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Re: Wheel depth selection for lightweight rider [jimatbeyond] [ In reply to ]
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Hmmm.. we can definitely agree to disagree on that one. I can tape a tubular in minutes. And when removed, it leaves the rim almost fully free of any glue residue. Glue removal is a nasty and toxic job.. I only do this on TT bikes though, if I were to be hammering down the alps on a road bike, I would prefer to have the tubies fully glued. Not sure how much slower 2" of unglued tubies will be, but for me, it beats carrying a razor around.
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Re: Wheel depth selection for lightweight rider [icabob] [ In reply to ]
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icabob wrote:
Hi all. I purchased a used Trek Speed Concept a few months back for my first tri bike. This bike was previously used just for TTs and came with only tubular race wheels. ~80mm Zipp front wheel and Zipp full disk back wheel.

For context, I'm 25yr old male, 5'9", very light at 128lbs (58kg), and current have a 230w FTP. Looking to get it to 250w before the season starts. 2020 will be my 3rd year in triathlon and I'm looking to break the 4:40 mark this year in the 70.3 distance.

I've been putting in time on the trainer but need to start thinking about getting a set of wheels I can actually ride outside with on a regular basis.

I'd personally like to avoid everything that goes with tubular wheels, especially the concern of having to change the tire mid race. I recognize they are less likely to flat, but want to keep the simpler so I feel confident in mid race repairs. I am leaning towards selling them to buy a set of carbon clinchers I can train and race with.

Now for the actual question part. For an all-around wheel to both train and race on I was thinking of getting perhaps a 60mm front and 88mm back wheel. However I'm slightly concerned the 88mm back might be too deep for me as such a light rider. I don't want to get blown off my bike in a crosswind. I was also considering simply 50mm or 60mm for both front and back.

Any thoughts on wheel depth for a wheel-set that will double as training and race wheels for someone 128lbs (58kg)?

Thanks!


The best bang for the buck bar none IMO is the HedJet 50; just $800 bucks:
https://mybikeshop.com/...-plus-wheelset-black
- I used to use Hed Jet 60/90 or disc rear for racing and the Hed 50's for training. The 60 is susceptible to cross winds, the 50's not so much.
- the rear wheel isn't as much of a factor in the wind. Most folks say deeper is better.
- I tried a Hed 40 front and it was dead stable in the wind. But didn't feel as fast as the Hed 50.

It's a bummer that Hed doesn't just sell a 50 front clincher; that's the wheel I'd recommend for you.
This said, for $800, prolly worth getting the set in the link above. Use them all the time. Get a disc cover for the rear wheel on race day.
Last edited by: twain: Feb 4, 20 0:36
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Re: Wheel depth selection for lightweight rider [Engner66] [ In reply to ]
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There have numerous discussions here on the difference between taping and gluing.

Results have shown that taping or a bad glue job is much slower than a well glued tubular making some of the best tubulars perform like the worst.
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Re: Wheel depth selection for lightweight rider [jaretj] [ In reply to ]
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Yeah, but I don't buy it. Like the sleeves are faster trend or every manufacturer claiming that their bike frames or wheels is faster than the other guy's frame while independent testing concludes they are all kind of bunched up

The shear stress needed to do this on taped tubular sitting at >90 psi just does not add up at the torques most triathletes would do on a race. So unless you have a 200 lb guy track sprinter accelerating a bike on 2,000 W, my take is that the losses should be quite negligible. Although I haven't done a scientific comparison, I have't found any speed losses from switching to tape from glue.
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Re: Wheel depth selection for lightweight rider [Engner66] [ In reply to ]
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Scientific comparisons have been done.

Glue tape is about 2 watts slower per wheel than a proper glue job.
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