I need some new wheels for my bike. I’m going to be racing my first season of duathlons this year and want a set of wheels that can handle all the miles I’ll put on them in training but also be fairly aero and light for racing. I’m also only willing to spend around US$800. I was thinking of the Hed Jet 60. Anything out there that would be better?
I’ve been amazed at the speed and durability of the Bontrager Race Aero wheels that came on my Trek Equinox 9. I’m sure they’d be well within your budget … though nowhere near as sexy as your HED Jets (and GASP … Bontrager is Trek … horrors). There have been a few threads here on Slowtwitch where people have sung the praises of the paired spoke design of the Bontragers and Rolfs. I have a HED Alps front/Renn disk rear for racing and they’re only barely faster – and I’d never consider training on them on the rough roads I have where I live.
Bob C.
RealDesign Supersonic 40 - If these are still available for $500 or less they’re a steal. I may drop a bid.
Or these for anything under $900.
I keep posting this up and I will continue to do so, because it is perhaps the one thing that can really make your race day equipment work for you and maximise your performance:
Train on: durable, non aero rim, clincher rim/wheel combo. You don’t need to spend a ton of $$$
Race on: The lightest, strongest and most aero tubular rim/wheel combo that you can afford.
Fleck
Bontrager Race Lite Aero…I concur and so do some others:
http://www.roadbikereview.com/cat/wheels/wheelsets/Bontrager/PRD_303581_2490crx.aspx
.
A couple things to think about.
-
Any rim that has a rim depth of less than 38 mm is not “aero”. Enough studies have been done to show that rim depths less than that are no different than a box rim. I think I read on Zipps site that 80 percent of the wind resistance of a wheel takes place in the first 2-3 inches of the wheel/spokes. Which explains why most deep rims are 50-90 mm in depth. The 38-50 mm range is more aero than a box rim but obviously not as good as a deep rim/disc.
-
Having a separate set of wheels is a good idea for a couple of reasons that won’t of themselves make you faster. Your race wheels should have new tires on them. This means they won’t be worn, have cuts, or potential flat tire problems that develop in a training tire. You will save a little time with a aero wheel, but you will lose a lot more time with a flat tire. The wheels will also likely be more true, so again less likely to develop brake rub, broken spokes and side to side movement.
-
Tubular vs. clincher. I will not argue this in detail—that can be found elsewhere, but I will make one point. Tubular rims will not have pinch flats if you happen to hit bumps hard in the middle of a race. Their design allows more air volume above the rim without sharp edges. I have hit a plastic parking barrier (the small ones the height of a normal curb–the road used it as a speed bump) on a Zipp tubular race wheel at 20 mph. Beyond the fact that I nearly lost control when the bike jumped—I had my head down and forgot about it—the tire did/could not pinch flat and I finished the race and never had a problem with the rim or tire.
-
eBay is the great triathlon equalizer. If you gave me $800, I could bike a set of training AND racing wheels. The difference in performance between an old Zipp 400/440 and the new 404s is miniscule, but people have to have the latest and greatest and this is good for you. Or you can buy a set of solid training wheels for $250 bucks leaving a good $550 to ebay race wheels. I did a quick perusal of what is on right now and there are probably a dozen wheels/sets that could be had for less then $600, some of them a lot less.
Chad
I wouldn’t go with Carbon wheels for training. If you want a good set for both training and racing you should stick with aluminium rim. With “only” US$800 I’d thought of AmClassic 420 Pro. Take a look at their website (www.amclassic.com)
Adding some insight… most of the pro athletes (triathletes and cyclist) I see, use the Mavic Ksyrium wheelset in training.
Chad,
Great post. Excellent points.
Indeed, there seems to be a good selection of very good used gear out there. Not sure why this is - great bike gear should last for years( My girlfriend finished second at IMC this year on an almost 10 year old set of old ZIPP 440’s !!) I would reccomend that if anyone is buying wheels second hand, particularly race wheels, that they take them to the BEST wheel building person in their area and have them checked over and tuned up.
Fleck
Get a set of totally bomb proof HED3’s. Great for training and racing! I use mine everyday and race on them too. Mine are now about 10 years old and look and ride as new!! You can’t kill 'em.
Bontrager Race Lite…5000 miles and still true…even after hitting some major potholes.
I’d pick up something like this for training on …
and they’d work for racing too, and then look for a set of used Hed tubulars to race on (or a Hed front, Renn rear).
Thanks to everyone for their replies. I’m now considering getting a cheaper set to train on and then an aero set for racing. Even still, with my budget I haven’t found anything faster than the Hed Jet 60 or Rolf Vigor. I’ll keep my eye on e-bay for a while and see what pops up.