Who out there races crits and road races with there powertaps? I am looking at getting a powertap and tring to decide if I should bulid it into a Zipp or DT RR1.1 rim.

Any help would be greatly appreicated.

Who out there races crits and road races with there powertaps? I am looking at getting a powertap and tring to decide if I should bulid it into a Zipp or DT RR1.1 rim.

Any help would be greatly appreicated.

I race with mine alot esp early season races. Standard hub built into a cxp 33 rim with 32 spokes. My main concer is realiablity and repairability. I would not get the hib built into anything that you did not want to train on since you need to be able to do both.

I curretnly use Ksyrium SL for race wheels. I like them alot because they are super stiff. I am leaning towards the DT RR1.1 because then I don't have to worry about being to hard on the wheels.

I have a Powertap Pro built up on a Velocity Deep-V. It's heavier than my stock Bontrager Race Lite but I still do training races and road races with it. I put on my light wheel for crits and hillclimbs because you're having to accelerate so much more and I feel that's when the weight becomes noticeable.

I race with mine (32 spoke Velocity Aerohead OC). No problems. I don't notice the weight, I just pedal harder.

beside the weight issue, do you find it useful to have the power data from the race..

beside the weight issue, do you find it useful to have the power data from the race..

absolutely positively, YES. There's a somewhat steep learning curve re how to train with a power meter. Get "Training and Racing With a Power Meter" by Allen and Coggan. Get Cyclingpeaks WKO+ (software). Get on the Google wattage list and check in at the cyclingforums.com power forum.

All are infinitely better resources than asking here (no offense!).

agree with Shawndoggy other than you will get some reasonable advice on these threads sometimes.

I have my 28 hole PT mounted on DT 1.1 and have raced 28 crits and RR's on it this year without it even needing to be trued. Certainly dont notice any weight issues during the crits. Steep RR's being able to monitor power to keep from blowing up is worth any weight sacrifice (assuming you have done enough work on the PT to know your CP numbers).

For me, racing with the PT has collated fantastic data that I can then use when planning interval workouts etc. Since races are generally at max, you translate that to your intervals and there is no hiding.

I have a Wireless 2.4 mounted to a 32h cxp33. I use it on every ride training or racing. I would echo all of shawndoggy's suggestions.

The reason why I am asking about racing with powertap is because I have a pair of Hed Alps and Mavic Ksyrium and would need to sell them in order to buy a race/training wheel. I love my ksyrium SL for racing so I am trying to figure out what to do. I am thinking about the Zipp 404 to get.

Are you thinking of buying two wheels? One for racing and the other for training. While I know some guys that have that setup and I can't say I wouldn't mind having some blingy race wheels I have never minded or even thought about the extra weight on my current setup. I think you will be very happy once you start using the powertap. You might want to consider building the wheel around the IRD Cadence Aero rim. If I were to do it over thats what I would get.

The reason why I am asking about racing with powertap is because I have a pair of Hed Alps and Mavic Ksyrium and would need to sell them in order to buy a race/training wheel. I love my ksyrium SL for racing so I am trying to figure out what to do. I am thinking about the Zipp 404 to get.

There's nothing particularly snazzy about the Ksyrium as a race wheel. It isn't super light, it isn't aero. I guess it's kinda got a "blingy" thing going for it. But a myriad of handbuilt and "system" wheels are lighter and/or more aero.

Whatever wheels you get, you want to be wheels that you will ride ALL THE TIME. If you don't get the vast majority of your rides recorded via the PM, you are losing a lot of the usefulness of the cyclingpeaks software. So if the choice is between 404s and a "standard" build (i.e. open pros), I'd go with the standard build unless you plan on riding the 404s day in day out (which I wouldn't recommend, speaking from personal experience).

Personally I race a PT Pro 32h hub laced 3x to an open pro. Yeah, it's 300g heavier than my handbuilt rear, but until I don't have an extra 300g on me, it isn't worth worrying about. Just pedal a little harder, eh?

One thing is for racing but keep in mind that you also have to train on it as well, then a zipp would just be zilly :) I'd rather race on a heavy, affordable, rim than train on a light/aero, expensive, one.

Are you thinking of buying two wheels? One for racing and the other for training. While I know some guys that have that setup and I can't say I wouldn't mind having some blingy race wheels I have never minded or even thought about the extra weight on my current setup. I think you will be very happy once you start using the powertap. You might want to consider building the wheel around the IRD Cadence Aero rim. If I were to do it over thats what I would get.

I'll second that IRC Cadence suggestion. Better yet, you can give Mike Garcia a ring at Oddsandendos.com. He carries the same Niobium based rim (just without the IRD sticker) and can give you advice on a good high performing yet reliable build. Troy at Ligero is another one to consult. For example, you can get a 24 hole PT hub and build it around the Niobium with some Sapim CX Ray spokes. That would be a good training AND racing wheel.

Agreed that some of the best data you can get with a power meter is from races. If you're gonna spend the money on a power meter, commit to using it to it's fullest potential.

I have my PT built around the Velocity Asymmetric rim. Straight gauge spokes, brass nipples.....VERY heavy, but I can jump curbs with it. It was my first wheel build, so I did a no-brainer 3x. My next PT wheel will look like something very similar to the advice I gave.

I ended up getting a powertap bulid into the DT R1.1 rim 32 hole, it was the cheapest wheelset up...

Congrats on your purchase. Make sure to get the Cyclingpeaks software. You can try it for free.