Just did my first race this weekend with an aero wheel and I may be sold. I put a front spinergy on and it was amazing how much faster it was. I went about 5 minutes faster in a half!
So I’m in the market for my own wheel(s) but couldn’t rationalize spending full rice for wheel(s) I’ll only use for a few races. So where do you get your wheels? Any places have better deals? Anyone have luck on ebay or veloswap or used? Anyone get burned trying to save a buck?
My first aero wheels were used, so I didn’t pay full price. They’re HED Deep and CX, nice wheels. In fact, if you live in the SF Bay Area, I’m thinking of selling them since I just bought a disc and would like to upgrade the front to a HED 3.
Check Craigslist for other possibilities
If you know what you want guys like Trisports.com have annual sales which usually give less 20% which makes the cost a little easier…
I’ve had good luck with ebay. I picked up a very hard to find 24" Hed CX for $65 and a couple sets of original (blue) Mavic Cosmics with new tubulars for $125 and $150. A couple words of advice:
(1) Don’t ever bid on anything from a seller with no feedbacks unless you’re willing to throw that money away.
(2) If you’re looking for a bargain, look for older styles of wheels. Wheels like old Hed CX’s, Campy Shamals, and Mavic Cosmics tend to be really good deals. It’s rare to find a new set of Zipp 404’s or Hed 3’s for much less than you would pay mail-order.
Here are a few sites. You can always find something nice used if you know what you want and are patient.
www.triathlon.com classifieds
SF Bay Area Craigslist (craigslist.org)
www.racersportif.com (Good/great deal depending on exchange rate with Canadian $)
Good luck.
Never pay retail is my motto. I picked up a Hed Deep with rubber for $250, a new Hed jet w/ultegra hub for $125, Hed disk for $400, Zipp 440 front for $175 and a Zipp 404 w/DA hub for the wife for $196 over the last three years. Grand total shipped = $1148. Thats about what a pair of new zipps cost. Check swap meets, ebay, roadbike review.com duathlon.com and hit up all your riding friends to keep an ear open. I’d also check websites from local cycling teams/clubs, tri clubs, running clubs etc. Go to to bike mechanics in the shops, especially if they sponsor a race team, they seem to know who to steer me to for good deals all the time. The latest, a NIB Alpha Q aero fork for $250.
Like others, I say give ebay a shot, I know ive sled wheels in great condition for a steal in the past, and Ive bought wheels in great condition for a steal. In the begining of the year I picked up a pair of 650c 404s model 2002 for $500. they arrived mint. I also have bought a Corima disdk on ebay again mint condition, for $500. Both prices are almost half of retail! Just make sure who you are buying/bidding from is reputable.
I’ve found that prices are more reasonable on www.roadbikereview.com although there are not as many wheels for sale. In my personal experience roadbikereview.com seems to have sellers more knowledgeable about cycling and the equipment.
I suggest checking search engines like google for “Zipp 404” or whatever wheelset you would like. All sorts of classifieds and smaller websites pop up. But with this approach, you need to be patient. I think it took me almost 7 weeks to find what I was looking for. But one day I was directed to Yaqui USA website that advertised brand new 404’s (from a certified dealer + warrantee) for a significantly better price. When I called, Vivien said it was a mistake, but offered them to me anyway. I didn’t like sticking it to them, but an advertised price is an advertised price.
Zipp 440 front, $100 off ebay. Hed CX Deep with newish Conti Sprinter tyre, Dura-Ace hub and cassette, $175 off ebay. Both these wheels are in good shape, I figure I’ll be putting at most 200 miles a year on them racing just sprints and Oly, so they should last me quite a few years.
The Renn disk is very tempting, an excellent price and good reviews from everyone I know who’s used one.
Hed has a closeout page on their website, the deals are fair:
http://www.hedcycling.com/closeouts.htm
Otherwise as someone else noted, you won’t get deals on the newer wheelsets (Zipp 404, etc) on ebay, so look for the older stuff. For example, Specialized tri-spoke wheels are the predecessors of HED 3, and deals can be found on these.
I saw on http://www.hedcycling.com/closeouts.htm that Hed has some wheels that do not meet their trueness spec. Does anyone know what the trueness specification would be for a typical wheel builder? Also, how large would the runout have to be before a MOP rider would notice or start to hinder any aero benefits? Here are a couple examples of the wheels they are discounting. Notice they are clinchers, so they are not really race wheels 
H3 Front 700c CL 7sc019042 f cl .033" $300
H3 Front 700c CL 7sc019462 f cl .036" $250
Check out rec.sport.triathlon There are lots of “for sales”. Last year I got my Zipp404’s for $600 new. They belonged to a French tri team and were being sold by the exporter. He had both 700 and 650 and clincher or tubular. It pays to look around
cruise the expo’s at races.
recently john cobb’s shop came to an event with their fancy rolling store. i snagged an H3 and Hed Alpine for $100 each. they were demo’s with PLENTY of life in them. calculated to include taxes, that’s about $1k of goodies for $200.
sv-
about to put this on ebay, thought I would give this board a chance first. 700cc Hed 3 with tufo S3 light (yellow), and 700cc Hed Superlight Disc with tufo S3 light (also yellow) for sale. These wheels were bought for one race, less than 250 miles total on this set. Need to get a more usuable everyday set.
Wanted to ebay this set for around 750, but will sell seperately.
Also will trade for 700cc set of nimble crosswinds or “aerospoke” brand clinchers.
Any takers out there?
michael
Thanks everyone for all the tips. I’ll be checking those sites out. But to everyone else, leave those sites alone so I can get the good deals.