I am considering not running a disc in Galveston next weekend at Lone Star. The course is right along the seawall, and depending on the direction of the wind, if it is coming straight out of the south, it will be a direct crosswind for 90% of the ride. If that is the case, I will run an 808 in the rear. If it is coming from any other direction, I will go with the disc. Problem is, with the weather in Galveston, may not know until race morning. While I don't know if that is "technically" correct based on the various studies, it is what makes me comfortable mentally.

heh, now that's interesting. I take it they fiberglass encased? I would imagine it would have to have some flex to prevent it from cracking especially on single track.

Don't know if I'm hijacking this thread....

If I put a Wheel cover on my Mavic Cosmic, will I notice any difference?

Note: Cosmic rim depth is 52mm.

Yes, you will go faster :)
Wheel covers offer the same benefits. Some will probably argue slightly less, but if it is, it's negliable in my opinion.

I have never ran a wheel cover so I cannot answer that question. I have raced the disc in every race since I bought the disc. This may be the first done without it.

Unless, like me, you have a beam bike. ;D

---

_________________
Dick

Take everything I say with a grain of salt. I know nothing.

since I got my pretend-a-disk (wheel cover) the only race I haven't used it was Lausanne, 4 laps of a highly technical loop with plenty of ups, downs, and turns. I'm still not sure that was the right decision.

I did not use a disc at the Great Floridian in 2005 because of hurricane wilma.... turned out I probably could have gotten away with the disc.

 

High winds are definately not a joke though. I saw a ~100 lb women get blown off her bike.. well off the course and consequently off her bike at IMAZ in 2005 most likely due to the disc she was riding.

I think your weight should be a factor if your nickname is slim or they call you tiny.

Unless it's a hillclimb TT I always use one...................... ALWAYS !!!

"Any feeling for how much time you have saved in races since you went to the disc for 100% races."
- - When I switched to tubies on Hed 60/90, I picked up about a minute on 40K, as near as I could tell. Some or all of that might just have been ego, because I hate showing up with nice gear and sucking!!
When I switched to the disk, I can't say what the improvement was, because I also got a new bike at the same time and had Chris Kautz do a fitting for me. I dropped close to 4 minutes.
On one race (Napa Half IM) which is really hilly, I used my Trek 5200 because I thought it was better for climbing, although I'd use the TT bike if I did it again. At any rate, having ridden that course a few times before the race, I felt like the disk was probably good for close to 1 mph. But then my Accel disk is lighter than either my Rolf rear training wheel, or my Hed 90.
The bottom line to me is that even if the disk is marginally slower climbing (which I don't believe it is) it's dramatically faster coming down, although it might not handle as well on a highly technical course in the hands of a better descender than what I am... (huh?) IOW, I'm 100% confident that my disk is faster, with the possible exception of the Mt Diablo Challenge, which goes up 3500 feet in 7 miles and doesn't come back down.

---

Cousin Elwood - Team Over-the-hill Racing
Brought to you by the good folks at Metamucil and Geritol...

It was called the Sugino or Tioga tension disk. Basically a kevlar cord woven through a normal rim and hub using adaptors, with a non-structural fiberglass covering which formed the disk. You supply the hub and rim and buy the other stuff for $500 in the mid 80s. It essentially works out to $500 for spokes. Supposed to have some suspension effect, but was anightmare to built and broke pretty regularly. John Tomac and Ned Overend both rode with them. Supposedly Tomac went through more than a dozen one season (yep in 80s over $6000 worth of spokes). That was when he was sponsered by Tioga and winning everything.

For some reason they never really made a big splash in the market place.

Styrrell

I've been watching the major tours for the past 5-6 years. The only time I've seend the pros not use a disk for TT races was a fews years ago when the TT was up Alp D Huez(sp?). Some of the courses have had some technical sections but the disk still rules (remember Rasmussen).



Mike H.

You are probably right, and when it comes down to it, I will probably be on the disk. Don't know if I could actually not race the disk.

---

____________________________________
Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD

When you've got a powertap. Then you use a disc cover, or build the wheel into a deep section rim.

Sorry if the question is too off. But if discs are faster than zipps in most cases, why do so many people buy zipps then ? Only for racing
in Kona ?

---

---

"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative." Oscar Wilde

I was faced with this the past weekend. I always use the disc (with front tri), as everyone else advocates, however last weekend I raced an OD with what I suspected was going to be a hilly and slightly technical bike course. So I took the matching trispoke rear just in case, and for once in my life drove the course the day before. Turned out that the first 7km was basically 2-3% avg uphill grade, about 2 km were 4-5%. Mid section a bit undulating then down hill (mostly steeper shorter sections than on the way up) then flat again, 2 laps of this.

I had a good think, and decided to go with the trispoke rear (~200g lighter, "feels" nicer handling for me, no good explanation why). I was happy for this decision, and happy with my ride. I'm pretty sure others rode discs, maybe they had no other option, or didn't have a problem with the disc up hills. In hindsight, I'd go trispoke again. I didn't feel disc-induced extra downhill/undulating speed was a concern. If there were no ~5+% sections, just false flats then I would go disc, but for a decent amount of climb then tri/deep rim.

I rode a disc and Spinergy Tilium that year. No issues at all. I considered getting an H3 rear in the weeks before the race, but after riding in gusty 5-20mph variable winds I decided it wouldn't matter. I rode my H3/disc setup last year and will again this year.

---

---