Can anyone recommend a good PowerTap wheel build. I will use the wheel for training and racing. Looking for build suggestions (i.e. DT Swiss R1.1 with 28 spokes) or one of the factory wheels (Zipp, Bontrager, American Classic, etc.). Need something durable, but also don't want to "feel" like it is holding me back in a race.

Buy a 24H PT hub, lace on a nice deep section rim (Zipp, Williams, HED, or similar - there are tons of them now). Clincher should be fine if you want to race and train on the wheel. The carbon rims are pretty light and will be comparable in weight to an aluminum non-aero rim. Although I'm not familiar with the quality of the Williams 50mm carbon rims, for the price of the wheelset you can unlace the rear (it's 24H), toss the hub, and put a PT on there - you'll have a matching set of wheels and it'll cost $2k for the pair given the price of wireless PTs out there.

You have to have the same number of spokes left and right and they need to be crossed the same so no lacing on a 24H rim onto a 32H hub.

I'm getting out of my PT as I have too many wheels and can't convert a significant number of them to PT (both in cost and in compatibility):
http://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.co...ertap-srm.html

If you have 1-2 sets of wheels, then PT is for you. In that scenario I'd buy 24H PT hubs and lace all my PT hubs with deep section rims.

cdr

I am in the same boat. Here are the options I am considering:

1. 24 hole PT Pro + Wheelsmith bladed spokes + Niobium 30 rim from oddsandendos.com: Light 455 gram deep section rim. Relatively cheap. This is my top pick right now.

2. 24 hole PT Pro + DT 1.2 rim + 24 bladed spokes - Deep rim that looks really cool, but heavy rim (585g?). Supposedly bomb proof but I only weigh 68kg.

3. Lace a 24 hole PT Pro to a Ritchey WCS wheel off a bikesdirect bike. I don't have a proper road bike yet (8 speed cross bike), so if I end up with one of the bikesdirect bikes I'll try to go this route.

4. Buy one of the 32 hole Mavic Open Pro+PT Pro prebuilt wheels online for <$1k usd. Doesn't look very cool, isn't aero, but it would be bombproof and get the job done.

DT Rim, PT SL (28 hole drilling), Sapim Cx-Rays

Great wheel. You could go for 24 hole drilling, but why?

If you really want to save weight, go CF tubular, but then we are not really talking about a training wheel imho

I run these rims front and rear (28/24), I weight 78kg, and I think I've got over 10,000 miles on each wheel with no problems. Running DT aero spokes on the front, regular DB on the rear.

Same weight as a Velocity Deep V...seems kind of like overkill for regular road training and racing, and >10g heavier than the Niobium 30, for no measurable benefit.

I'd advise against Ritchey rims for anything. They crack very quickly (under 5000 miles) in my experience, regardless how well you build them.

What about Velocity Aerohead OC? Good rims and reasonable weight.

__________________
Custom Training Plans -- cyclecoach.com -- My Blog -- Power Meter Hire in Australia

I second this one. I would maybe go for either CX-Ray though rather than those bladed Wheelsmiths but I'm sure those Wheelsmiths will do their job. This would be a good allround wheel at good price.

If you have more money then go for deep carbon clincher rim. Price difference to Niobium 30 will be 400-600$ but the performance benefits won't definitely be that dramatic. After all...it's rear wheel and aerodynamics isn't that important compared to front wheel. Reynolds DV46 C would be a good choice, not as aero as Zipp but not as fragile either.

Tubulars for racing? Why? Benefits from using tubulars on road are quite marginal.

But that Niobium 30 rims would be the best choice IMHO if you have some kind of budget limits. You can even afford to get a spare rims at that price.

__________________
Pain is just weakness leaving the body.

Agree with your conclusions except for the advantages of tubulars.

I ride clinchers since I ride AL but I have ridden CF tubulars and they are 200g+ lighter than even the CF clincher equivalents from the same company.

Too much $$$$$ for me, I invested in a PT SL, DT rims and DT Aerolites instead. Great wheel. The weight I need to worry about is on me ...

Carbon tubulars are lighter, but not too many guys need to haul them up big climbs. Tubulars have also higher RR than clinchers so that narrows the gap down a bit.

I'm actually planning to get a set of deep section carbon tubulars though but mainly because I think they will be stronger and take more abuse than clinchers. Just to let you know that I'm not a tubular hater or anything.

__________________
Pain is just weakness leaving the body.

Personally I like tubulars because they accelerate so briskly (due to that lack of rotating weight - 200 grams at the rim/tire makes a huge difference). A secondary benefit is their relative durabilty - virtually impossible to pinch flat and lack of bead walls means the rim is a better structure overall..

However, I prefer not to train on them as the tires are too expensive to replace frequently and a real pain to mount.

I'd recommend going 24H if you haven't already bought a hub. If you ever rebuild your wheel with a deep section rim, a 24H is plenty strong for virtually anyone. I think it'll be unusual to see riders with a box section rim (except for cost) in the near future because there are no significant disadvantages of a deep section rim other than cost and perhaps weight if you look at aluminum rims. Even in hilly races you see pros using deep section rims.

A 28H hub is more of a box section rim type of drilling - too many spokes for most deep section rims. There are a lot of prebuilt wheels sold with 24H deep section rims - they'd be ripe for dismantling and reusing the rim. However, I don't see any desirable deep section rim wheel with 28H out there.

I found I had a lot more power than I expected when I raced so I think it's important to be able to measure power when everything - adrenaline, excitement, nervousness, etc - is helping you pedal your bike. Having a 24H deep section rimmed wheel will not hurt you when you race. It is a rear wheel and not as critical as a front but if you're building a wheel up anyway, why not get one that's raceable as well as trainable.

24H fan,
cdr

I just bought a Token 50A wheelset for clinchers, with pillar spokes. My wheel builder relaced the rear wheel uising the pillar spokes with no modification, but a slight lacing pattern change. My PT is the wireless 2008 model/24H. The finished wheel matches the front perfectly. Only extra I now have is the Token rear hub.

I've mentioned my wheelset before on here, but I've got a PT SL laced to a HED Jet 50. I train and race on the set both. I happened to have a 28 h hub, but if I was going to start all over, I'd definitely go with the 24 h hub. I'm 180 lbs and have abused the wheelset pretty good this year and it's still true as the day I got it.

I just ordered a Niobium+powertap pro set from oddsandendos. 24 spoke 2x rear with Sapim CX-Ray spokes, black with alternating red/black nipples. 20 spoke radial lacing on the front. In team colors (red, black, white), and will match perfect with the Cervelo Soloist I just bought off Ebay. The cool part is it is not going to cost much more than the generic 32-hole Mavic Open Pro powertap wheels sold everywhere online.

I scored a pair of Reynolds deep clinchers (last years model) for around $500 now I'm waiting for a good deal on a PT 24h hub this winter. I'll be training racing on these full time (about 8k miles per year). Can't wait to replace my PT Pro with 25k miles on them!

__________________
________________________
my wattage blog: Sufferfest