Wheel decision - Help needed

Triathlon Forum
1

Seeking for some advice. I’m looking around for some new wheels for my tri bike, wheels will be used for training and possibly windy race day. Also have rear disc & fron h3 trispoke. Wheels I’m replacing are spinergy stealth ss (already sold) 43mm clinchers.

Here’s the wheels I can get, all about the same price range.

  • 2009 Easton Ec90 aero 56mm Tubular with vittoria (supposely 500km)
  • 2009 Easton Tempest II Tubular with tufo giro (supposely 150km)
  • 2009 Mavic Cosmic SLR clinchers (3000km)
  • 2009 Reynolds SDV66T tubular (kinda new)

I never really owned tubulars, so kinda unsure if it’s usable for training or if it’s a pain. My current other wheels use regular pads, so would need to alternate between brake pads. Even if they’re not that aero & deep, was leaning toward Cosmic since I did read some reviews saying they’re almost bulletproof. Streets condition here are pretty bad, so don’t want to get them aligned every week or two.

I mainly do sprint & olympic dist tri, and might go for HIM next season.

Your inputs will be really appreciated

2

my thoughts are that for training you should get some cheap, durable, normal wheels.

3

I do have some cheaper older mavic cosmos wheels I could use.

So then let’s say they would more use on race occasions

4

I would get the Carbone’s, but only because no better option exists. I personally wouldn’t roll tubular wheels, especially for training.

5

I think it all comes down to , do you want 5.00 flats or 80.00 flats. 99.9% of the time clincher the way to go today for most riders, there very little to gain with tubulars today but a lot to loose with all the new high tec clincher rims today.

e-mail me i will send our complete wheel list we have on special, you can save lot. we have both tubular and clincher .

www.BicycleDoctorusa.com

e-mail bicycledoctor@att.net

6

+1 on Mavic Cosmic Carbones. They are my favorite all-around wheelset, great for racing and plenty strong to train on every day. But instead of 2009 SLRs with 3000kms on them, I’d look for a pair of slightly newer SLs with less prior usage.

7

SLR been sold to a quicker buyer, my bad.

now got to keep looking around I suppose

8

Got good deal now on zipp 404 year 2009, about 1000-1250km on them

sounds pretty good to me
.

9

Get a set of ~60mm deep-V clinchers with aluminum rims.

HED Jet6, Zip 404 (or the SRAM and Flashpoint versions), and Cosmic Carbones are all durable enough for training, fast enough for RRs, and can handle windy conditions.

Avoid tubulars for training; just too costly and hard to change out on the road.

10

Training wheels aren’t racing wheels.

11

I have been racing with the mavics this past season. They are not as fast as HED orZipp but they are great wheels and so strong. You can train day in and day out with the mavics and they will continue to maintain their performance. All in all a great bang for your buck.