I am agonising about a damned wheel upgrade!! Help please??

[Dan_Melb85]

So how are the Caden wheels going?

Absolutely fantastic mate. I'm loving the bike, and enjoying every single ride. To me, this is all that matters. Personality, what is right and wrong for my "skill" level, those frowning upon buying parts for "looks" can go as far as I am concerned. I want to ride this bike, hell I clean it after every ride and stare at it. Best money I spent on an upgrade and it is a phenomenal machine.

The wheels are stiff, light, the (normal conditions) braking is every bit as good as the aluminium and I can not feel a perceptible difference in modulation or power, even when flying down mountains at 60+km/h. Sometimes there is a very slight tendency for a crosswind to give some feedback through the bars, but it's only negligible. I'm getting fitter and stronger and the riding combined with running has made me feel happier than I've felt in 2.5 years.

If thats wrong, or not to the cycling "code" then I will happily steer clear of those of this pretentious credo.

[macca33]

Good choice on the Cadens - a few blokes down my way are running them - they are fast wheels!

cheers

[g-boaf]

If thats wrong, or not to the cycling "code" then I will happily steer clear of those of this pretentious credo.

The "rules" are just a complete load of rubbish, but they make the owners of that website an enormous amount of advertising revenue.

That Cervelo looks pretty tidy. Let us know how the wheels go, especially if you go and do some mountains and do some big descents for a number of days in a row.

That said, if I'm going anywhere near big mountains I just use alloy wheels.

[Dan_Melb85]

If thats wrong, or not to the cycling "code" then I will happily steer clear of those of this pretentious credo.

The "rules" are just a complete load of rubbish, but they make the owners of that website an enormous amount of advertising revenue.

That Cervelo looks pretty tidy. Let us know how the wheels go, especially if you go and do some mountains and do some big descents for a number of days in a row.

That said, if I'm going anywhere near big mountains I just use alloy wheels.

Cheers mate.

Forgive me but what is it you need to know about the wheels doing mountains? The Cadens are about 450g lighter per pair than the Mavic Cosmic that came with the bike. Funny you ask about the climbs, because I've been making a point of hitting mountain runs in the last few months - Going up and around the Dandenongs and researching which climbs to do next on the climbing cyclist website. Challeging myself to new daunting climbs, which traditionally were a weak point for me, has been quite exciting! I think the wheels climb extremely well, theyre stiff and I (so far) haven't felt like theyre rubbing or flexing. Downhill and on flats though they're the bomb. Sound and accelerate like mad. Ive got 25mm Michelin Pro on them as well, which I am also loving.

I seem to be smashing a lot of my old records from the days of my Giant TCR with Alu SL1 wheels, though it is hard to quantify whether the gains are because of the wheels or just my overall improvement in fitness (much more likely)!

[Mububban]

Forgive me but what is it you need to know about the wheels doing mountains?

Some carbon wheels have a history of melting/delaminating under certain high heat conditions, such as long descents where you are dragging on the brakes for a long time. The heat doesn't get a chance to dissipate, the resin softens, the carbon fibre delaminates and you potentially end up in hospital.

Not such a problem for modern carbon wheels, or if you brake, release, brake, release etc. But something to keep in mind.

Worst case scenario is a heavy rider down a steep descent, stuck behind a slower vehicle and you have to keep the brakes on constantly.

[Mububban]

Let us know how the wheels go, especially if you go and do some mountains and do some big descents for a number of days in a row.

FWIW I noticed this on the Caden website:

[Rex]

So how are the Caden wheels going?

Absolutely fantastic mate. I'm loving the bike, and enjoying every single ride. To me, this is all that matters.

I agree with you, and that's awesome to hear.
I'm pretty close to getting some Caden Tubulars.

Tell me but, how close to the advertised weight were they?

[Dan_Melb85]

Im not sure mate! I haven't weighed them actually, so not sure. I beleive a few reviewers who weighed them noted that they were a touch lighter than advertised.

[andreiamar]

Cheers for the assistance all.

Received them this week. Learned how to swap cassettes and mount them myself, so here they be.

Hi Dan,

I'm about to buy a set of Caden wheels and would appreciate it if you could help with some info.

First, did you get clinchers or tubulars? Secondly, you've mentioned you had 25mm tires. Can you measure the width of the tire please? I'm trying to figure out if they're a good match for an older frame with less clearance in the back. Thanks.