As I do every winter, I’m contemplating my equipment selections for the coming season. I sold almost all my race bikes last year and replaced them with new ones, so those are staying put. It’s wheels I’m thinking about this year.

Last year, I had two primary road wheelsets and one MTB wheelset. My road wheels were both equipped with PowerTap SL hubs. One set had Flashpoint FP60 rims – these were used exclusively on my TT bike. The other set had Sun Venus rims – these were my training and racing wheels. The TT wheels had Michelin Pro Lite tires, while the RR wheels had Continental Grand Prix 4000s. I switched to tubeless Hutchinson Fusion 2s at the end of the season, which proved comfortable and dependable.

My MTB wheels were a set of SUNringle’ Black Flags – a nice, light XC wheelset. I rode them primarily with a Kenda Small Block 8 tire up front and a Maxxis Crossmark out back.

Here’s my tentative plan for 2009:

Training/road races
PowerTap Pro+ rear hub, SUNringle’ City Flea front hub
Sun Venus rims (28 hole)
Wheelsmith AE15 ovalized spokes
Hutchinson Fusion 2 tubeless tires

Criteriums
PowerTap Pro+ rear hub, SUNringle’ City Flea front hub
Sun Vista Cruiser tubular rims (28 hole)
Wheelsmith AE15 ovalized spokes
Continental Competition tubular tires (700×22)

Time Trials (same as last season)
PowerTap SL rear hub (with ANT+ firmware upgrade), SUNringle’ City Flea front hub
Flashpoint FP60 rims (24 hole)
Wheelsmith XL15 spokes
Michelin Pro Lite clincher tires (700×23)

MTB training
SUNringle’ Disc O Flea wheelset
Kenda Small Block 8 front tire, Maxxis Crossmark rear tire (both 26×2.1″)

MTB racing
SUNringle’ Black Flag wheelset
NoTubes “The Crow” tubeless tires