Zipp Team CSC wheels ?

RS said:

Anyone using these? Seems like a good idea, a 28/2x front and a 32/2x
rear with regular j-bend spokes but still a nice 1500g weight for the set.
Should be less finicky then the low count, high tension radial spoked
boutique wheels I would think.

Sounds reasonable, but 1500g is not light, you can easily build up a
wheelset that is "as light," if not lighter. The question then is how
much are these wheels? If the cost is more than building up a wheelset
using standard parts like Campy or Shimano hubs, then I would question
whether its worth it.

In article <[email hidden]>,

bfd said:

RS said:

Anyone using these? Seems like a good idea, a 28/2x front and a 32/2x
rear with regular j-bend spokes but still a nice 1500g weight for the set.
Should be less finicky then the low count, high tension radial spoked
boutique wheels I would think.

Sounds reasonable, but 1500g is not light, you can easily build up a
wheelset that is "as light," if not lighter. The question then is how
much are these wheels? If the cost is more than building up a wheelset
using standard parts like Campy or Shimano hubs, then I would question
whether its worth it.

Worth, worth...isn't the real question, aside from why bother, how
_aero_ these wheels are?

For a competitive cyclist, in almost all cases the aerodynamics matter
much more than weight. The break-even point of trading typical weight
differences for typical aero differences (of very light wheels versus
heavier-but-more-aerodynamic wheels) happens on a surprisingly steep
uphill climb. On anything short of a pure hillclimb event, aero gets you
to the finish first. The only confounding factor is stability in
sidewinds, which can be a problem for deep-section wheels.

I think a major reason weight is fetishized is that you can feel it
pretty easily even when the bike isn't moving, and because we all have
the tools to measure weight accurately. Getting a good handle on the
aero performance of a part is hard.

That said, none of this matters much compared to durability, and the
differences are so marginal that only actual bike racers should bother.
Even very aero wheels tend to claim time differences in the realm of
seconds per hour.

-RjC.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos