A 60 vs. 90 in the rear will make absolutely no difference in rideability.

You'll gain a very little bit in weight and a very little bit in aero at some wind angles

My first Q is "why not a disc?"

I chose my first set of wheels out of a little conservative concern for wind and got 60/90. I am around your weight, and I almost immediately wished that I had gone deeper. I spent more cash about a year later to upgrade to 90/disc. Those are my everyday wheels and I have ridden in some pretty major crosswinds without issue.

If I were not getting disc, then 60/90 or 90/90 with a lean toward 90/90. 90/90 looks better and it is marginally faster.

My everyday set up is 60/90. Like it because it works for everyday riding as well as racing. There is very little difference between a 90 and a disc for performance gains.

Price primarily, although a bit of fear as well from crosswinds. Since this is my first shot at an aero wheel I want to be a bit conservative. Sounds like that is where you were at as well and immediately regretted it.

I can tell you from what I've read here and a lot of personal experience is a disc makes a 90 front much easier to handle than a 90 rear does.

So if you want a stable bike I'd go 60 front, disc rear

Less stable - 60 front, 90 rear.

Even less stable - 90 front, 90 rear.

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THIS


The deeper the front the faster it is in crosswinds. All wheels stall, well with an exception, the disc wheel. When you run a combo set say 60/60 or 60/90 or if you really want to pucker 90/60 the twitching comes from the front wheel.

Read this post, probably one of the top 3 explanations on ST for this by one of the smartest people still posting here.

It's actually a very good thread on the whole

Now I would add 1 caveat. If you're racing in the M50-54 anytime in the next 4 years you should not, under any circumstance, ride anything deeper than a 30mm wheel when racing, especially if we may cross paths in a race.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Well you just saved me a bunch of money! Looks like I stay on my current wheels!

I have a Felt IA, and it is intentionally designed for stable wind-resistant handling. So, I found pretty quickly that riding deep wheels was not a challenge for me on my bike, and that is when I began longing for the 90/disc.

The responsible advice is get shallower, like a 60/60 or a 60/90. But, if you are like me, you will probably get used to it right away and then long for the full Monty.

Here is a real time dilemma of a similar vein:

I am headed to IM Coz this week. It is a no-disc course. I have the following wheels in my stockpile:

404 front
808 front and rear
454 front and rear (was given an offer too good to pass up)

I’m a decent handler, so I’m not super concerned about the crosswinds. How do people feel about using the 808 set vs the 454 set?

This might help:
- I get really nervous with cross-wind buffeting and prefer totally stable steering; I'm 6'0 and 154lbs with a weak upper body. I had a Hed Jet 60 and Hed Jet 50 for my BMC TM01 up front. The 50 was noticeably more stable and confidence-inspiring. I think the piece of mind outweighs the marginal aero gains of going deeper.
- I went to ITU Worlds at Cozumel in 2016. Ran the Jet 50 front and Jet Disc in the rear (they allowed discs for the Oy distance).
- That course is totally flat and incredibly flat; out and back on a freshly paved trail. There was no wind on that day. Was able to break 1 hour and had the second fastest bike split in the AG.
- The IM course likely has worse road conditions so you want something you are most comfortable on,
Based on your options, I'd say 454 front, 808 rear.

Good luck!

To Waingro,

I did IM Cozumel last year, and had the same concerns about the wind speeds. I had my Zipp 404's and the 808 tubeless set. Did a test run with the 808's on - there is only one part of the course that is exposed to the wind blowing onshore, it was windy but as l had trained in the UK in October, it did not bother me at all. That part of the course is the most beautiful, stunning scenery and only about 3 buildings on the whole stretch !

Watch the road that goes through town though, had a guy flip over the front of his bike when he caught a pot hole - he was right next to me, poor chap !

Pay attention at the briefings, there are split transitions ie you don't finish the bike where you started !

There are buses in the early morning which get the athletes down to T1 and they bus you back up to the start of the swim. If you miss any of these don't walk down the road, people got hit last year !

The run is hot !!

And to underscore this point, the 90 only really becomes faster at a yaw angle at which is also likely becomes more unstable.

Get the 60/90 and never look back. And ride them all the time.

I am not a confident bike handler and it is often very windy where I ride. My first, and only, deep wheels are Hed Jet 60/90. I'm just as confident riding these wheels as the stock wheels that came with the bike. I would certainly race the 60/90 in anything below 30mph winds.

Thanks for all of the replies! Sounds like the 60/90 combo is the most recommended one although I do feel a bit better about the disc now too. I'll probably just go with the 60/90 for now and maybe try a disc later.

I have 62.5mm front and 85mm rear (SwissSide Hadrons) so pretty much equivalent to HED Jet 6/9.
I'm pretty happy with these and have been bothered much by the wind despite riding occasionally in the mountains in pretty breezy conditions.

You could also consider Jet 6/6 and get a wheel cover for the rear. Why get a 9 for the rear if a disc is faster and more stable? When you don't want the disc you probably don't want the 9 either and the 6 is a touch lighter under the cover. If I was buying again, I might go this route, but it's splitting hairs for me. What I've got is great too.

Or you could add a disc cover for around $100. I skipped the rear deep section wheel and went straight to disc, and I don't have any other wheels for the bike. So I'm the guy who always rides with his disc wheel.

I ride a 88mm front and a disc rear. No regrets.


Well, I regret it in high wind sometimes.

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Ironman Lake Placid 2021| 70.3 Worlds St. George 2021