FasterNearGirls

My 2011/2012 Reynolds dv3k carbon clincher wheelset has been damaged beyond repair. Thankfully, I purchased the assurance program and can get a new wheelset now.

Here are the options currently being offered to me by the rep via email:

Get the assaults from the same year. Also 46mm but lighter than the dv3k he says.

Or wait until may/June for the 2014 assaults since they're on back order. But I can't wait, I'll be past my first A races by then.

Or get something of equivalent replacement value. Tubulars assaults are an option too.

So anyway, not sure how the assaults actually compare to the dv3k. Including possible differences among hubs and spokes.

I could try tubulars if I'm getting more bang for the exchange.
Or even request another option?
I'm a sprinter racing p/1/2.
Thanks.

xjustice09x

I have the same year DV3K clinchers. I think the assaults that year had the newer brake track that handled heat better. I'm not sure about the hubs and spokes since the specs for those wheels have changed a few times over the years.

I got an attack rim with the improved brake track as a replacement for my 2010 MV32C after I had the brake track fail on a long descent due to heat buildup. I havent ridden them though, I decided to go back to aluminum rims.

If you don't mind dealing with tubulars Its worth trying. If not I would just get the older assaults. I'm sure either will work fine.

FasterNearGirls

Thanks. My dv3k had the new at the time ctg brake track technology. Braking was really good, no problems there. I wanna make sure that the assaults have the same. The rep thinks so, to be confirmed on Monday.

Bottomline is I wanna make sure I'm not accepting a lesser product; I wanna make a case for getting an equivalent or superior wheelset under this replacement program.

Silvercivic27

Assaults, but seriously, you're p/1/2 and you're asking the 41 for advice?!?

FasterNearGirls

Haha thanks!
41 is where it's at! Seriously. There are some very knowledgable riders here with decades more experience than me (note the keyword some!).
In fact, before I bought my very first road bike in August 2010, it was the 41 that guided me with solid advice- I bought a neuvation bike that got me hooked and riding fast and then racing in 2012 I made it to cat 3. Got more bikes, won and podiumed a good amount (sprinter) including state crit win and top 3 on BAR + cat 2 upgrade. I breathe cycling for a while now but am still more than open to listen to the opinions of a lot of the guys here

FasterNearGirls

But yeah so assaults clinchers 2011? ...?

Silvercivic27

Yeah, you need them for racing so I think you're better off having something then blowing your A races. We need more details on what other wheelsets you have and the powermeter situation (if any). If you plan to use these to train too, I would avoid tubulars because they're either a pain in your butt or a pain in your LBS' butt AND very expensive from a tire standpoint. If, on the other hand, you use something else to train and do group/team rides, and are only going to be using them to race, man-O-man, there's nothing like stomping on the pedals on tubulars. You would appreciate that as a sprinter. The last thing to consider are the hubs. If you're on 10 Sp., and you think you're going to 11 soon, you may want to try to get an 11sp compatible hub. It will be important going into the future. If you're at 10, and have no plans on going to 11 any time soon (like me) it probably doesn't matter much.

Trucker Dan

You will want to wait for the newer ones if you plan on switching to 11 speed. If they are race day only wheels I would go tubular. Tubulars are lighter, stronger, and safer.

Silvercivic27

The other trouble with tubulars even as raceday only wheels is the time it takes to take off and remount a new tire properly. Sometimes one tire problem can screw up two or more races, especially if you're on the road.

I definitely agree that if you do flat, you're better off on tubulars than clinchers in terms of potentially going down. I've never rolled a tubular before, but that's always going through my mind on some level when I'm cornering with them.

coachboyd

Rolling a tubular should never be a concern if you are gluing properly. I know that for myself when I have to change out a tubular tire I let the wheel sit inside my car on a hot day to help melt the glue a little. Otherwise I'm needing pliers to get that tire off the rim.
The one down side of tubulars is mainly if the wheel has internal nipples. Then anytime you need to make any small adjustment to true the wheel it means completely taking off the tire, adjusting a spoke, and then regluing.

Silvercivic27

I don't glue my own. I trust the people doing the gluing about 99%, but the thought always crosses my mind when I am bombing down a hill or cornering hard, especially because I'm a big boy. I fall in the camp of Pain in the butt for my LBS, spend a lot of money, spend my time doing things other than trying to get glue off my hands, healing blisters, etc. I also have concerns about old glue, and how long that glue holds, that one day it will just let go.

FasterNearGirls

Thanks for the feedback!
I have no plans of going to 11spd.
I have good training wheels /ksyriuns and others. So I could get tubulars just for race day. Really tempted to do so . I'd also just rely in lbs and teammates for gluing etc. my dv3k were clinchers and I trained with them as well during the season. Just left then on there... They were nice but didn't hold up too well after many crashes (wouldn't stay true).

Silvercivic27

Well, if say that if you're used to riding all the time with the aero wheels on, I'd get clinchers to replace the ones you had and consider tubulars as a second set. When you start riding on alloy training wheels again, you'll miss the aero wheels a lot and may regret going to tubulars as race only wheels. If I were in your shoes, I'd just replace with the 2011 clinchers, and start saving for/buy some Boyd tubulars.

mr645

I guess waiting for the 2014 SLG wheels is not an option. Too bad since the reviews on the new design are exceptional. A friend sold his Zipp 404s for the Assault SLG wheels and loves them

FasterNearGirls

Oh and I have a quarq, so good there.
Yeah I've been training with ksyriums though and don't mind it. Just that with the carbon clinchers, since they're not the nicest ones, I just use them for every day.

Ill lll try to pressure the rep into sending me the 2014 before all back orders.
Thx

bianchi10

I was at my local wheel builder yesterday to get some more veloplugs. I was asking what new products she had and she was talking to me about the new Reynolds Attack wheels. She couldn't say enough good things about them! Said with the wider rim, it handles extremely well. Mentioned that the braking surface was better than the enve smart wheels. She said she can build them up with a CK hub for around $1700 (If I remember correctly). Her go to carbon wheel for personal use has been Enve, but ever since she built up the new attack, she hasn't wanted to switch back. I cant remember exactly the weight she mentioned, but I want to say it was around 1300g. If I had to choose a new wheelset, I would be very tempted.

save10

I have assault clinchers and dv3k as tubulars....if you are gonna race them...the tubulars are so much better. i use them as race wheels only and they're great.

carpediemracing 

I'd go deeper fellow as a not-as-successful sprinter.

The top speed differences, in faster cross-tailwind sprints, is really significant with more aero wheels. Me personally, in very uncontrolled testing, I see 1-3 mph minimum and my most extensive tests ended up with a 6 mph difference, in that case between TriSpokes (aka HED3) and box section 28h wheels. The lighter wheels wind up quicker - you'll get a set of light (1300g or lighter) wheels up to speed in 6 or 7 big revolutions coming out of a hairpin corner, i.e. rolling start. The aero wheels will take another 4-5 revolutions, accelerating a bit slower but continuing to a higher speed. If you can test wheels back to back on the same bit of road it's pretty telling, especially if you start like aero->non-aero->aero->non-aero. You'll see the aero wheels pick up speed (but not snap) repeatedly. If you can throw other wheels in the mix it's really interesting. And tiring.

I looked at Reynold's site real quick - the Strike SLG. Failing that (even if you have to pay some upgrade charge) then the Strike 66 whatever they called it back in the day, the not-so-wide one.

Also I'd definitely get tubulars. They're a heck of a lot safer - if you blow a tire mid turn while heeled over at 30 mph you have a really, really, really good chance of riding out of the corner without any special training or practice. If you blow a clincher in the same situation you have basically the same chance of hitting the deck immediately. It's a bad situation if you blow a clincher mid turn.

Also tubulars are way lighter for a given durability. You can get lighter clinchers (and light tubes and light rim strips) that cut in 20 miles or you can ride the same effective weight tubulars that flat only when you've worn the tread down to nothing. Tubulars don't pinch flat, basically, and if you pinch flat a pair of tubulars, as one of my teammates did once, the flats are the least of your concern. He destroyed two Specialized TriSpokes (aka HED3 now) in the process, hitting a massive pothole at 45-50 mph.

The benefits of the tubulars is that you have a better jump because the tire area is lighter because the tire handles all the pressure, not the combination of the tire and the rim. The rim is usually lighter for the same reason - no need to hold in 150 psi sideways, as a Reynolds clincher will do (I used to have Reynolds DV46 clinchers and tubulars). So you have a better snap/jump. You can trade some weight for aero so now you have a more aero tubular for the same weight as a clincher.

Also, except for the newest bulging-side clinchers (which I haven't ridden so I have no experience with them), the wide tubulars are more aero than the wide clinchers. This is because the rims bulge properly aerodynamically, they're not limited to a vertical brake track. (I think the new FLO clinchers have tapered brake tracks so that changes things, not sure of any other aero clinchers.)

Bah Humbug

The November Rail has angled brake tracks.

FasterNearGirls

Ok I'm getting pretty sold and excited regarding tubulars over clinchers. Ill ask the rep again if there's any chance of getting the new rims earlier than he estimated, otherwise a assault/strike (deeper) combo in tubies would be pretty awesome so I'll ask if that's a possibility too.

I weigh 166lbs and more aerodynamics at the expense of more grams makes sense to me. Especially since my sprint strength is not because of 1s or 5s power (snap), it's really from longer efforts like 30s plus. So carrying speed with a deeper wheel, like you were describing CDR, would be best. And interesting point about the better jump on tubulars.

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

kleng

I'd ask the rep about some 46 tubulars, doesn't look like they are being made in 2014. but you might be able to get last years model, tubulars make it a fair bit lighter at 1,200gms

https://www.reynoldscycling.com/index...m&p_itm_pk=667

FasterNearGirls

I think the 46 is part of a higher and much pricier category, in which case there'd be an upgrade charge. He mentioned that was an option.

I'm still waiting for their response on an Asault/Strike combo in tubulars.

Thanks.

FasterNearGirls

Everyone, they've responded with this:

"None of the 2014 Assault’s or the assault/Strike combo wheelset will be available anytime soon sorry. The Assault/Strike combo wheels don’t come in tubular only clincher.
I have a set of 2012 Assault Tubular shimano wheelset in stock that I can ship out. This is comparable to what you had but it has the CTG braking surface. "

My DV3K actually did have the CTG braking surface.

So it seems the only option that would get me new wheels quickly is to accept the 2012 assault tubulars. I'm just concerned it's not quite equivalent to my previous set (?) . Should I do it?

Silvercivic27

Yeah, just get em.

Johnny Rad

Sounds like you have one set of wheels. In that case and from personal experience, tubies aren't worth the hassle much less the addt'l cost of rubber.

If it's a back-up set, go for it. If it's your only set, make sure you understand the trade-off with tubies.

What happens when you flat on a training ride? With a clincher, pop in a new tube and get on with it. Patch the old tube at home or chuck it for a few bucks. With a tubular set-up, plan on packing a bunch of extras (can of foam sealant and/or spare pre-glued tubie) every time you go out. First, the effectiveness of sealant is questionable. Second, are you prepared to tear off the old tubie on the side of the road and mount a pre-glued replacement? Once you're at home, you can either attempt to un-sew, patch and sew back your tubular or chuck it for another one. Either way, plan on taking the next day off while you wait for the glue on your replacement or new tubie to safely set.

Not sure it makes financial sense, but you could buy something today and sell whatever Reynolds gives you later. Holdout for their latest, greatest and sell it to repay yourself back for the wheels you buy today.