Intro

I titled this the mid-term review because this was only my 5th ride on these wheels, but I have a fairly good feel of them after getting to ride 3 times them this past week. Let me first throw out there that previous to these wheels I was riding a set of Zipp 303s. For the price those wheels are hard to beat. They had a rim ID of 23mm and were hookless. I had them setup with Tubeless Schwalbe Pro One’s that were 28mm wide. Air pressure was 55 rear and 51 front and that was according to the Zipp’s handy tire pressure guide. Needless to say it was a pretty sweet setup. I never doubted the wheels ability to hold it’s line in the corner due to the wider footprint. Was I ready to give that up and go to back in time to an internal ID of 18mm? I suppose the answer to that would be yes. I sold the Zipp’s and went all in on these. PCW has a generous 30 day ride guarantee, but with the weather over the past month I have gone over that time limit so maybe winter wasn’t the best time to buy a set of new wheels. So they are officially mine now, love em’ or hate em. Will I have to sell them on the used market for a loss? Let’s find out.

Wheel Setup

I set the wheels up with tubes and an old set of Conti 4000s tires. Coming from the Zipp’s I was still of the mindset that less pressure was better, but did not take into account that these wheels needed to be setup vastly different. I think I put 70 rear and 66 front, if that much. Not a good choice and the subsequent 2 rides reflected my poor choice. I needed to leave the idea of such low air pressure in the rear view mirror with these wheels.

Rides 1 and 2 - A little hesitant

The first ride back in January was a feeler ride. Cold, short and just making sure that all was good with the tires and tubes, etc. They just felt like wheels. The 2nd ride was a climbing ride on one of our local “big” climbs in Winston. I am happy to report that the wheels climbed great and felt stiff. Descending and going around curves was a different story. They did not feel planted, felt squishy in the corners and make me pucker up a couple of times that day. I have ridden plenty of deep dish wheels so this was not my first experience in the 60mm and beyond territory.

Ride 3 - Still not sure

Fast forward to this past Wednesday when it was near 70 degrees and I was able to get to ride two of our local climbs in one brief after work ride. It had a bit of everything, long stretches of road, short climbs, rollers and then of course the 2 bigs climbs. Climbing was a delight and then it came time to descend. It felt the same as before. Squirrely and actually scared me a couple of times. To be honest I was a little disappointed and ready to send them back and hopefully trade them in for some Grit 4540’s because they have a wider internal ID. Don’t stop here…..it’s get better so please keep reading.

Ride 4 - The tide has turned in favor of the Wake’s

Thursday was a weather surprise so I was able to get out again after work. The route that I rode was an industrial park that is about a 5 minute loop and it would be a good testing ground with some fast corners on tap. This time I wised up and adjusted the tire pressure taking into account the internal ID and the fact that I was riding tubes. Using the handy Zipp tire pressure guide again I wound up with approximately 79 in the rear and 75 in the front. Maybe still a bit low, but man what a difference. That adjustment absolutely changed the entire ride characteristics of the wheels for me…..as it should have. I now realize that previously running such low pressure with these wheels the tires would want to deform and give me that unstable, “squishy” feeling that made me so nervous. It was a perfect testing night and I could take the corners at speed without feeling like the tires were going to give way. They felt so fast and that was not a placebo. Being 65mm at their deepest point they are going to hold momentum really well. That’s just the facts.

Ride 5 - I’m not getting rid of these wheels anytime soon

The weather cooperated today for another ride so I headed to downtown Winston to do some climbing on the hills. I hit one of my go to routes from the house that includes fast portions as well as short, steep climbs. They performed flawlessly and are so much fun on long straights and downhills. I am impressed that they are so stiff when climbing as well. They aren’t going to be to blame for getting to top of a mountain slower than others. Several times I was able to get some speed going downhill, go into corners hot and am happy to report I felt none of the uneasiness from the previous rides. I chalk the bad ride feel of rides 2 and 3 to USER ERROR and nothing more.

I can’t wait to set the wheels up with my Conti 5000 tubeless tires. I expect the performance to get even better when I put the tubeless tires on.

Mid-Term Review

Before purchasing these wheels I reached out to someone who owns a set of the Grit 4540’s and the Wake 6560’s to see if it would help sway my decision one way or the other. I was leaning towards the 4540’s because they have the larger ID, but really wanted a set of the 6560’s to help me eek out any extra aero advantage at all. I’m getting old remember. His advice was that for fast group rides you can’t beat the 6560’s. Sold. He also mentioned that once I rode the 6560’s that I would want a set of each………after my recent experience with the wheels he is 100% right. I would absolutely love to have the 4540’s for dedicated climbing days and for REALLY windy days. Maybe someday soon.

Next Review

The next review will be the final review. I want to ride in some windy conditions (which these wheels were designed for) over the next month or so to get a really good feel for them.(Update: 2/28 - Today’s ride was a fast group ride and my first since early November. It was the perfect testing ground. The ride started out with relatively calm winds and by the end we had some strong, steady crosswinds. My expectations were surpassed the way they handled the wind. That’s not to say they were oblivious to the wind just that at no point did I feel uneasy. Keep in mind that these are 65mm at their deepest point. To me…..there is something to the shape of the rims beyond cosmetic)