Home› Community Forum 🏠

Experience using Race Day Wheels?

John KatsoudasJohn Katsoudas
in Community Forum 🏠

I've been in an endless mental research/debate loop in my head over purchasing a set of race wheels. At any given moment in the day I'm sure that Zipp/Hed/Enve is the right choice, and 30 minutes later I change my mind, so I think I've decided to kick that $4K decision down the road a year and just rent a set of race wheels for 70.3 Santa Rosa this year. I'm looking at using Race Day Wheels to rent a Zipp Super 9/808 combo. I'm curious to hear any experiences folks have had with Race Day Wheels?

Thanks,

John

Tagged:

Comments

  • Dave TalloDave Tallo

    I’ve used them once, great service, easy. Buuuuuut ... for the price of renting two or three times, you could instead buy a flo 60 or 90 front, a disk cover for the rear, and be set going forward with a wheel set every bit as fast as any of those listed.

  • Jeff HornJeff Horn

    I used them one year for Louisville. Mark who I think still runs it was very nice, good communication, great and quick service. Wheels were in good shape. Pick up and return was a bit of nightmare because they weren't allowed to be near expo (this was when Ironman was doing their own wheel rental business). It looks on their website that they are the official ironman rental company, so probably not an issue anymore.

  • Jay TolinJay Tolin

    I’ve rented wheels for several triathlons. Usually from the LBS. I rented race day wheels for my last IM, and I was very pleased. I will be doing this again in May. I’ve always trained in heavy basic wheels or on a trainer.

  • Tom GlynnTom Glynn

    I rented a pair a long time ago. Great service and if that's what you want to do, it's a great option. One of the downsides is that it's hard to practice on a new set of wheels. You may only have a day or two with them. If you are not used to slightly deeper wheels and there is a bit of a cross wind, they can be a bit hard to handle.

    If you only race a couple times a year, it's pretty good value.

    On the other hand, if you are expecting a 16 hour IM finish, maybe there are cheaper places to make significant gains in time.

  • Mark MaurerMark Maurer

    2X what @Dave Tallo said. I have a Flo 60 front and disc cover from Wheel Builders for the rear ($89 with EN discount). I have since purchased a Flo 90 for the rear and use it in more windy conditions.

  • John KatsoudasJohn Katsoudas

    Thanks for everyones' input. I really appreciate it. The main advantage that I see to buying a set of race wheels is the ability to set them up tubeless. My "A" race this coming year is 70.3 Santa Rosa. There have been incidents there on more than one year of someone spreading tacks on the road on the bike course. I have no idea idea if a tubeless tire would really be able to seal up a hole from a tack and keep going, or if I'd still end up having to put a tube in and have the added delay of having to remove a valve stem and deal with all the sealant all over the place.

    As far as handling deep section wheels - not really a problem. On my prior bike (P4) I was racing on a Zipp 808 and dic, and I was totally comfortable with the handling of that bike.

    I did e-mail Mark to ask whether their rental wheels have latex or butyl tubes (they have butyl tubes) and he responded within 10 minutes, on a Saturday no less, so that was pretty impressive.

    I'm definitely still on the fence on which wheels to buy. I think from an aero perspective there are MANY great choices. The most compelling wheel set to me at the moment is the new Hed Vanquish wheels, as they have wider internal/external rim widths which means I could run a 25 on the front and a 25 or even a 28 on the rear without an aero penalty (and with lower rolling resistance). However, there's very little info out there so far on these wheels, so I may wait a year and see how they test out once there's some tunnel data on them.

Sign In or Register to comment.