Gokiso Road Racing 50mm review by Luke Foo
Just purchase the Gokiso Road wheels and all I can say is that the wheels are fantastic. In the beginning when I was at Bike n Bites to buy my Dux Helm helmet, I was introduced to the Gokiso wheelsets. It’s very smooth when I spun the wheels. Well the price sort of scared me away at first. At almost $5k and the wait of a few months, it was really a bitter pill to swallow.
Well my chance came last week and was I lucky. Paul had a set coming in and the best is, it is not taken. Without much hesitation, I took it. On the collection day, just felt like a young kid all over. Excited on a new toy.
Yes it’s a good wheelset, but I was also worried that what happens if it did not reach my expectations? It will be a very painful experience. Nevertheless, after 2 days of bad weather, the opportunity finally came. Took the bike and off to the Seletar loop.
At the first few strokes on the crank, the difference can be felt. The bike was very eager to move off as compared to my previous wheelset. 1st test was the slope at Jln Kayu. Yes the slope still needs some strengthen to ride up, but it felt, smooth and I did not use too much energy as compared to the older wheel.
At the loop, the downs were faster and it rolls longer. At the climbs, able to maintain a better speed. Usually at the 1st climb, the speed would have been dropped from 35kmh to 25kmh at the top, this time it dropped to 31kmh. That is a 4kmh difference plus a gain in 6kmh over the old wheel!!! At the flat sections, hitting 43kmh was a breeze… and maintaining at 36kmh is much easier. After 2 hammer loops, it felt like I had just completed 1 loop! Don’t feel as tired as my previous 2 loops.
With an overall increase of 0.5kg I do expect a slower time and more energy usage, but not this time. It felt good and the timing maintained. I don’t feel as tired as before.
Yes the investment is big, but the satisfaction level is excellent. Truly worthy of its name.
