How To Buy New Road Wheels
Purchasing a new set of road wheels can breathe new life into an older bicycle.
Identify what you have:
Identify the brand of components you have.
Identify the rim size you need.
Count the number of cogs on your rear wheel. Road wheels can have anywhere from 6 to 10 cogs. 8 cogs or more are all freehub/cassette style wheels. If you have less than 8 cogs contact our technical support department productsupport@performanceinc.com.
Select your new wheel:
Shimano drive trains
Shimano components need Shimano compatible wheels.
Shimano 8, 9, and 10 speed cassettes all fit on the same rear wheels.
Shimano Dura-Ace 10 speed FH-7800 equipped rear wheels will only accept 10 speed cassettes.
Campagnolo drive trains
Campagnolo components need Campagnolo compatible wheels.
Campagnolo 10 speed cassettes fit on Campagnolo 9 and 10 speed compatible hubs and select wheels from 3rd party manufacturers (Mavic, Easton and so on)
Rim Sizes
Most standard road bikes are 700c wheels. There are some Women's Specific road bikes that have 650c sized wheels. Older touring and sport road bikes may be 27" wheels. If you have 27" wheels please contact our technical support department productsupport@performanceinc.com for options.
Choosing the right wheel
Once you have narrowed down the wheels that will work with your bike you still have some choices to make. Think about what you intend to use the wheel for. Are you a very small and light or a very large and heavy rider? Do you break a lot of spokes? Are your old wheels damaged from impacts? Did you simply put your old wheels out to pasture? Do you want to race or do fast club rides on them. How about the roads, smooth and easy or rough with broken pavement?
Today's low spoke count wheels with deep profile rims are much more durable than their predecessors. Advances in materials and building technologies have improved the strength of wheels without adding weight.
Check out the chart below for how many spokes you may need in a wheel:
| Light riders (sub 130 pounds) |
| Gravel and Rough Roads | Moderate roads | Smooth Roads |
| Loaded Touring | 32 or more | 32 or more | 32 |
| Touring/Sport riding | 32 or more | 24 to 32 | 20 to 28 |
| Club Riding/Centuries | 24 to 32 | 20 to 28 | any |
| Club Racing/Racing | 20 to 28 | any | any |
|
| Average Weight Riders (130 to 190) |
| Gravel and Rough Roads | Moderate roads | Smooth Roads |
| Loaded Touring | 36 or more | 32 or more | 32 |
| Touring/Sport riding | 32 | 32 | 28 to32 |
| Club Riding/Centuries | 28 to 32 | 24 to 32 | 20 to 28 |
| Club Racing/Racing | 24 to 28 | 20 to 28 | any |
|
| Heavy Riders (195 plus)* |
| Gravel and Rough Roads | Moderate roads | Smooth Roads |
| Loaded Touring | More than 36 | 36 or more | 36 |
| Touring/Sport riding | 36 | 32 to 36 | 32 to 36 |
| Club Riding/Centuries | 32 | 32 | 32 |
| Club Racing/Racing | 32 | 24 to 32 | 24 to 32 |
|
*riders over 220lbs should contact our technical support department to discuss wheel options.
Notes
- If you need a wheel that is more durable be more conservative with the number of spokes.
- If you like wheels that last and last stick with more spokes.
- Very skilled riders can get by with a less durable wheel as they are generally less hard on equipment.
- New or beginning riders may be best served by staying with a very durable or very repairable wheel.
- There are some manufactured wheels such as Mavic Ksyriums, the Rolf line of products and some of the offerings from Cane Creek that are the exception to the chart above.
If you are going to set up your new wheels as an additional set you will need the following:
To switch over your old gear to the new wheels you will need:
