I'm a gear whore and have two discs (a Hed Jet and a Zipp) so you're preaching to the choir as far as I'm concerned. :-)

The two reasons I can think of are 1) cost and 2) urban legend that discs are too hard to control in the wind.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

For me it's neither - I ride a Transition and I'm too cheap to dump that kind of money into a real disc wheel that would fit. It's a ROI decision.

Now if a Wheel Builder Disc fit...

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

I am not at IMFL but after having 2 discs destroyed by TSA, I only race on my disc when I can drive to the race. Otherwise, I ride Hed 3s. Knock on wood, they haven't found a way to break those yet. If I was to use TriBike Transport or something similar, I'd be back on the disc.

You can train on a deep back without looking too much of a dork?

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https://www.pbandjcoaching.com
https://www.thisbigroadtrip.com

FWIW, I know a Jet will fit a transition, any flat disc and iirc so will a wheel cover built on around an 808. I'm pretty sure I've run the wheel cover/808 combo at least once in my old transition.

To your ROI though, maybe this is where I'm confused. 9 out of 10 times a disc is faster then a deep wheel. Cost is ~$200 more typically but you can get discs for < the cost of a deep.

What am I missing?

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

I was poor and stupid when I made my first race wheel purchase. Now, I'm still poor and only a little less stupid.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

I think "I'm too cheap to dump that kind of money into a real disc" falls under my reason #1 of cost. Does it not? :-)

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

You are spot on.

It's simply because we have had enough threads titled 'should I run a disc'...And no one has ever answered. You can't blame them.

I'm the antithesis of those threads.

I'm not complaining though b/c I rarely don't run a disc in a race, can't even remember the last time I didn't.

If I were racing I prefer to see no discs in my AG racks.

But I'm still perplexed why more people don't choose disc over deep rim rear.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

AJ,

I've got a cover from Wheelbuilder on my Transition Pro. The rims are the original 808 tubes build on DT240 hubs. No problems.

Interesting. I have a 2012 with S80/S60. The only Wheel Builder I ever tried was a friends on a Mavic rim and it didn't come close to working. Are you saying that could put a platter on my S80 and it would clear?

A HED Jet is about $1000. I run the SRAM wheels as GP racing and training wheels, so that wheel would be an extra $1000 to be used for about 200 miles a year. No sure where you get the $200. As far as free speed, too bad JackMott isn't around. Pretty sure he would tell us that the Wheel Builder is worth it, and the Jet isn't.

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

I was being sarcastic. How many times do we have 'what wheel should I run'. It's been answered over and over again. Aside from
Embrun, Norseman, maybe Lanzarote, and a few select races, a disc is the choice.

I was looking at retail costs of Zipps. That was about the difference.

I'm pretty confident the platter would work. I agree a cover is the economical choice. A disc is a disc is a disc.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

The only arguments I've seen against a disc wheel are weight penalty and fear of handling. Both are easily disproved.

Care to share your proof source for this statement? Please don't reply with the standard "everybody knows", "there's tons of data to prove", etc - just post a link to support your statement of fact.
This will probably be the last myth to die.................but it will die one day.

I use a wheelbuilder cover with my Transition - I need to take the non-drive side to the spokes but once that is done it works. There's a couple threads on here with instructions on how to pull it off but it's pretty easy.

And the most important argument: a disc isn't always faster than other wheels

How did this happen? The disc was in your bike bag? or what?

I'm "cheap". I'm not that "serious". I don't want to look like "that guy". (The guy you see during a race who is riding a $10,000 bike with a disc who averages less than 18 mph for his bike split.)

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"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.

money. i run H3s both front and rear for races. For the money, no one has convinced me a disc is worth the investment in time savings over the H3.

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Hilly Flats Racing

http://www.wheelbuilder.com/aerodisc-data.html

A 808FC is comparable at over 10 degree yaw but many run a 404 or non FC 808 which is not.

What about notoriously windy events, albeit flat, like IM COZ?

From wheelbuilder: http://www.wheelbuilder.com/aerodisc-data.html
In this trial, all discs and covered 808 beat the 404. At low yaw, the 404 appears silghtly better than a covered alloy rim. Just one study, but there's your data. Lower drag = faster. I'm sure others will chime in w/ Zipp's HED's and FLO's data. But, here *100%* of the time it's better to run a disc than the 404. -J

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Life is tough. But it's tougher when you're stupid. -John Wayne