Originally Posted by
DaveLeeNC
The primary consideration here was the possibility that the tubular design would come with an inherently lower (used) cost simply due to reduced demand. This is just speculation at this point.
dave
Definitely true IME, although it would vary by area- more racing= more cast-off race wheels.
I'm currently on 50mm China carbon wheels that I got w/ tires for $200, and rode many miles on Easton EC90s that were the same price.
Also have a couple of sets of Mavik SL that were ~$100. The most I've paid is I think $325 for EC90SL w/good CX tires & DA cassette.
So I have the road set, another set for winter/poor road conditions (DA carbon w/Pave tires); for the CX bike there is an all around set (alloy w/ 30mm Schwalbe),
a gravel/back road set (alloy w/ Knobby Tufos), a CX race set (Easton w/Challenge tires), and another set w/Tufo road tires. All ready to go & total cost much less
than one $$ carbon wheelset. It only takes a few minutes to change wheels (only the CX race wheels require changing brake pads).
Paying a shop to mount tires would eat up some of the savings, and buying the tires on sale is a factor in keeping cost down.
To the poster above concerned about changing a tire on the road- it's the same or easier/faster than clincher, NBD.
Mounting a tire later is more work than clincher but still less than some folks seem to put into washing their bike after every ride...