I would have thought having a spoked v solid disc is massive difference and is up there with the most measurable things when purchasing a disc? Certainly is with my disc choice for IM racing.

Ok but why do you think that? I see no reason for it to be more important than any of the other properties of a wheel, or for it to even be a minor consideration.

Because a spoked disk is no where as harsh to ride than a solid disc. It’s certainly a more pleasurable experience over an IM.

Oh I thought you meant spokes are a negative thing. For whatever reason, some posters talk down spoked disc wheels.

I'm not sure I can tell a difference in harshness, especially in the days of 28mm tires.

I really can't tell any comfort difference between 90 mm with a cover compared to my unspoked disks. But then, I am a fairly lightweight rider.

Tyres have progressed but you can still take some advantage running a spoked wheel it is a huge positive in my boat. I can’t say the road surface has been too great on any IM corses I have ridden especially NZ. Then you need a disk wide enough for a 28mm tyre and not hinder aero advantage which could limit your choices. Have you ridden a Cadex disc? I’d still not be that excited to ride one over a rough IM course with the sweetest of 28 tyres. You can’t get the Continental GP5000 TT TDF edition in that size either so I’ll keep spokes in my top reasons for buying a disc.

The main tradeoff in Ironman racing (IMO) is Fast vs Pleasurable

Yet you can have both 🤗

The Hed Vanquish disc is 21mm internal optimized for 28mm measured tires.

I'd have to buy a bike with disc brakes to match the wheel...

I was in the same boat, and actually got the wheels on sale before deciding on a frame, but no matter the final decision, it’ll be a disc brake bike.

A spoked wheel and a 28mm tyre you have it all... I'm putting off going disc as long as I can unless I'm on the dirt.

I'm tempted by the Parcours Chrono. Price is reasonable, weight is reasonable (if on the "heavier" side at 1240g) but the internal rim width is excellent at 22.5mm, which means it is optimised for 28mm tires and no aero penalty for 30mm.

Roads over here in Europe just seem to get worse every month, and where I am riding now I feel battered after a ride on 28mm tires at a lower pressure. 30s could be the way forward.

On their website they list it as 25.6mm external width? Did you measure it at 27.5?

25.6 is for the rim brake wheel, I have the disc brake wheel which is 27.5mm

Ah that makes more sense.

Thanks.

The discussion whether the disc is better than rim is stupid. Of course you need a disc. Also on a IM full course. Because you need to look cool…the disc is your free coach that tells you every turn to ride faster.
And that’s the truth. Scientifically proven by me, n=1

I just bought a Flo Disc. It's a carbon rim, spoked wheel, with a bonded carbon cover. No ride harshness. Lot of nice features, good videos of how to setup. They actually have them in stock, and ready to ship (unlike many other of these Disc wheels). It's a damned impressive wheel for the price.

FLO is good but not the deal it once was, when you're looking at street price. HED Jet is made in the US for the same price. Citec is made in Germany with DT hubs for the same price. If I didn't care about country of origin and proprietary hubs, I'd either get the Lightbicycle with DT240 (for greater width) or Prime/Premier (for better price).

I've raced the Flo Disc for years, and it's been "OK." It's come slightly out of true, and though I've worked on it, it's still not totally perfect - I have to run my (rim) brakes slightly wider than I'd like. While I'm no wheel-trueing wizard, this one has seemed harder than regular spoked wheels. I sent a video to Flo and was told "that's normal, all wheels have some movement." But it's sure more than I'd like, a few mm at the brake track.


And there's a "pinging" noise that comes and goes. I think this is probably spokes rubbing against each other. Maybe related to my trueness issue, as maybe there's a spoke with lower tension. But no way to use a spoke tension meter to normalize tensions. Also lubed the nipples as best I could....no help.

So it's been a good value, but my next disc wheel will be spokeless, as I've had Zipp discs for track that have been flawless.

As a roadie, I don't care about all-day comfort,.

Is Prime the Wiggle branded wheel?

Keen to hear more on the Prime disc for anyone running it. There are some negative reviews on Wiggle / CRC relating to delamination with air trapping inside the wheel. Has the design been updated to fix this apparent 'defect?'

Cycling pros and top triathlon pros do, sure. But if you could look at the broader set of triathlon pros you might be able to get some data, as most don't have wheel sponsors.

However that data may very well be "what can I afford on a triathlete's budget" so it still may not get to the answer we're looking for.

If I could actually find the info, I'd be curious what cycling pros use in TT when they go "off sponsor" and black out all the logos. But even that answer might be "the disc that worked best in the tunnel with my specific bike setup."

In the end, I got the one that matched my bike color scheme because this answer seemed impossible to nail down objectively without testing I wasn't going to ever be able to do. And matching colors is proven to be worth 3-5 watts.

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Too old to go pro but doing it anyway
http://instagram.com/tgarvey4

You can't separate the two as they work as a system. If you have to run a narrow tubular it will definitely be a slower wheel.

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Heath Dotson
HD Coaching:Website |Twitter: 140 Characters or Less|Facebook:Follow us on Facebook

Not sure about tubeless as I use mine with a tube. But I love the wheel, think its amazing value for money. No crappy sticker over the valve hole like on my previous Zipp that cost 3 times as much. And while $1K is still a hell of a lot I feel a little better about travelling and damage risk with a $1K wheel than a $3K wheel..