FLASH-POINT BLOG ARCHIVE: May 2006

It has been altogether far too long between posts for me. A combination of wheel swaps, sickness and travel conspired to get in the way though that doesn't quite justify the dearth of posts. Now that things seem to have been put to rights I'll endeavour to be more diligent!My last post indicated that my rear-wheel went out of true during the first ride I’d managed on the flashpoints. In fact it turned out to be a broken rim. The carbon had cracked around one of the spokes and was beyond repair. The good folks at Zipp promptly shipped me a replacement and I’d experienced nothing untoward since then. It’s not always a case of just how good a product is but also how good the company is when something goes wrong. I received my new wheel within 2 days of notifying Zipp of the failure.
Since then I’ve managed to get some riding time on the wheel in various conditions. I raced a couple of crits on the wheels during the Parkside series in Kenosha, WI and have managed to get a few hundred miles in lately for training. The gap between the early March crits and now has been attributable to getting sick, having some really lousy weather and having to take an unplanned trip back to the UK. The wheels are probably not the best crit wheels. They aren’t the lightest and don’t accelerate as quickly as some others, but this should be tempered by the fact that unless you are racing Cat 2 or above the wheels aren’t going to hold you back! Conversely, some of the longer training rides I have done recently have given the wheels more of a chance to show their stuff. These rides have invariably turned into mini-races. The wheels still have that solid feel to me that I first felt back in the beginning of the year and on long steady efforts feel easy to push along. I’m still running the gatorskins on them as I haven’t been bothered to swap them out so that probably doesn’t help the rolling resistance that much.
The constant wind in Illinois gives a good chance to feel how the wheels react. They do grab in a cross-wind but the slight extra weight I find helps. In comparison my American Classic 420s have a similar rim profile but get blown around more easily due to their lighter weight. Given that I can afford to lose a few pounds from my middle, a lighter wheel set isn’t necessary! Despite the lack of bike time, I’m eyeing a 50km 2-man TT in July. The FP40s will definitely be in action on that day.

I was almost ready to blog about my first ride on the Flash-Point 60s, but when I woke up this morning and looked out my window it was snowing and -3° C.

I'v had a couple of rides on them so far, but I'm just to disappointed of the weather at the time so I'll get back to the wheels when the snow is gone.

After a solid year of training I finally had my first triathlon of the year. Conditions were less than ideal. The air temp was 43 degrees and a steady drizzle soaked both the roads and competitors.
 I was a little psyched out at first by the weather. A lead brick might have swam faster than me and I bobbled T1, but once onto the bike I settled down. The bike leg started into a 30mph headwind, and I was soooo thankful for the flashpoints.  They really helped me cut through the air and I made up alot of time in the first mile or two. After that the course got very technical for a triathlon. The wet roads didn't help. Downhills met with sharp bends, and I avoided wipping out twice only by the grace of God. Others weren't so lucky. A few riders became close and personal with the pavement and one person hit a moving car on the open course (I was told that he was fine). Overall, I dialed back my effort to stay upright, but when I could the flashpoints helped me blast it. Coming back the course finished with a straight-shot, 2 mile, slight downhill with a 30mph tailwind. That was fun. I must have hit over 40mph on some broken asphalt but I felt very confidant on the bike with these wheels.
My T2 time was better, and though I should have gone harder on the run, I was happy with it. By the end I managed to win my age group, and was happy with the results. Flashpoints get an A+ for my first race.

Like a true Brit I shall start by talking about the weather. Conditions here in the UK have slowly been improving over the last few weeks. The skies are bluer and the days are warmer, the only downside is best days always seem to be workdays. Anyway, it's given me the opportunity to get some long rides in and I have been trying out new routes and trying to mix up my rides a bit. The picture was taken from the ridge of hills that run through my home county, I know it looks flat but if you take the right roads it's possible to find some quite challenging routes.The Flash-Points have been going really well and are yet to need any truing. I have found them really comfortable on the longer rides. I'm getting so used to them that I've forgotten how my other wheels feel. So, tomorrow I am changing the Flash-Points for my Mavics and going out to try to get a good comparison to report on.

so, know i could say, i know how the FP-wheels really are. i rode them now for some thousends of km. i rode them in flat, in the mountains, in the rain. and it was always a good ride with them.
well, i have some lighter wheels which are better for climbing. the FP are very heavy. neary 2kg is to heavy for good climbing wheels. i have another set tubular-wheels with 1200gr. is easier to climb with them. but we could say, that the FP are starting in another class. my tubular-wheels cost so much as 3 sets of FP. really another class.
and we know, the FP are called as 'workers-zipp'. and there for, they makes here job great. they are stiff and solid. also aero. but i think with flat aerospokes, the wheels could be made more aero again.
its very nice to ride with the FP. so faster you ride, so better is the sound. the make a nice noise, when you ride faster.
in fact, i'm very happy with these wheels. stiff, solid, aero. but no the best wheels for climbing. very good in this price-range.
so then, go we out for another ride.

I made it to ride in the rain before work today.
The Flash-Points perform well through puddles ;-)