After buying my new bike in June I was aware that the worst component on the bike, other than the fatso on top obviously, was the wheels. It was for this reason that I kept my old Kinetic One wheels rather than the Mavic’s the bike normally comes with. I’d done some casual research into other wheels including some very expensive models and chinese carbon varieties.
I’d determined a few things from this
- good, branded wheels were too expensive
- I didn’t trust the Chinese ones to hold up me and my bike
- I was probably fine with the ones I had
Wheel upgrades were long forgotten until K suggested them as an option as a Christmas present and it was around this time that I’d remembered FLO Cycling were about to opening their third pre-order window so I did some more reading. FLO have a very interesting startup story that would treble the length of this blog post so if you’re interested take a read here.
FLO wheels met a few of my criteria in that they were affordable (FLO sell direct to the customer to keep prices down), the performance figures are up there with much more expensive wheels and they look great. One of the other key things I knew I wanted in my wheels were that they were clinchers and offered an aluminium braking track – I’ve had a few moments on my bike and didn’t want to sacrifice braking performance that I didn’t need to by switching to carbon brakes. Plus it means that swapping wheels out is much quicker as I don’t need to swap brake blocks too.
Decision to go with FLO done there was only one decision left to make, 60/60 or 60/90. I deliberated and changed my mind repeatedly in the 4 days until the preorder opened and on the day was on the site with many other people as ordering opened. Site went into meltdown but my order for a 60/60 combo was complete while many posters on the FLO Cycling facebook page suggested that they weren’t being quite as lucky – I know FLO were doing everything they could to ensure everyone got their wheels and I think it was mostly all sorted and they’ve promised a more robust mechanism come pre order 4.
The day after completing my order I second guessed myself again and sent an email to the guys at FLO – who incidentally seem to reply very quickly – and after taking my circumstances into account they recommended I change my rear to a 90. So I did and then kept my fingers crossed they’d make it by Christmas.
Ultimately things were to conspire against me, a strike at the port in LA meant my wheels were late leaving the States and then they arrived and were taken in by Customs on Christmas Eve. I checked the tracking info daily and eventually they were released with charges to be paid just after new year.
For Christmas I’d asked for a couple of necessary presents to complete the wheels, namely a new Ultegra 6700 cassette and 2 Michelin Pro Service Course tyres, in red to complement my bike. The wheels I chose were also in the stealth red decals.
Once I’d navigate a trip to Parcelforce and paid the £147 customs/duty/handling fee – with that on top the wheels do work out a bit more expensive than ideal but unless FLO get an EU distributor your only hope is that customs let them sail straight through.
The built up wheels ready to go
Finally had time to put everything together and having fitted the cassette realised my torque wrench doesn’t go to the required 40nm so I’ve ordered one from ebay. Came to the tubes and realised that although I’d picked up some Continental valve extenders a while back my tubes didn’t have the required removable valves. So cassette on and tyres half on I went back on-line to order more bits. Ended up going with Conti tubes with long 80mm valves. These have the removable bit I needed and also meant that the 60 wheel wouldn’t need an extender and the rear would need just a single 30mm extender. Tubes arrived and in no time I’d finished putting the wheels together and whacked them on the bike. I probably won’t get to ride them for a bit but it was nice to see how they look and get a photo of the bike with them on.
Boardman AiR 9.0 with FLO 60/90 Combo
I look forward to getting them on the bike in the spring and seeing just how well they ride both in advance of the Outlaw and having a go at a couple of Strava PBs of course, I’ll report back if anyone is interested.