Hey guys,
I’m riding a TCR Advanced 2021 with SLR2 discs.
This is my first carbon bike with carbon wheels and I really love it. Since last year I started doing some races too.
My question now is, would I benefit from buying other wheels?
The problem is I do not have anything to compare with.
Let’s say I would have a budget at around €1500. Do you guys reckon I could get a wheelset that makes alot of difference?
Thanks!
What depth are they currently? Wheels of similar depths tend to perform reasonably similar.
then you have to ask, what do you want them for? lots of climbing? fast racing? all-round riding?
Maybe it’s worth investing in other area of your bike, Power meters, Bike fit, carbon bars, tyres, areas you will find more of a benefit.
I’m riding the 42 mm version atm on Schwalbe One tubeless. I also have a crankbased 4IIII and have had a bikefit.
I’ll mostly be riding some allround stuff, fast-racing and some cyclo/grandfondo here and there. But nothing to major on the climbing side.
Does your bike have di2? thats the obvious upgrade if not wheels I’d say.
Nope it’s a mechanical Ultegra, but it shifts really good imo. I dont think DI2 would really up my speed in races or so. 
Plus it’s rather expensive for what it is. 
Well maintained mechanical is really good, its a nice to have, wont make you faster.
You could buy a set of race wheels, something deeper, 55-60mm? Something like bontrager 6’s, Rapide CL’s, LightBicycle 56’s would all be very good upgrades, avoid Hunt.
Any improvement you would see from upgrading your wheels will be minimal….arguably minuscule.
And there is definitely no need to to upgrade to Di2…won’t make you any faster at all.
42mm depth wheels are a great “all-around” wheelset….sufficiently aero and relatively light. If you went to a 50-60mm depth, you may save a few watts in a solo effort, but especially on group rides or races, there would be almost no difference.
Keep building your aerobic engine and wait on the new wheels for now….lots of low hanging fruit for you to grab before worrying about equipment upgrades.
Thanks all for the replies!
the 42mm SLR2s came with my TCX. They are junk compared to my HED vanquish 6s. Too low of engagement, and too narrow of a rim at 19mm internal. going to a 21mm width doesn’t seem like much, but it is 10% wider…
What you stand to gain is better aerodynamics with wider tires in a wider rim and better tire profile on a wider rim as well as better hubs. What they real world gain is probably marginal, but I think you will “feel” a difference in a wider rim with better hubs.
Those feels may not translate to actual speed though.
New wheels probably wouldn’t bump you up a single position in a road race.
You might see a couple of seconds in a TT. Might.
€1500 isnt going to buy you much more speed with wheels. I’m there’s money you could spend elsewhere that would have a greater benefit.