Originally Posted by
marqueemoon
Yeah. Braking is the biggest drawback. Plus with cantis they make that horrible sound.
At typical cross race speeds you will not get much aero advantage from them. A lot of people claim deeper rims shed mud better, and I can see this under certain conditions (mud deep enough to cover a box section rim), especially if you sprayed the rims with PAM or some such.
I have no personal experience with how long they last, but obviously your braking surfaces are going to be exposed to a lot more grit than on a typical road ride.
I would not personally bother unless:
1. they are tubular
2. they are cheap or already paid for
I have a pair of tubular Zipp 303s 20/24 spoke wheels that are about 1lb lighter than the clincher Aksiums that they replaced. Using the cork braking pads with Avid Shorty Ultimate brakes I have no brake squeal or shudder. However, I managed to crack both rims in just one rocky, bumpy race a couple of weekends ago (I weigh 166lb, BTW). Zipp is going to repair/replace the rims for $310 each. I will keep using these wheels, but I am going to pick the races in which I use more carefully in the future.
I have also ordered an el cheapo pair of chinese rims to put on another set of Zipp hubs, so I can see if there is any difference between Zipp and the competition.
Steve