Rocket_racing wrote:
The short of it is that benefits may be debatable. But they won’t slow you down. And they may help. Likely they marginally help in some situations, marginally hurt in others, nothing in others still. How is that for an answer? I have not wind tunnel tested them. All i have are questionable armchair aerodynamics (Like everyone else). But the dt swiss guy felt they would not help. Fwiw. He seems legit, but is zipp competition. To oversimplify, but josh (ex zipp) once said that aerodynamic shapes are better being smooth, and non-aerodynamic shapes are better to have a texture. Or something to that effect. He might have addressed the question on the marginal gains podcast. Ask him privately and he may answer. He is good that way.
At the end of the day, i think you will find that elevated prices do not guarantee better performance. Aerodynamically. There are lots of cheaper copies that are decent, if largely untested. And as time passes, i note those eastern copies are increasing in price, and quality. Just as oem are dropping prices and outsourcing out east to compete. How the unbranded eastern stuff holds up to big hits, hot brake temps, etc are the issue. So there is always a risk... and i guess looking at warrantees is key. I suspect there are many copycat wheels out there that likely have minimal testing beyond visual flaws. Yikes. who knows?
But you can expect that quality control will be good with zipp. Same for things like brake track quality/performance/durability. And zipp wheels hold their value. So at resale, you will get back more of your original investment. Some would argue hubs are questionable at times. I can not comment. Many cheaper oem hubs are rebranded cheap stuff put there to hit a price point.
When it comes to wheels, i have a “tires first approach”, as optimal tire size/compound/durability/pressures will be big for performance. I chose a tire, width and pressure that meets my needs, and then i select rims to back it up (width, depth, weight, spokes, hubs). Get as deep a wheel as you can handle. Keep valve stems short, and spokes cxray. And i like my carbon ti hubs for lightness, stiffness, and quality bearings. The downside is that the wide spoke Bracing angles generate a laterally stiff wheel, but expose more spoke to the clean air. So they are not my tri/tt choice, but are good all rounders for road bikes.
There is more to be gained lost with optimal tire compound, size, pressures than with dimples. So get that big stuff right first.
Very helpful. So if you dont care if zipp wheels are a bit more expensive than all I’d good?