The general feeling on this board, and on the part of the aero gurus (Hed and Cobb), is that more surface area translates into more speed. Yet, nearly every transition area I rack my bike in has quite a few medium profile (50mm or under) carbon wheels, but quite few disks and trispokes. A couple of reasons I can think of are:
-Weight. But, most of us could cut far more off of our waists than we ever could off our wheels.
-Comfort. But, they’re carbon, they should be comfy.
-Stability. But, Cobb says a disk is always more stable. This may be a legitimate reason for abandoning the trispoke in front.
Any others? I ask because I’m thinking about my first set of race wheels. I currently train on Shimano 535’s (paired spokes; 30mm rim) and am hesitant to plunk down money on new wheels that won’t make much difference. My current inclination is to go disk and trispoke; if it’s really windy I’l just ride my training wheels. I’m riding a Yaqui at about 80 degrees and I weigh about 150lbs. Am I thinking correctly?
What about the trispoke? Is it unrealistic for a 150 pound rider to ride it on the front? Dan has also mentioned a potential danger to one inch steerers due to torque.
I weigh 166 lbs at 6’ 3". I use a Zipp 2001 tri bike with a 1" steerer. I run an HED3 front and a disc in ALL my races! Its the fastest setup!! I’ve tried them all. Zipp 440’s, Nimbles, HED3, Zipp 3000, HED disc, Zipp disc, Campy Ghibli and lots of combinations. The fastest set to date, for me, is the HED3 front and Ghibli disc!
I’ve never had a problem with torque on the 1" steerer. I live on the east coast of Florida where winds can get pretty ugly and the is almost always wind!! Still run the HED3 and disc in races without a problem.
I’ll second rocketman. Never really had any problems w/ the disc and any front wheel on the softride, which like the zipp alllows more crosswind to hit the disc.
I wonder why people worry about stiffness of the disc, winds etc. If your worried leave it home and get smoked. Or bring it and light the course up.
I’m 150 lbs and race with Hed 3’s. There was one race where the cross winds were easily > 25mph and yes, handling was difficult. But that’s pretty rare. At 150 lbs, you should be fine.
I think part of it is that many people don’t feel comfortable riding a disc unless they are ‘fast enough’ for one, whatever that means.
On another note, have you noticed that virtually** **no women ride discs, including the pros?
Michelle Jones used the Zipp Z9 setup at either Ralph’s Half or Escape from Alcatraz!
I’m just under 6’ and about 170lb. I recently bought a Hed 3 front/Hed 3D disc race setup. Only used them a couple of times after having always raced on the one set of Shimano 535’s that came with the bike. It’s hard to compare times because when I used the new wheels I was a lot fitter but just thinking about them makes you go faster!
I took them out a couple of times before the HI here to get used to them. Winds blow over 30mph most summer afternoons. I will admit that there were a couple of hairy moments but you become accustomed to it and lean into the wind. About the only time I become cautious is when riding into a side wind with a tree lined verge where the wind ‘spikes’ through the tree gaps and can catch you unaware.
Other than that I have no qualms and would say go for it, the setup is sexy as hell! IMO the weight is irrelevant on long time trials, comfort was fine and stability nothing too concerning. I think the only reason you don’t see more around is that people are uneccessarily scared of them.
I think part of it is that many people don’t feel comfortable riding a disc unless they are ‘fast enough’ for one, whatever that means.
On another note, have you noticed that virtually** **no women ride discs, including the pros?
Michelle Jones used the Zipp Z9 setup at either Ralph’s Half or Escape from Alcatraz!
One of the reasons I said virtually.
Why do you think that is, though? I mean none of those women have to worry about not being fast enough (if there is such a thing) for that setup. Wonder why they choose not to use a disk then!
Possibly they are concerned about being blown around as they are lighter. Pro women in particular are usually little things. Michellie is a bit of an exception.
I also think women *generally *are not as obsessed with bike techie stuff as we men are. I’ve worked in a couple of bike shops and guys readily drop mad loot on frames, wheels, bibshorts, shoes, carbon handlebars, carbon stems, carbon cranks, carbon water bottle cages(basically anything carbon), etc…It doesn’t matter if they avg. 14mph or 24mph. Most women, whether superfast or pedestrian, go for more moderately priced bike stuff and aren’t as obsessed with the lightest, fastest gear. Yes, of course there are exceptions.
I run a disc rear / H3 front on all races, even the ones in the mountains. I’m 183 lbs. The roads are often rough, but, I don’t notice it enough to worry about it during a race. I have a 76 degree Yaqui with a 1" carbon steerer, I sure hope that won’t become a problem, especially a sudden one that occurs at 30mph+! I check my steerer tube/headset before every race, though. I’ve hit some mighty nasty holes (that I’m amazed didn’t flat at least the rear wheel), and so far (knock, knock), haven’t had any problems.
As far as the side wind thing goes…just don’t aggressively hug the white line in windy conditions. The thing is, when a wind hits you from the side, it tends to move the bike out from under you…which puts you in a perfect lean INTO the side wind…so the net effect, as long as you don’t “fight it”, is that your head stays about where it was (in relation to the edge of the road); the bike moves out from under you just a little then the lean steers it right back under you once again. You just have to relax, keep your normal balance, keep pedalling like a demon (or however it is you pedal!), and it all evens itself out! It sounds complicated, but, it’s no more complicated than what you learn to do as a child when you first learn to ride…you learn that to turn right, you first must countersteer left…even if it is only a miniscule amount…I’m sure you don’t think about it, many people don’t even realize they do it. It’s the same riding a disc / H3 front. You’ll get more confidence by doing it more and more.
I DO notice that the stiffness of the wheels makes traction a bit more dicey on fast, bumpy corners, though…but, that’s just something to live with…a little extra care in the corners isn’t a bad thing to live with…any time lost here is more than made up by the increased speed elsewhere…unless you have a REALLY tight, bumpy bike course!
Honestly, what is “fast enough”? I don’t mean to derail this into a newbies, poseurs, fat-rich-old-men-who-don’t-train thread, but I’d be curious to know if this is a matter of time or a matter of bodyfat. If I’m at 6% bodyfat but haven’t broken 5 hours for a Half is a disk legitimate? Is training time more important for legitimacy than race time?
