Originally Posted by
Hermes
AZT, Prior to purchasing the Williams 19, I talked with Keith Williams about the 38s. I would have liked the 38 carbon clinchers. He steered me away from the carbon braking due to heat build up that he maintains is a problem for all carbon clinchers. If your area is flatter and you do not do much braking, the 38s are a great choice for general training, club rides and races. And they are not too deep to be affected by wind.
Last weekend on our ride to the coast, there are long sections of descent where the wind is channeled. When I hit the windy sections with the R5 and 19s, the bike was very solid and I did not feel the need to brake. With my R3 and the system 30s, the affect on the handling would have caused me to slow down. 404s would be lousy in this situation, IMO.
Racing, I just go with the flow but having positive control is a plus.
I did the ride out into our mountains on my 404's, in part to see how they handled descents that needed braking. Everything was good, but of course I was careful to avoid prolonged braking on any one wheel. That led me to decide carbon clinchers would be fine for training wheels. And given that carbon brakes differently than alloy, and needs different pads, using them all the time is for me a plus. If there is something where I'd be worried, I can always ride the Gunnar. In a race, if something melts, then it melts. :-)
That's my current thinking: feel free to poke holes in it!