Originally Posted by
JAX_11
Racing almost weekly. I tend to stick to the hillier road races in Florida where I do my best riding. I do race a lot of jumpy criteriums though. I do like wheels that spin up easy. So you say ride a deep wheel. Well I had a set of 58 tubulars american classics and found that 50% of the races I had to pull out or not use them as the wind made it so extremely dangerous I was afraid for my life. I don't want to have to worry about that everytime I get to the start line. Now would a zipp 303front 404rear male more sense or will the 404 not spin up so great? I seen the 303/303 as a great aero wheel whic zipp claims is on a few watts different from the 404 or go to the shimano 35 tubulars which are stiff and more of a uphill wheel that will spin up nicely in Crits although the 303 setup should do the same
I see a few things here:
1. Crosswind issue
2. Weight
3. Aero benefit
I don't know the AC58 profile first hand but my teammate uses a similar (clincher) rim in training and races. He uses a DV46 tubular in races. I think both are affected by crosswinds more than a rounded type rim profile (Firecrest, Stinger, Enve, ?). I know I use my Stinger6 rims in pretty gusty conditions, including wind blowing out from behind a stadium. In a cross tailwind a taller rim becomes really, really fast. I don't have proof but I move up regularly in tailwind conditions quickly and decisively without going bananas regarding power.
Weight - any rim will be 450-550g or more. 1500g for a pair will be reasonably light, 1200g very light.
Aero - in general, for a given rim type (narrow, wide, etc), taller is better.
If you really have $3k I'd get an ENVE trio of wheels - a front 45 or so, a front 70?, and a rear 70-85. I think you can do that for $3k. If you want to go cheaper you can get some complimentary rims to your ACs - maybe a "non-aero" front (wheel weight should be 500g total), an 80-100 rear (900-1000g), and if you sell off your AC58s, buy a 60-80 front. Figure you can do that for about $1k and spend the rest on a Quarq or a used SRM. Oh and you'll have to buy some more tubulars.