Wheels

It's a work in progress for me on whether I like these wheels or not. There does feel to be an aero gain on the roads compared to my previous carbon wheelset. I can see a 2mph uptick on the flat roads. However, on rougher roads, the ride is pretty harsh compared to my previous wheelset. I may have to play with tire pressure because internal rim wide has made the tires measure wider and I can drop a few psi. The big disappointment is crosswinds. It's pretty windy where I live and despite claims, the wheels are pretty prone to jerking the wheel from under me in a gust. The wheels have made my bike more nervous on the road.

These are QUICK RELEASE WHEELS!

Unlike Western BikeWorks usually good product descriptions, this excellent inexpensive wheelset isn�t fully described. This is a wheelset for disc brake bicycle frames which utilize standard quick release spindles, not thru-axles. The hubs utilize the Centerlock splined attachment for the disc rotors. The hubs use traditional cup and cones with loose ball bearings rather than sealed bearings. These wheels are extremely robust- I have used them through 3 Portland, Oregon winters and anytime there is rain. Robust and inexpensive equals heavy, but they roll exceptionally well and provide good performance for what they are. The simple, traditional hubs are easy to maintain yourself. Find a good You Tube tutorial on maintaining cup and cone bearings. Until quite recently, most hubs were made like this and they can be easily maintained by a novice home mechanic without any cost beyond a cone wrench and hub grease. With occasional cleaning and regreasing, these hubs will roll beautifully for many years. The wheels arrived true and remained true until I recently slammed into one of Portland�s notorious 8 inch deep potholes at speed. Even then, the rear wheel wasn�t bad, just required a minor spoke adjustment. The front was still true. There are inexpensive wheel sets that are lighter, but none that I have used would have survived what these Shimano RX010 wheels have. It�s great to ride on wheels that cost 10 times as much, but I keep those for the sunny days on smooth pavement. If you don�t want to spend a lot of money for riding in bad weather on atrocious roads and have a frame that takes quick release, disc brake wheels, then I feel these are ideal.

Bought these wheels to build my Spot Ryve XC bike. Wheels are a nice combination of price and weight, although they did come in at 40 grams over the published weight. The wheels look good and are relatively stiff. One minor issue is the rear hub centerlock spline was slightly oversize, causing me to have to file a little on the disc rotor splines. Talked thru this issue with Western Bike Works and they were very helpful with options to address this.

They call this 36mm size a climbing wheel, but with big Midwest crosswinds here, these wheels are the perfect choice for all around riding too. Light and fast on the transitions and rock solid. I ride 130 to 170 miles a week, and these wheels have livened up my solo workouts and group rides. I also use them on gravel running 32mm Continental 5000 TR tires at 50psi. These wheels are the perfect blend of size, quality and appearance (the subtle graphics really pop with transparent tires). I expect to be riding these wheels for many years.