Which race wheel should I buy?
306
Member
1797 days
Great Greyhound posted 4 years ago.
I bought a set of HED-3C's, Carbon all the way, and tubular too. These wheels fly! My lovely wife bought me a Renn Disk tubular, and the times I've raced on it, it made a huge difference.
I have noticed a little wobble in the front end around 15mph, when the spoke passes between the fork blades, there is a little shimmy. Get up to 16mph, and it disappears. They feel rock steady at 20mph+, and I've ridden downhills in the 45mph range with them!
I looked at the Mavics, and the Zipps, but for us big folks (200#), the Heds are the way to go.
Darrell "Legs 'n Lungs" Lenkner
in West Chester, Oh.
Check here for Images of us.
255
Member
1661 days
Noel posted 4 years ago.
Hey man.
I have Mavic Cosmic's they're pretty good, yeah a bit heavy, but the are great when you have a nice flat bike course, I've done a tri where I had to climb a lot ( 15%) and then they're okay, but when you're gonna climb, I'd go with Mavic Kyseriums. Here in Holland it's pretty esay to get Mavic and damn hard to get ZIPP. The 404 look good too, I guess you should try / tri 'em out.
Noel.
www.noelbrand.blogspot.com
It ain't much, if it ain't Dutch!!
417
Member
1584 days
BrianMc posted 4 years ago.
I just got the Mavic Kyseriums two weeks ago, and I love them. They aren't strictly a race wheel, and as Noel said you may want something different for a flat course, but on hilly terrain these things are fast.
Either that, or the thought of the money I shelled out to get them makes me pedal faster.
Brian
3
Member
1571 days
MSS posted 4 years ago.
I always thought Zipp's were great wheels but overpriced. I just picked up a set of Zipp 404 Clydesdales on ebay and they are awesome but I have to say that I would have gone with the HED's if I didn't luck into the Zipp's.....
.jpg "tcrunner07's picture")
350
Member
1775 days
tcrunner07 posted 4 years ago.
i love my 404's that i have right now, and i am building a road bike for itu racing and am puting Zipp Z3's Tubular on em and am lookn forward to em.
If you get a flat, and don't have a tube, Suck it up and run it in!!!
183
Member
1658 days
KenMierke posted 4 years ago.
The trispoke is the fastest front wheel except for very lightweight riders on extremely hilly courses. It is the most aerodynamic and just slightly heavier than the Zipp.
A disk on the back is the fastest, but some riders don't like them in windy conditions. A trispoke is the most versatile rear wheel, actually providing propulsion from a cross wind.
Ken
Ken Mierke Ken@Fitness-Concepts.com
Fitness Concepts Fitness-Concepts.com
Author, The Triathlete's Guide to Run Training
www.EvolutionRunning.com
897
Member
1843 days
catwood posted 4 years ago.
Nimble Flys (or Crossinds)! I absolutely love them! Strong, Light, Aero, Durable, Cheap (er than comparable wheels), what more can you ask? Their customer service is amazing too. Half the price of zipps but oh so much better - custom # of spokes for my weight and style, could do either tubular or clincher, they will explain their aerodynamics calculations to you on the phone and also mathematically prove why their wheels are actually aerodynamic and zipps are just marketing aerodynamic... (yeah, I'm a geek. a big one.)
Sooo much better than zipps and zipp doesn't care about their customers unless you are a pro anyways and zipp rim crack all the time and they won't honor their warranties (i know more than one person who's rim cracked because of a defect and zipp kept claiming it had to be from a crash and wouldn't honor their warranty)...
nimble.net
I'm not affiliated with them in any way, but I love 'em!
I race on the tubular flys with a 16 light spoke front and a 28 spoke rear with tufo jet elite 160g tires...
5318
Member
2000 days
kylie posted 4 years ago.
wow catwood... wow...
I'm going to be looking soon... I'll keep them in mind.
Miles of Life --- Powered by MarkyV
5783
Member
2081 days
beads1985 posted 4 years ago.
I have the Zipp 404's.
They were expensive but I was spending a Christmas bonus at the time so I could swing it.
I have only ridden them a few times for races and they ride great.
I have hit some rough spots and they have survived without a problem.
Thanks Catwood, I will keep it in mind if I have any problems with the Zipps
'Nothing to it, but to do it!'
414
Member
1731 days
trithis04 posted 4 years ago.
Zipp 404's all the way! Fast for on any tri bike course, I used mine at IMLP and they climb fine! I paid retail and I'm happy!
[FONT=Impact]-Jason
"Fatigue will make cowards of us all!"
5783
Member
2081 days
beads1985 posted 4 years ago.
It was a toss up for me when I was picking between the Zipp 404's and one of the Tri-spokes.
I have heard the tri-spokes are more suseptible to being affected by cross winds.
They were both light and about the same price so that was one of the factors in my decision.
'Nothing to it, but to do it!'
So this out of season big purchase is going to be some race wheels. Have been doing some reading and research. My major race next year will be the Ironman Lake Placid, normally I race up to 1/2 IM.
I first of all I thought zipp 404's where the way to go...they seem really expensive. In the same price range are the Mavic cosmic carbones, nice wheels but a little heavier then the zipps. Next up is the HED wheels, I was thinking of going with a tri-spoke in the rear and the HED Alp on the front. The HED wheels are cheaper and from my limited knowledge a tri-spoke on the rear would offer better power transfer.
Opinions? Anyone running a tri-spoke on the rear ever have handling problems? Why not just go with the tri-spoke front and rear?
Thanks for the help.
view my blog at: http://smittycb10.triathlonlife.com/