OK, just to clear the air-- Psimet, I have no personal beef with you. I do think that advertising in your sig is right up there with some of the other less-than-savory advertising practices I've seen on here, but you're right--at the end of the day it doesn't matter because the powers that be have said it's OK to advertise in your sig. I find it annoying and a bit sneaky, but clearly that's just me. At the end of the day you have over 17K posts, and your sig is a free ad for the stuff you sell. Others pay for that much ad space on here. Yes, it all stems from my misgivings about where word of mouth ends and viral marketing begins. I'll admit that.

I guess what I find a little insidious is that BECAUSE you're a respected member of the forum, you can basically come on here and say whatever you like about another company's claims and they're accepted as gospel. Zipp/Reynolds/Enve/whoever get painted as dishonest advertisers who just want your money and make bunk claims. And when you say things like "I spend a lot of time fixing Zipp wheels," however well you may have couched it, you ignore the denominator. It would be like the guys at Competitive Cyclist saying that your wheels are better than anything they sell because they've never fixed a psimet wheel.

All I'm trying to say--and the jab about free advertising is a complete red herring--is that once you take off the "guy on BF" hat and put on the "wheel builder/seller" hat, your statements deserve the same skepticism/acceptance of bias that anyone else's do, and the fact that you're a member on here doesn't make your opinion about wheels any better/more credible than that of folks at another company. Again, no fundamental reason to believe that you're trying to screw anyone or sneak a substandard product by anyone, but neither are Zipp, HED, Enve, or anyone else whose wheels have been on so many more races on so many more bikes than yours.

Finally, yes, I do take issue with the "unicorn blood" cracks because you're suggesting that rather than doing pretty extensive homework before spending a bunch of money on wheels, I just fell for whatever gimmickry Zipp decided to throw out there. From personal interactions with the people who work there, they have struck me as nothing but honest, intelligent people who won't put their decal on a product unless it holds up to a very high standard. If their wheels were such garbage I don't think the countless pro triathletes/cycling teams would put up with them for very long. My ego will survive just fine, thanks, but it's still a bit annoying.

Again, nothing personal against you, and I'm sorry for bringing up the whole advertising thing--it was an inept attempt at proving the point that you're not JUST another guy on here who knows something about wheels.