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Best budget friendly wheelset upgrade

by burnhambiker
Mon, Sep 11, 2023 10:51
12

Hi All, 

I'm looking to upgrade my Trek Domane 4.5 disc (2016) wheelset from the stock Bontrager Affinity Comp Tubeless Ready, 15mm front hub, 142x12 rear hub. 

I'm looking for more speed but wheels that are more than capable of tackling climbs, and will need to be disc brake compatible. 

I've been looking into Vel & Prime as possible affordable options but getting a bit lost in rim depth, width and so on to know what will be good for speed and also not too heavy for climbing. 

Any help would be appreciated, as always. 

Thanks!

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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12 comments

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burnhambiker | 8 months ago
0 likes

I've found a Prime Black Edition 60mm wheelset at a good price on eBay (2nd hand), would you suggest these are a good option or will they be too heavy for my requirements?

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hawkinspeter replied to burnhambiker | 8 months ago
1 like

burnhambiker wrote:

I've found a Prime Black Edition 60mm wheelset at a good price on eBay (2nd hand), would you suggest these are a good option or will they be too heavy for my requirements?

That's the wheels that I've got! I don't consider them too heavy, but I'm not particularly light, so an extra 100g here or there for wheels makes little difference to me.

I'd question why they're being sold and what wheels they went for instead.

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Grahamd | 8 months ago
2 likes

You will have plenty of choice at that budget.

At the risk of sounding boring, I run Shimano wheels on all my bikes. Their reliability and serviceability are great. All four sets have had various incidents yet remained true without any issues. 

Do bear in mind that you may need new disc rotors, which coupled with a quality set of tubeless tyres could easily swallow a large proportion of your budget.

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Richbeck | 8 months ago
3 likes

Don't buy factory wheels - with that budget, hand-built will give you exactly what you want and need - speak to David at DCR wheels and choose your on hub, rim, spoke combo.

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burnhambiker | 8 months ago
0 likes

Thanks all, budget is around £600-£700

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dreadsi replied to burnhambiker | 6 months ago
0 likes

I would recommend Harry Rowland he has built wheels for me and a friend in my club too, well within the budget you mention. Way better than factory built wheels. Tell him what you are after and he will advise you.

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hawkinspeter | 8 months ago
0 likes

The Prime 44mm and 56mm rim wheels are discounted at the moment, so they'd be a good bet. In theory, 44mm or 56mm is not optimal for climbing, but it's unlikely to make a huge amount of difference as they're not overly heavy. If you're obsessed with climbing though, you may want to go for the lighter (smaller) sizes such as the 38mm.

The rim width isn't important, but generally wider is better.

I'd probably choose the 56mm wheelset: https://www.wiggle.com/p/prime-doyenne-56-carbon-disc-wheelset

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hawkinspeter replied to hawkinspeter | 8 months ago
0 likes

Forgot to add - if you're quite light, then you may wish to go for a shallower rim depth as they're less likely to get caught by crosswinds.

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mark1a | 8 months ago
0 likes

You mention rim depth, this will make a difference depending on your priority, generally speaking, deeper rims (>50mm) will be faster and sound nice, but could be heavier (£ for £), and can sometimes be a handful in crosswinds, a shallower rim (<30mm) will be lighter and easier to handle, but won't necessarily be as fast on flats & descents. A sweet spot between  the two could be around 35-40mm. 

Also an indication of your budget would be useful. 

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Simon E replied to mark1a | 8 months ago
0 likes

mark1a wrote:

a shallower rim (<30mm) will be lighter and easier to handle, but won't necessarily be as fast on flats & descents. A sweet spot between  the two could be around 35-40mm.

I'd suggest that the real world difference between modern U-shaped 30-40mm rims and deeper ones is really small (far less than choice of clothing, position and helmet). If you're not racing then choosing 50mm+ is little more than an aesthetic choice. Have a look at this recent side-by-side:

https://road.cc/content/feature/deep-vs-shallow-wheels-testing-301283

Lighter wheels may feel a touch nicer when accelerating but I wouldn't obsess over a weight difference of, say, 200g. It's a tiny proportion of total weight.

It's a struggle to find good carbon rims that don't cost a packet. IMHO you can't beat alloy rims for value.

Also, che current trend is for wider wheels, so check the internal rim width. But wider means heavier.

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wtjs replied to Simon E | 8 months ago
0 likes

you can't beat alloy rims for value

I find I'm very happy with alloy wheels made up by a local wheelbuilder, but that's because I'm always cycling with myself and I can't see how much ground I'm losing by not having carbon wheels, and because I'm old. I think I'll get Hope 5 hubs- anybody with experience of these?

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Tom_77 | 8 months ago
0 likes

There are some suggestions here - Best road bike wheels 2023

Might be useful to say roughly how much you're looking to spend.

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