Hey.. good memory.. I am scared of buying the wheels.. I think I am set on the 303's, considering my riding abilities. I need 650's.. What I am NOT convinced on, is wheter to buy tubulars or clinchers.. That is what is holding me back. I read all the threads and think tubulars are better, but they scare me. I am already not a good bike mechanic, I think maybe clinchers would work for the 303's and when I get better, maybe buy differents wheels, more aero, tubulars? Thanks againg for keeping asking.. I love the canadian money, used to like it even more! I am canadian afterall:) And buy the way, I am making huge progress with the downhills!

You're a Canadian? I knew there had to be some other good reason to like you. Glad to hear your downhill skills are coming along. Uphill or downhill...it's all about confidence and technique. As for the whole clincher/tubular debate I won't start it again...if you feel more comfortable changing a clincher flat..then go clincher. I'm sure all that has been said about tubulars is true and the points have merit. But there has to be a reason a company like Zipp makes such a high end wheels in clincher as well as tubular.

http://cgi.ebay.com/...7&category=58099 under a grand now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/...2&category=58099 or try your luck with this set and see if you can get lower than $949

both are brand new....I feel like a drug dealer here..lol. Keep downhill training..lots of time to be had for free there.

Hey thanks.. That sounds reasonnable. I still want to do a little more searching with the tubular thing and feel comfortable with my decision. I am not sure what it takes to make me comfortable and I need to make it soon! Will always be a canadian, even though I live in the states now:) I just got a star choice satellite and can watch hockey now (not that I watch much tv)

When you say HERE...where is here these days? And how could you (unless it is somewherewarm and sunny right now in which case {staring at the snow that has yet to melt outside} I completely understand)?

thanks to Bunnyman (where have you been?) and Tom D, I dove in and bought tubular this year. I have zero experience with this and it scared me as well. I haven't glued them yet, but I mounted the tires to stretch them. I thought it was pretty cool when I managed to do it the first time, just followed the directions on the package and popped them on! Again, I don't want to start this debate again, I bought them and am just relating my experience. I went with a Renn 575 second (I call it the Frank special) and a used Hed from ebay. the guy I bought it from claimed to have worked with Hed on some prototypes and kept this one. It appears to be a deep or CX from what I can tell.

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I bought me one of them Frank Specials as well. Seconds my butt. Call it what you like but with the money I didn't spend on a high zoot name I could afford to buy a whole other bike. And I kinda like the stealthy matte black finish. Cool would have been to have some kind of decal to go with so people know what they are being passed by. I can tell them when they finish I suppose.

Are you good with bikes in general? See, I need to learn all that now that I don't have a boyfriend that can fix everything on my bike...

good like Tom? NO!!!! Can I use a wrench and do common sense stuff? We'll see when it gets warmer and I get to ride my handiwork. To back up Kent, the price of the Frank special allowed me to get some other cool stuff. Now I have to improve even more, just so I don't look like a jackass with fancy toys. My crowning moment last year was blowing past a kid on a Litespeed Blade equipped with 909s!

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I hear you froggy...nothing like being in another wave (being older has its benefits) and coming from behind all the young guns on their fancy machines and letting them watch you ride away. That said I think my rig is pretty fancy schmancy and can go toe to toe with just about any out there. But then I did spend as much on it as I did on my truck (before the respairs to the truck that is).

To answer your question about HERE, I am in Ohio but from Montreal.. You can call me a mutt! French canadian but learned english in Iowa!

Learned english in Ohio?!?!? hahahahahaha You didn't learn to speak english...you learned to speak American. Silly Marisol. (kidding guys no need to nuke me). You didn't escape the Canadian weather much moving to Ohio either..sheesh. Got it rough all around. At least you have good taste in wheels. Speaking of..what kind of bike do you ride? As for calling you a mutt for having cultural diversity..not gonna happen by me. We'll say you are nationality balanced.

Iowa, not Ohio...
guess you need some rest! ;-)

Actually, I have been riding my bike outside for 6 weeks now, my friends in Montreal can't say the same:) Ohio is not too bad, it's not Arizona but there are a lot of differents tri's around here... I ride an aegis trident, it's really cool, it fades from red to orange to yellow and I have some flowers on it to make it more girly! Gotta look good on the bike, you just never know!

While in fact I do need rest (switching to nights blows biologically) I have to admit....Iowa? She did say she was from Ohio right? Ohio and Ontario are practically neighbours...Iowa..cold..yes. Ohio..cold also..weather very much like my own a good part of the time. Maybe I am in need of rest..assist my weary mind man....wth.

today it was 87F here...31c....mmmm, so nice :-)

yeah..well...we finally got some sunshine today...so...nyeah! And I think it might have actually gone above freezing at some point in time too. And she did say O H I O not I O W A. And I need rest.

well, I guess I'd be living in Canada if I hadn't met my wife 8 years ago...she hates cold weather...I spend 93-95 in Montreal...loved it despite the cold and "la marde blanche" :-)

she said she is in Ohio but learnt english in Iowa...
ha! :-)

Sweet sounding bike (even if it is all girly)...but does it have Campy or Shimano?

Shimano.. dura ace.. I did say I learned english in Iowa, where I went to school. Quite a change from Montreal.. I moved to Ohio when I graduated. I absolutly love my aegis. It rides so much better than my airborne.. Francois, where are you from originally? France?

aegis! yowza! come to jersey and I'll pracitce my bike maintenence skills

c'a va?

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I'm not intending to flame here, but what in the world does your riding ability have to do with your choice of race wheels? You are looking at laying down a significant chunk of change. How about considering the PURPOSE and FUNCTION of the wheels you are buying with respect to your intended application? It sounds to me like you are basing your wheel buying on all the wrong reasons. I don't have the memory that the original poster has, and therefore I don't remember your discussions on here. What is your intended application? Fear and lack of education are poor reasons to disregard what may possible be the best solution for you. You can always learn more about tubulars. The handling difference between 58 and 38 rims is not great enough for your relatively undeveloped road sense to feel much difference. With either one you are going to feel the wind more than you currently do. If you can't stay on the road with your current wheels, then either one of these is going to overpower you. To my mind there are VERY FEW reasons to buy a shallower 38mm 303 wheelset. You need extreme light weight because all your racing is serious climbing or you are a sprinter who wants a bit of aero, but not a lot of rotating mass to have to accelerate. Otherwise the 404s are indicated. If your riding skills mean you have to consider handling then NEITHER of these wheels is appropriate. Most likely you are a flatland to rolling course triathlete who occasionally meets up with some decent crosswinds. Buy the 404s (or whatever deep wheel you are considering). Take the 404s and your training wheels to the race. If you are concerned about the handling, stick your training front wheel on. The 303 will handle a LOT closer to the 303 than to a standard wheel, meaning it will feel like a hog in the wind to your (assuming here) inexperienced biking self. Given that both sets sell for the same $$, I'd go for the 404 EVERY time, unless I already had them and wanted a second, LIGHTER set for serious UPHILL TTing/road racing.

Oui ca va, merci:) So does that mean that the bike makes the girl? I do need help with maintenance! Such a girly thing to say..

> "la marde blanche"

Oh man ... haven't heard that in a while.

Merci Francois!
Dre'

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