Weight Weenies

I'm 180lbs and ride in an area with rolling hills.
I don't race. These wheels would be my every day wheels.

I'm looking for more of an Aero wheel but seem to be all over the place when it comes to something to buy.
I'm looking for a clincher because I don't have experience with tubular but have had 2 flats already this year and am not sure I want to deal with tubulars. It could just be that I'm naive.

I'm looking to stay under 2k and to be honest am a little nervous about having a full carbon braking surface. I'm new into this and am not sure what to expect.

I'm looking at
Zipp 303 Firecrest (Just because I have heard they are hands down "the best") $1900 1498 grams
Profile Design Altair 52 (I don't know much about this) $1200 1493 grams
http://www.profile-design.com/profile-d ... bon-wheels" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Mavic Cosmic Carbone SL (This seems to be a "standard") $1200 1800 grams

Going completely custom is another option. There is a reputable wheel builder around here who said he could put me on an H Plus Son SL42, chris king hubs, Sapin CX-Ray spokes for about 1k.

Should I be looking at any others?
Opinions?

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I bought Enve carbon clinchers. In retrospect i would definitely have gotten tubs and leant to use them.

i know its not the most helpful advice but it basically sums up the whole debate for me. Its a lot of money to spend on a set of wheels that, when compared to tubulars, under perform significantly.

think very hard about what sort of riding you want to do in a years time, because chances are tubs will make sense to you at some point in the future.

Podunk wrote:Zipp 303 Firecrest (Just because I have heard they are hands down "the best") $1900 1498 grams

Whered you find them for 1900?

The Giant P-SLR aero seems to be a reliable alternative. Internals and technical design are sourced from DT Swiss, the graphic design is Giants own and is neutral enough.

Tomstr wrote:The Giant P-SLR aero seems to be a reliable alternative. Internals and technical design are sourced from DT Swiss, the graphic design is Giants own and is neutral enough.

Thanks. Didn't even consider those.

I have only heard great things about Chris King hubs, and Sapim CX Ray are the best, and if you are looking at those for about 1k I strongly doubt you'll be able to beat that, besides you'll be establishing a great connection with a local builder.

jsinclair wrote:I bought Enve carbon clinchers. In retrospect i would definitely have gotten tubs and leant to use them.

i know its not the most helpful advice but it basically sums up the whole debate for me. Its a lot of money to spend on a set of wheels that, when compared to tubulars, under perform significantly.

think very hard about what sort of riding you want to do in a years time, because chances are tubs will make sense to you at some point in the future.

I have Enve SMART 3.4 Tubies. Love the weight, look and ride. Bought them to use as everyday AND race wheels. Pre purchase I went over a year with no flats. After 2 flats in a month it got really expensive to use Tubies as everyday wheels. I now train on clinchers (Campy Eurus) and use the Enves only for racing. Also, was no fun carrying a spare tire.

I recently converted to tubular. Love it...I had a flat the other day, and tried vittoria sealant which didn't work. I had to peel the tire and put on spare. When I got home, I took off the valve core and used stan's sealant in the tire. While inflating, the sealant bubbling out for couple second then stop. I remounted the tire back and pump to 120 PSI, and Its been good ever since. Now I ride with with 2 oz of stan's bottle, valve remover, pocket pump, and of course arundel tubie bag with spare inside.

All carbon braking is fine if you have only rolling hill. If you have long mountain decent, alumunium braking is something you want to consider. With modern all carbon wheel, I think you should be fine even if you have a long mountain decent as long as you have good braking techniques.

i'm 150lbs, and have been riding on the zipp 303fc's this year. i am very impressed with them as everyday wheels - nice and light, stiff, comfy, and great braking performance with the tangente platinum pads (come with the wheels).

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I had my fiorst ride on tubs last Thuirdsay on a time trial. I built the bike (an old Alan for this purpose) for time trailing and tubs roll so much better than the clinchers I normally use. I will have to try them out on a longer ride. I am a bit of tub convert now.

I would go with the custom option too, it will be better value.