is as light as wheels get until a new material comes along. Above that, anything up to about 1100g is what is considered 'light'. To get that really light bike feeling though, where you put your hands under the seat and stem, lift up and go 'bloody hell!', getting under 1kg is the aim. There are pretty much no production wheelsets that are under 1kg, especially for non-silly prices, so if you want to go that light, which is what many would consider a light climbing wheelset to be, you will need to assemble the parts and build yourself (or get someone to build for you). Parts are easy to get hold of, and you don't need to buy in Japan. For instance, I am constantly getting hubs, rims and spokes, etc, sent from America, Germany, Italy, etc., to my 'lab' (spare bedroom) where I build them for my mates who want wheels doing. Open offer; I can build wheels for you, or anyone who wants them, for free - you just need to choose and get the parts (if you want, of course!)

Maybe let us know your budget, and we can start suggesting commercial wheelsets which might fall into the kind of light category, or more fun, spec you up a sick custom wheelset from the huge array of decent wheel parts available across the globe.

Have a look at https://fairwheelbikes.com/ to start getting your head around all the decent quality parts available, if you are in any way interested in making a set of very light wheels for yourself.
 
Back
Top Bottom