In The Know Cycling

I’ve ridden and compared more than 100 road and gravel bike wheelsets in recent years.

In addition to rating and reviewing each wheel’s performance, I’ve learned which wheels are the best for my riding and budget.

If you are reading this, you probably want to know how to choose the best bike wheels for your riding and your budget without having to ride all the ones I have.

In this article, I’ll provide the 12 questions every road cycling enthusiast should answer to choose the best wheels for their unique situation.

IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT PICKING THE BEST WHEELS

Before I lay out the 12 questions, let me explain why buying the best wheelset and buying the best wheelset for you are two different things.

There are the obvious reasons. The best wheelset may be out of your price range, have tech you don’t want, or have looks you don’t care for.

For some enthusiasts, you may not ride at a level where the best wheelset will make you any better than one that doesn’t perform as well or cost as much. But for others, buying and riding the best-priced wheelset may hold you back from performing at the level you’re capable of.

A wheelset that performs best on flat, straight, smooth roads at 40kph or 25mph is probably not the best choice for hilly, turny, rough roads at 30kph or 18mph.

Over the years, I’ve heard from many readers who are trying to make these more complex trade-offs to choose the best wheels for them.

Answering these 12 questions will help you decide on the best wheelset for you.

TAKE CONTROL OVER YOUR WHEELSET CHOICE

Alternatively, you can go into a bike shop where a salesperson will likely have fewer and different questions, some based on finding you a wheelset that they carry, which may or may not be the best for you.

A reviewer, including me, will have no idea who you are, and their review may not be clear about the type of rider the wheelset they’re writing about is best for.

And your riding buddy who raves about their wheels may not have enough experience with others or your priorities to suggest alternatives that might be better for you.

When I first started looking for wheels, I found myself in these same situations at bike shops, reading reviews, and asking friends. Once I began testing wheels, I realized all the things you need to consider in rating and reviewing wheels and helping readers and viewers choose the best ones.

I put these questions into four buckets – your motivation, gear, riding profile, and performance level.

KNOW YOUR MOTIVATION FOR BUYING NEW WHEELS

Question #1 – WHY do you want new wheels?

The answers I hear most often are that I want to a) go faster, b) improve comfort, c) perform better in specific situations, d) replace a wheelset that’s beyond fixing, and e) move up from the sub-par stock wheels that came with my bike.

Then there’s often the unspoken one: I just want new wheels—either I’ve earned it, I’ve fallen in love with something I’ve seen, or I have wheelset FOMO—there’s something better out there that I’m missing.

But I hear the first one – I want to go faster – a lot. A whole lot.

Let me be clear on this one. New wheels aren’t the most effective and certainly not the most cost-efficient way to go faster. And depending on how and what you ride now, they may not help you go faster.

Let that sink in for a minute.

Improving your training, nutrition, recovery, position on the bike, and various cycling techniques are more effective ways to ride faster and usually a whole lot less expensive than buying new wheels.

More compliant wheels and properly inflated or wider tires, which cost less than new wheels, can also improve ride comfort.

The other reasons – better performance, upgrading or replacing a wheelset, or just wanting something new or better – are all valid reasons, especially if your riding has advanced beyond the level your wheels can deliver.

This is often the case if you’re still riding the stock wheels that came with your bike, if you’re riding in a different environment or at a higher level than when you first got the wheels, or if new gear, like wheels, will re-energize your training or the pleasure you get from riding.

Whatever it is, have a reason for buying new wheels. It will help ground your search and direct your choice.

Question #2 – What do you DISLIKE about your current wheels?

Your answer may be the same as why you want new wheels.

But try to answer it as completely as you can. The more flaws or dislikes you can identify about the performance of your current wheels – they’re not very responsive, they don’t hold your speed, they’re not tubeless, you don’t like the looks, they have a noisy freehub, whatever – the better able you’ll be to choose a set that gives you more of what you want.

Question #3 – What are your riding GOALS?

Your next set of wheels will be the ones you ride, hopefully, for several years to come.

What do you want to do with your riding over that period of time?

Do you want to double your riding time, start racing crits, maintain your fitness level, pull more and get spit out the back less on your group rides, or do 5-day cycling vacations in the mountains each year?

Perhaps you have detailed goals for events, distances, KOMs, podiums, watt-per-kg levels, or other clear performance targets.

The more specific and measurable, the better and the easier it is to find a wheelset that can help you accomplish your goals.

Until you can clearly and confidently answer these three questions about your motivation for getting new wheels, you will not choose the best wheels for you and should not buy a new set of wheels.

GEAR

The next three questions are all about your gear and how you value it.

Question #4 – What BIKE or BIKES will you put your new wheels on?

The answer to this question will help you choose the type of wheels to buy and how much to spend on them.
For example, you’ll typically want deeper aero wheels to go on your aero bike or mid-depth “all-around” wheels for your road racing bike.

But wheels and bikes have become more versatile.

So, while you wouldn’t want 60mm-deep wheels on your gravel bike, you might want one set of 30-40mm-deep all-road wheels that you could use on both your gravel and endurance road bikes. You could swap out the tires depending on the surface you’re riding on.

If you have one of the newer all-road bikes that you can ride on paved and dirt roads, you might want a 50mm-deep all-road wheelset with an internal width of 23 or 25mm.

Likewise, if you have a dedicated climbing bike, you could choose a superlight climbing wheelset or one of the newer all-around 40-50mm deep wheelsets, which weigh as little as the best climbing wheelsets did just a few years ago.

Question #5 – What is the most you are willing to BUDGET for new wheels?

The glib response to this question is “as little as possible.”

But, as I’ve detailed in my wheelset reviews, there are real differences between value-priced wheels that sell for 1000 to 1500 $/£/€ and performance wheels that sell for 2 to 3000 $/£/€ or more.

Well beyond the specs, brand name, and looks of the wheels, there are real differences in how they ride – their versatility, specificity, aero drag, sidewind stability, compliance, and responsiveness, and sometimes, where you can get them serviced, their warranties, and customer support.

Most new bikes have wheels that are at least a tier below the level of the frame and other components, and that will limit the performance you can get from the bike.

For that reason, I suggest you plan to spend 30% +/- 10% of the retail price of your bike to get a wheelset that will realize your bike’s potential and suit your performance needs and priorities.

Note that I’m talking about the bike’s retail price (the MSRP or RRP), not what you paid for it, which may have been less.

Question #6 – What PRIORITIES do you put on the brand, looks, or other unique features?

I get it. Performance and price are very important, but some of us also prioritize less tangible considerations.

You may put a high value on a wheelset that stands out or goes well with your bike.

Or perhaps you have loyalty to a brand based on your experience with it in the past, or you have always wanted a certain brand of wheels.

Maybe you want the latest tech features because you’re an early adopter, or you purposely want to avoid them until they’ve gone mainstream.

Neither I nor any reviewer can judge how important these things are in your decision-making. But to the extent they are, answering this question will help you rule out wheelsets regardless of their performance and price.

PROFILE

Your answers to the next two questions will tell you how versatile or specific a wheelset you’ll want for the kind of riding you do.

Question #7 – What mix of flats, rolling hills, and climbing TERRAIN do you typically ride?

Question #8 – What mix of solo riding, group riding, endurance events, road races, time trials, or other RIDING do you focus on?

The greater variety of rides and events you do and the more varied the terrain you do them on, the more you want a versatile wheelset that performs well, if not the absolute best, in most of those riding conditions.

That’s going to be a mid-depth, 50mm or so all-arounder.

The better-performing, more expensive all-arounders have gotten both lighter and more aero and will serve enthusiasts well in most situations.

They’ll also be laterally stiff, stable in sidewinds, comfortable on all surfaces, and responsive when accelerating or cornering.

The more focused or targeted your riding, the more you’ll want a wheelset that performs best in that type of riding and terrain.

Say, for example, you live in a region where it’s mostly flat, and you do a lot of solo training and fast group rides along with a few short or long events each year where you measure yourself against the clock on flat courses. Then get a 60mm or deeper aero wheelset.

Aero performance and crosswind stability will be more important than comfort and responsiveness. If you’re a heavier rider, you’ll also want a laterally stiffer wheelset.

If, on the other hand, you live where the terrain varies a lot and you do moderately paced group rides in training for your annual cycling vacation into the high mountains, a shallower, stiff, comfortable, light, climbing-focused wheelset would be a better choice

PERFORMANCE

Your answers to these last four questions will tell you whether your money would be better spent on a performance wheelset in the 2 to 3000 $/£/€ range or whether you’ll likely get as much as you notice from one that sells for 1000 to 1500 $/£/€.

Question #9 – What are your watts/kg and FTP?

If you ride in the 3.25 watts/kg or 250 FTP range or above, or you’re training to get there, you’re at a level where you’ll benefit from all that a performance wheelset will give you.

From the many, many wheelsets that my fellow testers and I have ridden, the better performance wheelsets, on average, will be more versatile, more aero, more stable in sidewinds, more responsive, and more comfortable than a value-priced wheelset.

All those advantages will make you a faster cyclist and give you more enjoyment on the road at the performance level you’ve reached or are reaching for.

If you don’t know your watts/kg or FTP, don’t care what they are, or don’t know what those terms mean, you probably aren’t riding at the level where you need more than a value-priced wheelset.

Question #10 – What SPEED do you average on solo 30-40 mile/50-60km rides?

If you’re averaging at least 18mph or 30kph on a varied terrain course or at least 20mph or 32kph on a flat one, you’re riding at a speed where you’ll notice the difference between the better performance and value-priced wheels.

There are exceptions, of course. Some higher-priced wheels don’t perform as well as value-priced ones, and some value-priced ones have selected performance characteristics that are on par with some of the better higher-priced ones.

Overall, considering all the performance criteria that matter most and that I’ve been referring to throughout, you get what you pay for, and a faster rider will get more out of a higher-priced performance wheelset.

Question #11 – Do you PRIORITIZE speed or comfort or value them equally?

In our testing and wind tunnel tests published by others, we’ve seen that some value-priced wheels will hold their momentum at aero speeds in the 40kph or 25mph range as well as performance wheels.

But they typically won’t be as responsive in getting up to those speeds, sprint for the line as well, or be as stable in sidewinds.

The same goes for comfort. With the same tires at equivalent pressures, some value-priced wheels are as comfortable as the average, more expensive wheels but aren’t as comfortable as the best ones.

Most value-priced wheels have strengths and weaknesses. Few have strengths across all the performance criteria that matter most to enthusiasts, including speed and comfort.

As I’ve described earlier, some of us don’t ride at a level that would benefit from all the strengths of the best-performing, higher-priced wheels.

But, if you want or will benefit from speed and comfort, and also, stability, responsiveness, and either a great degree of versatility or specificity, you’ll want a performance wheelset.

Question #12 – Do you have any specific wheelset performance or characteristic REQUIREMENTS?

Ask yourself: Is there anything about you, your riding environment, or your gear biases that leads to requirements or musts for your next wheelset?

For example, if you are a heavier rider, you’ll want to make sure your wheelset rates high for stiffness regardless of its other attributes.

If you regularly ride on poorly paved and dirt roads, you’ll want a wheelset that scores well for compliance. Wide tires and low inflation pressures will only take you so far.

Do you ride along a seacoast or across open areas where the wind blows most of the time? If so, choose a more stable all-around or all-road wheelset or a low-profile one.

Identify the performance requirements that will allow you to look for or filter out specific wheels. This will save you time when choosing the best wheelset for you.

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USE YOUR ANSWERS TO CHOOSE THE BEST BIKE WHEELS FOR YOU

Now that you’ve answered these 12 questions, you can use those answers to research and compare your options more thoroughly and choose the best wheelset for your unique situation more quickly and confidently.

For example, say your answers to the questions about your performance level, your riding profile, your gear, and your budget lead you to a value-priced wheelset.

You can compare a dozen we’ve reviewed and rated in the 1000-1500 $/£/€ price range for their versatility, aero performance, stability, stiffness, compliance, and responsiveness.

You can also compare their prices, specs, and service policies all in one place.

You can also read the reviews, which tell you more about their performance and riding experience, see what they look like, and link to the stores that carry them.

If your answers suggest higher-performance wheels, you can compare all-around wheels, aero wheels, climbing wheels, all-road wheels, and gravel wheels.

If you want to see my wheelset recommendations in each of those categories all in one review, you can start here and then click through to the category or wheelset reviews that I just showed you.

And, while I do give you specs, I hope you’ve noticed that my questions aren’t about specs.

That’s because how a wheelset rides or performs is ultimately what matters most to how fast, how confident, how comfortable you’ll be on the wheels you choose, and how much fun you’ll have riding them.

While too many wheels are marketed and reviews written about a wheelset’s specs and features, those don’t predict performance. Wheels with the same rim depth, width, weight, spokes, or other characteristics perform differently.

It’s the performance that matters to the benefit and value you get from wheels.

I’d love to read how your answers to these questions have led you to better wheelset choices. Let me know in the comments section below.

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Thanks for reading.

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Thanks, and enjoy your rides safely! Cheers, Steve