Originally Posted by shokhead
Is aero going to help uphill,no.
Is aero going to help if you ride in the bikelanes in traffic,no.
Is aero going to help if you ride like most avg less then 20mph,99% no.
So aero help in some conditions but lighter is helping in ALL conditions.
Look,why not go with a lightweight aero,best of both worlds. Plenty out there but dont forget what your studies must have said,it has to be at least 30mm aero before any benifits might help. Hey i went with Curcults. 28mm aero and 100g lighter then Elites. Bullet proff and and ok in the weight and enought aero to not do much other then look good and if i remember right an aero wheelset will be stiffer?
I haven't seen anything so false in all my days....
First off, Hed proved aero wheels kick in around 13 mph... but lets make it 15 mph
Sooo...
Will aero help you on hills? More than lightweight
Will aero help you in bike lane traffic? hahaha, only as much as lightweight. No one should ride in a bike lans so much they have to consider their race equipment in that decision
Will aero help if you ride slower than 20mph, if you believe Hed (and I believe Zipp has made a similar comment) the two biggest names in aerodynamics? Yes
Does lightweight hurt? No its fun having a light bike, I am picking up some 303s this week as race wheels... but I'm also getting a disc cover for it.
p.s. the balance for me was obviously some on sale 303s, depending on your budget you can get some aero wheels around $700-900 brand new from Peloton, FSA or even Heds if you are patient or find a coupon.
The bigger concerns of aero wheels, moreso than weight, is hub quality, quality control(are you going to need these things trued often?), tire selection, rim depth, rim shape, tubular or clincher...
For what it's worth a Hed Alps is around the most versatile aero wheel out there. It's 50mm deep, so almost anyone can handle it, it comes in at around 1500 grams, Hed is fairly good on Quality Control, The new decals are way better than the old, they have an aluminum braing surface. However, my LBS owner dislies them soo much, he quit carrying them.