Pcad pulls the trigger
 

Not to commit suicide you idiots (though considering my cycling lately, who could really blame me?), on the ZIPP 404s!!!

2006 model, used one season, Conti Sprinters included, $1200. Can't beat that deal. The best price my LBS would do me is $1700 + tax + tires. That's about $700 higher. If these are a bit scratched, that's OK. I'll get my money back on Ebay if I decide they're not for me.

I'm sure this is the answer to all my bike racing problems. Right.

I think some derogatory comments from The Cypress at this time might be appropriate. You may be fast kid, but who has the WAY SCHWAG WHEELS, huh, huh????

And they all look fast in the parking lot.

I quit.

The Pcad side benefits just keep on comin'.

And don't forget who coined the term 'Fredcedrin' you poached for your avatar.

Check with your upgrade rep, but I think that means you're a Cat 2 now. :D

Congrats. :beer:

So you have $700 extra burning a hole in your pocket now, ehh? Maybe you could contribute some of that towards the penguin's piggy bank?

Very nice deal.

Ummmmm....pics?

Meh.

Great deal, and smart too, let some other weekend bike weenie racer type hit every pot hole from here to Pokipsy with your new carbon wheels!! Whoot!!!

Just f'n with ya you cranky old SOB.

Pics:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=140104787934

Scroll to the bottom of the listing to see all of them. Good deal? We'll find out soon enough.

Oh yeah, I remember.

I would pay homage to you in proper fashion, but your nick isn't capitalized, and kinda looks silly to say "The patentcad". Doesn't quite have the same ring as "The Cypress".

Anyway I was gettin' tired of that, and I was thinking of changing it to Supercalifredilisticposeuralidocious but it's too long.

Congrats! Race reports documenting your forthcoming domination are a requirment with these wheels.
Bring it!!

Mmmm - dimpled goodness.

I thought you wanted a powertap - $700 would've gotten one... no?

I swear I remember Cypress getting some uber wheels last year like Lightweights or such? :p

No that I've peed in your Wheaties, you wana send 'em (the wheels) to me? The heavy Al hoops I'm on are holding my Clydesdale ass back. :rolleyes:

Patentcad, those wheels are too sexy for you. :D

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p...htsaidfred.jpg

I never said these wheels would make me faster. But at least they won't be screaming 'you slow piece of ****!' at me every time I glance at the display like a PowerTap. In fact in my case we might have to rename it Lack of PowerTap.

Ok, so I bought the shoes. I'm not following you anymore though.

Nice looking wheels.

-D

looks like ur cassette hub is a bit chewed. ive got a set of american classic carbon 58s that are like that too. thought it was only an american classic thing. does zipp manufacture cassette clips as well? seems like to me you'll need them if you want to lengthen the life of that freehub.

Nobody has to follow me off this particular cliff.

I did monitor eBay for about a month every day. I noticed a few things:

• There are a ton of 650C Zipps for sale. I think those are popular with triathletes. 700C's are far more unusual and late model dimpled 700C tubular 404's tend to be brand new and $1400-$1500+, slightly used ones are less common.

All things considered, if these are as advertised, the price/value is a no-brainer. Easily worth that and easy to get my $ back. I'm sure you can get a better deal in November than in April. Duh.

But that's why I jumped on these. The jury is out until the wheels arrive and I road test them. I will keep you posted. In the meantime try to keep yourself occupied by worshiping Botto, kissing The Cypress' ass and searching for Euro.

The cassette hub is scratched and that won't impact it's function. Or its appearance once a cassette is installed. The reason it's noticeable is the red anodization which does scratch off. That's not an issue for me. Anything is repairable, but I wouldn't have purchased these if I was thinking the way you are. I don't know anybody with older Zipps who has EVER had a problem with the cassette hub (and I have pals with pairs of Zipps that are 2-4 years old). So I'm sure this one is fine.

Buying anything used off of eBay entails some risk. But I don't think this is a big one.

if you look carefully you can see it's not just scratched. the middle cogs have chewed a bit into the freewheel. yeah it'll still work of course. i know this because my freewheel is just fine and it looks like yours. but you should know that it's caused by the cassette chewing into the soft aluminum of the freewheel. zipp uses this material (just like american classic) to save weight on their freehubs. this would have been fine with cassettes prior, but the middle cogs of cassettes these days only have 3 contact points and wear on the freehub bodies like these more noticably. just something to think about. anyway i see this as more of a shimano problem since they were the ones who went ahead and changed their cassettes.

This reminds me of the guy who told me that the deck on the back of my house was in iminent danger of toppling over and pitching people into the valley. Then the contractors who bid on the rehab job (it needs the footings redone) mostly laughed at that. 'We demolish decks all day long, and chainsaw vertical supports and the decks won't come off the house'. In other words if you ever looked at how a freewheel connects to the rear hub there are so many points of connection the you could probably REMOVE a couple of those splines and the rear sprockets wouldn't exhibit any appreciable wobble. But the portion of your post I hilighted in red would seem to be saying the same thing I am.

Like I said, we'll see. I get your point and appreciate your observation too, but I don't think that will impact the functionality of the freehub. I'll have some local experts give it the once over in person. I'll also find out from Zipp what my repair options are if that's an issue. Worst case scenario: new rear hub and a relace, still a cheaper deal than a new set of Zipps. I doubt it needs any work at all however.

sounds good. and i dont think it'll need to be replaced either. have fun with ur wheels! i just went on a first ride on mine last week, and i dont care what studies said what about the minimal gains in speed, i was FLYING.

And even if you weren't, you're HAPPY ABOUT THE RIDE. And isn't that what we're all paying for?

Let's face it boys, on one level even the most successful amateur racer is OCP. Unless they're paying you all that bike schwag is an expensive hobby*. Of course I look at it this way: since I started riding again (2 years ago April 15) I've spent about $11K on bike crap. And lost 40lbs, lowered my BP and cholesterol and my resting pulse went from 75BPM to about 45. I know plenty of 49 year old guys who would gladly pay $11K for that. And I got to do 25,000 miles of fun bike rides in all kinds of pissy weather too! Is everyone enjoying the lovely April Spring weather?? It was snowing @ the Yankees game in the Bronx last night.

*Cheaper than boating, all hobbies are cheaper than boating.

Don't forget about getting to call lots of people 'weenie' on BF. You just can't put a price tag on that.