Need advice on purchasing second hand wheels!!!

The guys I know that have DA wheels love them. They claim they are light, stiff....But these guys are all roadies

If your goal is to buy speed, they probably aren't the best bang for the buck as lightness and stiffness will get you little in an event that looks more to aero. They are aero, but there is more aero.

Don't get me wrong, I love wheels and aero stuff. But in terms of bang for the buck that is not what is going to buy you the most speed. But they are very good wheels.

Also they are 2011 so I assume 10 speed ? I would be looking for wheels that are 10 and 11 to protect your investment as you upgrade bikes or decide to resell them.

Take a look at the Flo wheels.

Also do some research into tires and tubes as well as disc covers. You can buy good speed for "cheap".



Edited by marcag 2017-01-26 4:03 AM

to answer your question more specifically

make sure the wheels are true...ie no wobble in them
if you can have a mechanic check the hubs,that would be good
If they are tubulars (vs clinchers) tires I would think twice about them
decide if you want 10speed or 10 and 11 to protect your investment

Thanks! Appreciate the info... They have been modified to suit 11 speed and come with a DA 9000 cassette. Also show very little wear from break pads. Wish I could show you a pic! Is $900 a fair price for a 2011 model?

Oh and yes they are clinchers.

Not sure I agree with "thinking twice about tubular"... it's truly not that difficult to glue tubulars (although it does take 2 days with drying time) and changing a tire if you get a flat is faster than changing a tube, plus if you use sealant, more than likely, you won't even get a flat...

Otherwise, I agree with everything marcag said. I would add looking at the brake track to make sure that's not gorged up.

The C50's are good wheels. Not the most aero (but decent), not the lightest (there's plenty of lighter wheels, but that may or may not actually be a benefit...). They are stiff (and that does make a difference. You descend better on stiffer wheels and you accelerate faster (which is good for technical courses)) and they are pretty much bomb proof. Good hubs that can be rebuilt is another benefit. I'd say $900 is reason for a set in good shape with good tires.

Opinion here

I find the quality of clinchers tires from a rolling resistance and aero point of view has surpassed tubulars and will continue to.. They are easier to buy, install, swap in an out....For tri/TT i see no reason for tubulars.

That being said if I were using carbon wheels for road racing, with lots of braking etc, I would not ride clinchers but tubulars for safety reasons. There is a reason protour guys don't ride clinchers in the mountains.

Another vote to at least look at the Flocycling.com website.
For a bit more $, you can get a brand new wheelset with a warranty that is optimized for your needs.
Chris and Jon are great guys, great product, great value, great customer service.

I would pass. Old wheels, that were never that fast to begin with even when new and you will have a next to impossible time reselling. Get a nice used set of HED JETs or Zipps. You should pay about the same for Zipp and less than that for HED JETs be patient and check eBay or the FB buy / sell groups.

I don't know if he'll let you do it. Find a 5 mile loop that has conditions similar to your potential race routes. Time yourself at a race level of exertion on your old wheels. Now put the new ones on. See if you can beat the time. Then if you did, put the old ones on and try to beat the previous time set by the new one. If you don't see a significant difference, I would probably pass on them. It kind of reminds me of guys spending a fortune to modify their car. If they have to Dyno it afterwards to see if it's more powerful then they wasted their money. They should be able to just jump in and feel it.

They don't look like they're "to die for wheels" If I was going to spend that much on a used pair I'd want them to be something special. I spent close to $1000 on ENVE wheels. They did give me a significant bump in speed. (about 1/2 to 1mph) They looked cool and seemed to come alive around corners. I hit a bump on them and the front rim got a tiny irregularity to it. Now it flats like crazy. I got an estimate that it's going to cost about a thousand to replace the rim.