Wheels and Wheels

Between the 2 road bikes I own, I have 4 sets of wheels. The first sets are for my Specialized Dolce. It came with stock bontrager wheels, which were heavy and didn't roll very well. When I changed my cassette to 11-28, I got shimano R500 wheels for it. Between those two wheels, the R500 are definitely lighter and roll better. I don't remember the exact price I paid, but it was around 300-320.

When I bought my giant avail, it came with stock giant wheels. With in the 6 months, I broke 1 spoke and it had to be trued twice. Last year, my in-laws gave me Mavic Aksium wheels for my birthday. The wheels cost 329.00 with shipping it was 350.00. Before I got the mavic, I didn't feel comfortable going faster than 50mph. Above 45mph the stock bontrager and giant wheels didn't feel solid on turns. As a result, I often got dropped on long descents on group rides.

There's a couple of things I like about the Mavic wheels. The first is they're bomb proof! I haven't had to true them at all. I've hit plenty of bad potholes and they handled them quite well. With the other three wheels, it would go out of true. The second thing is the lower rolling resistance. The third is the bladed spokes for extra aerodynamics. The forth is they're much lighter than the other three wheels.

If I had to compare the giant wheels to Mavic, I would say the giant wheel set is like a beat up old Pinto. It works and it's cheap, but it requires more maintenance and it's slow. The mavic aksium is like a Honda Civic. It's reliable, affordable, well built and well designed. It's not an exotic like Ferrari or McClaren with lots of carbon fiber. I can't justify spending over 800 on a set of wheels, so high end carbon aero wheels just aren't in my immediate future.

The bottom line for me is Mavic wheels are bomb proof and a great value.