Is It Time for a Wheel Upgrade?

We covered the launch of the new Shimano wheel line last year. Shimano brought to market a wheel line up that we wanted from them for years. Since then, I’ve been riding one of the new set of Shimano wheels to give a long-term view. Before we do that, though, let me level set: why did I choose the wheel I chose?

I’m an engineer. When I’m looking at a new product or updated widget I try to understand what it is and how it evolved over time. Wheels and tires are something that have changed a multitude of times in the last 15 years. For 99% of the time road/TT specific wheels they’re still the same diameter (700c) and wrapped in rubber (1% of them are 650); from the outside they almost look the same as they did 15 years ago. But looking a little deeper we see a lot of changes. I’ll focus specifically on road bike carbon wheels, and I’m going to oversimplify the changes the industry has made.

When I started triathlon in 2007 we were riding a wheel with an aluminum braking track glued to the rim, 9 or 10 speed rear hub, and 19-21mm wide tubular or clincher tires which we dutifully inflated to 120+psi. Moving forward a few years to 2012/2013 and we had, depending on our budget, widespread development of carbon clincher wheels (using the actual carbon part of the rim as our braking surface) or a slightly upgraded version of our 2007 wheels. Moving forward in time 11 speed hubs came with upgraded materials and tighter tolerances. Those wheels and tires began widening out to 23-25mm, and we started moving towards lower tire pressures, now maxing out around 100 PSI.

It wasn’t too long after that we started shifting towards disc brakes and that really kicked the design portion up a few notches. The stated goal of moving towards disc brakes was to make braking more consistent and safer. We were no longer using the outer portion of the wheel as the brake. We removed the torque being put on the wheel and moved it to the hubs, while also reducing the friction heat away from the rubber that kept us upright That allowed us to use a stronger thru axle tool (that alone eliminated misaligning wheels when we took them off and put them back on and the fore/aft adjustment). By eliminating the braking track on the rim we could now adjust the design of the shape and width of the wheel. We started with beaded rims where the tire had to connect with a bead on the rim. We started to see tubeless wheels come into the market eliminating the inner tube helping reduce the rolling resistance. We today continued to see wheel design become wider and the tires we’re riding increase in width 28-32mm, this in turn required us to inflate them even less.

There’s a lot of things that can affect a wheel more than just the weight and shape. Many little things effect a wheel’s performance- lubricants, bearings, sizes, pressures, etc. We should be conscious of all of these things, but maybe we don’t have the time to commit to the maintenance programs that might come with some of those options. Like most athletes I love to race and beat up my equipment with the least amount of upkeep as possible (ride hard, put away wet). I like products that can take abuse over the lightest and fastest. I’m always surprised when I go to races and see knock off carbon wheels on very expensive superbikes. For me those two don’t click. The tires and wheels are the only two components that touch the road, they’re make or break. I don’t know how many times I’ve gone on Facebook and seen a buddy with one of those wheels that have cracked or split without even being in a crash. In my opinion, it's just not worth it.

Shimano presents three complete carbon mid depth wheel sets- Dura Ace, Ultegra and 105. Each share similar wheel profiles but they vary in width and depth and each sports distinct hubs. When upgrading at the time Dura Ace was the only outliner when it came to the new “12 speed forced upgrade” I call it forced because for shimano to achieve what it wanted to with it’s top of the line offering (Tour Level Performance) it started implementing their micro spline and and direct drive techs into their hubs. which meant one thing: I and the rest of the world couldn't slap a 11 speed cassette and go for a ride.

So knowing that I couldn't get my hands on 12 speed (at the time) and also knowing I wanted an all around wheel. Shimano's C60 Ultegras was the path forward. They're a 60mm deep beaded full carbon tubeless wheel. The significance of this is that this was the first time that shimano made a 60 mm deep rim in the Ultegra line. They share the same rim depth as the Dura Ace C60’s but without the extra lateral stiffness ( They have 2 less spokes) that honestly I don't really care to have or need for what I'm doing. With the 21mm internal & 28mm external rim width they allow for a tire range from 25-32. But more importantly they allow for 11 speed compatibility and I liked the simplicity of the design/paint/decals, as in my experience stickers never seem to last.

I rolled the dice and I got them 2 days before the 2022 70.3 Ironman World Championships in St George. Now I knew these were not as light as some other wheels I have had but the increased wheel depth and width was going to allow me the freedom to hopefully have a single, all purpose, all use wheelset. I was on the set of Dura Ace 11 speed tubular 60’s wheels before so I wasn't too worried about the performance of this choice going with such a quick turnaround before a world championship race. To be frank, I welcomed the idea that I knew I didn't need to be stuck on the side of the road if my tubular went soft on me.

Fast forward around 8 months since last fall I’ve used them as my daily trainers and race wheels. I probably have a few thousand miles on them already and raced them five more times (four overall wins) . So far I have no issues to report, none. This kind of result was what I had expected, They feel stable in turns, at high speeds going downhill and even handle fine on some unpaved sections of road. I’ve ridden them mostly in Oklahoma where our roads continuously move from the clay in the dirt- lots of cracks, potholes and gaps. When speaking on the idea of who would want these wheels? I would say they are great for the person who has the budget for ONE upgrade on the bike and still keep you competitive, these are a great purchase. They keep it simple and new and at a retail price of $1,399 they’re the rare quiver of one.

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