First Ride: Industry 9 Super Ego Clincher

I'm a busy guy. I work a lot, I train hard, I try to spend as much time with my wife and dog as possible, and I like to get a reasonable amount of sleep. Sometimes these things are in conflict with one another so I'm always looking for ways to make my life and training more efficient. That's the first reason I like the new Industry 9 Super Ego Clinchers - they make my life easier! No more do I have to change brake pads from training wheels to race wheels. I can race on my carbon tubular wheels, and train on these without additional worries of flatting a $100 tire. Now I can just change the tube if necessary.

Now for the details:

FRONT :	18 hole / Radial lacing pattern
REAR :	24 hole / 3x drive side / radial non-drive side lacing pattern
SPOKE :	Machined & cold forged / bladed / 7075 aluminum spokes
RIM :	Edge Composites 1.0 / 38mm clincher rims / 400g
WEIGHT :	1340 Grams
PRICE :	MSRP-$2249.99

Today I rode these wheels for the first time on my West Asheville 'Recovery Loop'. It has it all - flat roads, downhills, potholes, uphills, turns, etc. Perfect for evaluating how these wheels compare to the others in my stable. Yesterday I rode a pair of 'old' Mavic Ksyrium wheels with Hutchinson tubeless tires. I reserve these wheels for rides when I know I'm going to hit some dirt roads or if I'll be riding in the rain. The tubeless tires are great for training, but for some reason they just don't feel as fast to me as clinchers or tubulars to me, despite what the data says. That being said, I've never flatted one and they are super-smooth to ride!

Compared to the Ksyriums the Super Egos ride much smoother due to the damping effect of the carbon. The additional stiffness of the carbon rims is blunted by the moderate profile of the Edge 1.38 rims. Tires and tubes were Hutchin Fusion 2 Ultras with their Air Light tubes (280g in combination). These tires were pumped up to 115psi. I've ridden Cosmic Carbons, Zipp 404s, Edge 68mm wheels, Zipp 1080s, and these wheels are by far the best all-around wheelset I've ridden as far as combination of weight, stiffness, handling, ease of use and road feel. It was windy today, and I purposely rode into a crosswind with my hands off the bars - some noticeable difference compared to the Ksyriums for instance, but not unmanageable in a group situation. I also intentionally hit potholes, rough roads and went over some curbs. The wheels stayed true and felt solid without any weird 'snaps' or 'pops' that I used to hear with my Zipps. Under all-out sprinting these wheels are super-stiff laterally and while I found them almost too stiff with my Cannondale System 6 from last year, they are awesome in combination with the Trek Madone that I'm now riding. I like the feel of these wheels better than my I9 Ego aluminum clincher wheels (the Super Egos absorb more road shock), and better than the tubular version as well (I think the extra rim mass actually makes the wheel more stable). If you have to buy only one set of wheels - I would recommend these without hesitation. To reiterate, these are the best all-around wheelset I've ever ridden. So why won't I ride them all the time?

In a race situation I would hands down choose the tubular version, and in a flat race the 68mm deep version (ID) for the additional wattage savings versus the 38mm rim. In a race I'd be willing to sacrifice the ride quality and repairability (is that a word?) for lighter weight, lower rolling resistance, and aerodynamics. You're looking at between a 350g-400g penalty in riding clinchers versus tubulars, and I still like the feel of tubulars at speed and in corners better than clinchers. Ideally having a set of both the clincher Super Ego wheels and the 68mm deep ID wheels would give you a perfect combination of wheels to use in training races and rides, or windy days, and a pair of 'race day' wheels (ID). I feel lucky to have this as my setup for 2009!

I will continue with updates on durability, overall quality, and any other issues that arise. However Industry 9 also has excellent customer service, turning damaged wheels around from crashes in a couple of days. They have even gone out of their way to warranty a rim that I saw no noticeable issues with. I have confidence that if I ever did have any more problems that they would be resolved promptly.

Feel free to e-mail me with any other questions or for additional photos. More information, pricing, and availability can also be found at Industry 9's website: www.industrynine.net/Road_Wheels