I'm thinking about purchasing a race wheelset to be used mostly for Crits and flat RR's. I'd like to get a stiff, durable, and relatively light aero wheelset. I prefer a tubular wheelset. I've mostly looked at Zipp 303's, 404's and Reynolds Stratus-DV. I'm leaning away from Mavic Carbones due to their weight.

Does anyone have any opinions on these wheelsets? Durable? Stiff? And most importantly: Fast?

Thanks.

Peter

How about Nimble wheels? I am using a set of crosswinds for centuries and they rock. They are a tri spoke design, but only weigh 1500g per pair for the tubies. I rode them saturday in the santa fe century and can attest to the stiffness of the wheels in the grind up heartbreak hill. Both in the saddle and out.

Nimble also makes a killer wheel called the fly. It tips the scale around 1100g for the tubie version. Their wheels are pricy, but can be had for a dream on ebay. I got my $1500 crosswinds for under $500 on ebay. Here is a picture of the fly version of the wheel.

http://www.nimble.net/images/FLY_rim_v60.jpg

I would say Reynolds if you have the money. The Zipps are pretty nice as well, but there pricing is a bit crazy.

Don't forget American Classic as well, they do custom Carbon tubie wheels, and they use the Zipp rim I think. In any event the price is better, and having the custom option is great when you are dropping that sort of cash.

I'm thinking about purchasing a race wheelset to be used mostly for Crits and flat RR's. I'd like to get a stiff, durable, and relatively light aero wheelset. I prefer a tubular wheelset. I've mostly looked at Zipp 303's, 404's and Reynolds Stratus-DV. I'm leaning away from Mavic Carbones due to their weight.

Does anyone have any opinions on these wheelsets? Durable? Stiff? And most importantly: Fast?

Thanks.

Peter

I live down the road from Reynolds so I've seen a few of their wheels on friend's bikes. I like the way they look, but I personally own 404s.

I have a pair of 18/28 road Zipps and a pair of 24/24 track wheels built out of regular road rims. VERY stiff-riding wheels. Seem to be very durable. I like the ability to spec the # of spokes YOU want vs. pre-built wheels.

For really tight crits, I'll ride my track 404 on the front 'cause I've seen an 18-hole Zipp fold in a field sprint. (IIRC, someone stuck a pedal in the guy's wheel, ripping out spokes, but I could be wrong.)

HTH,

M

I have a set of AC carbon wheels for 2 years now.I use them for racing and for very hilly long trainning rides. I live in Costa Rica, all roads here are in regular to very bad shape. It is also VERY HILLY. They are built with Zipp 58 mm tubular rims, 16/24 spokes wheesmith XL14 spokes everywhere but driveside (DB14 there). They are way cheaper than zipps inhouse wheel sets and you get to choose spoke type and count. Either campy or shimaNO. You can even get them with sapim cx-ray spokes. The hubs are VERY durable and light. Down here it rains 10 months a year and I have yet to repack the bearings. Highly recomended.