Wheel Conundrum

So its true, wheels are one of the biggest things that determine how fast you can go on your bike.  Once you've actually gotten yourself in shape, you can give yourself a big advantage with a fancy set of wheels, particularly when it comes to a time trial.  I've lusted after a pair for a while, but never really thought it was possible, mostly since they cost so darn much.

After a few forays into the world of online money-making, I still don't have the cash.  But there is hope that this summer I can find a way to pull it together.

So I started to really think that I might have a pair of Zipp 808s before too much longer as I'd settled on those as the best option for me.  Almost all the racing I do is TTs or TTTs so I don't really need something like the 404s since they are fantastically versatile but I am looking for something really aero and I am not concerned as much about weight.  Plus there's always the chance that my friend will let me borrow his 303s if I am in a real good climbing race, my only mass start love.

But something caught my eye this morning as I was perusing cyclingnews.com.  They mentioned an upcoming review of the Williams 58 carbon tubulars.  So I went to Williams' website to check things out.  The 58mm carbon clincher really caught my eye.  First of all, the obvious.  A quality aero wheelset for 1000 bucks that includes swiss stop pads and skewers.  This is not a common thing.

Then claims of serious durability without excessive weight...  So I figured I would watch the testrider.com review of them available at the Williams site here:

Williams 58mm Carbon Clincher

Ok, so it is more of a competitor of the 404 than I thought, but does that make it a bad thing?  That would suggest that I could race with them just about whenever, and I wonder what the real performance gains are going to be for me running 808s in a TT, since I am not going to be averaging 33mph for a 40K anytime soon.  I can't say I understand the science better than the next average guy, but the toroidal shape of the 404s or 808s and the more expensive highly nuanced dimple system etc. are certainly going to make me faster, but are they a grand faster for an average guy who wants to win races but can't claim any real palmares on two wheels?

Especially when you add in the durability that is such a big part of it (though I have only heard really good things about Zipps in that regard as well) and the braking performance and the fact that they include everything you need in the package...

Right now I am leaning heavily towards the 58s though I had to pause when I got a note from Keith Williams, the president and founder of Williams Cycling, where he noted that they are going to come out with an 85mm deep wheel within a few months.  I was also impressed and heartened since a guy running the show was willing to get back to me about a question within hours and I haven't even spent any money on them yet!  That can only bode well for customer service and certainly the idea that they really stand behind their products.

Obviously I will keep you posted as the process continues.  Hopefully I will have some pictures of my Argon18 Mercury with a beautiful set of aero wheels to share come later this Spring!  The Williams wheels will look at least as good as these Zipps, and they will match my Helium as well!