I used a disc cover on a powertap wheel in 2005. It works great.

If you can't ride the zipp rear wheel every day, sell it and buy a wheel you can. Then put the PT on that wheel and buy disk covers from wheelbuilder.com.

Look at Rich Strauss' offer of a PT, rear wheel and disk covers on cruciblefitness.com

What wheel set?

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Check out my IMLP Janus Charity Challenge Page
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Raising Funds for Myeloma Research in Honor of my Mom

Rear wheel was just a training wheel with cover. Nothing fancy.

Front wheel at IMAZ Spinergy Rev-X and at IMF Zipp 404 (borrowed).

Hmmmm...now that I've corrupted you.... ;-)

Seriously, though...you've now hit the conundrum of PT owners everywhere. Here's my experience:

I've been on a PT pro for 3 years now. I train on it about 90% of the time and certainly for all of my meaningful training. When I started, I had my PT Pro hub built into a 650 wheel with a CXP-33 rim. After a truck destroyed my beloved Saber...I decided to go with a 700 tri bike so that I could swap my PT between both road and tri bikes in order to ride more often with power. So I had the hub rebuilt into a 700 CXP-33 wheel. And that is the way it stayed until this year. I did countless races on that wheel...usually with a Hed3 or Alps up front. I didn't have a cover for it. Having the power information to race smartly made more difference to me than any potential time loss over using my rear H3 or Alps wheels. I used full aero wheels ONLY for my A race...I found that I had a good PE sense by that time...this year I wanted to invest in a PT aero wheel, but it just never worked out. I'll probably get one this year. But bottom line...you'll be fine getting a PT built with a training-worthy rim. You can train AND race with that wheel...you SHOULD race with the wheel...the feedback and after-race analysis will prove enlightening...and as others note...you can always run a disc cover on an Open Pro or CXP-33 rimmed PT wheel. Yes...it'll be a bit heavy...but I guarantee you that won't make a difference unless you are trying win mountain climbs...

Bottom line...my advice:

Get a PT Pro. Build it with 28 spokes and a CXP-33 rim. The thing will be bulletproof, if built right. Ride it ALL of the time...including all of your racing. Get a disc cover from www.wheelbuilder.com. Even if you can't get the disc cover...race this wheel at IMAZ. If you've done your power homework between now and the race...you'll get more out of the PT than a disc.

Hmmm... I was just waiting to be corrupted! ;-) Seriously, thanks I do think training with power all year long is the way to go and you are right, i am sure the graphics and charm of riding IM courses on the computrainer will wear off.

I too have a 650 tri bike and 700 road bike so the PT would only be for my tri bike, which is fine because I mainly use the road bike for offseason/fun or very hilly group rides.

I am also doing LP and am not the greatest climber (haha, yes) so being as light as possible would be a plus.

I am going to contact wheelbuilder and see what they have to say....

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____________________________________________________
Check out my IMLP Janus Charity Challenge Page
https://www.kintera.org/...&supid=247145789
Raising Funds for Myeloma Research in Honor of my Mom

1. Sell the 404 rear wheel and your current training rear wheel
2. Buy a PT hub and build it into a good training wheel
3. Buy a wheel cover and throw it on the PT wheel, along with your 404 front, on race day.

You can probably do this without spending more than a $500 after all is said and done.

I think we have a winner!

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____________________________________________________
Check out my IMLP Janus Charity Challenge Page
https://www.kintera.org/...&supid=247145789
Raising Funds for Myeloma Research in Honor of my Mom

FWIW....I just bought a PT SL for $985.00 at Alfred E. Bikes (aebikes.com). Built into a Swiss DT 1.1 32h rim. Only have 3 rides with it. So far so good. AEBikes was good to deal with. Total price was $992.00 for the PT SL, DT 1.1 wheel, and shipping ($7.00). One of the best deals I've found for a PT.