Favorite Ride: Down Canada Rd and Up Kings Mountain Rd
Bike Setup: 07 Bianchi 928 C2C full DA
Summary: These wheels were gifted to me by my parents (aka they paid for them). I am glad I did not pay the $825 out of my own pocket. They were ~250 grams (I have the exact numbers somewhere..) lighter than my 32h custom DT Swiss set up (DT R1.1+DT Onyx hubs+DT spokes).
About the WH-7850 SL:
These are beautifully made wheels that are true straight out of the box. The attention to detail is amazing... The rim has weight embedded in the rim across from the valve for balance. It came with a wheel magnet and there is a spoke both in the front and rear that has a small piece of plastic tape on it, I assume this is where the magnet can be snapped on. The hubs are smooth but they do make a 'weird' noise when freewheeling, also they don't seem to roll as long as my existing wheels, I suspect this has to do with me breaking them in.
About the Tubeless tires:
One of biggest reasons I opted for these wheels was to try out the tubeless tires. I hate mounting tires. I watched the video on notubes.com to see how tubeless tires should be mounted and then attempted to mount them. To my surprise they mounted much easier than normal tires, the deep center channel in the rim can be used quite effectively to mount the tires without the use of any tools. I tried to inflate the tires using an air compressor that can be plugged into the cigarette outlet in a car. The front tire sealed up nicely once I rubbed some soapy water along the bead, the rear tire refused to seal, it just wouldn't hold any air. After much frustration I decided to use a CO2 cartridge, that worked like a charm! Highly recommend using CO2 to seal the tires to the rim (they work exactly like car tires).
The ride:
I normally run my tires at 100/110 (front/rear), so I did that for my first ride and then gradually lowered the air pressure based on 'feel'. I currently run 80/90 and absolutely love the smoothness and grip with cornering.
I probably have about 500 miles on these wheels right now and to be honest, on the flats the wheels don't really seem that different, other than in cross winds, these are much more aerodynamic (you certainly feel the difference going from 32 to 16 in the front wheel). On climbs is where I was really surprised. These wheels are laterally very stiff... I expected that, however, what I did not expect was how they accelerate going up a climb. Going up a 2500ft climb in Nor Cal (Kings Mtn Rd) as you near the top the switchbacks get more painful because of the sudden increase in grade. I usually climb through the switchbacks out of saddle to leverage my body weight, doing the same on these wheels surprised me, the snap in the acceleration is something I've haven't experienced before.
Would I recommend these wheels? If you have $800 just sitting around, go for it. They are great. Otherwise, I don't think that it is the best bang for the buck, I would recommend custom wheels if you had to upgrade your wheelset. And choose a rim that doesn't have any spoke holes so you can easily convert them to use the tubeless tires. I do recommend the tubeless setup.
Strengths: The look awesome from the cockpit. I especially like the black rims and silver hubs. The accelerate well on climbs and with tubeless tires can be run at low pressures where smoothness and grip are amazing.
Weaknesses: price. Custom spokes (but this is a weakness on any good name brand wheelset in this price range)
Similar Products Used: Supergo Korso (Neuvation)
DT Swiss custom set
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Favorite Ride: Park Orchards, Warrandyte, Kangaroo Ground,
Bike Setup: 08 Cannondale Super Six, Dura Ace group, Cannondale (ie FSA) carbon cranks, Easton EC90 post, Easton EC70 bars, Fizik Aliante saddle. Very black.
Summary: I have had these wheels approx 6 months. They are pretty light, look good, and have stayed true. I really notice their benefits when accelerating on a climb.
Strengths: Extremely responsive to sudden accelerations. Good value (compared to Ksyrium SL with which I believe they are highly comparable).
Weaknesses: The rear bearings were a tiny bit tight, had them adjusted at the LBS, fine now. Very minor tweak performed on rear wheel true.
Similar Products Used: Mavic Helium/Ksyrium
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Bike Setup: giant team advance 2008 model with integrated seatpost. Dura ace all the way around. Changed out stock cassette from 12-25 to 12-27 for north georgia mountain rides.
Speedplay zeros, specialized alias (looking at Toupe)
Summary: The 7850's came on the Giant Team advance bike. The bike is Marvy ! The Wheels are stiff and fast. I have Mavik SSC on my other bike but these 7850's are faster, as stiff as the Maviks but the wind does not effect the 7850's like the maviks. (due to spoke width size) Could not be happier They are still true and rolling well. I do have tubes on these with Continental Force/ Attack tires. This is actually a lighter set up than tubeless on these wheels...
Strengths: fast, stiff and wind does not effect like maviks
Weaknesses: none yet
Similar Products Used: mavik ssc sl3
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Favorite Ride: Wide shoulder, light traffic, and flat
Bike Setup: Windsor Kennet (aluminum frame, carbon seat stays and fork), all Ultegra group except Dura-Ace crank
Summary: I pulled the trigger on a set of these from ebay ($800 including two sets of tubeless tires). Some guy took a bit of a beating, to my good fortune. He threw in 2 sets of brand new tubeless tires.
The first thing I did was to throw them on my truing stand. Both were perfect. I "true" my own wheels and feel proud to get my cheap wheels and commuter wheels to less than a mm. Sometimes I just have to throw up my hands and admit, I just can't do any better. But these where absolutely perfect.
The next thing I did was put them on the bike for my first race of the season, a 36-mile circuit, half on asphalt concrete, the other half on chip seal, I would say very good roads.
The wheels roll noticeably better than any I have ever ridden before. But the point of these is the tubeless tires. Having never ridden tubulars, I can't compare to that. All I can say is they sure feel nice on that chip seal.
I didn't win the race, but I was on or near the front most of the way.
I'm pretty much a Shimano fan, so I expected near perfection.
Too many other high-tech features for me to list; see their ad.
Strengths: These wheels are so beautiful you will have second thoughts about using them in the out of doors and exposing them to the elements.
The wheels roll nicely and so far are perfectly true. They are so light they seem to jump with each pedal stroke.
The 7850 model has the spoke nipples at the rim, which is traditional. The previous tubeless model had the spoke nipples at the hub, which is not my favorite thing about Shimano wheels.
Titanium rear hub.
Weaknesses: Limited tire selection so far.
But the Hutchinsons seem to be great. Feel at least as nice as Michelin Pro2 Race's or Conti 4000s's.
Otherwise, I haven't noticed any weaknesses so far.
Similar Products Used: I've never had a set of wheels that are anywhere near to this class. I've had a lot of light, low-end throwaway wheels and 36-hole custom built commute and training wheels.
Summary: Same disclaimer I gave on my review of the tubeless tires: have only ridden these for a week. These are initial impressions...only time will tell how they hold up. I now have 2 sets of nice wheels, these and some Cane Creek Volos (reviewed them as well). Been riding the CCs for about 5500 miles, so that is my baseline. How do these compare? First off, they're lighter. I haven't weighed either set, but both the front and rear are noticably lighter in the hand. The 7850s are more comfortable. The CCs are quite stiff, both laterally and vertically. The 7850s are also stiff, but a little less so in both dimensions. Still feel the road, but impacts are more muted, and my butt feels noticably better at the end of the ride (comparison made with same tires/tubes for consistency). Out of the saddle the Shimanos have just a touch more flex than the CCs...not a problem, no brake rub, but just "feel" a little softer laterally. I will say that the CCs are super stiff laterally with their 24/28 spoke count. On the flats the Shimanos just fly. Noticably faster. I don't think rim depth has anything to do with this. Rather, I think its the low spoke count (16/20 for the Shimanos). You're driving 16 few spokes around in circles at very high speed, and my opinion is that this really starts to matter once your speed rises above the lower 20s. Silky smooth hubs help here as well, and the 7850s hubs are beautiful. Very smooth. Once I put the Hutchinson tubeless fusions on they were much more comfortable and even faster...a sweet setup. The wheels themselves are works of art, perfectly executed. Rode them in a 20 mph crosswind the other day with gusts to 40. Still controllable (though a little "gamey", and I don't recommend it). Can't wait for some big climbs and descents once it warms up a little here in northern VA. Overall I am happy so far. Hope they hold up.
Strengths: Comfortable and fast (especially with tubeless tires). Beatiful to look at as well, while sitting in your living room contemplating speed!
Weaknesses: Pricey. Ebay helped, but do consider the risk of dropping large coin with no hope of warranty support.
Similar Products Used: Cane Creek Volos Team Issue. Also nice wheels.
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