Guerciotti Eureka SHM50 Team CCC Polsat Replica with Ursus Miura C37 Wheelset Review

Posted in: Blog, Cycling | Oct 24, 2015 at 1:53 PM

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INTRODUCTION

I have written an extensive review on the Guerciotti Eureka SHM50 Team CCC Polsat Replica bike previously. The bike was supposed to come with the Ursus Miura C37 wheels. However, the frame was ready earlier before the wheels. There was a delay of shipment from Italy. Me being an impatient man (as well as wanting to train for Peaks Challenge Cradle Mountain) decided to get the frame delivered first so that I can get used to it earlier. So when the frame arrived, I put on my Campy Shamal G3 wheels on it and did a comparison with my Trek Madone 7 frameset. Please read my comparison, first ride and long hill ride review on this link.

So…finally…few weeks after the frame delivery, the wheels finally arrived! And oh man do they look beautiful. This article is dedicated for the review of the bike using the wheels.

URSUS MIURA C37 CLINCHER REVIEW

You can look at the details of the wheel on Ursus’ website: http://ursus.it/products/road-racing/wheels/miura-c37/. The Miura came with SwissStop carbon brake pads and the wheels themselves are full carbon wheels.

So how does the bike ride on this wheelset? I will compare the experience against the Campagnolo Shamal.

CLIMBING

The Miura wheels are heavier. They are also deeper, too at 37mm while the Campy Shamal is at 27mm front and 30mm rear. Upon climbing I can definitely feel the weight. It has also added few hundred grams to the bike. Further to that, the wheels came with Vittoria Rubino Pro which are basic heavy tires. So climbing definitely felt a little bit sluggish.

I also feel that the Shamal is stiffer. When climbing either sitting or standing, I feel that on Shamal I propel forward easier. Every pedal stroke just propels me forward. On the Miura I felt as if there is a bit of delay.

Now, am I faster or slower on Miura? There is no real evidence of this. See the Strava activity below:

On Miura – https://www.strava.com/activities/418955102
On Campy Shamal – https://www.strava.com/activities/409763434

What I felt as the major difference though was definitely the weight of Miura. The bike went from 7kg on Shamal to 8kg on Miura.

DESCENDING

Now, this is where the Miura shines! I was definitely faster (with same effort) on the Miura on the descend. And not only that, Miura being the deeper wheelset causes pedaling to be a lot easier on descending. People say that deeper wheels get aerodynamic benefit when speed is over 40kmh and I definitely agree to that.

On the descend of the hill-repeat route I often do, with Campy Shamal for example I have to pedal a bit harder and faster to be at the same speed of the Miura. On the Miura as soon as the road pointed down, it just flew!

BRAKING

The Miura came with SwissStop carbon brake pads. These brake-pads are supposed to be the “go-to” pads for carbon wheels. But unfortunately braking felt a bit dull compared to my Shamal which has alloy brake surface. And this is on dry condition! I can’t imagine how dull the braking would be on the wet.

Please however do not assume that the Miura braking is  all that bad. It still bites but obviously not as strong as the Shamal. It kinds of reminds me with Enve 3.4 SES and its out-of-the-box brake pads. It felt dull. The Enve was even worse though but the Miura was only slightly better.

The braking noise however was quiet which I liked. I’ve had carbon wheels in the past which if you hit the brakes a little bit harder, they would just squeak so badly to the point where every motorist will look at you. But not with the Miura. The braking sound was in fact less stronger than the Shamal.

FLAT

This is where Miura wins over the Shamal. Being a deeper wheelset, holding speed on flat was easier. The Miura is stiff enough for the flat terrain.

SPRINTING

As it’s a heavier wheelset and less-stiffer, the Miura felt a little bit delayed compared to the Shamal on sprinting. It’s not as jumpy/instant when you put your power on the pedals.

CROSSWIND

Now this is where I think Miura wins over Shamal and other mid-deep carbon wheels I’ve ever owned. The Miura is NOT affected by crosswind whatsoever (yes I feel like underlining and emphasizing on that word ‘whatsoever’). It’s just that good! I’ve had Zipp 303 and 404 Firecrest, Enve 3.4 SES as well as some Chinese carbon wheels in the past and as far as stability-in-crosswind is concerned, none of them beat the Miura. Descending on hills or riding on flat terrain, the Miura just stands against crosswind. It’s not buffeted at all which truly-truly surprised me! It feels like riding my shallow rims.

COMFORT

If you read my review on the bike before, you’ll realise that I mentioned how very stiff the frame was and how it transferred vibration through your arm. Well the good news is, the Miura being less stiffer than the Shamal compliments the frame really-really well. The Miura is a lot more comfortable than the Shamal. I’ve had the chance to bring the Miura to a long hill ride through another route which road surface was a lot worse than the route I went for during the initial bike review and I could confirm that the Miura was indeed a lot more comfortable. The vibration that get transferred wasn’t as stinging as it was with the Shamal.

CONCLUSION

I think overall I would choose the Miura instead of the Shamal purely because I get a lot more benefits on flats and descends while at the same time not getting any significant disadvantage over the climb. Plus, the Miura is a more comfortable wheelset compared to the Shamal; and this truly complements the super-stiff frameset.

See photos below of the bike on Miura.

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