Stem hole on the left (non drive side).



Styrrell

rim tape or no rim tape?

No tape. You might want to chamfer and deburr the valve stem hole to ensure that it won't cut the tube at the stem.

Are you sure? I thought it was on the drive side?

That's funny because on this thread someone (jkatsoudas) said just the opposite:

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...;mh=25;guest=4903490

The valve stem hole is on the drive side for the rear, so the front should mount the same way.

Yes, stem hole on the drive side ensures that the rounded edge of the airfoil is facing forward as the spoke is moving forward at the top.

Really?! You must have a bitch of a time getting that chain to run smoothly with the cassette on the left (non-drive) side of the bike. And the wheels spinning the wrong direction as well. You don't happen to wrench for Jan Ullrich do you?

The stem holes are on the right, or drive side.

As usual, thanks guys....to the right it is!!!!!

Opps sorry i was working from memory and got it wrong. I use a zipp disk so no problems with the cassette.



Styrrell

Lots of people have mentioned that Jans wheel was backwards in a recent TT. I've seen plenty of pics of Lance with his HED3 front wheel also mounted backwards. I can't believe that the mechanics are all that sleepy when they mount the wheels, I wonder whats up?

I'll have to try running my front wheel backwards sometime and see what its all about.

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Paul

Really?! Care to show us one?

That will require some searching on ST. There WERE pics posted here awhile back. You could tell that the wheel was mounted backwards by the valve hole, the old style threads on the hub and the "sharp" edge of the wheel.

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Paul

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Paul

I'd say that looks backwards... maybe the wrench had a little too much EPO ;-)

I emailed HED this morning and asked them if there was a reason why.....

They responded that it was a mistake. There is no reason to run the wheel backwards.

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Paul

Funny huh... I guess what might have been gained aerodynamically by the AX caliper was probably lost by reversing the wheel, LOL!

The difference from leading to trailing edge on an H3 is very, very slight. I'd be surprised if it really makes any difference at all. I'd guess (admittedly purely an uneducated guess) that putting a magnet on an H3 would have more of a negative effect than running it backwards. In fact, I seem to recall an old John Cobb tunnel test with various tube shapes were some airfoil-shaped tubes were actually lower Cd when facing backwards. Go figure. In any case, visually it virtually indistinguishable if you don't know to look for the valve hole, so you won't get caught looking like a tool like Jan with his Xentis :-)

dvfmfidc,

Obviously, the rear wheel can mount only one way. If you feel the edges of the spoke, you will discover there is a leading edge and a trailing edge and this means these wheels are intended to rotate in a specific direction. BTW the leading edge is a little more round/elliptical than the trailing edge which feels thinner.

Now if you study the front wheel similarly, you will quickly discover which way the front wheel must mount to rotate in the same direction.

Just remember, some of the pictures you see have the images reversed for one reason or another. You can't always rely on what you see in a picture.

Good luck.

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Ben Cline


Better to aspire to Greatness and fail, than to not challenge one's self at all, and succeed.