Bingo!

The real answer is to determine what your set of race wheels will be, and buy two identical sets. Ride one set all the time so you know how they roll and react and pull out the other set for races.

I used to only use my race wheels for racing. Then I realized that I really enjoy riding on them. So about 5 years ago I started to ride my Zipp 404's for all my training rides. Although I did break one spoke in the 5 years of riding I have had no other problems. Last year I bought a new set of Zipp NSW 808's, because I thought it was time for an upgrade. I rode them all last summer for my training and racing. I still use my Zipp 404's but now on my road bike which doesn't see as many miles. I ride about 5000 miles a year and race a couple of half ironman and ironmans each year. Enjoy your high performance kit!

For a triathlete? Maybe? Especially with how many do trainer time. But regardless, I’m sure they have a life expectancy of more then 365 rides.

Assuming you generally ride in the dry and keep your wheels clean (if you don't, the brake surfaces will wear down first), around 10k they need to be rebuilt -- spokes start breaking etc. For me, in the 10-15k range the hub and/or rim will crack.

Just a comment: if you don't ride enough to know that, maybe you shouldn't post snarky replies to the people that do?

100% sense. why would you want to put any extra wear on tires/wheels/cassette? why would you want to risk avoidable potential damage to wheels (holes in a disc from flying cinders, cracking a rim on a surface joint or pothole, etc.)?
we do TT's nearly every weekend as part of a series, and race tris maybe once every third week, in-season. we have ample opportunity to perfect bike handling skills, without added risk to our race-only equipment.

we get plenty of use out of our race wheels, without putting $4,000 wheels at unnecessary risk. we train on shallow-rim carbon wheels, so swapping brake pads is only necessary when they wear down. we have cassettes on our race wheels that are several years old, but don't have more than a few hundred miles of wear on the teeth. same with tire tread. and tubes. I want my race-only equipment reliable on race day; less use is better for us. and, whomever mentioned about adjusting derailleurs when swapping in wheels... what are you doing, besides introducing greater risk of mechanical failure, and greater wear on cassettes and chains?

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no sponsors | no races | nothing to see here

I was saying I don’t believe rims wear out within a year if people ride them during training rides. I doubt most triathletes are riding 10-15k miles a year here. Being strictly a roadie who does go north of that figure I have yet to screw up a wheel, but then again 70% of my training is done on a trainer with a cheap rim in the rear. I was saying I believe you were a little short sited without directly saying you’re wrong. It’s not like a called you a moron for what you said. It’s the Internet, people might disagree.

But if you enjoy snark then thank goodness Slowtwitch is blessed with your presence to pass along your knowledge to all of the brain dead idiots such as myself who would think differently then your line of knowledge.

"Maybe I'm the only one here who actually rides and races his bike a lot." -lanierb


Yes. You are the only one.

I’ve been riding my Zipp 404’s for the last 4-5 years. I just slap a cover on the back for races. They are still in excellent condition. Go use them.

Huh, I don't see that. I'm non-gentle 175lb. bike racer, and I've done two rebuilds in over 100k miles of riding over 10 years or so. And I've never cracked a rim or hub. I've worn out brake tracks on rims that never needed rebuilding.

I typically run non-stallion HED wheelsets, though my current trainers are Flo 30's with factory 24/20 spoke count.

Then again I know some 130lb. bike racers who seem to have non-stop wheel drama, so maybe my experience is atypical.

To answer the OP, I don't race on training wheels, though. Because I use different tires. And given that I race frequently (bike racer), swapping tires frequently is annoying. Also I want to know the race tires are reasonably free from crap, and not full of cuts and embedded bits of metal from training rides.

Also it's typically a bit quicker to change flats on training wheels. No valve extenders, etc.

I don't think that's true--it isn't for passenger car tires, where rolling resistance decreases as tires harden with age and lose mass and tread depth with wear (see NHTSA Tire Fuel Efficiency Consumer Information Program Development: Phase 2 - Effects of Tire Rolling Resistance Levels on Traction, Treadwear, and Vehicle Fuel Economy [August 2009], pp. 73-77; Tires and and Passenger Vehicle Fuel Economy: Informing Consumers, Improving Performance--Special Report 286 [National Academies Press, 2006], pp. 99-103). I would suspect the same is true for bicycle tires. Do you have any sources?

I read that, but couldn't track down the research.

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2018 Races: IM Santa Rosa, Vineman Monte Rio, Lake Tahoe 70.3

1) race wheels are expensive, more chance of damaging them on the shitty roads
2) wear & tear on tyres
3) you're going to look like a complete cunt
4) no-one is going to want to ride with you (refer no. 3)

I'd expect reduced tread thickness to reduce, not increase rolling resistance. Can't think of any reason it would be the other way around.
Tyres that perform quite well aerodynamically when new may suffer impaired aerodynamic performance as the tread wears and the profile changes. I think this is true of GP4000SII for example.

Haha, I am going to be that guy. I have only had a single set of wheels for my tri bike. I just switched to a 90mm front and disc rear. These are my everyday wheels. When I go out on training rides, I will be the old fart on the overly tricked-out bike for no reason. And, I will freakin' love it. :)

I ride my Zipps 404 firecrest all he time.
Currently have 67000km on them with no sign of brake track wear.
Use the right brake pads, oil alloy nipples to prevent corrosion, change bearings when they need to be changed and keep an eye on spoke tension.

If I wiped down my wheels, the only sign that they are not new is a few nicks in the stickers.
You paid for them use them.
Leave the latex in, they ride nice and get less flats.

I keep my race wheels on my TT bike. I change the tires every race season... currently riding force/attack combo.

I don't ride it all the time though, use my road bike and mountain bike for a lot of non-race riding aka training.

Don't change wheels on any of my bikes.

:)