260lbs on Trek 1.1, buying tires...should i do wheels too?

jacksdad · Sep 11, 2012

I am about 500 miles into my riding career which started back in June. As my rides are starting to reach past 20 miles i'm finding comfort to be a bigger concern. Since a Synapse Carbon isn't in the budget right now i've decided to order a set of GP4000 in 25mm to replace the stock 23mm Bontrager tires that came with the bike. My question is would i see a noticeable difference if i were to also buy a set of wheels from bicycle wheel warehouse (they have a wheel specifically for big guys)?

Plan is to buy myself a Synapse Carbon or similar when i hit 220lbs which is a goal of mine (currently down 30lbs since June) at which time hopefully my new accounting practice will have started generating a good cash flow and i can better afford the bike. I'm expecting this to be maybe 1 year from now or so. I also recently purchased an indoor trainer and was thinking maybe i keep the stock rear wheel/tire combo for winter indoor sessions and the new wheel/gp4000 set could hang on the wall waiting for outdoor use.

Road - Riders 233+ - Pure Tour 700c - 105 - Bicycle Wheel Warehouse

i'm also curious if these particular wheels would be considered an upgrade from whatever comes stock on Synapse Carbon and similar level bikes.

Thanks for the input,

RyleyinSTL · Sep 11, 2012

jacksdad said:
would i see a noticeable difference if i were to also buy a set of wheels

If by "difference" you mean smoother ride, I'd say no. Better wheels generally are stiffer and flex less providing better power transfer.

Congrats on the weight loss and enjoy the Synapse when you get there!

jacksdad · Sep 11, 2012

Not really looking for smoother with the wheels, just perhaps lighter and stiffer. One thing i liked about my Trek when i test rode it was that when I pushed hard on the pedals i felt a very good response from the bike. The Specialized i rode was noticeably less so. I'm wondering if new wheels get me more of that and less weight to boot.

i don't want to upgrade the bike any beyond this (well, maybe saddle). This would be it. But if i'd be keeping the wheels for the next bike it might make me feel better about the outlay.

RyleyinSTL · Sep 11, 2012

jacksdad said:
Not really looking for smoother with the wheels, just perhaps lighter and stiffer.

The stock wheels on the 1.1 are heavy, cheap and have a very high spoke count. An upgrade will most likely accomplish the lighter (weight your stocks first to compare). Stiffer is likely too but not necessarily a given. I'd say the best bet for someone with your weight is to have some wheels custom made for you at the LBS with quality hubs. These will most certainly be stiffer, more durable and roll better than what ships with the lower end Synapse bikes.

Stradguy93 · Sep 11, 2012

Agree on getting stiffer wheels, i'm in the same boat at the moment.

Dragos · Sep 11, 2012

This is just my 2cents. I was in the same boat. Are you sure the wheels that you have, stripped down will weigh more then the ones you want to purchase?... if they do by how much? Keep in mind the weight on the site is with no cassette/skewers.

Just a quick example:
Bought a Fuji carbon road bike. Everyone said the Oval 524 wheels that came stock are heavy and very weak/cheap wheels that should be upgraded when having the chance.
Bought a set of Easton EA90 SL's from CL for about $250 which is a pretty good price for a 1550grams wheel set with a 24/28 spoke count. The Ovals were 20/24. (I wanted a bit of a stronger wheel because of my weight)

Took everything off the Ovals and weight them and they were about 1800grams maybe 1850. So I took off about 300 grams. Which I think it's nothing. I can't tell a difference from riding them.

In conclusion if the stock wheels feel good and they do not flex, I would say keep them until they break or you lose a lot more weight where taking weight off the bike is the next step.

Just like a lot of people say on here, it's probably the best practice to take weight of yourself before the bike. It will go a lot faster and make more difference in the end.

...but it's easy to talk/write...If you suffer of upgradeitis like I do... you will ignore everyone and just go for the new shiny parts

(At least it makes me ride more to compensate for the expense haha)

Also one more thing, I think I would have saved more weight just from switching the stock tires to some GP4000s

0.2HP · Sep 12, 2012

I ride a 2010 Trek 1.1, and I swapped out the stock 23 mm tires for 25mm front / 28mm rear. I weigh 180-190 and keep 90 psi in both tires.

The first thing a tire has to do is hold up combined rider/bike weight. Generally 55-60% of this weight is carried by the back wheel. Load carrying limit of the tire is the area of the contact patch times the tire pressure. The wider the tire the less pressure is needed to carry a given load; the narrower the tire the more pressure in needed. The more pressure, generally the harsher the ride.

You might want to check what will be the required pressure of the 25mm tires you are considering. A couple of tire pressure guides:

Bicycle Tires and Tubes
(Chart is about 2/3 the way down the page.)

http://www.bikequarterly.com/images/TireDrop.pdf

Michelin Bicycle USA - A better way forward®

Continental apparently lists 120 psi as the maximum for the 25mm GP4000:

Continental Bicycle -Grand Prix 4000

260lbs on Trek 1.1, buying tires...should i do wheels too?

jacksdad

RyleyinSTL

jacksdad

RyleyinSTL

Stradguy93

Dragos

0.2HP

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