I am aiming to buy a full carbon disk rather than a carbon fairing over a spoked wheel (FLO, HED). I would prefer to spend $2,000 rather than $3,000 as/if able with a sale. I have a potential discount with ENVE but they’re not making a disk actively on their website (at least listed for sale).
I am only looking for Hooked rims rather than Hookless. Any hookless hooligans can’t convince me otherwise.
Options:
Zipp Super 9 current gen:
matches 28 tires, which is great, but hookless.
Zipp Super 9 prior gen:
1,132g, $2,900 but only an 18mm internal rim width
Swiss Side Hadron:
1,075 g, $2,300 on sale. 20mm rim width.
DT Swiss ARC 1100 DiCut
1,074 g, $2,200 on sale. 20mm rim width
ENVE SES
1,225 g, $2,900, 18.5 mm inner rim width
Princeton Carbon Works
sub 1 kg weight and $2.9k price, very few details on their website. Great reviews of their wheels but surprisingly poor / spartan website for a premium product, with no details on rim, etc.
I would - completely out of vanity, I’ve been racing a mismatched wheelset for years - really like my wheels to match. So I like the DT Swiss or Swiss Side better than the prior gen Zipp, but I will either get the prior gen Zipp and be set or Get the Swiss option and match with a front wheel.
I thought ZIpp made the best wheels but I might just be a victim of marketing. I’m reading some bad reviews or bad experiences with their hubs while I only read good things about DT Swiss.
But, yeah I -think- most folks will say very little difference between a 100 disc cover and a $3k disc…
I’m more interested in front wheels. Still find it hard to believe there aren’t big differences in a wind tunnel between a trispoke like the princeton, vs a more traditional deep rim wheel…just such different designs…
Re: Parcours - interesting! Thanks! Hits my three big goals of: full carbon (not spoked fairing), budget and rim width. Sure a little heavier but can’t win them all. Thanks for mentioning, will check it out.
Thanks (!) yeah! ‘Better lucky than good’ I guess. I had tried and failed to get an XL and was even going to purchase a Large as I could make that work, when I called my local shop (a Scott dealer) to let them know that I was shopping for one so if they could please be on the lookout, and he checked the system while I was on the phone and there was a single allocation available to secure in an XL for the entire USA, so we snagged it and I purchased it on the spot over the phone. There were only 6 for a size Large. Delivery is supposed to be in March.
IIRC, the prior gen zipp super 9 is literally a rim brake wheel with a disc brake hub slapped on it. You can see the rim brake surface on the wheel. That should tell you how much thought went into the wheel.
You have to make a decision if you want hookless or not and does it make sense for you and the roads you ride and race on. That will narrow your search.
I wouldn’t touch the enve right now. I believe they are working on a new disc. Not sure if its going to be available to the public anytime soon. But I would hate to pay a premium right now only for it to be obsolete a few months later.
Edit: I’m looking at a new wheelset for racing within the next few months. I’m keen on staying hooked unless some new data comes out that convinces me. I’m looking at Princeton, Enve (depending on what they release), DTSwiss, or HED.
Thanks for mentioning! Looking at going for a full carbon wheel rather than a spoked - fairing even understanding that there’s not an aero benefit and the 200g weight difference is not that significant. Appreciate the reply though, thank you
RE: Evolve Aero - thanks yeah! I had specifically looked at that one and then ironically it says " Note: This is not compatible with the Scott Plasma 6 frame set"
I am looking at getting an Evolve Aero cockpit when I’m about 9:30 IM speed so I would’ve otherwise even went with that.
So ironically not compatible with like only my bike for some reason.
Awesome, thank you very much. See this was the exact insight that I was hoping to gain from asking. Really appreciate it. That is very helpful and affirms my suspicion to go away from the prior gen Zipp Super 9 and hold off on any Enve and go with the Parcours, DT Swiss or Swiss Side.
Another vote for teh Parcours disc. I run a 30 mm tire on it and it’s amazigly fast. They have data indicating that a 30 mm tire does not incure an aerodynamic penalty (compared to 28)
Yeah I believe the new HED Vanquish disc is the widest available at the moment. That’s what I run, and it replaced a solid core DT Swiss ARC disc. I much prefer the fairing-design of the HED’s.
