because no 'whoomp whoomp' !!

Is there a rule saying "You have to be this fast to buy carbon"? Nope.

You used to have to choose between tubular disc or clincher+cover, but it's been a few years that the Zipp Super9 and FLO Disc have been out. Along with the HED Jet, that's three price-points of clincher disc wheels that offer great performance. People are more educated about aerodynamics these days, and are more likely to ride a disc full time rather than the "Maybe it's too windy/hilly for a disc" myth that some old-timers still repeat. If you're going to ride it full time, at every race except for (hopefully) Kona, the cost isn't quite as scary anymore.

Plus, outside the US it can be easier to get a disc than a cover... and covers are still more of a faff. I still have my cover at home (my partner rides it) but it's fragile, can slide (yes, I've taped it) and I don't buy the argument that it's as good as a completely smooth disc. WheelBuilder.com are welcome to convince me otherwise, I'll split the tunnel bill 50-50.

---

ZONE3 - We Last Longer

Yep, I looked at getting a wheelcover in Canada, and the cost of shipping, exchange rate, I was amazed how expensive it was going to be!!

I ended up making my own, worked great, but later on I actually got ahold of a HED Jet Disc, laced with a powertap hub, for 800 bucks canadian.

Only problem is that when I qualify for Kona, I'm going to need a new rear wheel and power meter :p

I figure, I'm in M25-29 and European, so unless I slash my times and go sub-9, I don't have to worry about Kona in the next 7 years. So a disc makes sense. If, by chance, I end up qualifying - it'll be an amazing enough result that somebody will lend me a deep rear...

---

ZONE3 - We Last Longer

My main issue with borrowing a rear is that I roll HED JETs, and almost nobody around here has deep wheels with aluminum brake track but me haha.

Also, with my cobb short arm cranks, and speedplay zero aero pedals, it's pretty well hub based or bust, so it looks like I'll be in the market for a jet 9 laced with a powertap soon :p

You won't need rear braking for Kona, wouldn't worry about carbon. From experience, Cobb cranks work with Powertap C1 rings, just saying...

---

ZONE3 - We Last Longer

Still riding a HED jet 90 w/ wheelcover, used it 2 wks ago at Oceanside. There were a few others.

I've considered the chainring option, but my cobb crank is 130 BCD version, not the 110 that the C1 chainring meter requires.

So I'd also need to buy a new cobb crank as well, and with the price of doing both, to upgrade any other wheel to a powertap hub is cheaper, and I can ride it on my road bike for training with power too.

Well, it's not like anyone with credibility who posts on this site ever tested that more than 10 years ago and found that an 808 covered was after that the 900 disc (flat sides). Oh, wait...

You'll see one on my Felt IA10 at IM Santa Rosa in 3 weeks. It was a no-brainer alternative to even renting a disc. It's a pain in the ass to install and remove after a race but the cost savings is worth it.

You will see a wheel cover this weekend at IMTX. I have a pair of Reynolds Strike carbon wheels with a PowerTap laced into them. Have found no scientific data stating a disc is faster or vice versa so I continue to tape on my wheel cover on for each race.

On a sort of related note, I've found that wheelcovers + tape are a LOT more durable than how fragile than what Wheelbuilder recommends.

Wheelbuilder says to only use them for racing, as they're not build for day-in-day-out use. I've left mine on for training rides and they work fine and stay structurally intact. (They will get more tiny scratches from road debris.) Also, the 3M black electrical tape works really well - it's reliable enough that if I want to inflate the tire, I can peel off half the disc cover to access the valve, pump it up, then just push it back down - have done this at least twice before changing the tape 'just in case'.

I am seriously contemplating seeing what would happen if I just cut a long notch in the drive-side wheelcover from the edge to the center so I can mount it without removing the cassette. (My wheelcover is old enough now that I don't mind abusing it.) If I could do that, it would be perfect!

Definitely do it. I cut a fill hole in my homemade disc cover so that I could pump it up. Then, I taped it over with a strip of gorilla tape. The good thing here is that you can actually make the cut long enough to easily get the pump head on there and locked on, no crack pipe needed.

Start the cut however you please and use sharp scissors for the rest. Make it thin enough that the tape has no problem sticking to the sides!

That said, I got tired of messing with it and got a flo disc for simplicity. Also, my homemade NDS cover was dished a little wrong.

Probably because Jack Mott has been MIA on here...

Could you mount yours without removing the cassette?

I would just tape over the radial cut with 3M tape - should be 'aero enough' for a MOPer like myself and it would be perfect!

(I actualy was going to try and cut out the pump hole to make it bigger but between the expected ugliness of my shaped cuts and the ease of just peeling back the cover, I passed on it.)

I could have cut the hole bigger to remove it while leaving the cassette, but I decided against it. I figure if I would cut it to a 28 tooth, then swap to a 23 later, the hole would let a lot of air in.

Besides, removing and replacing a cassette is a pretty quick task.

If you have a large, study, sharp pair of scissors, it will cut it very smooth.

I did that a few years ago. It mostly worked - but on one occasion the tape covering the cut peeled off midride and the wheel was real wobbly. Perhaps I left an air bubble in or something. So now I tape the area near the cut to the spokes to insure that even if the tape across the middle goes, something will hold the cover from the inside.

---

Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

You left off Renn, which IMHO is a better value in a disc than any of those three. And some research I read a while ago suggested that the flat Renn disc is faster for the Cervelo rear.

---

No coasting in running and no crying in baseball

Why buy a wheelcover when I can just buy a real disc wheel on my credit card???

You're right, but I left off a bunch of options, including the unbranded, at least 10 year old clincher disc with alloy braking that's on my bike right now. The three I mentioned seem to be the mainstream options for clincher discs, that basically anyone in the world can get hold of. I think they're part of the changed perception over the last few years that discs don't have the be a niche item.

---

ZONE3 - We Last Longer

Well, it's not like a Zipp 808 costs more than two of the clincher disc options I just mentioned. Oh, wait... I had two covers from WheelBuilder, for two wheelsets. One never sat straight, needed extra-strong tape and would still present a wobbly surface. The other is ok, but that's as much as I can say about it. Even with tape, it moves, makes clunky noises over pot holes and slowly scratches and peels the decals off the wheel it's mounted to. If I only ever race with a disc, why bother?

---

ZONE3 - We Last Longer

Do you mount yours on the lip of the wheels? I have the Strike SLG with powertap hub and was going to grab one.

Yes I do. If you go through Wheelbuilder, they ask for the measurements of your wheels to ensure they are cut and fit properly. If I remember correctly, when I tape them on, they are just short of the decal on the wheels. My wheelset are older than yours, probably a good three to five years I think.

I have been using a wheel cover on my PT wheel for years and finally upgraded to a Flo 90 rear this year and ordered another cover for that so I can have a 60/90 and 60/"disc". Has always worked well for me and like others have mentioned I leave mine on for months, only issue I ever had was I used some corrosive cleaner to try and get off some sticker shit and it kinda melted the plastic haha but was just cosmetic.