This seems to be one of those elusive questions to me. I’m looking at pairing a new rear wheel with a HED3 front. No “mountain” triathlons to speak of on a regular basis, but plenty of rollers with a few decent climbs here or there. Between 80s and 60s the weight difference (as compared to the current Shimano stock rear wheel) does not seem to be that big of a deal, but do you get pushed around a lot more in crosswinds riding an 80 versus a 60, or is it close to a wash? In the future, I may drop the HED3 and pick up a 60 for the front, so the ultimate combo would be either a 60/60 or a 60/80. I would love opinions on the differences in performance between the two. Is the 60/60 an all around better set if there is a mix of climbing and flats? No road racing for me, just the tri. Thanks.
get another hed3 rear 
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for most the best combo is going to be a 60mm front and disc rear (whether wheel cover or actual disc makes little to no difference).
stronger riders, who avg more than 25mph, would benefit from a deeper front rim.
the hed3 front performs very well as a front wheel aerodynamically. some say that the hed3 is unforgiving vs a spoked wheel.
i have no idea what type of budget youre on, but it would seem smart to keep the hed3 and run a wheel cover on the the rear training wheel. the wheel cover, however, is not compatible with your shimano wheel.
How is the Hed 3 for the rear? I dont see them very often. Mostly discs only.
I would go with a 60/60 and a wheel cover. The only time I went without my wheel cover is when we had 20-30mph crosswinds on one race, besides that I keep a disc on. Do you have a powermeter? I sold my 60/60 and bought a PM, wheel cover and a cheap front wheel.
Thanks, right now I run the HED3 for all races, and switch between a Shimano r500 with a wheel cover on the rear, or if the course has good bit of climbing I’ll use the same setup and ditch the cover. I was all set to pull the trigger on an HED3 for the rear (used) but I got a little concerned about the ride stiffness. The front has never bothered me, but when my better half uses the HED3 up front she says it is a little more jarring. Also noticed that I don’t see a lot of HED3 front/rear combos in races and wasn’t sure why. I can fit either a rear 60,80, or HED3 into the budget I think. Now I’m down to deciding between the 60 and 80. Are there any cases when the 80 would not be faster than the 60? For flat races, I would till use a wheel cover, I’ll just have it cut down to fit the new wheel, whichever one it is.
HED 3 front and rear set up is what I’ve used for a very long time
love it, never been fatigued off the bike after 112. For hilly courses the weight of the H3 may not be ideal but this combo works very well for me in real world conditions. Wind not an issue, no jarring to speak of and aesthetically I love the appearance (which DOES matter)
alternatively why not look at a HED jet 90 in the rear which you could always use with a disc cover and have the versatility of a couple of options
for the rear, a 80mm or greater toroidal rim with a cover would be superior to the 60mm one. how much superior, is hard to tell, but there is a difference.
if you dont have a power meter i strongly suggest you get one, feel free to pm me about any specific questions regarding your triathlon investment.
for most the best combo is going to be a 60mm front and disc rear (whether wheel cover or actual disc makes little to no difference).
stronger riders, who avg more than 25mph, would benefit from a deeper front rim.
the hed3 front performs very well as a front wheel aerodynamically. some say that the hed3 is unforgiving vs a spoked wheel.
i have no idea what type of budget youre on, but it would seem smart to keep the hed3 and run a wheel cover on the the rear training wheel. the wheel cover, however, is not compatible with your shimano wheel.
That is actually the opposite… check any wind tunnel test done on wheels, deeper is better at lower speed and high wind angle so the slower you are…the more you will save with a deeper rim and the faster you are, the less it matter…!!
the story about 25mph + is just misunderstanding and myth of cycling…science is very clear about it… you dont need to be fast to get the saving…the slower you are…the more you save actually!
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from hed’s website respectively:
"In general, the faster a rider goes, the more the apparent wind turns toward 0°. The slower a rider is, the more the apparent wind looks like the actual weather conditions. For example, in an 8mph wind, a 26mph rider “sees” wind angles from 0-17°, depending on the actual wind direction. In the same wind a 20mph rider sees 0-21°.
So, if you are top 20 at the State TT (or faster), a deep wheel like the stinger 9 or Jet 9 is a good choice. BUT, if you are an Ironman age grouper with a bike split of more than 5 ½ hours, that Stinger 9 that the pros are riding is probably going to be a slower wheel than an H3 or Stinger 60"
Nop, you exactly said the opposite of hed website… you seems to not understand what you copy paste
At high wind angle ( seen by the slower rider most of the time) the 90mm outperforme the 60mm and shallower rim… not the opposite…
so, your top 20 at state champ will see less gain by going with a 90mm compare to a 60mm compare to the guy that finish dead last at that same race…
since english is not your first language,
translation:
the stinger 9 is going to be a slower than a Stinger 6 for a 5 1/2 hour age group athlete.
we’re talking about the front wheel right? if its the rear, the deeper the better.
Go here:
http://www.hedcycling.com/aerodynamics_technology/
at what yaw angles is the stinger 6 faster than the stinger 9 there?
since english is not your first language,
translation:
the stinger 9 is going to be a slower than a Stinger 6 for a 5 1/2 hour age group athlete.
once again
even if english isnt my language… YOU DONT UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT…You got it wrong AGAIN…
A FRONT STINGER 9 is faster than a FRONT Stinger 6 for a 5 1/2 h age group and even better for the one that ride 9h…
where in the world did you see a stinger 6 outperforming a stinger 9 at high wind angle??? where…it s never happen anywhere…Hed show it clearly…
higher yaw, the jet 6 beats the 9. since the avg age grouper experiences greater yaw, theyre more likely to fall into that range, hence have a faster wheel.
you just switched from stinger to jet!
i caught that!
higher yaw, the jet 6 beats the 9. since the avg age grouper experiences greater yaw, theyre more likely to fall into that range, hence have a faster wheel.
ah whatever, no one rides sew ups anyways. (j/k people do ride them, but i probably wont)
the clear answer is get a Jet90 and pedal harder! =)
Lovin’ it! Okay, first, thanks for the replies, I’m learning here. Just to clarify, here are my constraints
- Wheel in question is the rear, I already have the front, and it is a HED3.
- For the rear, I have the option of a HED3 clincher (used), a 60, or an 80, won’t be HED, but let’s say that the weight is close for comparison sake.
- My race weight is around 160, I’m a fairly good climber, but race in the foothills a good bit. My wife, who does not climb as well, will also race with this wheelset - a HED3 front and whatever we pick for the rear.
My bride may hold just above 20mph on a flat course at this point. My concern is climbing weight of the wheel, and not getting blown around on the course during cross winds. I’ve run a wheel cover on my heavy box rim for 100+ miles and not had any issues, but that seems to be the concern I read in various postings. I’m counting on the collective wisdom of ST to guide me here
the wheel cover on the cheap rim is the fastest of all options unless the time trial is uphill only
rear wheels do not cause handling problems, just fronts.
even for girls =)
you could get a an 80mm deep wheel and cover that, might be a little lighter, but probably not enough faster to be worth the trouble.