Hi
Does anyone have a link to a good group test/review of deep section race wheels? My LBS is pushing me towards some Easton EC90 Aeros but I’d like to see how severl of them stack up against each other (HED, Zipp et al) preferably tubulars.

Does anyone here have any top tips?

Carbonzone on e bay, good service, seem to be qualtiy and cheap. I’ve ordered two 50mm tubs off them and no complaints at all (front wheels for tt’ing currently with vittoria evo cx tubs – nice!).Not a road racer myself but not sure I’d spend loads more on carbon wheels for road racing when one crash and they’re gone. That said Mrs k has ea90 wheels and they’ve been good

From the reviews I’ve read, the Eastons scored average on quality and below average on ‘bang for your buck’!

Other sources state the the Planet – X hand build I believe to be good value for money.

Strada are scoring well atm, £940 for a pair of 50’s.

From experience, unless you are dripping with cash, save them for race day only.

Pm me if you’d like the full story.

From experience, unless you are dripping with cash, save them for race day only.

Agreed.

A little more cash but check out Tune Schwarzbrenner’s. I’ve got the 42mm clinchers, the braking, even in the wet is phenominal!! I doubt you’d find a better braking carbon rim.

This months Cycling Plus has a review of the latest aero wheels.

Hed Jet 6 come out on top.

Decent wheels are stronger than you think, I use my Zipp 404s all the time on my road bike for training (although not during winter), bunny hop speed bumps, jump up and down kerbs and not had the slightest problem with them – still straight as a die and the hubs spin fine….

Zipp are the best wheels you can buy.

Why do you think you need deep section carbon race wheels?

Seriously!

Wheels is my business, so I’ll not mention brands 🙂

What do you mean by “race wheels” is the first big question, TT’s, Crits, Sportive, league style road racing? – if the latter, do you generally rise with the pack, or long breakaways, what types of course? All these questions come into play before deciding the right wheels to use!

Deep section rims carry a significant weight penalty, but a big aero bonus – if you’re leading off the front on open courses then thats maybe acceptable, but if you’re in the pack, then its all disadvantage – the broken up, eddying air reduces the aero effects, and you’ve got added weight, in the rim, giving a less responsive, heavier wheel, throw in the disadvantages from side winds and it starts to get messy.

full carbon? huge, huge loss of braking performance in the wet!

Clincher or tub? tubs great if you’ve got a support vehicle, good luck if you’re fixing it yourself by the roadside (same goes for road tubeless!)

How hilly? the weight/aero balance cancel each other out dependent on specific courses. Whats your average speed – again the weight/aero balance, it sits somewhere around the 20mph average.

What frame – the important factor is the airflow through the entire bike, not just the wheel – I’ve seen data showing deep section wheels slower on some frames, as the wheels spits the air at high velocity into a big, fat downtube – while the air from a shallow rim, spoked wheel breaks up the airflow and actually gives a lower drag coefficient through the “wheel, bike and rider combo”

So, its a hell, hell of a lot more complex question that “which wheels”!

I can safely say I bought my 404s purely on looks – they match the frame perfectly.

They do however, ride really nicely and are miles better than Ksyrium SSLs which preceded them.

Dark side by brf, on Flickr

Those zipps would match any bike, theyre black and white. 😕 (nice CR1 though)

Cant see any reason to buy deep section clinchers, especially ones with alloy braking as they are simply too heavy and expensive for a rim that will eventually wear.

Train on normal clincher wheels(Dura Ace carbon laminates- light and cheap), race on carbon tubs. If a hilly horrible wet race then shove an alloy wheel on front so you can stop.

Deep section carbon tubs do feel fast though, not sure you’ll notice much difference between different types if you are not already using them.

As Zulu says- horses for courses.Would never train on tubs – just toooo much hassle compared to clinchers

Hi everyone, thanks for the answers

I am riding road races, generally 80-100km in my current class and in Denmark so there are not many hills but plenty of wind. Average speed for my last race was 40kph and I was in the bunch (near the front) throughout. Bike is a Cervelo R3SL

These are for races only, I have Dura Ace carbon laminate wheels which I use for training and have raced on to date without problems

I can’t get cycling plus here, is it available online or does anyone have a scan?
I used to race tris on HED 3s which were fast, but not very stiff. I quite fancy the Stingers but as I am +90kg I am worried about the stiffness.

What now then?

bump

your 90kg + has thrown me ……still thinking 😀

Zipp Clydesdale (Max now?) are too expensive and they seemed to have dropped the HED equivalent build for bigger riders. I’ve been happy with Mavics before but the Cosmic ultimate is too expensive and the normal carbone doens’t seem light enough and I would have gone for tubs

The answers could well be to stick with the DA clinchers I suppose, they’re really nice wheels but I’ve fallen for the idea of some deep section wheels

And Planet X are not an option, I’ve had 2 sets of their wheels and they’ve both let me down.

I got a set of handbuilt 50mm Gigantex tubulars from Derek @ Wheelsmith. Great wheels and service, the non ultralite rims are rated to 110kg too.

enve?

The new Enve wheels look beautiful. I don’t know what they are going to cost at the moment though. I don’t know about any weight limit either…

Dura ace c35’s?….although puzzlingly they are listed as being heavier than the c50’s.I’m running rs80 50mm’s and they are plenty stiff enough for racing crit.Might go down the tub route but its a lot of expense for a set of wheels I’ll ride 1-2 hours a week 20 weeks a year.

Yeah, but you’ll be PRO and they’ll look f’ing cool 8)

Best review I’ve found, somewhat out of date and not complete unfortunately, but perhaps of some use: http://www.rouesartisanales.com/article-15441821.html

strada do enve i think?

Eying up some Zipps on eBay at the moment, but I am a bit worried that I really need the Max (formerly Clydesdale) build.

Are there any bigger guys on here running standard Zipps?

Check out the rol range.

Sorry for the highjack…

What’s the consensus on using deep carbon rims for long days out, not racing but looking for a decent time over a course, say the Fred Whitton. I know that’s crazy hilly but there are long sections where an aero advantage might be a good idea. Or would a solo, small group rider be better off with the lightest practical wheelset?

…again, sorry for the highlack (but not that sorry that I didn’t post!)…

Zulu-Eleven – Member

full carbon? huge, huge loss of braking performance in the wet!

Not with the Schwarzbrenners.

Ok,

For the last time (year right) you do NOT require support cars when using tubs. The truth is, they are a 1000% easier to fit, during a race or training, than clinchers…how on earth do you think long distance triathlon works? I’ve used tubs for long distance events and training and I can reliably inform that they are p1ss easy to replace.
You have to pre-stretch em on an old tub rim, again very easy…just swap em round each time ur fettling in the shed. Before race or training, give em a quick lick of tub glue (TBH you can get away with out doing this every time, once there is a fine layer) but the secret is to leave a small section free from glue opposite the valve (on the tub rim) so if you do get a flat (which has never happened to me in 3years, including all my races) you simply locate the none-glued section, rip the mother off the rim, bung on the spare (so easy), beast the CO2 and off.

If you practice this a couple of times, you can complete the entire process in under 5mins…coz I used to time myself….coz I’m a geek. Then, prior to ur ride or race fold em up and tape em under the seat. The aesthetic takes a while to adjust to, as we all love things to fit into our mini wedge but once you get over that it’s a revelation.

Agreed, perhaps a little more prep work but, just like going tubeless, once you hone the skills it really is not difficult at all.
I would never consider racing on clinchers.

QED.