Bora 80 or enve 6.7

ugo.santalucia

markyone wrote:

Also just wondered what the braking would be like,
as say with Reynolds grill said they are great.

No idea... does it matter for a set of dry/flat wheels? In these conditions pretty much every carbon rim with a decent pad works fine

meesterbond

If the braking surface on the Bora 80s is the same as the 50s (which I think it is - it's only the new 35s that get the fancy new coating) then the braking is excellent. The red Campag brake pads are great and got me down Sa Calobra (10k at 7% average, mostly hairpins) very safely and I'm not the greatest descender in the world. Didn't notice any fade heading down at all.

That said, I don't think that's really their intended use.

To be honest, if I'd had the money, I'd have gone with Enve 3.4s but it was hard enough justifying spending £1100 on a pair of wheels, let alone £2k+ and I've been very happy with the Boras.

ugo.santalucia

When it comes to which wheels are faster, I prefer to trust the statistics, more than the wind tunnel or the magazines. UCI PRO riders are all sponsored and use what they are told to use by their sponsors, so they can't be relied upon. If you look at things like the Iron Man worlds, a few top athletes are probably sponsored, but the majority buy their own equipment and obviously choose the fastest for their pockets (which are typically quite deep)... here is the breakdown of wheels used at the worlds in Hawaii 2012 according to Lava magazine

Zipp 2041 59.01%
Hed 248 7.17%
Mavic 154 4.45%
Bontrager 133 3.85%
Reynolds 126 3.64%
ENVE 100 2.89%
Easton 94 2.72%
Shimano 83 2.40%
Xentis 81 2.34%
SRAM 57 1.65%
FFWD 44 1.27%
Lightweight 43 1.24%
Corima 37 1.07%
Campagnolo35 1.01%
Planet X 26 0.75%

meesterbond

Or maybe triathletes have no imagination.

ugo.santalucia

meesterbond wrote:

Or maybe triathletes have no imagination.

That could be too... and I am sure peer pressure, marketing and advertising play a big role... however, these are the best in the world and that's how they spend their money. There is a clear pattern and some Major brands like Shimano and Campagnolo, who are not shy when it comes to promote themselves, are barely represented, which must say something about their products in relation to an iron man competition

meesterbond

ugo.santalucia wrote:

meesterbond wrote:

Or maybe triathletes have no imagination.

That could be too... and I am sure peer pressure, marketing and advertising play a big role... however, these are the best in the world and that's how they spend their money. There is a clear pattern and some Major brands like Shimano and Campagnolo, who are not shy when it comes to promote themselves, are barely represented, which must say something about their products in relation to an iron man competition

Campag have never really embraced the whole Tri discipline - even on the groupset level, they've had some pretty high level shifters and cranks but you get the feeling that they're doing it so they can support pro-cycling teams who need a TT bike. Don't think I've ever seen an advert for Campagnolo in a Tri mag.

Actually, looking at the list, 6 of the top 7 are American - maybe that says something about the relative focuses of each company both from a marketing and development stand point?

ugo.santalucia

meesterbond wrote:

Actually, looking at the list, 6 of the top 7 are American - maybe that says something about the relative focuses of each company both from a marketing and development stand point?

Agree, but I see triathlon and even more iron Man as the real playground for these deep rims (> 60 mm). They don't make sense for your sunddy ride, the TT circuit outside the UCI pro tour is just a bit of fun with no real money in it... but triathlon is big bucks and you don't need to be part of a PRO team to get to the worlds... a friend of mine has done the Worlds for his age group with no affiliation or sponsor.
So that's where these wheels come into their own... that's where the market is and that's where I see them making sense. In other words it is the market one can look at for the most innovative products.

meesterbond

True. Plus you don't have the UCI (and potentially CTT) restrictions on what you can ride. No 3:1 ratios or 45% clear space required.
That said, even at our Club 10 most are riding deep wheels and a rear disc and there's a fair smattering of top dollar frames. There are a few old-timers still running lo-pro steel frames but most of the regulars are on pretty serious machines.

Monty Dog

I wouldn't take the proporitions of brands used at Ironman as a measure of performance, more about the success of their marketing. Imported goods also attract a healthy price premium in the US. I'm not sure "best in the world" is appropriate either - most are age-groupers and getting to Hawaii is an expensive exercise, as it's far easier to qualify doing a North American race than it is from Europe due to the number of available qualification slots.

Grill

ugo.santalucia wrote:

meesterbond wrote:

Or maybe triathletes have no imagination.

That could be too... and I am sure peer pressure, marketing and advertising play a big role... however, these are the best in the world and that's how they spend their money. There is a clear pattern and some Major brands like Shimano and Campagnolo, who are not shy when it comes to promote themselves, are barely represented, which must say something about their products in relation to an iron man competition

It is. When I last rode in Arizona I saw about 100 other cyclists (most are triathletes as the scene is huge down there). 90 of them were riding Cervelos. Disgusting.

ugo.santalucia

Running out of criteria to judge performance then... :roll:

Grill

Errr... 90 not 0. Makes more sense now!

gattonero

Big_Ring_Rider wrote:

...don't expect Condor to help you if and when the wheel needs a service. I'm sure Wiggle will help...
...

Or very likely the other way round!