Aero Carbon Crazy?

What the heck is going on out there in aero-land, anyway? I decided that Sue really "needs" some aero wheels for her time trial bike. The old Mavic-CXP30s that I have on it just don't look fast enough, you know? I set up a couple of daily searches on Ebay and sat back to watch for a good deal on some slightly used aero wheels. I continue to be surprised by the results.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've watched some old HED tri-spokes and HED lenticular disc wheels go out on auction. I ride that particular tri-spoke/disc combo on my TT bike and, although the standard HED disc is pretty heavy, they work pretty darn well on flat to rolling courses that are common for time trials.

The old tri-spokes are going for between $500 and $600, and I just saw a HED disc go for $530 plus $25 shipping. Okay, let's think about this for a minute. The standard HED disc and tri-spoke have not changed in design for the past several years. Same weight, same everything. I'm not talking about the new full carbon tri-spokes here. I'm talking about the older style, the ones you could get in 2000, the same design they sell today for something like $595 per wheel brand new.

So, there are people out there who could get brand new versions of these wheels for $595 a piece, and they're paying 90-92% of new price on Ebay for used ones several years old. And here's the kicker. When I bought mine brand new in 2000, I paid $327 for the tri-spoke and $418 for the disc. I could sell them both on Ebay right now for a 47% profit, and I've ridden on them for six years. I wish I had sunk the money I put in certain looser stocks back then into buying a bunch of those wheels!

What's going on out there with the price of aero carbon wheels? Are we all nuts?