Well, back on the TR forum for the first time in a long while as I was bumped by an SUV on Saturday morning in the middle of an intersection and sent flying head-on directly into a curb. My Enve SES 3.4 wheels were both cracked and are currently in transit to Enve for repair/replacement under their crash policy. Luckily, no broken bones, though plenty of missing skin and lost blood.
Did my first two interval workouts since last October over the past two days as my right hand is a little too sore to break confidently right now as well as the whole missing wheel issue.
Considering getting a secondary wheelset to avoid these weeks long delays in the future.
Looking at maybe the Zipp 353 or Roval Rapide CLX. Price not a huge issue. Stock seems to be extremely limited for both of these right now but hoping my connections may be able to help with this.
Anyone have strong opinions on either of these options compared to one another? Other ones I should be strongly considering? Want something other than Enve just for differentiation at this point. Lightweight seems a bit absurdly expensive for not actually even being lighter weight. Thanks for any advice.
Also, any tubeless tire recommendations for new stuff that has come out in the past 6 months or so? If I go Zipp GP5k is not supported and it seems strange to use the current Enve Road SES tires on a Zipp wheel; so would be good to know what to do there as well.
Iāve owned the following over the years: Enve 2.2, 3.4, 4.5, 6.7, 7.8; Lightweight Meilenstein, Roval CLX 50, Roval CLX 64.
Canāt speak to the new Rapide CLX, but the CLX 50 remain the best performing wheelset for me across this entire range. They arenāt the most bling, but they are just simply the best all around performer in all conditions. If you can track down the (non-mullet/rapide) Roval CLX 50, you can run em tubeless tooā¦
Thanks for your input. One question - are there more than one version of the Roval CLX 50 or youāre just comparing to the Rapid when you say ānon-mulletā version?
I actually found both tires at an online CA site so might just go this way and do tubeless with Enve and just go tubes with Roval as the alternative.
Iād put in a good word for Bontrager wheels if you are a larger/stronger rider (90kg+) like me, recently bought a pair of Aeolus Pro 50mm with Gp5k tubeless and had no problem fitting the tyres. They are really stable in crosswinds, and while they are not superfast in acceleration they are great at holding speeds above 35km/h.
And on the plus side they have a great crash warranty as well.
Correct itās not tubeless. I went into the rabbit hole last night reading many articles and even listening to a podcast (very rare for me) discussing this decision. Kind of interesting.
They are a bit lighter than the CL50 even with more depth so pretty interesting to me. Plus the local bike mechanic I trust the most loves them so I am leaning towards checking these out. Figure I can probably unload them for a decent price if i end up with too many punctures with tubes.
Marginal ā¦ I think it comes down to how important tubeless is for you. Rapide with latex, or CLX50 with tubeless. Of course, itās what is in the supply chain also. You have narrowed it down to Roval so thatās movement forward.
I wouldnāt consider a new set of wheels that are not ātubeless compatibleā. Thatās like buying tubulars now, the secondary market is gonna be getting smaller and smaller.
First of, personally, I wouldnāt overemphasize weight. Some people freak out when a wheelset weighs 100 g more than the competition.
The next question is: how deep do you want your wheels to be? The goldi locks depth is about 45 mm. So unless you have particular needs (e. g. you want something deeper), Iād start from there. As I said above, I wouldnāt worry about deeper wheels weighing more, unless you are buying wheels to maximize your chances at short hill climb events or you are interested in everesting, the aero advantage beats any weight advantages.
If you are ok with about 45 mm deep wheels and money is not a concern, the world is your oyster. I have 3T Discus 45|32 wheels and I love them. They are a bit heavier than some of the competition, but the ride quality is supreme, an inexplicable mix of delivering smooth ride while knowing exactly how much grip I have. Like I reckon most modern aero wheels, they are very stable in the wind, I can only feel strong gusts but even this usually does not result in a deflection. They were among the first in a new generation of wheels: made for tubeless (although compatible with inner tubes), 25 mm wide internally (i. e. made for wide tires) and with great hubs.
Most other modern wheelsets have similar features, e. g. Enveās 4.5 AR, their Foundation series, Zippās 303 (have a look at the 303S, which is a steal), Roval and Swiss Side.
The new Rapide CLX are not officially rated for tubeless. However, over on Weightweenies Forum, dozens of people have made it work to great success.
This dude has build up at least 20 sets like that:
If you are however not considering anything but tubeless tires, then you might look at tubeless rated wheels.
For road racing I personally wouldnāt look at hookless rims really, since most of the fastest tires are not rated compatible, and you are often times limited to pretty fat tires (28c minimum width on 353).
I personally think the best tubeless rated wheels for road there are (of the ones I know and have experienced) are the DTSwiss ARC 1100 db and the Bontrager RSL (51 might be a great fit for you).
The best wheels period for me are the Roval Rapide CLX. They are light and fast and the stability is the THE BEST I have ever experienced.
I get where you are coming from but not too worried about the secondary market. I just talked to my friend who is a manager at Sports Basement this past weekend and he told me they are planning their allocation for 2024 already due to supply constraints. Donāt think that is going away anytime soon and being in the Bay Area there is plenty of demand for used bike equipment.
Also, outside of myself, every single one of my friends with an expensive bike have gone back to tubes after too much frustration with tubeless. Iām assuming as the tire width expands to 28 and higher, and pressures keep falling, these problems will continue to be minimized. But with a 25 restriction on my F10, Iām okay taking this āriskā of lack of secondary market just given my personal perceptions of what most people I know are doing on the tubes vs tubeless front.
Yah itās mainly just wanting something different. Other reasons are that I know people with 5.4s and they have said they had too much sideways wind force during descents that freaked them out, and honestly Enveās current offerings for road feel a bit āoldā to me outside of the 3.4 AR which is too similar to what I have and also too wide for my F10.
Thanks for all of your feedback. I just went ahead and ordered these from a place I found close by. Hoping to get them soon and test them out. Iāve been leaning on going back towards tubes for a while now, just need to get better at changing tires on the road.
How was your experience installing tires on these? The one thing that initially deterred me is the only review on Specializedās site talks about them being impossible to get tires on while on the road without soapy water, etc.
Thanks for your feedback. Unfortunately, none of those wheels will properly fit my F10. Starting to feel like my 3.5yo frame is super outdated already due to its inability to fit 28+ tires.
My Enve SES 3.4 wheels were both cracked and are currently in transit to Enve for repair/replacement under their crash policy. Luckily, no broken bones, though plenty of missing skin and lost blood.
