Mavics or Zipps?

[Alex]

My first race is coming up in september, and to reduce the brown-shorts i want some serious wheels and am toying with the idea of getting Zipp 1080s front and back
Are they really any good? Are disc wheels (Zipp sub 9) acceptable in races? or are Zipp 808s practically the same?
the Cosmic-Carbone-ultimate by Mavic is allegedly the best out there according to reviews and Mavics own website but they would say that wouldnt they
any help would be appreciated!

 

[zimzum42]

For what it's worth, the Zipp 1080s look great IMO, I would go for them.

From what I've read they are both great wheelsets, and are used by pros, so can't be much wrong with them....

 

[HeartAttack]

What sort of race (road race, time trial, triathlon etc)? distance, course profile? Whats your ability (honestly)?

 

[Will1985]

The 1080 front is illegal in British TTs. I wouldn't want to ride in a bunch with it or near it either.
I think it was probably invented for triathletes who wanted to use a disc at Kona but couldn't, so this is the next best thing. A set of 808s is more than good enough, and said to be a better combination than having a disc on lumpy courses.

What kind of race is this? September is a long way away to not be doing anything until then. No discs in road races either...or tribars.

What's your current setup?

 

[Alex]

september is a long way off, thats mainly why i chose it so in the meantime i get can get some serious intervals done.
Its a circuit race in warwickshire town centre, im going up there to inspect it next weekend
Im very much a noob, Ive been cycling semi-serious since i got my hybrid last august (cant think why) and i got my Scott cr1 contessa literally 50 days ago, it runs on Kysrium elite wheels at the mo
I can ride around at a steady 17-19mph and i do lots of hill work so im not that hot
Im not stupid enough to think expensive wheels are going to make a miraculous improvement, but any psychological boost is welcome!

 

[Will1985]

So basically a crit (you mean Warwick) - stick to the Ksyriums. Get involved in a crash and you'll be looking at a written off wheel or two. Not hard to do in such a confined space.
If you really want deep sections, don't go for more than 60mm rims.

 

[HeartAttack]

As Will said use what you have, crits are wheel killers if you have an off, plus as you said your speeds, upgrading wheels will give a psychological boost but unfortunately not a speed one other than maybe 1mph and in a crit you will need a bit more than 20mph as an average and over 30 when moves happen.

I'd say your best bet is to do some interval and sprint training this will bring you more improvement and cost you nothing.

 

[Alex]

what level of racing are you talking about? that sounds really fast for the beginner level/cat
I forgot to ask whats a tribar? is that the same as an aerobar?
Thanks for the advice, I'll stick with my kysriums as they're still in shape after all the roads around london's potholes

 

[HeartAttack]

The 3/4 local crit to me had an avg of 26mph, with top speeds out of some corners nudging 35, crits are short hard fast intervals.

Tri bars are the same as aero bars unless you're talking chocolate aero bars, used in time trials and triathlons but not allowed in road races

 

[Bigtwin]

Tri bars are the same as aero bars unless you're talking chocolate aero bars, used in time trials and triathlons but not allowed in road races

Bull. I've never even had anyone check what sort of bars I'm eating in a road race.