Racing wheelset
 

A year ago I started to compete in road racing. Time has come for me to purchase my first racing wheelset.

There are 2 things that you should take into account:
1. I also compete in triathlons. So I guess rim size of 40-50 should be the right for both (take into account the need to be also excellent for climbing).
2. I would like to avoid tubular and willing to accept the penalty of extra ~100gr.

I was impressed by the DT Swiss RRC 46, Zipp 404 but there are also the Raynolds and Easton EC90 SL. I left Campagnolo out due to their price.

What would be your recommendation? Can I find a fair set for less than $2,000?
Thanks.

I have a set of 404 which are great but I still think the best set I have/had were Mavic Kysrium SL - bombproof and fairly quick. If you do triathlon as well I would look at 404s

I normally wouldn't shill like this, but I have a set of clincher 404's (non-dimpled, aluminum braking surface) laced up to some Tune hubs that I may be willing to let go, laced 28 x2 cross rear, 24 radial front.. PM me if you're interested.

$100 - sounds good I'll take 'em SOLD :)

FYI today is going to be a day of complete non-sense, just sayin'...

as opposed to every other day?

i've decided i'm gonna hold off on new wheels cuz i have a feeling we're gonna see some really impressive disc brake ready carbon road clinchers by 2013.

That's right - for 2012 my New Year's resolution will be to hijack every thread with my ADD/OCD Non-sense

take your meds fatty. :D

The meds only help the symptoms but not the underlying psychosis that causes the insanity that rattles around in my head.

Last year Zipps 303 & 404 are on closeout specials all over the place, probably due to Zipp Firecrests being the next great thing.

About the disk brakes on road bikes thingy...

on my mountain bike I have disks. They're cheap Hayes So1es and the issue may be because of that. But it seems that I'm always adjusting for parasitic drag on the rotors and that with temp swings from cool to warm the fluid expands enough to start dragging again. Is that typical of discs or just low end systems?

On a road racing bike I would think any risk of parasitic loss would be a deal breaker.

I am racing on Mavic Cosmic Carbone SLRs. They're 52 mm with alum. brake tracks. And they have pretty good aero numbers, all things considered.

I've been very happy with them. Tubulars are a lot lighter and carbon clinchers are a bit lighter, but I never have to worry about changing brake pads, which is nice as my pit wheels all have alum. brake tracks.

Another option to consider are Hed Jets. Again, not the lightest, but pretty solid and well liked.

I'm using Easton EC90 Aero but tubular. I think the clinchers are only a bit heavier and they can be had under 2G if you look around (i got mine lightly used for less than half that). They seem pretty bombproof, the hubs roll super smooth but they do take a little wrangling in crosswinds. If you're much lighter than me (~150lbs) then I'd look elsewhere.

I think you should go with Soul S4.0's or Velocity Deep V, or Kinlin XR-380's. They're all nice wheels and you can sell them later as you get faster and have a need for deep carbon.

I would never allow them on a road bike of mine...unaero and not aesthetically pleasing...

Not to mention braking only slows you down...

Don't get the clincher Jets. They're just too heavy. Solid, yes.

If you don't think so I have a (2010) Jet 6 front and a Jet 9 rear I'll sell.

In general I'd avoid the fairing clinchers (alum rim, carbon fairing). The fairing isn't structural so either the wheel will be flexible or it'll be heavy, at least from my experience with them (Mavic, HED). If I were to get an aero clincher I'd get a carbon clincher.

I prefer tubular (love my mavic carbone pros), but my reynolds 66mm carbon clinchers are really nice also. I recommend them as far as clinchers go. And at 66mm I think their claimed weight of 1640gr is pretty good. Especially for the money. I got mine used on ebay for 900 bucks a year ago and theyve been great, never needed truing (after 6k+ mi).

I am riding DT Swiss Tricon 1450's. They don't have a deep rim, but they are some what aero. They have bladed spokes, and are tube less. this saves you some weight not needing tubes. The star ratchet system is very nice. These wheels are very stiff, accelerate and climb great.

http://www.dtswiss.com/Products/Whee...Tricon-RR.aspx

You can't have the best of both worlds. You have to choose which discipline is most important; road race or triathlon.

I'm a fan of Zipp, having ridden them for 3 years. As others have mentioned, buy the leftover stuff. Firecrest is only important if you're the likes of Cancellara. For road racing, the 303 clincher would be nice. For triathlon, I'd go with a 606 (404 front/808 rear) clincher set.

If you're not picky about brand names, you could always go with something from here.

really? Ive seen guys win crits on these in masters and pro1/2...

You can win/ride anything. But, that doesn't make it optimum for the situation.

Crit racers, typically, wouldn't ride such a heavy wheel. Ideally, they'd be buying the lightest and stiffest thing they can find.

While I own a 606 set, have ~2000 miles on them, and really like them, I'd never recommend them to a crit racer. One can really feel the rotational weight.

aero trumps weight. simple as that.

True

I'd disagree, even with the "aero>weight" statement; it depends on the course and on the race (category, which riders, etc). On some courses a heavier wheel (and more aero) works fine. Think a huge rectangular course where you never brake for corners, with super strong racers in the field pushing the pace, single file, 30 mph. Tour of Somerville comes to mind.

On other courses a lighter wheel that's less aero would be better. Think 8 turns in 1/2 mile, 2 lanes wide, no shoulders, lots of sewer grates narrowing road more, U-turn hairpin in there somewhere with max speed 20 mph, constantly sprinting out of corners even if you're at the front. Some of the Tour de Michigan courses come to mind; the local Tue Night Worlds training crit is another.

I only race crits, mainly flat ones, and I want both light and aero. Given the choice between aero (Jet 6 front, Jet 9 rear) and light (Ardennes), I use the Ardennes. I've even tried Jet 9 rear, Ardennes front, for windy conditions, but the Ardennes, for me, work better than that.