Shimano WH-9000 Dura-Ace C24-CL Clincher

With money burning a hole in my pocket I needed to spend it, and spend it fast before my wife got a hold of it. My birthday had recently past by and another year was added to my body clock, the bright side being that I had a pile of cash to spend on shiny new bike parts! So armed with my birthday money and money from selling bike parts I set about spending it. I had really fancied a set of 50mm Carbon Clinchers, why…….. well they look good don’t they! Oh and that lovely sound you get off them when you’re flying down the road. Although the noise can get a bit annoying if your mates using them and riding behind you as you keep thinking a car is coming up behind you, or at least I do.

So that was that, my mind was set on 50mm Carbon Clinchers, but with so many choices I didn’t know where to start! Full Carbon or Carbon/Alloy? Which Brand? Choices, choices, choices. To help with the decision I read so many articles regarding carbon wheels and asked on various forums and all that managed to do was confuse me even more as everyone had a different opinion! Eventually I narrowed it down to the Mavic Cosmic Carbone CL wheelset, a carbon/alloy 50mm deep cut wheel. Just as I was about to make that purchase my Facebook page was inundated with messages from my cycling friends telling me not to buy 50mm carbon clinchers as for training rides and sportives I’d be better off spending my money on a high end set of alloy wheels. So there we were back to the drawing board again with doubt in my mind what I wanted. I’d honestly have been easier just giving the money away. Lol

Looking further into the weight of the wheels, my Fulcrum Racing 5’s came in at the same weight give or take a couple of grams as the Mavic wheels I was set to purchase. With my mind undecided I left it for the evening and picked up the new edition of Cycling Weekly before heading to work the following morning. My eyes instantly became attracted to the back page where the New Shimano WH-9000 Dura-Ace C24-CL Clincher wheelset kept calling out at me……. buy me, buy me!

After work that evening I had an in-depth look at the wheelset and it ticked all the boxes. So that was the final decision made, Shimano WH-9000 Dura-Ace wheels it was! I was just going to swap over my Continental GatorHardShell tyres to my new wheels until my mate who races informed me that there was no way I could spend that kind of money on top of the range ultra-light wheels then stick heavy tyres on it! So I was now on the hunt for new tyres. I used to use the Schwalbe Ultremo ZX tyres which I loved as they were lightweight, fast rolling, low rolling resistance tyres, only thing was they cut up very easily. After more research and advice I ended up going for the Continental Grand Prix 4000s folding tyres.

So what do I think of my new wheels and tyres? Superb! The combination works really well and are fast rolling and very responsive. I’m glad I was talked out the 50mm deep cut carbon wheels and found the top end Shimano Dura-Ace wheels. The wheels are 11 speed compatible which makes them future roof for the moment, not that I have the money to upgrade the full drivetrain and controls to 11 speed. Lol

With new wheels, tyres, chain, cassette and crankset my bike is running like a dream.

Stuart
IT Manager