Road Bike Racing - Changing from Training to Racing Wheels --> Issues

I ride on a Mavic Open Pro Powertap for all training and like to race on basic Mavic Ksyrium SSC SL's. There is very little weight advantage to racing the Kysriums, I know, but at least I like to think I'm faster with dedicated race wheels with dedicated race tires. However, everytime I change my training wheel to my race wheel, I notice slight problems in my shifting. I know that can be fixed with a slight barrel adjustment to my derailleur, however, I'd like to avoid messing with my components on race day. I asked my LBS to add spacers or readjust both wheels to my bike so that I could easily use either wheel without any adjustments, but I find that there is still a small difference that causes occasional clicking or cog slipping/jumping at times.

Question: Do all racers with separate training and racing wheels make small derailleur adjustments everytime they put on their race wheel, or is my LBS just unskilled at making the two wheels match closely to my bike for a quick and effortless switch?

(Any input from those who do this a lot is appreciated as I am tempted to scrap both wheels and get some 404 powertap for racing/training which doesn't sound wise given the pounding a carbon wheel would take with everyday training. However, I HATE my gears shifting poorly everytime I race....! Thanks ahead of time for any advice!)

Put on your race wheels the day before a race. Adjust them to work properly, then go do a short ride to make sure they work.

put on your race wheels the day before a race. Adjust them to work properly, then go do a short ride to make sure they work.

+1.

I make sure both of my wheels work with the derailleur, even if it means putting a shim on one of the cassettes. At the worst, I'd have to remember that one cassette requires 2 turns of the barrel adjuster, but I don't want it more complicated than that should I have to use a spare in a race.

Thanks, I think that answers my question. I need to make sure that the spacers are correct to start on both wheels. Then, I still may have a slight difference which requires me to remember that the race wheel requires a quick half turn on the barrel adjuster. This is what I thought since my LBS has already told me that they added spacers to make both wheels line up. So, it may be that I need to learn which direction to turn the barrel adjuster and how far each time I swap wheels. That wouldn't be the worst case scenario as they are not far off, but a hard climb will cause a slight skip to the next cog on my race wheel if it is adjusted for my training wheel.

Thanks for the responses! I'm glad to know that most have no issues swapping wheels as I didn't want to go down the path of one expensive training / racing wheel for everything....

Thanks,
Dave

Here's a good rule of thumb. If your RD doesn't shift to a bigger cog, then twist the RD barrel adjuster counter clockwise (so the top of the adjuster rotates into the frame) do the opposite if it doesn't shift into smaller cogs. Only do a quarter turn at a time. That should make the swap pretty painless. All you need is a stand and a few minutes, if even.

you don't even need a stand. just go for a diagnostic ride.

you don't even need a stand. just go for a diagnostic ride.

Yeah, or that. I don't own a stand, but I figured you guys might haha. I just soft pedal and shift, stop to check it out if anything feels funky.

i put on the race wheels the night before hand. i do a total once over on the bike and this includes shifting and any tune required... limits skrews etc... the reality there will be slight variations from wheel to wheel and if you are super anal like i am you will want to futz with it anyhow to get it just right.

take the time and do it right.

with respect to on the stand or take it for a ride ... bikes will behave differently on the stand than on a ride. best to get it 100% on the stand then soft pedal it on a test ride. at this point i know what my bike will do on a test ride depending on what i am looking at on the stand; this is probably the same with most folks.

Do you use the same size cassette for racing? Sometimes, for different cassettes, you might need a B screw adjustment to get clean shifts all the way through when playing with indexing doesn't quite cut it.

why spacers on both wheels?

why spacers on both wheels?

mavic ssc sl's require a spacer. at least, mine does. otherwise, i am jingling like mr. T's necklaces.

Interesting. I've never experienced this problem, but the general answer seems to be just adjust your bike the night before, but what happens if you have to get a wheel from the wheel truck or pit? Seems like a pain to me. Ever thought about just racing the PT? You can get a lot of good data from racing. I've got several sets of wheels and race with my Aerohead PT build. It is heavy, but a solid wheel.

I have 5 sets of wheels that I interchange between my TT rig, training/winter bike, and race bike. I have 2 pairs of Mavic 32 open pros, Mavic SL's, Reynolds Tub carbons, Reynolds clinchers, and a disc. I got tired of messing w/ the derail adjustments at every wheel swap and stressing about it on race weekend.

What I did was spend an afternoon of setting up the cassette back spacers so that all the wheels had the same spacing. I took a vernier caliper and measured the distance from the end of the axle flange to the cassette lock. Once all the wheels measured the same distance from the axle flange to the cassette lock and the derail'ers were adjusted, swapping wheels was no longer an issue.

This helps w/ my crit pit wheels being able to get swapped, or if I get a flat on my race wheels during a multi day stage race. I now know that I can swap a wheel at the last minute and not have any shifting problems.