bklein

LBS says not to use carbon rims for all or most of my riding. They say that they won't hold up? I ride 3-4 times per week ranging 20-50/60 mile rides. I was looking at the Hed 50mm rims with ss spokes. LBS says their feelings are not directed specifically at Hed. just carbon rims in general.
Any views on this issue?

CharlieWoo

I'm not expert, but I'd say carbon only for races, traditional for training. As with all things, pick 2:

Light

Durable

Cheap

ShadowGray

Aren't the 404s designed for training use?

In any case, the Soul S4.0 are dished but made of aluminum for better everyday durability.

Szczuldo

there is a guy who rides on zipp clinchers and has no problem with them. I don't have the money for Zipps so Soul S4.0 would be probably the wheel I buy.

BananaTugger

The only Zipp wheel that is designed for training is the Team CSC wheelset.

Just get some dang Open Pro + whatever you like and make them 32 spoke, 2x front and rear.

It's not like you are racing. Dawdling about for a couple of hours everyday doesn't require some super-awesome carbon pieces.

If you are racing, then save the super-awesome carbon pieces for race day.

asmallsol

I agree with your bike shop. Yes, you can do it, however, carbon wheels just don't hold up like a good old ksyriums, M.O.P. ect. Ask Pcad, he gets 10K+ miles out of ksyriums with plenty of bumps and pot holes along the way. If you have alot of money and are board, go for it, but I wouldn't. Carbon wheels are race day only wheels.

DrPete 

Sure, you can train on Zipps. Many would argue that the 08 models are pretty durable too, with the new "Carbon bridge" construction.

The question is, why are you doing it? If you're training, you kinda want suboptimal wheels, even heavy ones, because you're trying to get stronger. Then you save the nice wheels for race day and take advantage of the small benefit you get from them (realistically 1-2 min over a 40K TT).

If you're not racing, then the only reason to ride carbon rims day to day is bling and personal pride. So if you want, and can afford a $500 rim when/if you break one, then there's nothing stopping you, but most folks would consider that a bit impractical.