# Bontrager Aeolus 5.0 Wheelset- Should I buy?



## toddious (Dec 14, 2011)

I have a local rider offering to sell me a Bontrager Aeolus 5.0 Wheelset for $550. They are from 2009/2010 and have the HED rims (same as XXX Lite rim) with the 50mm Carbon airfoil, and DT Swiss hubs (same as these wheels: Bontrager Aeolus 5.0 Rear Wheel (Clincher) - The Bike Zone (585) 225-7960 bicycle sales, accessories, and bike repairs. )

They appear to be in excellent condition, but not sure if they are a good buy for $550? 

I'm thinking of pulling the trigger today so any feedback on these wheels, or the price, is greatly appreciated. Thanks!


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

just make sure you use ONLY Bontrager cork pads (or cork pads of some type, but if you ever have a warranty issue claim they were B pads). especially if they're clinchers...i've seen numerous Hed/Bontrager rims overheat and blow out due to incorrect pad selection.


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## deviousalex (Aug 18, 2010)

cxwrench said:


> just make sure you use ONLY Bontrager cork pads (or cork pads of some type, but if you ever have a warranty issue claim they were B pads). especially if they're clinchers...i've seen numerous Hed/Bontrager rims overheat and blow out due to incorrect pad selection.


Even with these newer age of softer pads? Like Swiss stop yellow, etc? Zipp seems to be moving away from cork. If you get a rim change to a non-carbon wheel in a race it's a bad time to realize that you can't stop aluminum with cork pads


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## toddious (Dec 14, 2011)

Well I went to meet the guy, and he was extremely nice and we spent a few minutes talking bikes and such. 

In the end I scored the wheelset for $500 in excellent condition with skewers. I'm hoping that's a fair price? 

The brake pad situation is definitely something I need to consider, as I have aluminum brake strips on my DA C24's now.


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## RC28 (May 9, 2002)

If those were tubular and they were being offered to me, I would've bought them on the spot. I actually just scored a pair of new, unused,Bontrager XXX Lite carbon tubulars (2011 I believe) with skewers for $570. Wheels look rock solid and I'm looking for a set of Aeolus. 

Truth be told, I wasn't a Bontrager fan in the past but I've had good luck with their tires and wheels recently. Our team was sponsored by the local Trek distributor so we got to try a lot of the items and , although I was a bit reluctant in the beginning, I actually like most of the stuff.

I've used SS Yellows on all my carbon wheels in the past but bought a set of Bontrager Cork Pads specifically because of recommendations to only use them with the Bontrager wheels. We'll see how they work.


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## paule11 (Jun 11, 2011)

That is a bargain price


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

deviousalex said:


> Even with these newer age of softer pads? Like Swiss stop yellow, etc? Zipp seems to be moving away from cork. If you get a rim change to a non-carbon wheel in a race it's a bad time to realize that you can't stop aluminum with cork pads


like i said...especially if they're carbon clinchers and you want Trek to honor the warranty...use the recommended pads. the Hed manufactured clincher rims were pretty easily overheated. i've had 3 of them have sidewall problems in the last few months, and every one of them had clear evidence of yellow(swiss stop) or red(roval) pad residue on the brake track. warranty denied in every case. 

i'm sure the new rims would work much better w/ different pads, especially as Zipp make the clinchers and they're ok w/ many different pads. but again...if you want to have any warranty problems taken care of w/ minimal hassle...use the supplied pads.


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## S2k552m (Apr 23, 2012)

Nice, you'll enjoy these. I love my XXX from this time period. And pending a meeting with the owner like you did, I would have jumped on these too. 

Bontrager states on their site what pads to use, pretty much I believe you are limited to cork as CX says, but I thought the warranty was not transferreable... so does it matter which pads are used - between Zipp platinum or cork or SS yellow.

btw I only use cork with mine since that's what the manufacturer recommended


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## GGW (Jul 13, 2008)

Bontrager cork pads work great on my bonty


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## ericm979 (Jun 26, 2005)

My local Trek dealer has had a number of Bontrager carbon rims come back ruined by SwissStop pads. Use the Bontrager cork pads.


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## antihero77 (Jul 26, 2011)

I use yellow ss with my hed tubulars and no problems.


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

antihero77 said:


> I use yellow ss with my hed tubulars and no problems.


because they're *tubulars*...the point we've been trying (apparently w/o success) through the entire thread is to be extra careful with carbon *clinchers*.


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## ewitz (Sep 11, 2002)

Using Swiss Stop yellows with Race XXX Lite tubulars and Blue Reynolds pads with Aeolus 6.5 clincher. No problems but I don't live near the mountains. I prefer the Reynolds pads.


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## NWS Alpine (Mar 16, 2012)

I would not use SS yellow on the clinchers. Tubulars sure not clinchers. Go with the suggested pads from Trek. Give their tech support a call and get an official recommendation.


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## toddious (Dec 14, 2011)

I guess I didn't realize how expensive these pads were! ($60 for the Bontrager Cork's). 

The original owner has offered to give me the brake pads, so I'm going to meet him today and grab them. I'm curious to see which pads he has been using on them. Obviously there is nothing I can do about it at this point, and there is nothing about the rims that makes me think they have been damaged/overheated. Keep in mind that I live in Florida, so there aren't any hills that would cause a lot of heavy braking. 

I'm going to grab some Zipp valve extenders today, and then I should be all set to get the tires/wheels mounted and ready for a test ride this weekend!

Here are some pics by the way: 



























Unfortunately the yellow really doesn't work with my white/black/red color scheme on my bike, so I'm contemplating what I'm going to do. I may try to remove just the yellow decals (leaving the white "5.0" and "HED" decals only). Or I may buy the decals in white. This is my bike currently:


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## NWS Alpine (Mar 16, 2012)

Remove all the decals or remove all but the little HED logo.


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## torquredork (Dec 6, 2012)

When I had my set I preferred to use the Problem Solvers replaceable core valve extenders over other extenders. I found having an actual presta valve on the outside of the rim made life easier.


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## RC28 (May 9, 2002)

NWS Alpine said:


> Remove all the decals or remove all but the little HED logo.


^^^ This ^^^^^

About the $60 pads...hey, you caught a really good break on the wheelset price, so don't despair.


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## toddious (Dec 14, 2011)

Well I just got back, and the guy gave me the old pads: Bontrager Cork! 

So not only did I save $60 (for the time being), but it means that the wheels also had the proper pads on them prior to my ownership!

I'm still up in the air about decals. My only issue with peeling everything, is that I think the black wheels will look bad (like "hoops") with the white frame. I was considering getting the all white aeolus 5.0 decals in a matte finish, and not applying the "bontrager" lettering. So it would have the "aeolus 5.0" the Bontrager "B" and "HED" decals in all white.


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## deviousalex (Aug 18, 2010)

I recommend the Vittoria valve extenders. They require tubes with removeable valve cores though.


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## toddious (Dec 14, 2011)

So I went to the LBS yesterday and picked up a set of Vittoria extenders they had with the presta valve at the end, and I get home and find out that my tubes do not have removable valve cores.....

Now it's back to the LBS today to get another set of extenders (or possibly new tubes), and get the cassette swapped over from my old wheels. It's been more work than I anticipated just to be able to ride these wheels this weekend!


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

why even bother w/ extenders? just buy tubes w/ long (60-80mm) valves.


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## RC28 (May 9, 2002)

cxwrench said:


> why even bother w/ extenders? just buy tubes w/ long (60-80mm) valves.



Exactly!!!! It's not like they're that hard to find.


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## toddious (Dec 14, 2011)

toddious said:


> So I went to the LBS yesterday and picked up a set of Vittoria extenders they had with the presta valve at the end, and I get home and find out that my tubes do not have removable valve cores.....
> 
> Now it's back to the LBS today to get another set of extenders (or possibly new tubes), and get the cassette swapped over from my old wheels. It's been more work than I anticipated just to be able to ride these wheels this weekend!


That's why I said "or possibly new tubes", because I'm really going to be at the liberty of what the LBS has in-stock, as I want to get these rolling today....I would prefer tubes with long valves, but I'm not sure what they will have...


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## toddious (Dec 14, 2011)

Ended up getting new tubes with 80mm valves, and got the cassette installed. So tonight I just have to mount the brake pads, install the tubes/tires, and rip off all the ugly decals....

The guy at the LBS told me he thought I'd be missing my Dura-Ace wheels. I'm eager to see which I prefer (I ride mostly straight/flat trails, so I think I'll prefer the Aero Bonty's)


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## toddious (Dec 14, 2011)

Got to test the wheels out on 2 rides this weekend. The first was a casual C group 40mi ride on Saturday morning with about 15 in our group, averaging around 19-21. The second was a 20 mile ride yesterday morning with a buddy, averaging about 22mph the first 10 miles, and a more casual 19mph on the way back. 

First thoughts- WOW, the difference in wheels was definitely more noticeable than I expected. Granted these are entirely different types of wheels (32mm lightweight DA24's vs. 50mm aero's). 

The difference in wheelsets was most apparent on our bridge climbs, both good and bad. I didn't feel the explosiveness from each pedal stroke that I normally feel when climbing with the C24's, and this is most likely due to the increase in weight (the Bonty's are about 200 grams heavier). But when heading down the backside of the bridge, the aero advantage of the 5.0's was obvious. I've never been able to sustain 30+mph for nearly as long as I did with these wheels. In fact, I could FEEL that these wheels were faster anytime I was pushing around 22mph+. Unfortunately for me, I'm not at that level yet (still a B/C group rider averaging around 19-21mph) so I look forward to "growing" into these wheels as my average speed increases. 

I still want to give them a few more rides before I decide whether I keep these over the C24's (I'm not in the position to keep both wheelsets right now), and I will probably even put the C24's back on for one more ride to make the final decision. However, I love the way they look on the bike- there's no doubt about that! I stripped all the yellow decals, and left the 5.0 and HED, for a custom look that I think is pretty cool:


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## NWS Alpine (Mar 16, 2012)

Looks better but I still say take the 5.0 off. 

As for speeds that is an extremely fast "casual" C group ride if your average speed is over 20 mph for 40 miles. That is usually A group average speeds. That means you guys were hitting 24-27mph for a few long stretches. 

I love the feeling of deep carbon wheels when the conditions are right and it does make a difference when up front.


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## toddious (Dec 14, 2011)

NWS Alpine said:


> Looks better but I still say take the 5.0 off.
> 
> As for speeds that is an extremely fast "casual" C group ride if your average speed is over 20 mph for 40 miles. That is usually A group average speeds. That means you guys were hitting 24-27mph for a few long stretches.
> 
> I love the feeling of deep carbon wheels when the conditions are right and it does make a difference when up front.


It was my first time riding with this group, and the first 20mi was a very casual 18mph or so.

At the halfway point I actually took the front for the remainder of the ride, and apparently I picked up the speed pretty heavily (I forgot to put my wheel sensor on the new wheels, so I had no idea how fast I was actually going), but when we had to stop for a red light after about 10mi of cruising, the group leader asked me to slow up a bit as he apparently had to go 25mph to catch up at one point. 

It was my first experience with deep carbon wheels and I'm definitely impressed. I also should mention that I didn't feel nearly the side wind I was expecting from the deep rims (yesterdays ride was pretty windy), which was a nice surprise as well.


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## RC28 (May 9, 2002)

toddious said:


> It was my first time riding with this group, and the first 20mi was a very casual 18mph or so.
> 
> At the halfway point I actually took the front for the remainder of the ride, and apparently I picked up the speed pretty heavily (I forgot to put my wheel sensor on the new wheels, so I had no idea how fast I was actually going), but when we had to stop for a red light after about 10mi of cruising, the group leader asked me to slow up a bit as he apparently had to go 25mph to catch up at one point.
> 
> It was my first experience with deep carbon wheels and I'm definitely impressed. I also should mention that I didn't feel nearly the side wind I was expecting from the deep rims (yesterdays ride was pretty windy), which was a nice surprise as well.


A bit off topic...Where in FL was this ride? I'm moving back to SoFla in several weeks and need to start finding rides in the area.


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## toddious (Dec 14, 2011)

RC28 said:


> A bit off topic...Where in FL was this ride? I'm moving back to SoFla in several weeks and need to start finding rides in the area.


PM Sent.


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