Hey... I finally got the cash to purchase a serious set of tubular race wheels. I am racing cat 2 and since all the races are in rolling terrain or crits I already decided to go with a deeper dish.

So here my question:
- Should I spend the money for a pair of Zipp 404s?
- How about Easton Tempest II?

I looks like the warranty on Zipp is 1 year. On Easton gear lifetime...

Thoughts? Personal Experience?

tnx

Blah... why buy an old Easton when you can get the new EC90 version...

Hey... I finally got the cash to purchase a serious set of tubular race wheels. I am racing cat 2 and since all the races are in rolling terrain or crits I already decided to go with a deeper dish.

So here my question:
- Should I spend the money for a pair of Zipp 404s?
- How about Easton Tempest II?

I looks like the warranty on Zipp is 1 year. On Easton gear lifetime...

Thoughts? Personal Experience?

tnx

The Zipp 404's are a fantastic wheelset, very aerodynamic and not cheap for the weight. I've found the rims breaking surfaces to be inconsistent; lumpy feeling. I think the Easton Carbon Tempest 2's are a great value; price to weight. I have raced Reynolds DV46t tubies and am absolutely in love with the DT 240s hubs. These wheels are scary fast and bomb proof. The Carbon rim is stiff yet forgiving and perfectly machined which makes for a smooth confidence inspiring breaking feel. 1300g and around $1700 makes this a wheelset to consider.
email me at valentinop@wrenchscience.com, I would be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding the right pair of wheels for you.
Best Wishes to you this Race Season.:thumbsup:

The Eastons use a Zipp built rim that is the same as the 404 rim without the dimples. The Easton Tempest II will have superior hubs and cost less.
There are lots of good carbon wheels that are not Zipps. Shimano, Bontrager, Hed, Reynolds. and more all make wheels on par with Zipp.

http://accel95.mettre-put-idata.over-blog.com/0/02/72/10/Tests-Acheteur/base-de-donnees/aero_english.jpg

http://www.rouesartisanales.com/article-15505311.html

The Eastons use a Zipp built rim that is the same as the 404 rim without the dimples.

Actually, this is no longer the case.

I have been looking into getting a set of Easton deep carbons myself. I have spoken with the Easton wheel tech department a couple times this past week. The story with Tempest II Carbon and EC90 Aero is prior to about August of 2007 the Tempest II did use the non-dimpled Zipp 404 rim with the R3 Easton hub. The final production run of Tempest II Carbons which were sold late summer / fall of 2007 did not use the Zipp rim. Easton has developed its own 56mm carbon rim. This final batch of Tempest II was produced with this new Easton rim. This rim can be identified by the fact is has internal nipples at the rim. The Zipp rim has external nipples. This final run of Tempest II with the new Easton rim does have the R3 hub.

The 2008 Easton EC90 Aero and TT wheels also use the new Easton rim with the internal nipples. However the EC90 is built with the R4 hub. According to the Tech department, the R4 hub is slightly heavier than the R3, while the new Easton rim is slightly lighter than the Zipp rim. I asked what the difference is between the hub weights and I was told they did not have that number for me. I was told the only weight info they had for me was that the Tempest II wheel set weighed 1400 gm and the EC90 Aero weighs 1370gm. I asked if the 1400gm number was the old Tempest II or the late Tempest II and the tech said they did not know. The Easton website published specs for the old Tempest II state 1265gm. I did not challenge the Tech I spoke with about the 1400gm vs the 1265 gm. As we know from the carbon wheel test done by Francois on this site, the measured weight of the '05 Tempest II was approximately 1340gm. So the bottom line is I was unable to get a straight answer about the weight differences between the three versions of this wheel (old Tempest II, late Tempest II and EC90 Aero).

I then asked the Tech what makes the R4 hub heavier and was told that although the R4 hub body is lighter than the R3 body, the R4 uses a larger axel and larger bearings along with a different bearing preload arrangement. The tech again said they did not have actual hub weights for me.

The tech also mentioned all of the Tempest II graphics are applied stickers. The graphics on the EC 90 are something other than stickers (printed, screened?) and will not peal off like a sticker.

I apologize for being so long, but I hope this info might be useful to someone considering Easton Tempest II or EC90 wheels...

Hey... I finally got the cash to purchase a serious set of tubular race wheels. I am racing cat 2 and since all the races are in rolling terrain or crits I already decided to go with a deeper dish.

So here my question:
- Should I spend the money for a pair of Zipp 404s?
- How about Easton Tempest II?

I looks like the warranty on Zipp is 1 year. On Easton gear lifetime...

Thoughts? Personal Experience?

tnx
+1 for Reynold DV also.
But I heard some great things about the new Lew Rims.
Their set is over $5000 with carbon spokes.
But build them with Tune hubs/Sapim Cx-Ray spokes will get you a set of Aero/Stiff Wheels for well under 1000 grams for about $2000! Unbelievable...

Actually, this is no longer the case.

I have been looking into getting a set of Easton deep carbons myself. I have spoken with the Easton wheel tech department a couple times this past week. The story with Tempest II Carbon and EC90 Aero is prior to about August of 2007 the Tempest II did use the non-dimpled Zipp 404 rim with the R3 Easton hub. The final production run of Tempest II Carbons which were sold late summer / fall of 2007 did not use the Zipp rim. Easton has developed its own 56mm carbon rim. This final batch of Tempest II was produced with this new Easton rim. This rim can be identified by the fact is has internal nipples at the rim. The Zipp rim has external nipples. This final run of Tempest II with the new Easton rim does have the R3 hub.

The 2008 Easton EC90 Aero and TT wheels also use the new Easton rim with the internal nipples. However the EC90 is built with the R4 hub. According to the Tech department, the R4 hub is slightly heavier than the R3, while the new Easton rim is slightly lighter than the Zipp rim. I asked what the difference is between the hub weights and I was told they did not have that number for me. I was told the only weight info they had for me was that the Tempest II wheel set weighed 1400 gm and the EC90 Aero weighs 1370gm. I asked if the 1400gm number was the old Tempest II or the late Tempest II and the tech said they did not know. The Easton website published specs for the old Tempest II state 1265gm. I did not challenge the Tech I spoke with about the 1400gm vs the 1265 gm. As we know from the carbon wheel test done by Francois on this site, the measured weight of the '05 Tempest II was approximately 1340gm. So the bottom line is I was unable to get a straight answer about the weight differences between the three versions of this wheel (old Tempest II, late Tempest II and EC90 Aero).

I then asked the Tech what makes the R4 hub heavier and was told that although the R4 hub body is lighter than the R3 body, the R4 uses a larger axel and larger bearings along with a different bearing preload arrangement. The tech again said they did not have actual hub weights for me.

The tech also mentioned all of the Tempest II graphics are applied stickers. The graphics on the EC 90 are something other than stickers (printed, screened?) and will not peal off like a sticker.

I apologize for being so long, but I hope this info might be useful to someone considering Easton Tempest II or EC90 wheels...

Though I am not looking at these wheels, I would like to thank you for posting all this on here. It will surely be of at least some use to someone and this is exactly that this site is used for. Thanks again.