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