When anyone asks about race wheels there is always a lot of talk about just buying a Campy Shamal off ebay.
My question is would I get any noticeable benefit by switching from my Velocity Deep V rim/ultegra hub which I currently use for both racing and training and going to a used set Campy Shamals for just racing and saving the Velocitys for training?
Not sure, since I haven’t ridden a Shamal, but the aero numbers for the Shamal are pretty good. I ride a Velocity Spartacus 16 spoke front for races where it is really windy, and a Hed Jet60 for winds less than 25mph. With a 20mm tire the Deep V is very aero and very fast, and it would be hard for me to say that the Jet60 with a 23mm tire is definitively faster.
The only problem I have with the Spartacus is that it is a bit flexy with only 16 round spokes…
The Shamal is still a very aero wheel by todays standards and nearly bombproof. It was ahead of its time when it first came out. It’s a little heavier than todays super light aero wheels but not by that much.
There is a site on the net where a Shamal and Hed Cx came out about even when tested in a wind tunnel against a group of other wheels. I believe only the Specialized tri spoke was slightly faster. On another site John Cobb claims the Cx was one of the best aero wheels he tested so that puts the Shamal in perspective. I don’t have these bookmarked any more but if you punch in the key words on a search engine you should be able to find the info.
Where the Shamal really shined in the wind tunnel test was in cross winds. It was much less affected than was the Cx or Specialized tri spoke. I sold my Cx but kept the Shamal(s) for this reason.