When we introduced the 81mm deep 808, we saw it mainly as a time trial and triathlon wheelset. It did pretty well in those disciplines, netting an Ironman World Championship with Normann Stadler and the fastest Tour de France time trial in history with David Zabriskie. But lately we’ve seen the 808 more frequently at road races. Fabian Cancellara, no TT slouch himself, has ridden the 808 to victory with his trademark last-kilometer solo attacks at the Tour de France and Milan-San Remo, and it was Fabian who told us, “The 808 is the new 404 for me.” We’re not ready to say that officially, but we will say that the fully redesigned 2009 version is the fastest road racing wheel ever. The new fully toroidal rim shape uses design cues from the 1080 and Sub-9 development to further reduce the drag by 8-25 grams over the original 808. This equates to a savings on the road of 2-7 watts of power for a pair of wheels at 30mph. Maybe Fabian is right, after all.

Specs (Tubular)

Aero Rim Width: Front 26.53mm, Rear 26.53mm

Rim Depth: Front 81mm, Rear 81mm

Weight: Front 672g, Rear 790g