Upgrading to Carbon Wheelset from Lightweight Alloy

[stevienoob]

Hi all.

I have a Ksyrium SL Disc wheelset that I'm thinking of upgrading to ~50mm deep carbon wheels. My budget is ~$600 CAD. I see Elite and Tagoola on Ali, and XMCS/Zen are also options I hear people in this forum write positively about.

Some questions:

• Is it worth upgrading to an entry level carbon wheelset if I already have pretty light wheels? I wouldn't be saving much in weight but there's the aero benefits to consider. Would be interested in hearing any personal experiences.
• Is there a resource you guys recommend when looking at how to spec a wheelset? I've gone into the individual wheel threads and there seems to be lots of details and terms I'm not familiar with (rim width, spoke options, hub options, hub reliability, etc.).

Would appreciate any help. Thanks!

[dolph]

I did the switch from 1500grams DT swiss road wheelset, to a similar weight DT hub + asian carbon rim.

It's not only the weight, you upgrade to a material that is better suited for a wheel that doesnt use rim brakes, ride quality is better and you get the option to go as wide or deep  as you want without a noticeable weight penalty. It s a good opportunity for 23+ internal width.

Asian hubs are good these says, i ride some serenade and elitewheels ratchet hubs and feel similar to DT, they are smooth and reliable, i have been riding the elites for 3-4 years, and serenade wheels around 7k km.

[Da11as]

Is it worth upgrading to an entry level carbon wheelset if I already have pretty light wheels? I wouldn't be saving much in weight but there's the aero benefits to consider. Would be interested in hearing any personal experiences.

As @dolph mentioned above it is totally worth it but also depends on how much you actually willing to spend. Ksyrium's cost is close to some good Elite/Tagoola wheelsets.

Is there a resource you guys recommend when looking at how to spec a wheelset? I've gone into the individual wheel threads and there seems to be lots of details and terms I'm not familiar with (rim width, spoke options, hub options, hub reliability, etc.).

It depends on what you want to have - custom built wheelset or comething ready to use? If latter, the budget-to mid segment is saturated with pretty decent options. Look for the complete build with steel spokes (pillar 1420 is a good starting point), DT Swiss clone (almost every brand has its 240 ratchet clone since the patent is void but skip hubs with excessively large number of ratchet teeth) and modern int/ext width (23/31 mm is the absolute minimum IMO). You will feel the biggest effect in regards of responsiveness (from carbon as a material) and rim width (superior grip, flat protection and cornering due to the bigger air volume inside of the rim).

I do not recommend custom build if you are not willing to geek up about hubs.