Im looking into carbon tubulars , I will use them 4 to 5 times a season,A full IM, half, sprints.But at 2 grand(Zipp,Mavic,American Classic,Cane Creek) I was looking at other wheels Pro-lite, Token,Extreme,they are more in the 1000.00 range.Any ideas? I did have for two years Hed3C on rear and Stinger on front(they where great combo),Had to sell last year for cash flow,I hate to think about it as it seems quality wheel prices are not going down.
Just go for a set of 808’s. You only live once in life, it will not kill the bank and you will never say “I should have…”.
many other brands buy Zipp non dimpled rims and rebadge them with their own logo. (Elite, Easton I believe, etc) It pays to be a smarter shopper as you can often get Zipps at below Zipp pricing.
If you can get hold of April 2007 Triathlete Magazine, they actually, for once, did a pretty good review of the wheels that are out there for purchase.
I have HEDs and I’m quite happy with them. I doubt my last words in life are going to be “If only I would have bought 808s…”
Just go for a set of 808’s. You only live once in life, it will not kill the bank and you will never say “I should have…”.
http://www.gottaridebikes.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=RIW0008
Zipp 404 non dimpled rim, Ritchey hubs, use the 15% off code and you’re set.
I have HEDs and I’m quite happy with them. I doubt my last words in life are going to be “If only I would have bought 808s…”
It might be “What single wheel purchase would have made me faster at all my races?” 
If no Zipps, I would go with the Easton wheels as a second choice.
It depends on if you have the money to dump on the zipps or not. If so, then get the zipps. If not get another cheaper brand and use for the year. Sell them at the end of the year for a couple hundred less than you purchased them for. Use that money to cover 1/2 the expense of zipps for next year. Wheels are like bikes. If your like me, you’re never satisified with what you’re on until you assume you’re on the best. So in the long run it’s best just to get what you want now instead of wasting time and money getting things that you’re not totally going to be satisfied with. In the end isn’t that why people purchase new bikes? What I’m on now- wheels, frame, components,- I’m totally satisfied with and that’s taken some time for me to get there. Buying-reselling-buying-reselling. But when I get a new frame I’ll get the same thing I’m on now unless they go in a drastice southbound direction.
Just go for a set of 808’s. You only live once in life, it will not kill the bank and you will never say “I should have…”.
Agree a well all purpose tri wheel set.
A set of aero wheels will save you around a minute over a box rim on a 40 kms TT. When you’re talking dimples on Zipps compared to similiar non dimpled rims, the savings are probably a second or two at best, not much saving for double the money.
Personally, I’d go for a Hed3 and aero disc cover for bang for the buck. But then Zipps are Zipps. Tempting for the coolness factor, but hard (at least for me) to rationalize.
Haven’t you read this forum? You’re not a “real” triathlete unless you own Zipps. Well… that and having an M-Dot tatoo of course.
many other brands buy Zipp non dimpled rims and rebadge them with their own logo. (Elite, Easton I believe, etc) It pays to be a smarter shopper as you can often get Zipps at below Zipp pricing.
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Strangley in the UK most of the other makes using the Zipp rim are more expensive than Zipps. I think this maybe because it is possible to buy Zipps direct from the Distributor which perhaps keeps the price lower? I think Ritcheys and Vuelta’s were selling about £1299 whilst 404’s sell for £999. Unfortunately I hear that Zipp is changing distributers and the UK price is increasing by 20% or so.
Yup, Zipps are now 20-40% more expensive than they used to be.
I’ve only got zipps because there was one website where they forgot to update the price on one page! Needless to say, I took full full advantage!
I asked a similar question the other day (the impossible triangle for wheels) and here is my .02
- Zipps are most likely the ‘best’ in terms of design, hubs, perhaps durability.]
- There are ‘better’ more expensive options than Zipps that offer slightly higher performance (weight mostly)
-The extra grand for these wheels is most likely only going to show on the bank statement (although cool factor is hard to quantify) - the extra grand for Zipps over the likes of Easton, BR, Token, Xtreme, Prolite, Hed, FSA, Xlab, Ritchey, etc. is likely only a few grams, a few watts of drag.
- There are carbon tubies out there that only cost $500 that will give you heavy rims, hubs, and questionalble longevity - but look pretty cool.
If you are careful and patient you can find any set of wheels for about $1000 on ebay or RBR. (but do you really want a set of wheels iwth no warranty?)
I think that companieswho design and produce their own wheels such as Blackwell and Hed are in different company than those of Token, Extreme, FSA and Easton.
Not to mention that Hed Stingers and Jets use the same patented shape as Zipps so to say Zipps have the best “design” more or less includes Hed into that category.
I think that you have a good point, but there are several companies (Cane creek, 06 Easton) that are using predimple versions of the 404.
I think that the combination of the dimples and very well executed hubs give the Zipps an edge over the competition. I’m not taking anything away from the likes of Hed and BR, just saying that there may be some performance to be gianed by going to Zipp.
How do the Flashpoints compare to the likes of the 404’s?
my understanding is that they are the old hoops and fitted with downgraded hubs.
I sold a 909 tubular set and bought a used set of Flashpoints. I think the Flashpoints are faster based off my informal testing. Incidentally, in my unscientific “just spin the wheel and see how long it goes” the Flashpoint hubs seem more smooth than the 909s. If they are downgraded hubs, then they are very good. If you look at the stuff that the german magazine published, that Zipp has backed, the 808 is about six seconds faster per 40K than a rebadged, non-dimpled 404 rim. That is a very small margin and one that helped me decided on the Flashpoints. I tape a rear cover on it for races and it seems to be holding very well so far.
Chad
6 seconds per 40k or maybe less than 30 seconds for an IM. I would be interested in knowing if this number would be in the margin of error for the test. I am with you on the 404 thoughts. My fastest times were always on 404’s. I can’t explain why my 999/909/808 set up was never faster given the same fitness and conditions. I just don’t get it. To me, the best bet for a wheelset out there is the Zipp 404 or Hed Stinger/Jet 60. I just don’t see the gains past that depth being worth the money. Unless of course you race TT and not triathlon.
Good wheels, probably on par with Ritchey wheels (same wheel), but comparing a set of new FP60 to my 2 year old 404s, you can really see/feel the difference in hubs and spokes. FPs are good cheap aerowheels but I would not buy them.