help me choose some race wheels...

For racing purposes, wheels come down to drag, weight, materials and tires. All mfgrs. claim that their wheels are highly aerodynamic. But, there are some independent tests such as the data you can buy for ~$15 here biketechreview.comconsumers.htmOpen ↗. BTW, I have no relationship with biketechreview. I did purchase the data because I wanted to see the test results. They tested a lot of wheels and I don't think they have a dog in the fight. FWIW, my conclusion is that the study is worth the $15 cost. As to materials, the issue is whether to go with CF. The reason is that it's not just about performance out of the box but whether you can have confidence in a wheel after one or more hard impacts. This is because some internal CF damage is not visible to the naked eye. I have a solution to that problem, but I think it is worth thinking about, especially if you plan on making 50+mph descents. And, of course, choosing between clinchers and tubulars is a pretty big decision. Whole books could be written on the tire decision alone.

ccrnnr9 said:

I have decided that this summer I will be building a new race bike and converting my motobecane grand sprint to my work horse instead of stripping her and selling her for parts. What I plan to do is strip the ultegra components off and keep those for my race bike and equipp the grand sprint with veloce. In the meantime, I plan to buy a set of race wheels to race the Grand Sprint with, as I do not anticipate being done with my race bike until late July. The wheels need to be compatible with ultegra drivetrain. I am kinda clueless where to start looking and what price and weight range would be acceptable for a cat5 racer. I want to buy a set that I can keep for awhile. The less money I have to spend, the best, but I do understand that in cycling you get what you pay for. What have you guys had success on? Also, do most of you have race wheels built, or buy pre-assembled wheelsets to race on? I hear a lot about Kyseriums being good although there are so many models I do not know which to go with. I also hear many good things about rolf, richey, and topolino (sp?). Any suggestions are welcome.
~Nick

From my experience I suggest to find a good wheelbuilder that can make you a set with Open Pro rims, 32 DT competition spokes laced 3x and the best hubs you are willing to pay for (Ultegra/Dura Ace/Centaur/Chorus/Record/DT 240).
If you are light you could go with 28 DT revolution on the front and save some more weight.

IMHO that makes for a very good wheelset: reliable, confy yet stiff, easy to repair if you need to and quite light.
If you compare the weights you'll be very close to a ksyrium sl (which btw has no aero advantage), you'll get *far* better hubs and you'll pay half the price!
An added advantage is that with 32 spokes if you break one (and it can happen) you'll still be able to ride home. With a ksyrium you'll call mum and wait for an hour...

If you want to really have some fun you could also build them by yourself! :eek: