I’m looking into picking up my first aero wheel set. For those of you who have experience riding deep rim wheelsets what would you recommend to a 130lb male riding 700c wheelset. I’m thinking a Hed 3 front would be a bit hard to control if it gets windy(what is considered windy anyway 15-20knots?), although it’s just from what I’ve read. Do you think Zipp 909’s(or for those that prefer a Renn Disc with a 404 front : ) would be much easier to control in the wind? Finally anyone have any experience with the new Reynolds wheelsets? Thanks
I wouldn’t worry about the disc. I haven’t had a race yet that I have regretted using it. Either the Hed 3 or the 404 might be a bit tough to handle though. I have a 404 and it can be a lot for me to handle on a windy day. I weigh 155. I think it depends a lot on how well you handle a bike. I don’t handle a tri bike very well at all.
If you are worried about handling, you can usually pick up an older 404 on ebay pretty cheap. If you don’t like it you can resell it and not lose much money. Hed 3s retain their value on ebay really well, so you wouldn’t lose much by reselling that wheel either.
Good luck.
I’m 137lbs at race weight, and use a very narrow aero position. I found that the H3 was too much a lot of the time, not so much dependent on the strength of the wind but on how unpredictable the winds were. Riding on an open waterfront road in 30knots wasn’t too difficult, but in 20 variable knots it was scary.
Going with a Hed Aero (virtually identical to a 404) made handling much better.
I weigh the same as you and just got a new 404 front. I’m getting a Falcon disk too as soon as the Falcon guy gets over his cold and builds my wheel. First day out on the 404 was one of the windyest I’ve ever ridden in. Gusty strong crosswinds the whole ride. I’m not sure of the wind mph but I’ve been blown into the bushes on my old softride w/spoked wheels by less. Anyways the Zipp was definetely a little harder to control than my standard Ritchey spoked training wheels but I wouldn’ consider it dangerous. It just keeps you on your toes. I just wish it didn’t make that weird noise at speed, kinda freaks me out. I don’t mind the disk noise, but the Zipp is eerie.
Zinc, did you mean to say a Hed Alps? I think you did.
I had one of the earlier Alps versions, now I have an H3. The Alps is much less susceptable to winds. I’d still have the Alps, but it didn’t stay true for me…they said I was just a bit too heavy for their earlier version (something they said they corrected), and they sent me the H3 as a replacement…can’t beat that for good customer service! The H3 can be a handful…especially on a curvy downhill with swirling winds…I move away from the road’s edge when encountering those conditions. I will have to say the H3 can take a pounding and stay true…I hit a speed bump at about 20 mph (not on purpose…it was unavoidable), and it took the jolt and stayed true!
I meant to say “Aero” as that’s what it says on the wheel. I bought mine used off e-bay, it has the spokes attached to the carbon fibre rim and the carbon flares out horizontally to form a bulge like the 404. I have no idea as to how old it might be, it’s mechanically perfect and hardly used so I’m not too worried.
The Alps is newer, and far more refined in design… it seems to be just a H3 with metal spokes instead of carbon. The Alps is also only 50mm deep rather than the 58mm of the 404, which may make crosswind handling slightly better?
Older 404s were called 440s… just in case you were wondering…
Even if you pick either of these up on ebay, they should be very easy to unload for the same price… you would only reallly be losing out on the shippign costs… small price to pay for figuring out whether or nto to spend 1000 dollars
Oh! I didn’t know about a Hed wheel called the Aero. I learned something else today!
And Yep, I think you’re also right that the 58 mm rim depth will be a more of a handful in the wind than the 50.
The rim depth of the Alps and H3 are very similar, the difference being that the Alps’ carbon rim component isn’t providing as much structure to the wheel, whereas the H3 carbon rim IS the main structure, so it is thicker walled on the H3, and probably measurably heavier as well.
I really like the Alps, and may end up with a newer version some day…I think it is a little more versatile than the H3. There are some people that will argue that the H3 isn’t as fast as a deep sectioned spoked wheel when mounted in a deep section fork, like the Ouzo Pro Aero…I’ll leave that determination up to the experts…I just ride the H3 because it is darn near bulletproof and reportedly fast.
I just realized I ran my H3 backwards in today’s race! What a knucklehead! I may have lost 0.005 seconds because of it, or, maybe I lost a minute…who knows! Oh, well, it handled fine for me, even backwards.
I have a set of HED Alps and believe they are great for an all around wheel. I have have had no issues with the wind at all. If you are a picky person though I must warn you that these wheels do not come perfectly true like a typical 3 crossed Mavic wheel, and they are somewhat difficult to true for the lack of spokes, that is the nature of a structural carbon rim. It does not bother me at all and has not effected the ride quality.
With your low weight why are we all stuck on that 404? Why not look at the 303 or some of the super duper light wheels from Nimble? (Though I have heard about a few Nimble failures)