Purchasing Race Wheels...advice? (Page 2)

I mentioned the 10% finder's fee, no?

Nice wheels; great deal.  I wish I could get me some HED.

LOL, Sty!

I haven't pulled the trigger.. I will tonight or tomorrow.  Does anyone out there run the disc with the trispoke front?  Does anyone consider this a better/worse set up for racing AND training than trispoke front and back?  I saw one detracting opinion...anyone agree or disagree?

I do appreciate everyones responses,  This is (obviously) a large purchase, and I wanted as much "real life" opinion as possible.

Thanks!

That is the official Slowtwitch wheelset of choice, or more accurately a disc wheel COVER and trispoke up front.  There have been pages and pages of threads extolling their virtues ....... But for the record, the world TT champ and most of the fastest pros ride Zipp 999's ...... just sayin' ......

Training on a disc is a bad idea mainly for monetary reasons.  You crash or have any issues and that is an expensive training wheelset to replace!

Save your race wheels for race day, train on a beater set of spoked wheels.

Thanks again for chiming in, Rick.  I appreciate yours and everyones responses.

Based on what you just said, I am going to forego the disc in the rear.  Accidents/crashes will happen, and I would hate to make a $900 wrong turn.

If you, or anyone else out there reading for that matter, has information on putting a disc cover over a HED 3 Carbon trispoke rear, I would appreciate it.  Will it be a negligible difference, or is it even plausible?  (Is it like putting a mitten over a gloved hand?)  It may be a dumb question, but if I don't ask, I won't know.

Said "world TT champ and most of the fastest pros" have someone else buying their equipment. Marginal benefits are most desirable when they carry zero marginal cost. Just sayin'.

But they still have a major say in what they get ........ like Motorola, Postal and numerous others riding re-badged Litespeeds for their TT bikes before their sponsors finally got up to speed on aero frames, and a lot of Zipp discs badged as Bontrager ..........

Yeah, they have quite a say in what they want to use to go fast.  Just takes another sponsors sticker on it to meet the advertising/sponsorship demands.

Just sayin'.

Again, I have no doubt they're getting the fastest stuff available. My argument is whether that marginality is worth the additional cost to us average joes. When someone asks for recommendations, to say "the world TT champ and most of the fastest pros ride Brand XXX" is useless. The rest of us have to keep the cost/benefit relationship at the forefront of our analysis.

Agree there.  But you could still get a used 808 front and a Renn disc rear if you shop smart and not ring up the costs too much over the Hed/Renn combo.  JK got his 808 front for a decent price I believe.

As I mentioned, they had to be getting a good deal on the Hed to have not considered/mentioned anything else.

Cost wasn't paramount, but abstaining from frivolity with the benjamins remained a factor.  We did research ZippsRenn/Disc covers prior to deciding on the HED's.  We just needed/wanted some feedback on the set up's we were contemplating. 

{drum roll}

We went with HED3 clinchers front and rear on both bikes.  Durability was a deal breaker with the rear disc.  If I want to hear that whurr-whurr sound in a race, I will just slow up a bit as I pass someone running a disc.

Thanks again for all of the responses!

Chris 

Just wondering what you saw that indicated that a disc was less durable than the tri spokes...

So are you telling me to go buy a disc..??  I think that might be that little extra motivation for me to break down and get one.. "gee Chris and Brian need to hear that woo- woo sound so I better go get a disc so when they pass me..." 

Gary needs a disc....Gary is going to buy a disc....Gary would be so much faster on a disc....Gary needs a disc....Gary is going to buy a disc....Gary would be so much faster on a disc....Gary needs a disc....Gary is going to buy a disc....Gary would be so much faster on a disc....Gary needs a disc....Gary is going to buy a disc....Gary would be so much faster on a disc....Gary needs a disc....Gary is going to buy a disc....Gary would be so much faster on a disc....Gary needs a disc....Gary is going to buy a disc....Gary would be so much faster on a disc....Gary needs a disc....Gary is going to buy a disc....Gary would be so much faster on a disc....Gary needs a disc....Gary is going to buy a disc....Gary would be so much faster on a disc....Gary needs a disc....Gary is going to buy a disc....Gary would be so much faster on a disc....Gary needs a disc....Gary is going to buy a disc....Gary would be so much faster on a disc....Gary needs a disc....Gary is going to buy a disc....Gary would be so much faster on a disc....Gary needs a disc....Gary is going to buy a disc....Gary would be so much faster on a disc....Gary needs a disc....

Go ahead Gary....BE the disc.

Good question, Bear.  I talked to Eric at BDUSA, as well as some people at my LBS and perused threads here and at ST to get opinions.  It's not so much that disc's are NOT durable for everyday use and racing, but the chance of failure (need to replace) is greater in a crash (puncture as opposed to scuff).  Basically, less surface area to screw up...and that surface area on a disc is not as durable as the trispoke.

That being said, I know you run the HED3 front/Renn disc rear, and train on them.  I also know you are a much more accomplished and experienced cyclist than am I.  If (and when) I decide to run the disc setup, I am going with what you currently use.

Chris