Me and tubies.
I’m a pretty fortunate guy, no doubt. I’ve been blessed with a good life, understanding wife, and a decent gig to top it off. What this adds up to of course is being able to afford some luxury items that I wholeheartedly use to their fullest ability all season long. I’m known to bling up my rides and I definitely test the equipment to its limits – simply ask Justin McCormick from Johnny Sprockets. I’ve definitely have proven some equipment to be absolutely tried and true in my opinion, having survived endurance mountain bike racing, epic trail rides in Utah, California, Mexico, and Guatemala. The list of tires, wheels, hubs, cranksets, brakes, shocks, saddles, frames, number in the ridiculous for the years I’ve been riding.

I’m a relative newcomer to cyclocross, having only started to participate in the sport 4 years ago. Last year was the 1st year I dipped my toe into the realm of actuallly racing a cyclocross bike and purchased a Santa Cruz Stigmata. I figured a dreamy race bike, is deserving of a buku wheel set. I bought the Mavic Kysrium SL Tubulars and had Justin McCormick glue on a set of Dugast Flying Doctors. Needless to say – I was racing a thoroughbred that far outweighed my own pedigree! I did learn quite a bit about performance cyclocross bikes, wheelsets, and tire choices after racing and training on the bike – as did my fellow B’beller, Nevada Dave, who raced with my bike four times, once to victory. My big take-away, wheelset and tire choices definitely make all the difference in the world when it comes to improving your bike’s and your own handling ability on tough courses in cyclocross. Tubulars have been debated among racers, new and old alike, as to their perceived difference. I won’t bore you with that debate – google it yourself – but know that I firmly believe that tubulars are the ‘only’ way to go if you are serious about racing cyclocross. I went tubeless when it wasn’t the rage for mountain biking, and I’m still running UST tires with sealant and couldn’t be happier since almost six years ago. It was only obvious that I would have a love affair with tubulars.

Off with my HED!

Thanks to my affiliation with xXx Racing-AthletiCo and the very generous sponsors at HED – I scored two sets of HED Stinger 60s to race on for the 2009 cyclocross season. They are a serious step up from my Kysriums, which are still a phenomenal wheelset to race on. My knowledge of carbon deep dish rims is limited to what I’ve read online and shared with teammates and fellow racers. I remember an early morning conversation with Ben Popper on the lakefront bike path last year in which he divulged the secrets of deep dish rims and sand – all I could think of was, “wow, I just want to pedal as fast as you!” He made some relevant points that never left my head as I kept hearing the same advice come back from various sources. Carbon rims – are stiff, are lightweight, and give you more control with the right set of tires glued on a typical cyclocross course with off-cambr turns, rutted grassy sections, and mucky mud lines or sandpits.

This review will be a 3 part series simply because – I can’t give an honest to goodness opinion based on just looking at them and reading web information. This is the introduction part. Part 2 will be how they are holding up mid-way through cross season after 6 races, and Part 3 is at the end of the season to see how they performed overall in all the race conditions I threw them at which include two Gran Prix Weekends.

Glue Method 1 and Glue Method 2

Alfredo Ruvalcalba from Johnny Sprockets has been gluing tubulars for over 25 years. Justin McCormick is newer to the tubular gluing game and is himself, no sluff to proper servicing of anything on a bike. Thanks to Justin, I survived an entire racing season on last year’s set with no issues at all. They both offered up a different gluing method for both of my sets of Stinger 60s. Alfredo offered up the glue only method, and Justin, did the glue and tape method. Both are considered absolutely acceptable methods of applying tubulars to carbon rims – but both do offer a slightly different feel for the way the tires contact and hold the rim. I don’t know the difference off-hand, but I aim to find out throughout the next few months and report back in Part 2. The Stinger 60s are ridiculously light. They are a claimed 1326 grams for the set. With the Dugast Flying Doctors – they come to 2290 a set. This weight savings in the rotational department is the name of the game for hardcore speed throughout a 40-60 minute effort.

I had e-mail conversations with our HED representative through xXx Racing, in addition, to their technical representative who both have assured me that barring that I don’t do the obvious abuse that would harm ‘any’ wheel – racing on these wheels should be absolutely fine. They are built to withstand a lot of punishment in road racing and training circumstances, and despite cross racing’s demands, they should withstand the off-road fare with equal aplomb. They did note some Category 1 and Pro level riders are racing on Stinger 60s (note: I’ll investigate a list of who exactly). There is an obvious caveat with any fine wheelset in that – they must be treated with finesse and definitely lend themelves to shine under riders who are excellent bike handlers and can be light on the pedals and thoroughly agressive ‘with grace’. I have been riding a fully rigid hardtail for almost 2 years now and have come to appreciate fluidity through well picked lines as opposed to bashing a path through the singletrack – this is what I mean by aggressive with grace.

How well will these wheels perform? I’m taking them to my first training practices next week and I am sure I will be most impressed. They will debut on race day at the U.S. Gran Prix in Madison, WI for both weekend dates. I do know that I am in love with Dugasts and firmly believe that they can only enhance the experience of a stiff, lightweight wheelset, that should deliver me across the line safely and hopefully, legs willing!, to some decent finishes. If you would like to see these wheels up close and personal, by all means, see me at the sidelines and ask away, I’ll give you a full on the spot opinion of how they’re performing.

Part 2 will be published in October before the Grand Prix in Louisville, KY. If I have a stronger opinion on them then – you will know about it.