I believe that racing wheels are just for racing, not group riding. I will ride them once before a race if I ride the course in advance, but only then.

Being a poor bike handler and 120lbs it's likely that the wheels will get damaged quickly from crashing or the wind knocking someone down or possibly from road hazards.

That set of wheels is a great combo but you should get her a set of her own. Try to find the coolest looking wheels, buy them, say they were expensive, save the money and treat you buddies to a couple of rounds. Make sure that they keep saying how cool her wheels look. She will have good safe and durable set of wheels and you will feel good about it.

I think the Mavic Cosmic Elites look cool and are reasonably priced. Someone else should have a suggestion too.

jaretj

Your wife has zero need for time trial wheels on a group ride. Keep her on the wheels she's got. A high profile rim will simply run her at risk to crosswinds.

As for you, train on the box rims. I'd bet they're durable and have shimano hubs. If you're really jonesing for some new wheels, I recommend Velomax (either of the top two models) for all around riding and racing.

As for YOUR race wheels, an H3 and a disc sounds like a great combo. Use them on race days (and race rehearsal days) only.

Let me get something straight here - are you looking for race wheels that the both of you could share, or a pair of race wheels for yourself that she could ride occasionally just for fun? If it's the later, don't - your wheels will get damaged and your wife will not be better off with "fast" wheels on a group ride.

In either case, I wouldn't put a 120lb woman with poor bike handling skills anywhere near a disc rear or a H3 front. Combining them is begging for trouble. If you're still looking for race wheels for the both of you (ie - she races) then I'd go with a set of Nimble Crosswinds, or a Nibble Fly up front and a H3 rear. Or maybe a set of Hed Alps. But don't ride them on easy training days or in group rides. Save 'em for racing, and train on heavy box-rimmed wheels.

---

<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
Get Fitter!
Proud member of the Smartasscrew, MONSTER CLUB
Get your FIX today?

   

You don't need race wheels on group rides but wheels such as Hed Jet 40's, Cosmic Carbone's, Campy Shamal's, Shimano Dura-Ace, Hed Alp's, etc. could serve as both race wheels and group ride wheels. Basically anything with a 30-40 dish and low spoke count. I sometimes ride Hed Jet 60's on my road bike.

here is an idea for you. get her a set of dura ace wheels. you can find these at closeout prices all over the place, as they are not panning out to be super popular as an aftermarket wheel. last time i checked you could get the older version - 7700's i think they were - for close to 1/2 price at around 4 bills from several places. . . . . .cambria, jenson usa, etc. these things ride very sweet and soft, and handle especially well due to their low weight at the rim - they steer like feathers. and, they are plenty fast - the guy who won the tdf prologue this year had one on the front, for example - tell her that ! :) and, they drip with high end trickness, fit and finish-wise. much smoother and tricker than most other offerings in that price, especially at the hub. they are DA, and possessed of everything shimano can throw at them in that vein, which is a lot.

a fine wife's bike choice.

get a disk for you, and use whatever the cervelo came with on the front till you can get something different. let her use the disc now and again for races. good.

Thanks for the good tips, it looks like the DA wheels are the way to go for her. Any other suggestions for an inexpensive yet fast wheelset for the wife in group rides?

She never races, in fact she pretty much only rides these once a week group rides. Yet, she can drop everyone pretty much at will, except for 2 of us. She just doesn't have the muscle mass to push past about 27mph without drafting.

I love those box rims for my training, I've got a pair of flak jacket tires and the wheel-tire combo feels like it must be made of lead. I get tired just looking at the wheels.