Budget vs Premium Wheels

Cycling Weekly

What's is the difference between budget and premium wheels except the price?

Transcript

00:00 (upbeat music)

00:02 Buying a new set of wheels is a guaranteed way

00:15 to give your bike a new lick of speed.

00:17 But the big question remains,

00:19 how much does it cost to get a tangible benefit

00:22 from a new set of hoops?

00:24 Well, in this video, I am going to demonstrate

00:27 exactly what a bit of extra spend gets you.

00:29 So I'm gonna take DT Swiss's performance wheel set range

00:33 and compare a high-end set of wheels

00:35 to a low-end set of wheels.

00:36 So on the one hand, I have these,

00:38 DT Swiss's PR 1600 Spline wheels.

00:42 These are brilliant wheels at an entry-level price point,

00:45 costing 495 pounds.

00:48 They're typically found on bikes

00:50 between 1,000 pounds and 1,500 pounds.

00:53 And on the other hand, I have a set of these,

00:58 DT Swiss's PRC 1400 wheels.

01:02 And now these are a much higher-end set of wheels,

01:04 typically more performance-orientated.

01:06 These cost 1,675 pounds.

01:10 So there's just over 1,000 pounds in it,

01:13 and I'm gonna show you what that gets you.

01:15 Now, all the products in this video are available

01:18 to buy on freewheel.co.uk,

01:20 a place where you can buy online

01:21 while still supporting local bike shops.

01:24 These are great examples of both high-end

01:27 and low-end wheel sets.

01:28 And if you would like to find out more about them,

01:30 then check out the links in the description below.

01:33 So the difference in price points is immediately obvious

01:40 in the rim depths and the rim design.

01:43 Now, on a value set of wheels,

01:44 you'll typically have a shallow rim,

01:46 usually anywhere between 21 and 32 mil.

01:50 So that's how deep it extends here.

01:53 It'll also be made out of aluminum,

01:55 and you'll often hear value wheel sets

01:58 described as bomb-proof or training wheels,

02:00 and that's because they're wheels that you can ride

02:03 whatever the weather, whatever the conditions,

02:05 and you know that they will be fine.

02:07 Now, the difference is when you start spending more money,

02:11 the materials become more sophisticated.

02:14 So the more money you spend,

02:17 you'll start getting carbon fiber rims,

02:20 which have loads of benefits.

02:21 You know, they're stiffer and they're lighter

02:23 than aluminum wheels,

02:25 and you'll also be able to get more sophisticated shaping.

02:28 So this is a 65 millimeter deep rim,

02:31 which gives you loads of benefits.

02:33 So when you're riding along on the flat,

02:35 more of your power is transferred into going forward.

02:39 It rolls better and it rolls for longer,

02:41 so it's far more efficient.

02:43 Also, the more money you spend,

02:45 the greater the focus on aerodynamics.

02:47 So if I turn this rim side on and you look down here,

02:51 you can see that it tapers in towards the center.

02:54 That is to reduce this wheel's drag through the air,

02:58 and that is something that more expensive wheels

03:00 will have a much greater focus on.

03:02 It's making them faster and more efficient.

03:05 Now, there are two different braking systems

03:11 in the cycling world, disc brakes and rim brakes.

03:15 So getting the right one for you is really important.

03:19 So disc brakes, it's kind of irrelevant

03:22 at a lower budget point or a higher budget point

03:25 because the braking is consistent

03:27 because it all comes through a rotor or through the caliper.

03:32 Now, the real difference you'll find is in rim braking.

03:35 So imagine if you will,

03:38 that this is a rim braking wheel set,

03:40 and I know it's disc, but it is available in rim brake.

03:43 You would find an aluminum braking track around the rim.

03:47 Aluminum braking is great in all conditions.

03:50 It offers consistent stopping,

03:52 but it lacks the immediacy of carbon braking.

03:56 So this is a carbon brake track on here.

03:59 Now, carbon braking is quite sophisticated

04:02 in that it's able to withstand really high heats,

04:06 and it is able to stop you very quickly,

04:09 but it does not perform as well in the wet.

04:12 And this harks back to the age old saying

04:15 that you would ride your bomb-proof aluminum wheels

04:17 in the winter when it's really bad,

04:18 and you would ride your deep section carbon wheels

04:20 in the summer when the weather is better.

04:23 Now, if you ride disc brakes, you don't have that problem,

04:26 and you can ride whichever wheel you want all year round

04:29 because it doesn't matter, rain or shine,

04:32 the performance is always going to be the same.

04:34 So when we talk about hubs and free hubs,

04:40 we're talking about the system in the wheel

04:42 which transfers the power from your legs to the rear wheel,

04:45 which drives the bike along.

04:47 So I've got the hub here, and I can turn it and it clicks.

04:52 Now, that is what we call an angle of engagement.

04:56 So on these hubs, I can turn it, it clicks,

04:59 but I can also turn it back a little bit.

05:01 That's because it has a 20 degree angle of engagement.

05:05 Whereas if I get the more expensive wheel,

05:08 it still does that clicking, but it's much harder.

05:12 There is no real room to turn it back,

05:14 and that's because it has a smaller angle of engagement,

05:17 only 10 degrees.

05:18 So what you're getting when you spend more money

05:20 is you're getting more teeth in the free hub body,

05:24 which gives it a faster engagement time,

05:26 which makes the wheel more responsive,

05:29 which is why racers and people

05:31 that are performance-orientated like a hub,

05:34 which engages quickly because it's more responsive

05:37 and it drives their bike faster

05:39 than one with a larger angle of engagement.

05:41 It's worth noting that when a hub

05:43 has a larger angle of engagement,

05:44 it's not just cost-saving, it is actually more durable.

05:48 So it fits in with this wheel's remit

05:53 of being a bomb-proof, durable wheel,

05:55 because that hub is going to last a long time.

05:58 Now, finally, the more money you spend,

06:05 the more sophisticated the spokes on a wheel.

06:08 So as your price increases,

06:10 you're more likely to get flatter spokes

06:12 that are lighter or bladed,

06:14 so they're more aerodynamic,

06:16 and it's more likely that the nipples

06:19 on the end of the spokes will be inside the rim.

06:21 Again, that's more aerodynamic

06:23 because it just keeps them out of the wind

06:25 and reduces drag.

06:26 So to summarize, the more money you spend on a wheel,

06:30 the more performance-orientated it becomes,

06:33 and that's reflected in the rim design,

06:36 the material that the wheel is made out of,

06:38 and the sophistication of the hub.

06:41 But that's not to say that a budget set of wheels

06:44 aren't as good.

06:45 They have a much greater focus

06:46 on reliability and durability,

06:48 so really it just depends on the type of rider you are

06:51 and what you want from your set of wheels.

06:54 But having said that,

06:55 I think it's time to have a good old-fashioned wheel debate

06:58 in the comments section below.

07:00 So please let us know your thoughts

07:02 on what we've discussed today.

07:04 Don't forget to like and subscribe

07:05 to the Cycling Weekly YouTube channel,

07:07 and we'll see you next time.

07:09 (upbeat music)

07:11 (upbeat music)

07:14 [MUSIC PLAYING]

Category

Transcript

Recommended