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Slowtwitch Forums: Triathlon Forum:
The best rear wheel for hawaii?

jasonogk

Dec 31, 04 17:15

Post #1 of 9 (543 views)

The best rear wheel for hawaii?	Can't Post

check this out

http://cgi.ebay.com/...=7124481329&rd=1

if I rode 700c Id be bidding!

Jason Goldberg
FIT Multisports
http://www.fitmultisports.com
http://fitmultisports.com/blog.html

(This post was edited by jasonogk on Dec 31, 04 17:16)

gtingley

Dec 31, 04 17:35

Post #2 of 9 (532 views)

Re: The best rear wheel for hawaii? [jasonogk] [In reply to]	Can't Post

I would wait, I heard that HED has a new deep wheel in the works.

- Gary

Rotor Q-Rings - Slowtwitch exclusive 15% discount on sets of Q-Rings. Use code "slowtwitch" online at checkout at http://www.RotorCranks.com, all items in stock, and always FREE UPS Ground shipping!!

runboorun

Dec 31, 04 18:26

Post #3 of 9 (504 views)

Re: The best rear wheel for hawaii? [jasonogk] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Yeah, I saw that last night and saved it to watch the auction. interesting.
56-11...the only way to fly

cerveloguy

Dec 31, 04 18:57

Post #4 of 9 (488 views)

Re: The best rear wheel for hawaii? [jasonogk] [In reply to]	Can't Post

I believe that wheel was originally built for Hawaii by Hed but banned by the organizers at the last moment for some silly technical reason. Can't remember the full story off hand.

Very little logic to the Kona rule banning rear discs.

"OK, I'll admit I screwed up the facts"

big kahuna

Dec 31, 04 19:26

Post #5 of 9 (464 views)

Re: The best rear wheel for hawaii? [cerveloguy] [In reply to]	Can't Post

No discs, period. When you get hit from the side by the mu'umuku winds going up the Queen K. highway to the Hawi turnoff, you'll understand why. I rode a disc wheel on the rear a few times while training, and it was really twitchy and unstable.

I raced IMH '97 with Spinergys and in '98 with a Hed Aero up front and a Hed Deep in the rear, and even that Deep had me jumping around a little on the ride out to Hawi.

Tony

Football Mom

Dec 31, 04 23:11

Post #6 of 9 (433 views)

Re: The best rear wheel for hawaii? [cerveloguy] [In reply to]	Can't Post

In Reply To

I believe that wheel was originally built for Hawaii by Hed but banned by the organizers at the last moment for some silly technical reason. Can't remember the full story off hand.

Very little logic to the Kona rule banning rear discs.

I remeber when a similar situation happened a few years earlier with another deep rim wheel. I was working at B&L, Steve and Annie Hed brought over boxes of these wheels right before Ironman. They were hot off the press, hadn't been seen by IM officials or USAT officials yet. The decision to not allow them had to do with the percentage of surface area, which as Tony the Big Kahuna reminds us does not always do well with the winds on the Kohala Coast. The Heds still sold most everything they brought over, the wheels just couldn't be used in IM Kona.

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(This post was edited by Football Mom on Jan 1, 05 9:34)

pinkboy

Jan 1, 05 3:37

Post #7 of 9 (412 views)

Re: The best rear wheel for hawaii? [cerveloguy] [In reply to]	Can't Post

That is not the 'KonaCoast' wheel which I am thinking you are referring to! That is a different wheel altogether, as it has less surface than the KonaCoast that was banned:

http://www.slowtwitch.com/.../kona2002/chann.html

Couldnt find a better picture, but I would argue that this 'prototype' wheel may in fact be Kona legal, as its more like a 'jet90/h3' hybrid, rather than a disc with 3 small cutouts!

Here is the goss on the KonaCoast being illegal too:

Hed's Kona Coast not legal for Kona's coast

October 16, 2002, Kona, Hawaii

Hed's revolutionary wheel, the Kona Coast, will not be legal for use in the 2002 Hawaiian Ironman, according to race director Sharron Ackles.

The wheel blurs the lines between a 3-spoke and a disc, and bears a resemblance both to Hed's popular Hed3 tri-spoke and Hed's 3D disc, which looks like a Hed3 with the holes filled in. The Kona Coast is essentially a 3D with holes cut into it, resulting in a Hed3 with more surface area.

Sharron Ackles, reached by telephone shortly after her ruling this morning, was asked whether she made her decision based on the wheel's potential to give its users an unfair advantage, its potential danger in severe crosswinds, or procedural issues�that is, that it wasn't submitted for approval prior to the race.

"Two out of the three," was her reply. "We like to see new innovations at least six months prior to the race. We don't want to stifle innovation. We just want to make sure the product is appropriate for the Kona course. The past two years we've had tremendous winds, and I made my decision with this in mind. Risk management was my other concern."

Ackles was also asked whether this wheel will prompt a more specific ruling on wheels, such as a maximum rim and hub depth, and a maximum cumulative width of all the spokes.

"With the advent of this wheel coming to our attention, we've had those discussions over the past 48 hours," she said.

Ackles further said she'd welcome the opportunity to meet with industry experts such as Steve Hed to codify a set of rules for wheels used in Kona.

Hed, reached by phone after the ruling, welcomed the opportunity to work with Ackles in producing a more quantitative rule for wheels on Kona's course. He added, though, that, "I would've loved for our athletes to ride the wheels�they'll make great rear wheels for windy courses. But we still have time to get them all three spokes prior to the race."

While the Hed Kona Coast, which would've been on the rear wheels of bikes ridden by Chris McCormack, Lothar Leder and other top pros in the race, will ironically not be legal here in Kona, it will presumably be legal everywhere else. USA Triathlon's chief arbiter of such rulings is Charlie Crawford, and his remark on the subject was, "I don't see anything wrong with this wheel, from USAT's point of view. But Ironman has their own decisions to make about what is appropriate for their race on their Kona course."

The Hed Kona Coast came over to the Big Island with a ream of papers reporting on its wind tunnel results, including its reportedly impressive ability to handle well in a crosswind. Depending on what sorts of rules arise between this year's Kona race and next, the wheel may gain approval for future Kona races.

pinkboy...discuss
In the power never given to me in the name of slowman, king high ruler and Grand Hunky Poo Ba of the blessed land of Slowtwitchia I dub thee "Sir pinkboy the Awsomator" This honor is given to thee for the reason of being not only freakin' awsome but totally sweet. By the use of the color Pink to fly your freak flag and bring smiles to frowny faces. *Mr. Tibbs*

hooker_elite

Jan 1, 05 10:43

Post #8 of 9 (294 views)

Re: The best rear wheel for hawaii? [cerveloguy] [In reply to]	Can't Post

If you look back at photos from last year's Vuelta, you'll notice that a few of USPS's riders rode custom H3's on the front of their bikes with extended rim depths. I believe that this wheel is from that batch. The Kona coast wheel was essentially an H3d disk wheel with a portion of the thin carbon rim cut out. The hub internals on these wheels are interchangable so in effect this could be used as a front wheel. If you look closely at the one on Ebay you can see that this wheel is far from production status - I would be curious of the wheel's weight and handling.
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Hook'em

Jan 3, 05 8:38

Post #9 of 9 (188 views)

Re: The best rear wheel for hawaii? [hooker_elite] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Gone!