Then get the Corimas. These are all good wheels you have mentioned, but if you can get the Corimas at a discount, get them.

It is nearly as wash, though the only big difference is that the Heds have an aluminum braking surface. But the Zipps and Corimas are a high-performance, purpose-built race wheel. The ones you have mentioned are amongst the best wheels that these respective manufacturers make, but I give the edge to Corima, especially with the pricing in mind.

Make sure you get those funny brake pads that go with the Corimas, as the surface is just a few millimetres of carbon and they CAN'T be used with regular brake pads. And make sure that you buy the tubulars, as the clincher Corimas don't take lots of air pressure. Why would you race on clinchers, any how?

Lastly, don't you dare train on them. You need to train on heavy, ugly wheels and race on the good ones.

I recently went through the same exercise--Heds, 404s, or Corimas. Everyone I talked to (friends, my LBS, Nytro, B&L, etc.) said that you can't go wrong with any of them, but if money is not an issue then go with the Corimas. So, I bit the bullet and spent the money on the Corimas--the 4 spoke UL rear and aero UL front(tubulars). One big problem--I bought them in February and I still don't have them. Corima has been in the process of changing its U.S. distributor and is still not shipping wheels to the U.S. Sinclair is supposed to be the new distributor, but apparently can't seem to finalize the contract. They should either get it done or step aside and let someone else be the distributor--the negotiations and contract are not that complicated.

I also emailed Corima directly to see if it would ship directly to me or my LBS. The answer was no and they also could not tell me when they would be shipping to the U.S.

In any event, I am still waiting. The wheels better be good, but I doubt they are so much better that it justifies the wait. I had the chance to race last weekend on some loaner 404s. They were very nice, but since I have not raced on any other carbon aero wheels, I have nothing to compare them to.

Doug

I'm not trying to be the fly in the ointment here, but Ritchey has just release their WCS DS Carbon wheels. They buy a slightly different Zipp 404 rim, but build them on their ultra-light servicable WCS hubs. These hubs accept traditional DT bladed spokes and have almost NO rear dish allowing for same size spokes and nearly equal spoke tension. The rear wheel has only 20 spokes (Zipp has 24), but has them cross on both sides (no radial lacing) providing more torsional stiffness (no hub wind up) and greater aerodynamic benefit. The front has but 16 spokes also more slippery that Zipp's spoke configuration. Finding a straight pull 15 guage aero Sapim spoke at your LBS or race is nearly impossible. These are a significant aero improvement using legitimate products with real upgrades. Happy Shopping!

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