Wheel advise, please

[thomas]

It is Thanksgiving, and I have much to be thankful for.

But there's always more bike gear beckoning!

I'm conservative on my wheels, but I am now thinking about maybe a pair of carbon hoops. Or maybe not. The standout set to me right now are Campy Bora One 35's, clincher, Shimano fh. But I'm also thinking about DA c35/c40 wheels, since they don't need different brake pads.

So could anyone recommend one or the other?

[nick k]

You absolutely cannot go wrong with Boras of any flavor. Rim, disc, Bora One, Ultra, whatever. They are fast, very light, drama free, and with excellent bearings. You can spend a lot more than Bora Ones and wind up without any substantive improvements.

[open roader]

I can recommend Bora One 35's. I have the tubular model with the wider rim width than the prev. model but not the current diamond pattern brake track finishing.

Bora One 35's are the best all rounder carbon wheels I've ridden hands down. They are ridiculously light weight but the front of my bikes never goes light or wobbles on fast descents as it has with other ultra lightweight wheel sets. I opted for the 35 profile as I find deeper wheels catch the crosswind and where I live we get a lot of wind, a lot of the time so if you want to ride here (SW Victoria, Australia) you often do so in windy conditions.

As I mentioned I have the older smooth brake track finish, however, combined with clean pads and well set up shoes on Super Record calipers, all my bikes stop nicely with the Boras - easily the best carbon brake performance I've tried yet - and I've tried quite a few high sets over the past 15 years.

[j44ke]

Bora One/Ultra 35’s or Bora WTO 33 or 45’s. Hard to believe there is a “family” of wheels that get more recommendations on VSalon than those wheels.

[douglas frost]

another happy bora one 35 user here! the only other wheels i would think of if i needed to would be the newer, wider bora 35 wto.

[TomG]

The Shimanos are an orphan product, not updated in a decade and unlikely to exist past 2020. They are not light, nor are they particularly aerodynamic with commonly used tyre widths.
If you want alloy brake surfaces (mountains/wet conditions/less confident descender) consider the criminally overlooked Hed Jet range.
Otherwise - Boras.

[nick k]

Also worth asking what nominal tire widths are you thinking about for these wheels?

[TomG]

Also - with the shift to disc brakes a lot of the proprietary "factory" rim brake wheelsets will not be around forever. A lot to be said for getting someone to build you a set of carbon-rimmed handbuilts in a common drilling format (20fr24r J bend ATMO) on a set of hubs that can in principle be re-laced forever.

Campy G3 can be awkward, as can Shimano (21 rear spoke drillings IIRC).

[vertical_doug]

I am a long time Zipp user, but I recently bought WTO 33 for my DogmaK to ride with 28 width tires. The WTO rims are slightly wider than the bora and wider than my Zipp 303, so if you want to ride 28s on your bike, I'd go with the WTOs.



If you can get the tan sidewall contis , the set up looks sharp.

[thomas]

Also worth asking what nominal tire widths are you thinking about for these wheels?

I still use 25's most of the time. Occasionally 23 or 28.

That Pinarello looks fantastic.

[j44ke]

Campy G3 just requires a knowledgeable mechanic. If it requires a mechanic. As a spoke design, it is insanely strong, in my experience.

[vertical_doug]

I still use 25's most of the time. Occasionally 23 or 28.

That Pinarello looks fantastic.

The tan sidewalls are 25s

[TomG]

... but will there be replacement rim brake clincher rims in that drilling for the life of the hubset? Or are you proposing lacing a G3 to a conventionally drilled rim? Or custom drilling a third party rim?

[j44ke]

... but will there be replacement rim brake clincher rims in that drilling for the life of the hubset? Or are you proposing lacing a G3 to a conventionally drilled rim? Or custom drilling a third party rim?

I just ride mine. Broke a couple spokes out a year or two ago when a branch knocked loose by a squirrel went in the rear wheel. What are the odds? Shop fixed it good as new. When things wear out I'll figure out what next to do.

[one60]

Fulcrum Wind 40 C17 is a really nice option at a great price point....40-50% the cost of Bora 35...my understanding is the rims are made by Campagnolo and come with the grooved AC3 brake surface that makes Bora's brake so well and similar hub set.

[thomas]

Fulcrum Wind 40 C17 is a really nice option at a great price point....40-50% the cost of Bora 35...my understanding is the rims are made by Campagnolo and come with the grooved AC3 brake surface that makes Bora's brake so well and similar hub set.

The Wind 40 certainly seems like a nice wheelset! 40mm tall rather than 35, and 150 grams or so heavier, but a lot of similarities, including the AC3 brake track. Hmmm.

[RichTheRoadie]

The Wind 40 certainly seems like a nice wheelset! 40mm tall rather than 35, and 150 grams or so heavier, but a lot of similarities, including the AC3 brake track. Hmmm.

They’re a good wheel for the money.

Interestingly, I was (am) a Bora fan, but I think my Shimano C40s are a better wheel that the Boras and Bora WTO 33s I had...

[TomG]

I just ride mine. Broke a couple spokes out a year or two ago when a branch knocked loose by a squirrel went in the rear wheel. What are the odds? Shop fixed it good as new. When things wear out I'll figure out what next to do.

Fair enough, that is very sensible. I just object on a more philosophical level to factory built wheelsets that are composed of beautiful components but for which spares may not be available at a reasonable cost, if at all.
IIRC it was a big issue with the classic Shimano C24 carbon/alloy co-moulded clinchers. People would wear the rims out and be left with a beautiful set of Dura-Ace straight pull hubs "worth" upwards of $500. Except they were laced 16fr 20r and designed with an offset drilled rim in mind, and then discounted so heavily at retail that the replacement cost of a rim from Shimano seemed prohibitive.

[TomG]

Rich: C40 tubs, correct? They are beautiful, and you very rarely see them in real life.
Tubs vs. clincher arguments aside, it's been a shame that 9100-era Shimano wheels don't seem to sell well. I would have thought that the full carbon clincher tubeless disc brake models would be a more popular choice on high end bikes but ENVE and co seem to have eaten their lunch.
Hopefully they can get back on track with 9200.

[RichTheRoadie]

Rich: C40 tubs, correct? They are beautiful, and you very rarely see them in real life.
Tubs vs. clincher arguments aside, it's been a shame that 9100-era Shimano wheels don't seem to sell well. I would have thought that the full carbon clincher tubeless disc brake models would be a more popular choice on high end bikes but ENVE and co seem to have eaten their lunch.
Hopefully they can get back on track with 9200.

Yup, tubs. I switched back from clinchers because I felt like I was taking a backwards step. Most people seem to feel the opposite is true, so I am perhaps an erroneous sample of one...