Contemplating the new EC 90mm TT Eastons. Currently riding Zipp 808, 404 dimpled tubulars. Anyone made the switch to Easton from Zipps? Like the price, and the look, don’t know how they feel?. I have seen many posts on here that lots of people train on there Eastons…Seems to be the best bang for buck when it comes to Carbon…
Any thoughts…
MW
not sure why you would switch from an industry leader to a second tier wheel?
Hmmm Easton second tier huh… Apparently the zipp marketing money is working on at least one person.
agreed… this is absolutely mind boggling. Why “upgrade” and pay for an inferior product?
I’m pretty sure we are going on objective analysis here by independent parties other than Zipp’s own marketing. Do you have something that proves otherwise?
or…velonews’ wind tunnel tests:
Vision Trimax Ultimate, 175g
Cole T85 Lite, 160g
Easton EC90 TT, 145g
Bontrager Aeolus 9, 120g
Zipp 808, 110g
Hed Stinger 9, 85g
.
No do you? But the point was the use of the term second tier. Typical triathlete. If it’s not brand x, y or z then I’m losing .01 seconds per km.
See above… but yes I have that data and much more. It would help if people on ST actually backed their comments up once in a while with factual data but to my point why would you go and spend additional monies on a product that is slower. That makes absolutely no sense.
the data above (along with some additional stuff provided by Jordan) shows that zipp and hed are on par with each other. Everyone else is playing catch up.
For your information I ride a variety of $40 used wheels on my various bikes. Nothing at all fancy. it’s not a matter of status. It’s a matter of who has the best technology. Wheels are one of the few things we have hard data on that’s relatively certain, so it’s pretty easy to say exactly what you suggest…
And I supposed I should make a blanket statement like “typical tax-dollars at work. Spend money to train USMC who can’t do simple cost/benefit analysis.”
not sure why you would switch from an industry leader to a second tier wheel?
I remember comments like this every time I pass people racing on Zipps . . . and I smile.
Dimples . . . bawahahahahahahahahahaha.
Luckily for you other countries don’t attack us with math equations, cost/gain analysis or business models. If they did we’d all be screwed.
Just post more. That’ll make you faster.
oddly enough I pass people on zipps too. With my forte titans. And it has nothing to do with the wheels. Their wheels are faster than mine. And my engine is bigger.
Why is it that people like you are unable to separate what equipment is fastest from who is riding it?
Why is that people like you are unable to understand that there are a few other factors (other than just wind tunnel performance) that may determine which wheels are indeed faster?
The quality of the hub, and the weight and stiffness of the wheel are just as important in determining which wheels may indeed be the fastest, but the oh so sexy wind tunnels results don’t address those points do they?
or…velonews’ wind tunnel tests:
Vision Trimax Ultimate, 175g
Cole T85 Lite, 160g
Easton EC90 TT, 145g
Bontrager Aeolus 9, 120g
Zipp 808, 110g
Hed Stinger 9, 85g
Never new the Hed’s were 25g less drag than the Zipps. That is quite significant, no?
please elaborate. So that I may fisk your explanation.
theres nothing better than getting some hed.
you gotta un-zipp to really appreciate hed. hed always makes an appropriate gift.
The HED is a deeper wheel. It’s to be expected.
youre so right, the deeper the hed the better. it may be little for some to handle at first but you get off the course faster.
OR I could just do it now.
The quality of the hub
** Bearing drag is such a tiny portion of the overall drag on the bike that even if easton’s hubs were 10x better than zipp’s it wouldn’t be enough to overcome the aero difference.**
and the weight
oh god. Where’s jackmott when you need him. Let’s say this all together. Aero. Trumps. Weight. With a caveat for alpe d’huez time trials and the like. Weight just isn’t that important. It’s not. And if you bring up rotational mass…well, there’s a thread about that too. And it involves the Runge-Kutta method. BOOYAH. (how often do you get to combine numerical methods and cycling???)
stiffness
I’ve not seen any data about stiffness. But let’s think about this. There is no substantial vertical compliance in any quality wheel. By substantial i mean with a displacement large enough to absorb significant energy from pedaling. and forces in the axial direction are small, so it’d be tough to absorb much energy that way. I’d say stiffness doesn’t contribute, one way or the other to speed.
of the wheel are just as important in determining which wheels may indeed be the fastest
This may be the worst part of your response. It shows you just don’t understand the magnitude of the affects we’re talking about. Aero is large. Rolling resistance is next. Weight is less than rolling resistance, and bearing drag is small. Energy lost due to frame/wheel flex are TINY. Not measurable. Miniscule.
So in conclusion, believe in science. It works.