Soul S4.0 wheels - any experience?

[Adr_0]

Hi,

This is my first post! So I apologise if this isn't in the correct place - and feel free to let me know if I'm doing something wrong.

Broadly, I'm after some wheels primarily for racing (predominantly 40km, occasionally shorter or longer) that are a reasonable price (AUD500-1000) and offer some aero improvements.

First things first:
- I'm 90ish kg, 200cm and I ride an XL Giant TCR (carbon)
- I do use aero bars in a reasonably tight hold, will always race in a tri suit/skin suit
- I've had a couple of years off riding (living somewhere different) but I should have fairly good power potential
- I've always used clinchers, typically 23mm but may shift to 25mm, and while by regular tyres are Gatorskins I generally go to a Schwalbe or Continental race tyre with latex tubes to save a bit of power there

Onto the wheels, I'm after a clincher, aluminium rim brake. Whether the rest of the rim is aluminium or carbon I'm not that fussed. I'm extremely analytical though and I can appreciate the toroidal profile offers less drag on the wheel trailing edge and with off-axis wind (arguably even a 90° crosswind would still end up at 10-20° off axis if you're going 35-45km/hg).

I'm not set in stone but I've looked at a couple of options:
- Shimano DA 9100 C60's (C50's) - look like a 50mm deep and 22.4mm wide (should be ok for a 23mm tyre) and while the construction would be awesome, I'm not comfortable with the $1700-2000 price tag and the traditional V design
- Soul S4.0's - these are currently what I'm looking at going with, as instinctively they should have the right sort of aero response and they are a good price at $700-900. Some older reviews comment on hubs and spokes, and I would hope they've improved this - and if not, I can always replace the hubs and spokes at some stage.
- Veltec Speed series - either Speed Al (23mm wide x 45mm deep) or Speed 4.5/5.0 carbon. Not sure on prices/availability here, and not sure on the profile - it would be great if they're toroidal but the carbon versions (4.5/5.0) look more like V profile.

Has anyone used the Soul S4.0's or Veltec's, and can they offer any feedback? Given I'm after a clincher, aluminium rim brake in the 35-50mm deep range, can anyone offer a suggestion of something comparable that will give a good drag reduction?

Thanks in advance.

[find_bruce]

Welcome outside Adr_0. Wheelsets are a pretty popular topic so I'm surprised that no-one seems o have any experience with them.

Some other options are discussed at Wheelset Upgrade Recommendation

[adam0bmx0]

I have a set of thier Soul2.0, alu clinchers, weigh around 1290g!Roll well. No experiance with the S4.0 sorry.

[owly]

same here; long term s2.0 user. Very happy with them.

Not sure if Sean is letting his wheels biz take a back seat. He needs to update the website.

[MattyK]

I recall shortlisting them a while ago, they look OK. But you can get a set of lighter 50mm carbon wheels from wiggle for the same price, so I can't see the appeal any more.

[Adr_0]

Thanks all for your responses. It looks like there is some good feedback for the S2.0's.

I looked through the other wheelset thread and have also looked at some of those already:
- The Campagnolo Zonda's probably don't have the spoke count for my weight/power and don't quite have the wheel depth I'm looking for
- The Pro-Lite Bracciano's looked awesome, I'd looked at them before, but seem to have a narrow rim and a deep V profile which doesn't seem to do that well in aero comparisons that I've read

I have to apologise, but I didn't mention the wheels I already have: R500's, and the stock-issue Giant/DT Swiss R1800's. The DT Swiss wheels are probably bloody good and they're what I've always raced on. They are probably closest in profile to Shimano RS30's. Both the R500's and RS30's seem to do fairly well in the 'non aero' comparisons, and I will assume the DT Swiss/Giant wheels that I have are superior in the hub and spoke department.

So I possibly need to head to something in the 50-60mm deep range if I want to get any sort of power savings in the 35-45km/h speed range, or just stick with my existing DT Swiss/Giant/RS30 somethings. I am of course working on the strength, aerobic and anaerobic capacity and will likely get a very slight bike fit refinement, but I would prefer not to have to approach 400W over 60 min - that's a bit of a stretch. My goal is the low 300's, having previously done 230/240W without too much drama.

What do people think of Fast Forward as a brand? I see them around a fair bit but didn't get the chance to ask my friend if she found her F6R's good, bad or ugly in wind, and how the ride is. Would F6R's/F6C's suffer too much in crosswind, or would the 'double arc' profile help? I thought that was half the point, but I'm still not confident going to 90mm or disc's because of that.

I was leaning toward the Soul S4.0's but I don't think there'll be that much of a step up in drag reduction - though 10mm and a fat profile may still help. Carbon would be good but I don't want to it be at the expense of reliability being a 90kg rider and having strong legs - so if I were to go carbon rims I'd still be leaning towards carbon/alloy (brake tracks) and probably a 24/28 spoke combination which Fast Forward offer.