So had part of Friday off and armed with my cut sheets of various options I head to Bike shop to buy a new set of wheels. Hadn't made a final decision and since I knew a few of the employees are racers was going to want to hear their opinions. Talk to a guy at the counter and I say " I see all these guys running Zipps at the crits and am looking to upgrade my Mavic equipes. He says " Are they beating you?"I answer "almost everybody beats me." He laughs. Onr of the mechanics chimes in that for crits in our area the mavics are good, strong ,stiff, and thier weight is actually an advantage to carry momentum out of the turns. If I was road racing mountain stages they said deffinately a lighter race day set would help. Running carbon in a crit is just going to have you replacing them after a crash. Other light wheelsets would probably require constant tinkereing and tuning with the beating they would take. They said they would be more than happy to sell me anything I wanted but really wouldnt recommend anything over what I already had. I was shocked . Now I dont really have any options except to upgrade the motor. Much more difficult. Contrary to popular wisdom you can buy speed. But the currency is pain and the exchange rate is not favorable.