Race wheel rental quandary

Not a problem.  That should be enough to make sure there aren't any problems with the wheels.  But make sure you choose wheels you are comfortable changing a flat on (i.e., don't pick a tubular if you have no idea how to change one).

So this is an acceptable time to race on something new? My plan is to rent 606s - will they feel and ride significantly different from the crap Bontrager Selects I have now? I would really hate to get on them and find I'm hit much stronger by cross winds, or they feel unstable for some reason...(though I'm sure they're awesome).

It's probably a good bet that you'll save 5-10 minutes on the IMAZ course with aero wheels. Is that time worth the cost of the rental? If so, then rent the wheels. If there's wind, you'll notice the difference in handling, but it's very unlikely to be anything that will cause you serious problems.

One other opinion: if you don't have an aero helmet, spend the money on it instead of the wheel rental. You'll get a great benefit from it and you get to keep it. Just make sure that you shop around and get one that's appropriate for the position you ride in.

LOL....that's right! You might save an extra 10-20 seconds with it!

Seriously, I don't know that I buy the conclusion that it's a bigger benefit than aero wheels (notice I didn't say that in my post). I do agree that it can give you a decent aero benefit for a much lower cost than aero wheels.

Edited by dgunthert 2007-01-25 11:06 AM

It's stuff like that that makes me really wish I had a few thousand dollars to blow on some wind tunnel testing for a day. Some of those MIT conclusions just seem so counter intuitive.

I'm renting a Zipp Disc for my back wheel to go with my 404 front. I'm picking it up a week before the race to get some time on it, but even if I only got in one ride, Iwould still do it. Definately do it, I too have no interest in owning a $1200 item I will only use a few times per year.

I'm a decent cyclist, but by no means an expert (riding about 3 years, average mph around 20). Would a disc be appropriate for someone of my mediocre ability? Esepecially having never ridden one before?

Out there on the lonely stretches of the BeeLine, you bet .

Don't buy the complete bull**** about "you need to ride a certain speed for aero wheels to be a benefit".

Slower riders gain from getting aero just as faster riders do.

Let me go run some numbers to give examples.

Now you've got me thinking. How much does it cost to rent aero wheels? Are there companies that do it by shipping them to you? Saving 5-10 minutes at IMOO sounds pretty attractive!

Okay. More on debunking the somehow magical "20 mph" number for justifying aero equipment.

We'll use two riders with exact same statistics. They both have the same set up, weight, bike, etc. The only difference is that one is more powerul than the other. Rider 1 rides at 150 watts, Rider 2 at 200 watts. By the way, 200 watts should be good for about 20-21 mph at IMAZ with a good aero setup.

On a 40-mile loop roughly resembling IMAZ with a 5 mph headwind on the way out, Rider 1 finishes one lap in 2:07:11. Rider 2 in 1:52:37.

Give them aero wheels that are lighter and cut the drag from the wheels in half. Rider 1 now finishes in 2:05:03 and rider 2 in 1:50:41.

So despite being a much weaker rider, Rider 1 saves 2:08 while Rider 2 saves 1:56. Rider 1 saves a larger number of minutes. Rider 2, on the other hand, saves a greater percentage of time. He cuts 1.639% off his time. Rider 1 only cuts 1.644% off his.

All calculations performed using analyticcycling.com. Feel free to run your own tests.

And I'm with JohnnyKay on the wheel cover. I have one that I use for races with my PowerTap. I'll have it for IMAZ along with my Zipp 404 clincher front. Don't rent tubulars. If you don't know how to change them, you're not going to learn for race day. Even if you do, there's a lot of evidence out there that unless you glue them so hard that actually changing a flat on the course is impossible, they're slower than clinchers.

I'm (potentially) getting mine through Race Day Wheels. And as of writing this I have heard back from Marc Lees that I'm booked in. Cost is $140/week. They will ship you the wheels (minus cassette) the Tuesday before your race via FedEx (i think) and you are supposed to ship them back the Monday thereafter. However, for IMAZ and possibly all IMNA events, they have reps at the Expo where you can pick up and drop off the wheels. Which is a big relief for me, since I wasn't sure how I was going to travel with $2000 wheels that would be too big for carry-on luggage.

I rented a set of 404s from racedaywheels.com for IM WI last year and didn't even try them out until the day before the race.  That was my first time ever on non-clincher aeros.   They were a little more squirrely than my training wheels on downhills with crosswinds but I would do it again with no hesitation.  good luck.

LOL...oops. I think my math is off somewhere. I've reached my geek limit for the day, though, so I don't care about finding it.

Edit: math wasn't off, I just got them backwards. Rider 2 saves 1.644%, Rider one saves 1.639%.

Edited by dgunthert 2007-01-25 2:14 PM

Seconding Birkierunner. I rented 404s that I picked up the day before Timberman and turned back in after IM WI. They roll much faster and seemed slicker/squirrelier on fast downhills but nothing I was uncomfortable w/ handling. I was impressed enough that I intended to purchase a pair of my very own for this year but am spending the money on coaching instead due to my messed up lifestyle and race schedule. I'll still rent for at least 2 if not three races on my calender even if only for the weight savings w/ the Zipps over my day to day training wheels.

Also never forget the power of the placebo- If I think running Zipps is faster, they are going to be faster no matter what the wind tunnel shows

And I'll say it again:

DON'T RENT TUBULARS IF YOU RENT RACE WHEELS

I'd stretch that even more, although less forcefully to say don't buy tubulars period. They're usually lighter, but there can be issues with rolling resistance. Even people that are good at gluing up tubulars will generally end up with a tire with a higher rolling resistance than an equivalent clincher. That increased rolling resistance will more than cancel out any weight advantage. If you're really, really good (like professional mechanics for the Tour teams or Olympic track teams) you can get the tubulars to have about the same rolling resistance as the clinchers. That gain comes at a cost. The glue used is so hard and cured so completely, that it's damn near impossible to get the tire off the rim in the case of a flat. Track teams and Tour teams don't care of course, they just replace the whole damn wheel, if not the whole bike. Triathletes, on the other hand, don't have that option.

So bottom line with tubulars: even if you have your local shop glue them for you, you're probably still going to be slower and you're screwed if you get a flat.

Disclaimer: I'm not claiming that ALL clinchers have lower RR than ALL tubulars. However, a high end clincher (Pro Race 2, for example) will generally have a lower RR than a high end tubular.

I have heard this a time or two before - I'm debating 606 or 909 clinchers.