I'm looking for a real track wheelset, this will be used solely in a velodrome. I'm leaning towards tubulars, but am not positive I want them, cause I'm somewhat skeptical that they're really that much better. I have a late 80s Bianchi Pista pretty much stock. I'm going to upgrade the seat to a fizik arione cause the current one is torn and kind of heavy. I may need to upgrade the cranks if I can't figure out how to make it straight. Other than that it's stock, so you can see this isn't a million dollar bike, but it should end up fast. I don't know what my wheel budget is exactly. Pretty much whatever will allow me to reach my full potential. I'm not good enough to warrant the best, because why add seconds to a guy who could shave off 10x more by just training harder... Eventually I hope to train to a point where I really do need a fast wheel. Anyhow, that's where it stands.

Thanks!

tubulars for sure

I second tubulars. Not practical for most casual riders,
but really the only choice for a racer who wants to win.

You sound like a commercial.

I guess tubulars aren't for me, cause I forgot to mention, want to lose.

But anyway, I guess I should give you some things I was thinking about. I get a decent discount on stuff so you can factor in 30-50% off msrp. First thing I thought of was miche primato to velocity escape. Seems like a safe, low cost option. Other than that, I could plan for the future and try and get a set that retails for like $1000 like the HED 3 or Zipp something or others. I know I either want to go lightweight or aero, and velocity deep V is not really aero in my book. I do have the cash to spend if I have to, but I hate to spend it if I can help it.

smarter not harder

Well regardless of myself, my bike has lack of wheels, so I'm going 0 mph until I figure this mess out...

well, if you're worried about the performance difference between tubulars and clinchers, don't get the miche hubs. they're great hubs. really durable, but the stock bearing are kinda shoddy (that said, i rode mine for a while with no trouble, but when they went, they WENT) and sealed. get hubs with loose bearings. the "njs" promax are great (and not because they say njs on them). dura-ace, campy, etc. i know there is a guy on ebay currently selling a lot of old track wheels laced to tubulars that are going for pretty cheap. i'd go that route. it's easier and cheaper than new wheels.

-jason

old tubulars for racing

You say it's track only for sure? I second, third etc what everyone else is saying, tubulars, pumped up to 170+ on good wheel set, almost nothing touching the ground at all but tiny slivers of high quality rubber

tubulars!@ Velocity makes a medium profile rim, throw some aero spokes ( I assume these are good for track purposes ) and some promax hubs. Awesome wheelset for < $200. I bet vittoria tubulars are something you'll be interested in : )

whoa! that kid is smaller than a kentucky derby horse jockey! look how loose the livestrong bracelet is around his wrist! is it safe for someone so fragile to be riding track? no offense to DW, i just never see elves this far from christmas.

I bet I'm smaller... I wonder how that'll affect my track performance. At least I'm aero

Well anyway about rims and stuff, I guess I have two options. I could go the the $400 route and get suzue promax and velocity escape, or I could go for something like an HED wheelset for $800-$1000...

oops, i got so hung up on the little dude that i forgot... i like the cane creek volos or those bladed mavics. they're both $400-ish, and come in tubulars.

I've heard good things about the mavic ellipse track wheels. Are they tubular? You could try and get some of the final run of gold suzue pro max. Put some bling on your bike...

i sit corrected. the mavic ellipses are clinchers. with a nice 240 tpi vittoria i'm sure they'd be fast enough... but the volos are available in clincher and tubular. hard to go wrong with two excellent choices at that price point... it's a long way up to zipp or hed discs and tri-spokes...

it's a long way up to dugast pista latex silk tubulars - those jams are $170+ each