I would say go custom if weight is a concern, the Princeton CarbonWorks Mach 7580 could be built up pretty light for disc brakes, 1500g or so, even lighter if you’re on rim brakes and want to get some ExtraLite straight pull hubs.
They have a great custom program if you provide the hubs.
The supr deep Princetons will be the fastest. Million bonus points for a wheel that is super deep and a trispoke instead of just one of those things.
Next would be the Aerocoach Titan. Ineos used that before PCW made deeper wheels, along with other GT teams, which is a good indicator.
Then RC8. HED tends to be top 1 or 2 in seemingly every comparison so I trust their aero properties.
Of the ones you list, the next one is probably Revolver.
858 NSW… not sure why that’s in the list. Because sponsored pros ride it? Zipp’s sawtooth wheels have come out slower in every wind tunnel comparison that I’ve seen, and the selling point seems to be stability. If it was a $1500 wheelset, I’d understand. But why pay much more for a slower design than other wheels?
The top contender I’d add is Enve 7.8. I had a set before switching to disc brakes and miss it. Depsite being 72mm, it’s more stable than any 60-65mm wheel I’ve ridden, and also gets a top 1 or 2 result in aero comparisons.
I would say go custom it weight is a concern, the Princeton CarbonWorks Mach 7580 could be built up pretty light for disc brakes, 1500g or so, even light if you’re on rim brakes and want to get some ExtraLite straight pull hubs.
They have a great custom program if you provide the hubs.
It seems like there is a big consensus that the Princeton wheels are great, but is that based on wind tunnel data? They look great in terms of dept/weight but how faster would the Mach 7580 front wheel be over HED RC8 at 45km/h?
Work out speeds you want wheel to be fastest at then work forwards from there. Talking to a few industry folks some of today’s uber expensive wheels (and other bits of kit for that matter such as suits) are getting optimized for grand Tour TT podium and velodrome speeds.
Throw in analyzing the wind yaw you typically experience racing on your chosen course and then probably clearer which wheel best.
858 NSW… not sure why that’s in the list. Because sponsored pros ride it? Zipp’s sawtooth wheels have come out slower in every wind tunnel comparison that I’ve seen, and the selling point seems to be stability. If it was a $1500 wheelset, I’d understand. But why pay much more for a slower design than other wheels?
Work out speeds you want wheel to be fastest at then work forwards from there. Talking to a few industry folks some of today’s uber expensive wheels (and other bits of kit for that matter such as suits) are getting optimized for grand Tour TT podium and velodrome speeds.
Throw in analyzing the wind yaw you typically experience racing on your chosen course and then probably clearer which wheel best.
I know that clothing is really different on different speeds, but wasnt aware that it made a substantial difference in wheels. When it comes to speed I want to be fastest thats also difficult to say. On Norseman this year I used 5h4m giving an average speed on 35km/h. But I was 2h and 8 minutes in hills climbing at speeds between 13-20km/h. So there is a lof of time at 45km/h + with highest speed at 94,7km/h. Yaw angles are also all over the place, but most important I would guess is the tighter 0-10 degrees range.
The difference between me and the topp TT-guys (except for the wattage ;)) is that weight is less important for them as they usually dont climb 3500 hm in a race. For that reason I believe that the Aerocoach AEOX is not a better fit for me than the HED RC8 even if it would test 1 watt better at 45km/h.
But I do struggle to find wind tunnel data of the newest and claimed fastest wheels so its difficult to make the conclusion even if I have good yaw angle and speed data.
If you rephrase the question and label your wheel choices X1 through X4 and have frame choices Y1 through Y4.
X1 on Y1may be quicker than X2,3or4 but may be slower tested on Y2,3 or4.
Then throw tyres into the equation and get a different answer again.
When I did the wind tunnel testing for Dan it was about 1 or 2w faster than the Hed Vanquish RC8 across the angles tested (0, 2.5, 5, 75, 10, 12, 0, -2.5, -5, -7.5, -10, -12, 0 - iirc). (Can’t remember if I tested out to 15, -15)
Someone made the point to figure out your race speeds and typical yaw angles. Can’t tell you how important this is. What I’d add is figure that out for about 75-90% of the conditions you ride in t0 maximize your purchasing dollars.
Someone made a point about frames and tires impacting the results and I’ve seen this in tire testing I’ve done for people. I don’t recall a huge difference but enough that it changed the order on a few wheels on the mid to bottom part of the testing. (IIRC we tested 2 or 3 tires on 2 to 4 front wheels)
Someone mentioned something about clothing and that’s HUGE especially on track riders. Some of those have enormous quads/arms which changes airflow/where you need to put material compared to your average stick figured triathlete
And that’s coming back in 2023 from what I have heard.
As someone who has ridden the H3, H3+ and now riding the Caden trispoke I haven’t tested but I’d say the later definitely feels faster. I did happen to chat to Tim Reid who is using one a week ago at Sunshine Coast 70.3 and he said he had done a lot of testing on it and that it was ‘fast’. Dan Bigham also took 10 to test for Enios but I guess they are competing with Princeton new tri spoke or whatever they want to use.
Why do you not consider swiss side wheels? JP Ballard is really serious on aerodynamics and all tests highly recommend those wheels (different triathlon magazines, hambini who looks on the transient behaviour of the wheels).
858 NSW… not sure why that’s in the list. Because sponsored pros ride it? Zipp’s sawtooth wheels have come out slower in every wind tunnel comparison that I’ve seen, and the selling point seems to be stability. If it was a $1500 wheelset, I’d understand. But why pay much more for a slower design than other wheels?.
Just lace them up backwards and, voila! Better. Still not best, just no longer worst. This was true of the rim brake versions by the way. No idea of the disc brake shape is different.
Remco is on the AeroCoach wheel. Specialized doesn’t make a 80+ wheel, but I figure they probably tested their options in the wintunnel. They seem to have done quite a bit of work on Remco’s setup last winter, so if they were going to run someone else’s wheel there isn’t much point in choosing poorly.
