I don't have mine yet, but I can say that, when properly installed, I wouldn't worry about an aerojacket "flying off" any more than I would worry about anything else on the bike spontaneously failing when properly installed. I mean, non-zero chance, but very low, and not worth the premium over the aerojacket unless you just have thousands of dollars sitting around you really want to spend.

And the HED Jet disc tested faster than the Zipp, last I heard.

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The point is, ladies and gentleman, that speed, for lack of a better word, is good. Speed is right, Speed works. Speed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.

As with all things, a thing costs what it does because that is what people will pay for a thing.

Of the three options you are looking at, the Zipp is the lightest, the HED is 2nd lightest, and the aerojacket will be heaviest.

Aerodynamically they are, to very close approximation, all identical. Which one would be best aerodynamically depends on what bike it is on, and perhaps the wind on the day, and the difference will be small.

the HED Jet Disc, and an aerojacket, will be a normal spoked wheel with normal spoked wheel comfort and handling.

The Zipp discs are a different kind of construction and may feel different in how they handle, or their comfort. Not necessarily worse, just different and they have different models with different characteristics.

An aerojacket can be bit noisy from rattling around if you don't tape it.

Changing the aerojacket on and off is a pain unless you leave it on a decicated wheel.

That about covers it. Weight doesn't matter much, but if you have plenty of money might as well go lighter. The aerojacket can't fly off if you use the bolts. I've used it hundreds of times with just 3M electrical tape and it has never flown off either. Including rain, wind, etc.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

The Zipp discs are structural honeycomb (or foam?) + carbon fiber laminate discs. HED Jet discs are spoked wheels with a carbon fiber cover bonded to the rim (not sure about Stingers).

Aerojacket vs. real disc: a Zipp or HED will be a little lighter, a flat disc like a Zipp will fit more frames. Covers are also sometimes a bit finicky to install without getting waves or having the derailleur rub against the surface when in the largest cog (though sometimes real discs have that problem too).

I'll just throw out there that the DYMA Aero covers are an alternative to Aerojacket. They're very similar, with the largest difference being that the DYMAs have a radial cut, and are designed so there's some overlap between the two edges of the cut. This sounds bad vs. the solid Aerojacket cover, but I've really liked it in practice. It effectively removes the "wave" issue, and makes installation a breeze - you can mount it without removing the wheel from your bike. It's much quicker to install, and the seam from the cut really doesn't bother me. It's pretty discrete, and you can tape it over if you want.

[for the record I have zero financial interest in DYMA - just pimping a product I've liked quite a bit]


[Photo stolen from DYMA's web site]

My biggest concern putting the wheel cover on a 404 would be damage to the finish of the 404.

If you go that route I'd highly suggest taping and bolting to keep it from moving at all. If it moves at all it can / will scuff the finish of the 404.

I actually think if it was me I'd consider a layer of tape on the carbon itself before fitting the wheel cover to the rim.

Those covers are rock solid and I believe dished to best fit a 60mm??? +- wheel so should fit a 404 pretty well with little warping.

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24 Hour World TT Champs-American record holder
Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
Insta: chris.s.apex

Man your 404's finish is going to get messed up anyway from rocks, colliding with other people, and the pavement!

=)

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

I'm just like that :) Everything must look new after EVERY ride!

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24 Hour World TT Champs-American record holder
Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
Insta: chris.s.apex

The ease of install on those could make me switch from my wheelcover. Hmmm.

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Formerly DrD

N=1. I used a cover on my 404 for two years and I saw no damage to the finish.

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http://www.frostyjunction.com/
https://twitter.com/FrostyJunction

It just seems a waste to put an aerojacket on a 404.
You might as well get a cheap, light but not necessarly aero back wheel if you're just going to cover it.

I run a 404 up front and have a AeroDisc cover over a cheaper Nauvation M28.

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Remember - It's important to be comfortable in your own skin... because it turns out society frowns on wearing other people's

My Aerojacket covers an €18 Mavic CXP30.
Heavy as hell, bombproof.

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´Get the most aero and light bike you can get. With the aero advantage you can be saving minutes and with the weight advantage you can be saving seconds. In a race against the clock both matter.´

BMANX

trail: thanks for posting this. I didn't know there was another company out there. I like their concept better. May have to give them a try. Good PSA there.

Or get the Raltech carbon one for maximum points:

http://www.raltech.co.uk/Prod_3-Wh-Cov.html

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´Get the most aero and light bike you can get. With the aero advantage you can be saving minutes and with the weight advantage you can be saving seconds. In a race against the clock both matter.´

BMANX

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

I train and race with my aerojacket on my TT bike all of the time, and over the course of several thousand miles, it's never warped, come loose, or flown off. I don't personally know of anyone who's had that happen with an aerojacket. It's so exceptionally rare that it shouldn't at all be a factor in your decision, IMO.

Are you able to give any more details on this? Wind tunnel test? Wheel in isolation or on a bike? Bike in isolation or static dummy or pedalling dummy / rider? Independent or HED test? Yaw weighting? It would just be a bit surprising if after all Zipp's effort they couldn't come up with something more aero than the Jet disc, particularly at zero yaw where it should have a significant frontal area advantage.

Just take the decals off your 404 and bingo...it will always look new!

Really? That is good news. The wheelbuilder site says not to leave the aero jacket on for general training and that always made me not trust it.
U leave it on all the time?

I've had mine on the past week (state tt tomorrow), but I generally remove it between races. The Aerojacket is an economical investment. It takes a little time to install, and it's heavy. But the price and aero advantage are right. Given a choice, cost not withstanding, I'd rather have a disc wheel.

Yep, I leave it on. Took it on and off the first couple of months I had it, but haven't bothered since. I'm at three years now with no problems. It's actually given me experience riding with the cover in a variety of conditions, too, so that I'm not at all bothered by windy days that make others nervous. (If it's crazy windy, I'll just take out my road bike instead. Otherwise, I'm on my TT bike with the wheel cover on the back and my Hed3 on the front. Both stay on.)

I saw that statement on the wheelbuilder site, too, by the way. I reasoned that at a price of $100, if I were to go through the wheelcover more quickly because I leave it on, it'd still be way cheaper than buying a disc and needing to have separate training and racing wheels. (I train and race with a PowerTap, so I'd need to pony up quite a bit of cash for separate PowerTap racing and training wheels.) In the end, this has never been an issue--I haven't needed to replace the cover since I bought it in 2010. I suspect that when I finally do replace the cover, it'll be because it's gotten too dingy rather than because of any sort of damage.

My N=1 experience, FWIW.

I've had two different aerojackets, one for a set of reynolds stratus DVs, the newer one on a Jet 6 w/ PT. As far as I'm concerned you can't go wrong for the price. If you ride TTs outside of triathlon it is worth noting that the aerojacket is not UCI compliant as it is technically a fairing.

I lightly buff my 808s with cloth baby diapers between trainer rides. They are too nice for outdoors.

I train and race with aerojacket on a Reynolds Assault. Even with Michigan rough roads, I've never seen a bolt come loose. Can't say that for the POS Specialized Aerobottle. That fell off one time too many yesterday. It's being replaced by Torhans.

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The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.

I have not used an aerojacket, but if you go that route, I would also vote to buy a stiff rear wheel and just set it up with the cover and be done with it. I went with a Jet Disc because I needed a rear disc that didn't flex out every time I got out of the saddle. It's stiff. If I were to do it over again, I would probably just buy a cover.

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56-11...the only way to fly