New wheelset!!!

Based on what you are saying the only key compatibility issue you have is that you'll need a Shimano compatible 10 speed hub on your rear wheel.

Also, "tubs" are wheels which tubular tires are glued or taped to the rim and amongst other things are generally lighter and can be run at much higher tire pressures, both though to be "advantages" when looking for incremental speed.

Clinchers are probably what you have now - the tube/tire combo.

Not sure about HED, but most if not all Zipp wheel set types will come in both tubular and clincher. I personally will take the ease-of-use clinchers over the lighter tubulars any day.

The HED 3's do come in both clincher and tubular. My suggestion is to look at what your average speeds currently are. The way it was explained to me is that in order to see a real aero advantage with a tri-spoke, your must be able to hold a higher average speed than most middle of the pack folks are capable of. This is not the case with Zipps as you will get aero benifits at almost any speed. I went with 404's and I saw a significant difference over my stock wheels on my Quintana Roo. Don't forget about the aero helmet! It's another huge aero advantage that is like buying speed!

There's no truth to the HED3 needing a certain speed before they're beneficial, but their aerodynamic benefits are at shallow yaw angles or straight on, once you add more of a wider yaw angle (side wind), then they lose some of their advantage. Now, they're still great wheels, aerodynamic, bomb proof, and stiff, which is good and bad… on rough pavement, you tend to bounce a bit more unless you're heavier.

HED Jet's would be where I would start looking instead. Something like a Jet 60 front with a Jet 90 rear gives you a great riding wheel set that are very comfortable to ride, easy to true (not that you will need to do that often…) and quite aerodynamic. You can usually get these for less money than Zipp's (and not giving up anything…). Also, get wheels with an aluminum brake track, otherwise you will need to switch out the brake pads each time you switch wheels from your training wheels to your race wheels.

So the 11-25 is the cassette with an 11 tooth cog as the smallest and the 25 as the largest cog. The higher the number the easier the gear is. 50-34 crankset refers to the chain rings, 50 being the largest (and here's that's the hardest) and 34 the smallest, this crank is also called a compact. You need to have a wheel set that has a Shimano compatible hub for 10 speed (11 works just fine as well, but you'll pay a premium for these and don't really need it… there's a small spacers that goes on the inside of the cassette to use a 10 speed cassette on a 11 speed hub). Reading from your question, I assume that you are newer to cycling. Tubulars do require some specific knowledge in how to glue them, what to do when you get a flat (which is costly since you will toss the entire tire away at that point), etc. I would highly recommend sticking with clinchers.

Edited by audiojan 2014-01-10 6:22 AM

Get Used clincher H3s on ebay.