Cyclocross - Back Up Wheels and Tires

Is it a good idea to have a back up set of wheels and tires for racing and also everyday use ? I just looked on the specialized website and my wheels are $450 each. Right now I can only afford one new wheel. Think its a good idea ?

get a cheap pair of bombproof wheels for the everyday use and use those as backups
ultegra hubs dt spokes/nipples, and a set of open pro wheels are all thats needed and will last for years and years of abuse

The cliche is tubulars for racing, clinchers for training. The training wheelset then becomes the pit wheels.

Part of it is convenience. Even if you were using clinchers for racing, IMO you wouldn't want to train on your racing tires. It's quicker to swap wheels than just tires.

But none of this is absolutely necessary. Most of the time, if you flat you are going to finish much worse than you would have otherwise. If you don't care about series points, you might just choose to pack it in, or race a later race instead (like, you flat during the masters race and DNF, then race 4's an hour later instead).

So for a typical amateur, a pit wheelset is just DNF insurance. The way the pros use the pits, they are switching bikes at regular intervals, for cleaning and regular maintenance by their mechanic.

I have two sets of wheels. one for commuting the other for cross stuff. Both have the same cassette so I swap them out quickly. my commuters are panaracer t-serves and my cross are Mud2s.

Just makes it easier for me to use the same bike for different stuff without having to swap rubber twice a day.

I dont bring a second set with me to any races. If i flat and really want to finish - Ill run it. You would be surprised to see how many people cheer you when you are huffin a mechanical around the course...and Ive seen people give somebody a wheel when in need.

Get a cheap set of tubulars for racing.