Build me some wheels.
 

I'm toying with the idea of building a dedicated set of powertap race wheels. My requirements are at least 24 front 28 rear spoked wheels. I mainly race crits(some road racing), so they need to be strong. No deep carbon right now, as I have a setup if I decide to go this route. Tubular or clincher are fine. My main goal is to look at a "regular" set of spoked wheels, Open Pro, RR1.2, Reflex, or whatever for all around racing. They would be race only, but I am 190lbs in shape, so they probaby won't be crazy light.
Price isn't particularly a concern, but I'm not looking to spend 2K on these.

Humor me. What would you build?

Thanks.

In most parts of ohio, you'd be better served working on aero properties of a wheel rather than weight.

Fortunately aero rims are generally pretty strong. I'd consider the Niobium 30's or whatever they're called, or similar.

elj, how do those feel in a crosswind? my thinking is that the flat geography that makes aero wheels important also poses the crosswind dilemna to training wheels particularly in the winter/spring. i have no idea how those niobiums feel in the crosswind, but that might be something to consider.

for rims i was thinking dt swiss rr1.2 and maybe and sub the front to a rr1.1. one of the guys on my team trains on rr1.2 powertap. he seems to like them a lot and races the rear in crits.

If you weigh 190, you won't notice a damn thing in a crosswind. I weigh 185ish and regularly ride a rear 404 and front Hed Jet; I don't notice anything unless the wind is ridiculous (like 30mph with a storm on the way).

I built a training set of PT wheels using the Velocity Fusion rims; they are lighter than the Deep Vs, Niobium 30s, etc. and they have proven very reliable so far (4 months or so, maybe 2500 miles). Mine are 28 spoke 2 cross, front and rear, mainly because I bought a pair of rims in that drilling. I think a 24 or even 20 spoke front would've been fine.

I did most of the OVR spring series on some Zipp 340s (predecessor to 303s). No trouble, even at the windier races, like Lynchburg and Vandevorts.

[In fact, if cslone is interested, I'm looking to sell them cheap. Very cheap. Rear is 28H and could be rebuilt into a Powertap hub. PM me if interested.]

Which brings me to the original question. I was just making the same decision as you. It sounds like you're OK with tubies for training, but I didn't want to mess with that, so rather than rebuild my 340s with a PT I picked up a used Bontrager Race X Lite Aero powertap wheelset. I'm still a little leery of so few spokes (16) for an everyday set, but Doug at Bikewise Oxford gave them a strong endorsement. He's an excellent wheelbuilder, by the way, and posts here as bikewise1.

If I hadn't bought them, I was thinking Niobium 30s, 24/28 DT aerolites. RR1.2s are great, but quite a bit heavier.

My current training wheels are a PT SL laced to a RR1.1. I have had no issues from them, but was trying to see what else was out there. Thanks for the info so far. I wonder if you can get sub 1500g with a 25-30mm deep wheel? *heads to weight weenies*

Curve, I pm'd you.

:eek: then i would say that it would be fine in crosswinds.

With that few spokes, I'd recommend a Velocity Deep-V, DT 1.2, or maybe a Mavic CXP-33. Go double butted 2.0/1.8/2.0 for added durability -- not straight-guage.

You might be ok on Fusions too, but I don't see any reason not to just get the 30mm depth.

I'm running velocity aerohead, 24 front, 28 rear on an offcenter rim (PT wheel). Definitely nimble, and comfortably light. I'm 75ish kg and they feel good. Cheap too in the scheme of things. (sapim cx-ray black spokes, fwiw.)

^^^^ the deep V's would make a 2000 gram wheelset thats stupid.

I sat go american classic cr420 w/ a pt, 1420 gram w/o a power tap. strong rim, bladed spokes decent hubs. cant beat it for the price.

Bill, I did the Lynchburg race with my Carbones and had no issues with the wind. They did fill up with water, though.

But aren't those 18/24 rims? I'm wondering how those would hold up under 190lbs weight and decent sprint power? Bladed spokes should give strength right?

WHAAAAA???? that is nuts.

Honestly the rim is so beefy you should be fine. I have friend at your weight riding on rolf vigors and because the rim is beefy like the 420s youll be fine.

Also sorry the set is 1530 still quite bit less that ksyriums.

Just a bit of trivia from when I was researching this: the 420 rims are from the same factory, same alloy, same tech as the Niobium 30s. The Niobium 30s are about 20 grams heavier and slightly lower profile, 30mm instead of 34. Given all that, 24/28 in the 30s should be more durable and stiffer than 18/24 in the 420s.