Originally Posted by
Campag4life
You are quite right the most important thing is to keep riding but wrong about the rest.
A $2K set of wheels is a waste of money for somebody who is slow. Of course its OK to buy them and ride them.
A $2K set of wheels is likely carbon. The highest end wheels are:
Stiff and light with the highest priority on speed. Stiff is generally uncomfortable for the average cyclist like the OP. Racers accept stiff for more speed because speed is the priority. Light has diminishing return for speed...once you get to 1500g for the average rider.
High end wheels when they get out of round are generally more expensive to repair. Some are strong but others are not because the priority is weight and speed. Carbon 'can' be sensitive to tire mounting. Pure racing wheels for an average cyclist is silly. You can debate it all you want...I know you build good wheels here and like to sell them and people love them. Nothing wrong with that. I have friends that ride Zipps and it is fine. But you can build a set of wheels for the OP that will be more bombproof...have a better ride...use generic spokes for lower cost repair/maintenance with super light hubs and great bearings for $500. No doubt you build those kind of wheelsets by the boatload because they are what the average cyclist is best served by and few race on the elite even amateur level. Take the remaining $1500 and buy the highest end gruppo made from any of the mfrs...or put it toward the highest end frameset taylored to the kind of riding the OP does.
I think you kind of got what I was saying, but should be aware of a few things - saying that things are "silly" is just simply passing un-needed judgement. People can buy what they want to buy. No one has to "earn" nice wheels outside of earning the money to pay for them.
You've got the basics of what I do - find what I feel the best spec is for a particular customer based on their needs and wants as well as their budget. Yes, this usually results in high quality "all around'er" type of wheels....but the customer is always right. Some get it in their mind that they want something in particular and are willing to pay for it. Who am I, or anyone else, to pass judgement on that. I take the position to inform them of why I believe something may be out of line with what I feel best fits their needs, but ultimately it's their choice.
I lose a handful of customers due to this all the time, but to be honest - I don't lose any sleep over it. In general people don't like being told they are "too big" for a particular wheel - especially a high end one. It's a necessary evil though. Telling someone they are "too slow" - has no place in my business.
Example: Customer comes to me and "tells me" he wants me to put a powertap in his current rear wheel - a Mavic Cosmic Carbone (Sl I believe). I do the basic math: He is about 250 lbs, the wheel is a 20 spoke. The rim is basically an open pro with a carbon fairing attached. Flimsy. I try to explain to him that it's just not a good application. The powertap is there to be a training tool - provide good data - ad under his weight and that low of a spoke count the powertap just won't perform the best it can.
He wants it to match his front wheel and claims he hasn't had a problem with the wheel yet so it should not be a problem. I highly recommend against it.
He goes to a local shop and talks the owner into doing it for him. Owner brings it to me. I still end up building the wheel. No worries.