Trainer wheel or SRAM type with PT

motorbear4806

 Hi,

Considering getting a PT setup for my Cervelo P2.  I currently have the stock shimano wheels on it.  I have been looking and reading about the packages from wheelbuilder with the DT swiss and now the HED belgium wheels.  I have also been looking at the SRAM S60 and S80 wheels as an alternative to Zipps.  I am a relative beginner with only one HIM and a small assortment of short course races under my belt.  Is it worth the increased cost to get nicer wheels such as the SRAMS instead of the HEDs or DT swiss with my PT?  I would hate to have to spend more in a year to upgrade.   I'd love to hear you thoughts and experiences.

Thanks!

MattAaronson

If you are the type of person who will want to upgrade and you will have the money to do so, then I'd actually consider going the quarq route and having complete flexibility with what wheels to use. If you are looking to get into power at the lowest possible cash outlay, then the PRO+ powertap with the HED Belgium is nice option and you can use a wheelcover too if you like. You will get a lot of differing opinions on this...!!

grosso27

Looking back, I wish I had gone the Quarq route.  Amortize the Quarq cost over several bikes & then buy race wheels with regular hubs, and I think you have a more flexible option for cheaper.  

I personally have PTs built into both Open Pro for training & Zipp Sub9 for racing, and it's not the cheapest route.

If you're looking for only one set, I'd get S80s w/ PT, depending on your weight.  They are durable & fast enough to be both racers & trainers, just will want to swap out tubes & tires.

If bling it not your thing, you can't beat something like  a Hed Belgium or a Mavic Open Pro w/ PT & wheelcover for racing.  Any difference in speed does not warrant the cost discrepancy in my book.  

But again, if I were starting from scratch right now, I'd get a Quarq, bombproof trainers like OpenPros, and 808s for racing. 

DanS

 I have rented wheels with a PowerTap for all of my races for the last three years through www.racedaywheels.com  At around $200 bucks a race you get several options to consider.  This has been a good alternative to buying a $2000 set of wheels that you use 3x a year.  I only race 2-3 times per year so for me this was the most economical option.  Good Luck!

charris

In terms of overall bang for the buck and flexibility, I think it's really hard to beat a DT Swiss (or similar) + Elite+ PT + wheel cover.  Plus a Garmin 310XT as a head unit.  That's a pretty bombproof combo for training and racing that should last you a long time.

For the front, S60/S80 are 95+% of the goodness for quite a bit less $.

 

Beyond that, it's pretty large incremental cost for pretty small gains IMHO.  Although I might feel different if I was a couple minutes away from qualifying for Kona.  "Fortunately" I'm more like a couple hours away.

 

I'm probably biased because I was in pretty much the same situation as you and that's basically what I did with my P2 (went FP instead of SRAM for the front, and Easton for the back because that's what was more readily available in Canada).

 

http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/...ris/p2.jpg

 

With that being said, I did quite a bit of research before I went that route and really like how it's worked out for me.  I'm definitely not adverse to spending money on stuff, but I also don't mind saving it when it makes sense.  Let's me spend it on other dumb things.