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404's On A Road Bike - Total Dork Or Acceptable?

John StarkJohn Stark
in General Training Discussions

My wife opened the purse strings a few weeks ago for me to buy some new wheels.  I am looking to set-up a new PT wheelset that I will use on my road bike and tri bike.  I am noodling the 46 mm deep Reynolds Assault (pic below) and the 62 mm deep Zipp 404 Firecrest (pic below).

Putting aside the Zipp fan boy chatter (sorry guys) and the weight weenie chatter . . . is a 62 mm wheel just over kill on a road bike?  Will I look like a total dork?

Any other thoughts?

John

 

 

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Comments

  • jhbinscjhbinsc
    Tons of my roadie friends ride 404's and even 808's. I say go for it.
  • jhbinscjhbinsc
    Tons of my roadie friends ride 404's and even 808's. I say go for it.
  • Paul HoughPaul Hough
    Do it. I see a lot of deep dish wheels on road bikes when I go to the hills. When I raced the Draft Legal Challenge earlier this year (road bikes only), I used my 404s and did not feel geeky. BTW...you must be earning the SAUs...Go JOHN!
  • ghernandghernand

    404s on a road bike is almost standard here in southern california, where cool really matters. 

    gh

  • MattAaronsonMattAaronson
    Lots of roadies out here with deep carbon wheels. It is normal. Normal within a population that is somewhat abnormal, of course...
  • Mark RobertsMark Roberts

    Go for the 404's.  A great all around wheelset and I hear the new firecrests are very fast.  I have an older set of 404 clinchers on my road bike.

     

  • kjanracingkjanracing
    The roadies will hunt you down! image
  • Nemo BrauchNemo Brauch
    Roadies around here are all on 404's or some other similar whiz bang expensive wheel. Totally not a Triathlete only thing to be a wheel whore.
  • morpheusmorpheus
    John, recently made a similar decision. got tire of my 808's getting action only 2-3 times a year. so, after my last oly, I returned the easton EA90 trainers to the tri bike, and put the 808's on my s2. Sweet looking, I gotta say!. gonna use the s2 for my sunday ABP roadie group rides from here until..... I'll let you know if i get any crazy comment thrown this way.

  • manconamancona
    I rode flashpoint 60s (i.e. 404s) every day on my TT and road bike for about a year and half as my PT was built in. The 404s will look great and perform great, no doubt. They are also very strong.

    However, I personally like riding standard alloy 20-30mm wheels as my training wheels for a number of reasons:
    - risk of a crash. 404s are a very solid wheel but a crash or pothole can destroy any wheel period. A crash with a close to $3k wheelset is pretty expensive even with a crash replacement policy
    - ease of fixing flats (any tube from any one will work and you don't have to mess with extenders)
    - I enjoy the feeling of switching to race wheels the week before a race and instantly feeling faster

    Also, carbon clinchers are awesome in dry conditions, but ones the brake pads get wet the braking is not nearlly as good as alloy clinchers. Keep that in mind if you do a lot of descending/braking. It's no big deal for me but I could see how it could be from someone that rides in the mountains often.
  • MattAaronsonMattAaronson
    Posted By Matt Ancona on 22 Jul 2011 09:45 AM

    - I enjoy the feeling of switching to race wheels the week before a race and instantly feeling faster





    Totally agree!

  • GregSVanGregSVan

    Carbon wheels look great on my unicycle, so I think you'll be twice as cool with two wheels on a road bike....

    http://www.qbike.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/bicycle-racer-one-wheel.png

  • Coach RichCoach Rich

    Sawiris has been recommending and putting a lot of our local crew into Reynold's Assault wheels, as a good value solution, apparently. In fact, I've been meaning to bust his balls about why I'm riding Hed Belgium's and everyone else we ride with is on $$$$$ wheels, even though I've brought him $$$$$$$$ in business over the years....

  • Jeff UnruhJeff Unruh
    Wasn't there a recent article on ST that the FC 404s are the new 808s...

    I need a road bike first before I can have such a worry image
  • JClisheJClishe

    Why wouldn't they be acceptable on a roadie? That's a serious question, I'm not being sarcastic. Whenever I watch the Tour I've always wondered why they're not running deep wheels.

  • Paul HoughPaul Hough
    Saw 808s on a road bike yesterday!
  • Coach RichCoach Rich

    I don't know about wheels, but it's apparent from watching the Tour for 3wks that some form of medal/medallion on a gold chain is mandatory and must be allowed to swing freely when riding, especially when climbing (casting a shadow on your pasty-pale, mushroom farmer tanned, ribs showing, t-rex arms having upper body) or when time-trialing, contrary to all notions of aerodynamics...

  • steveperxsteveperx

     John:

    My road bike came with Reynolds Assault wheels.  They look pretty cool to me, although my experience with the Reynolds Assaults is that they are pretty fragile.  Mine simply will not stay true.  After my last trio to the shop, they told me they had never seen carbon wheels so far out of true.  YMMV.

  • Nemo BrauchNemo Brauch
    Posted By Rich Strauss on 25 Jul 2011 03:25 PM

    I don't know about wheels, but it's apparent from watching the Tour for 3wks that some form of medal/medallion on a gold chain is mandatory and must be allowed to swing freely when riding, especially when climbing (casting a shadow on your pasty-pale, mushroom farmer tanned, ribs showing, t-rex arms having upper body) or when time-trialing, contrary to all notions of aerodynamics...



    We noticed the same thing.  Joe's comment was; "for guys who are so concerned about dropping weight and getting the lightest possible bike and wheels they can ride, they sure do have a lot of crap hanging from their neck!"

     

    But obviously it's Pro, right?  So I expect to see some gold thingy hanging from your neck at TOC next year!

  • mgraffeomgraffeo
    was it just me, or were the arms even "t-rex"ier than usual this year. Those dudes looked bad for the last week of the tour...

    and I'd totally rock 404's on my road bike if I was in a position to.
  • scott dinhoferscott dinhofer

    @Matt - please expand on "crash policy" - i think i need one of these as i ride my 606s all the time on my tri bike

    @rich & nemo - i noticed the same thing. i wanted to think it was mostly an italian thing, but i noticed that the schlecks had the same piece of equipment

  • manconamancona
    All I meant by crash replacement policy is that Zipp, like many other companies, offers a slight discount on having your wheel rebuilt or a replacement wheel if you crash. Keep in mind even with the discount replacing a $1000+ single wheel is still SIGNIFICANTLY more expansive then replacing a $200 training wheel at retail price.

    Also standard alloy training wheels with standard spokes are very servicable, meaning that just about any qualified LBS in the world can replace a few broken spokes on a mavic open pro and true the wheel in quick order for cheap. While deep carbon wheels can also be serviced the chances of finding someone with the right aero spokes in the right lenght in stock, that know what they are doing is less, and it will cost more.
  • Tom GlynnTom Glynn
    @Rich and Nemo. Saw a TV show a year or two ago about pro cycling. In general, almost all are very superstitious, and will repeat anything that may have had to do with good fortune. If you won a race wearing an old pair of socks, they get worn every race there after. Good omens, bad omens, they all matter. As to the religious medallions, you've got to kiss them and say a quick prayer as you head out, and then kiss them, hold them up, touch them after you finish. Kinda weird.
  • John StarkJohn Stark

    Hi All:

    Thanks for the feedback.  Though I don't really see many 404's on road bikes here in my area, looks like I may be fine with them based on your feedback.  

    Also, in talking with Tom Glynn he noted that down the road the resale value will be the highest with Zipps vs. other.  Makes sense.

    Will be calling Rich @ Wheelbuilder.com to order my wheels soon.

    Thanks again.

    John

  • Scott AlexanderScott Alexander
    @John, yes, you're a dork...regular dork, tri-dork, whatever, you're a dork. But we love you for it! LOL

    I ride with a roadie group on Tu/Th every week (I'm pretty much the ONLY one with a tri bike, not even clip-on aero bars on any others) and I see road bikes with 404s and 606s all over the place, so no worries in my book.
  • Coach RichCoach Rich
    John, order the wheels through me. Thanks!
  • Cary BlancoCary Blanco
    404s = fine - now tri spokes on a road bike - that's a completely different animal!
  • chris malonechris malone
    Let's face it- we're all dorks.
  • John StarkJohn Stark

    Thanks for the support, Chris.  :-)

    FYI - Just looked online and saw the new G3 powertap hub is coming out next month.  404 Firecrest wheelset with G3 PT hub and my Joule CPU.  I think I am getting wood.  

     

    John

  • JClisheJClishe
    Posted By Rich Strauss on 27 Jul 2011 08:02 PM

    John, order the wheels through me. Thanks!



    Do you have a hookup on wheels?

     

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