I seem to recall seeing data suggesting that minimum rim depth to achieve aerodynamic improvement is in the 45-50mm range. Less than 45mm, weight becomes the determining factor. Using that information, I purchased a Spinergy Tilium SS front wheel on Ebay for $200, and put an aero wheel cover on the rear for $70, which has the same aero advantage as a disc wheel. Total cost less than $300. Not pretty, but effective.

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

I have the Velocity Sparticus wheelset as training wheels (20 paired spokes), and think they would make great budget race wheels. They can be had for less than $250 a pair, Not the lightest, but they feel faster than my Ksyriums.

yes, but I think Velocity makes great training wheels and the 30mm at least looks cool.

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I don't really see how the velocity sparticus would be a budget race wheel any more than the stock fsa RD-200. The sparticus' are 3/4 heavier and only add 3 mm of rim depth. I know aero trumps weight, but there doesn't seem to be much more aero there. Seems like it's just as good to race on the training wheels.

Am I missing something? Maybe something about hub smoothness or something else?

3/4 heavier? I know the Velocities are heavy, but damn. How light are the FSAs? I guess I am a Velocity fan because I got a new pair off Ebay for $120. At that price the expectations are pretty low. I have them on my road bike as training wheels.

Didn't QR spec velocity wheels on some of their low end tri bikes?

Just looked it up. The FSA wheels are 260 grams lighter than the Velocity wheels. (0.57 LBS), Certainly not an insignificant difference.

You're right, I messed up the math. RD-200 is 1650 for the set. I think I used the weight for the 20/24 spartacus instead of the 16/20, which gives a .79 lb difference.

So it's over a half pound and still only gaining the 3 mm. The rd200 comes on the 05 tequilo, which i'm leaning toward buying, so I'd like to consider a set of race wheels with all the money i'm saving.

Which brings back my original question - what's the cheapest set of race wheels worth buying that are an improvement over what I'll have?

Like another poster mentioned, Ebay a deep section front wheel and get a CH aero cover for the rear wheel. If it where me, I would go with a used Hed 3.

my race wheels are a pair of campy shamals... 12/12 hpw and i think it's around 41mm?

i know it's really old school, but hell it works well for my lil budget! :P
plus it looks cool with that low spoke count!

Go to biketechreview.com and pay the $15 for Craig's wind tunnel data on race wheels. It's pretty interesting what's worth your money and what's not.

Having the data in my grubby little hands, I'd personally not waste money on anything less than 45 mm rim depth.

"I'd personally not waste money on anything less than 45 mm rim depth. "

I'll second Kraig's report. One exception to the under 45mm rule is the Campy Shamal. There was an old report on the net that concluded it was less aero but more stable in cross winds compared against a 60mm Hed Cx. I still use a Shamal front on windy days.

Zipp says it is 38mm. They test as much or more than anyone and found that any rim depth lower than 38 mm did not offer any improvement over a box section rim. That is why their 303 wheelset is 38 mm rim depth. This is why you almost have to use carbon to make a rim that deep without it being heavy as a tank. I own a tubular Shamal and it worked fine on flat courses, but I would never race it in the hills.

Chad

I can imagine just about any 45 mm depth rim would be less aero but better in crosswinds than a 60 mm depth rim. Nothing special about the Shamal in this regard.

The FSA RD-200/220 rims are ~1700-1750g per pair not including skewers. The Velocity Spartacus Pros (20/24 spoke) are 1778g for the pair I have. The regular Spartacus rims are about 20-30g heavier. The Velocitys are more like 3% heavier, otherwise known as irrelevant. Not that weight is incredibly important unless climbing the Alps or doing a lot of accelerations, which isn't what happens in probably 90% of the triathlons I do. The 400s or 600s are probably closer to the Spartacus in aero performance and ~200-300g lighter, but I have a hard time believing those wheels are worth $500-750 a set.

Regarding rim depth, there is a substantial advantage going to ~45mm or so, and a much smaller advantage increasing the depth from there to ~60mm. Law of diminishing returns and all. Rim shape matters a lot too, and the straightwall V shape of the Velocity rims isn't ideal. Personally I'd recommend a Spinergy Stealth SS (I ride last year's Tilium SS) with a disc rear (Renn, Hed, etc) as a great choice for a relatively inexpensive fast comfy set. I guarantee you'll get the same performance from that combo as buying a 404 set, and spend about half as much...and about the same as a set of FSA RD-600s.

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Does the report cover tri spokes (Hed) and disk wheels?

I notice an aero advantage with my AC420's with are only 34mm compared to a box rim. They are as fast as my 404's based on power meter testing. That may also have something to do with improved RR of the clinchers on the AC's.

I picked up a pair of new Spinergy Stealth Carbon Tilium 2005 model on ebay for less than $500. They have been good so far an I only have used them for races and a couple of training rides. I think those are 45mm and they weight pretty much the same as the mavics on my road bike and less than the Velomax I have on my tri bike for training. During my purchase research I read good and bad reviews about this but the bad was more on the older versions. From my primitive research I gained probably a 0.6 mph speed increase over the training wheels at the same cadence over similar conditions and they maintain speed very well.

Peace

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"Bros b4 Hos, man" House MD

Team Aquaphor 06-08

The report covers these wheels:

Description Front/Rear
ADA … front
Alex ALX220 … front
alex san remo … front
Ambrosio Medaille d'Or … front
American Classic 420 … front
american classic sprint350 … front
bontrager aero … front
bontrager carbon … front
Bontrager RaceLite … front
campagnolo bora … front
Campagnolo Dedra … front
campagnolo eurus … front
Campagnolo Lambda … front
Campagnolo Nucleon … front
campagnolo pista … front
campagnolo proton … front
Campagnolo Shamal … front
Campagnolo Shamal … front
Campagnolo Vento … front
Campagnolo Vento 16 HPW … front
Campagnolo Ypsilon … front
Cane Creek Aerohead SG … front
cane creek aros SS … front
Cane Creek Crono WAM … front
corima 4 spoke … front
corima aero … front
corima aero … front
corima medium … front
corima medium … front
dave's speeddream aerolite … front
fsa RD 200 … front
HED 90 … front
HED alps … front
HED jet40 … front
HED jet60 … front
HED3 … front
Lew Palermo … front
Matrix ISO C II … front
Matrix ISO-C … front
Matrix ISO-C … front
mavic carbone … front
Mavic Cosmic … front
mavic cosmos … front
Mavic CXP14 … front
Mavic CXP30 … front
Mavic GEL280 … front
Mavic GEL280 … front
Mavic GP4 … front
Mavic Ksyrium … front
Mavic MA2 … front
Mavic Module E … front
Nimble tri-spoke … front
Paragon … front
real-design supersonic40 … front
reynolds alta … front
reynolds cirro SV … front
reynolds stratus … front
Rigida DP-18 … front
ritchey compz … front
Ritchey DS Pro … front
rolf elan … front
Rolf Sestriers … front
Rolf Vector … front
Rolf Vector Pro … front
rolf vigor … front
rolf vigor RS … front
shimano carbon … front
shimano D/A … front
Shimano WH-6500 … front
Shimano WH-7701 … front
shimano whr540 … front
Specialized - Old … front
Spinergy Spox R1 … front
spinergy tilium … front
Sun CRT16-II … front
Sun ME14A … front
Sun ME14A … front
sun pro elite … front
topolino - carbon … front
Velocity Deep V … front
Velomax Ascent … front
Velomax Circuit … front
Velomax Javelin … front
Velomax Orion … front
Velomax Orion Comp … front
velomax orionII … front
velomax tempest … front
velomax tempest carbon … front
X-treme AC Pro … front
zipp 303 … front
zipp 404/Z4 … front
zipp 808 … front
zipp Z2 … front
ADA … rear
Alex ALX220 … rear
alex san remo … rear
American Classic 420 … rear
american classic sprint350 … rear
Bontrager RaceLite … rear
Campagnolo Dedra … rear
Campagnolo Lambda … rear
Campagnolo Nucleon … rear
campagnolo proton … rear
Campagnolo Seoul 88 … rear
Campagnolo Shamal … rear
Campagnolo Vento … rear
Campagnolo Vento 16 HPW … rear
Campagnolo Ypsilon … rear
Cane Creek Aerohead SG … rear
cane creek aros SS … rear
Cane Creek Crono WAM … rear
Corima 4 spoke … rear
dave's speeddream aerolite … rear
Falcon Sports Accel Disc … rear
fsa RD 200 … rear
HED 90 … rear
Hed disc … rear
Lew … rear
MA2 … rear
Mavic Cosmic … rear
mavic cosmos … rear
Mavic CXP14 … rear
Mavic CXP30 … rear
Mavic GEL280 … rear
Mavic GEL280 … rear
Mavic GP4 … rear
Mavic Ksyrium … rear
Mavic MA2 … rear
Mavic Module 4 … rear
Nimble tri-spoke … rear
Paragon … rear
real-design supersonic40 … rear
Renn Disc … rear
reynolds alta … rear
reynolds cirro SV … rear
Rigida DP-18 … rear
ritchey compz … rear
Ritchey DS Pro - OCR … rear
rolf elan … rear
Rolf Sestriers … rear
Rolf Vector … rear
Rolf Vector Pro … rear
rolf vigor … rear
rolf vigor RS … rear
Shimano WH-6500 … rear
Shimano WH-7700 … rear
shimano whr540 … rear
Specialized Composite … rear
Spinergy Spox R1 … rear
spinergy tilium … rear
Spinergy Xaero … rear
sun pro elite … rear
topolino - carbon … rear
Velocity Deep V … rear
Velomax Ascent … rear
Velomax Circuit … rear
Velomax Javelin … rear
Velomax Orion … rear
Velomax Orion Comp … rear
velomax orionII … rear
X-treme AC Pro … rear
zipp 303 … rear
zipp 404/Z4 … rear
Zipp 950 … rear
zipp Z2 … rear