Currently I have a HED JET front and a HED JET Deep that I have had for years and love them. I am thinking that it is time to at least upgrade the rear wheel to either a Hed3 or a Disc wheel. I do not want to start another thread about clincher vs. tubulars. I am getting a clincher no matter what.
So should I go with the Hed3 or should I go with a Disc. I do live on the West Coast and race on courses that have a lot of hills. I was able to talk to someone that sells HED about this today and was able to get some great information but wanted to see what the ST masses say.
HED3’s front and rear will not handle in the winds as well as a HED3 front, disc rear. Has to do with wind against the HED3 front with the disc in the rear in relation to the counter steering effect of wind on the disc. All I know is that it is true. I do lots of fast downhills here at about 42mph or so and the HED3/disc is much more stable in the winds at that speed. The discs today aren’t much heavier if at all then any other setup for hills, the disc would be fine for hilly courses.
BUT - I use HED3’s everyday for training. I use the HED3/disc set up for racing.
I have Hed 3’s and Hed Disc. I rarely use the Disc unless on a flat “fast” type course. The Hed 3’s I think are a better all around wheels especially if you live and race in a hilly area. I also have zipp’s (404,808) that are great all around racing wheels too (and lighter).
I am only going to get a rear wheel at this time but will still use my Hed Jet 60 front. I am leaning more towards the Hed3 but I do participate in some races 1-2 a year that a disc would be great to have.
I am on the west coast and I have a H3 front and back.
When I did the HIM in Victoria a lot of the pros had a disk on the back side, but I imagine crosswinds would kick your ass, well at least my ass cause I am weak.
Well since I am not sure about the cross winds as I have never ridden the double Hed3 set-up. I think the Jet60 front and Hed3 will work nice. I grew up in Victoria and have done Norm’s race 6 times, I do not think that I would use a disc for that race. There are a couple of places on the course that get some good cross winds.
BUT - I use HED3’s everyday for training. I use the HED3/disc set up for racing.
WTF? you work for zipp don’t you? shouldn’t you be on a 999 setup or something?
for the OP: get the disc. unless you’re going to kona where you can’t run it, you won’t regret a renn 575/hed/zipp/whatever disc anytime soon. i’ve run mine in some of the windiest conditions i’ve ever raced in, and been fine. as said above, the disc ADDS stability, not takes it away.
Quote: “I do live on the West Coast and race on courses that have a lot of hills.”
Bman,
If your thinking is that hills will put a disc to a disadvantage, you should read the technical analysis of Chris Horner’s choice of a disc set-up to win the 2002 Redlands Prologue. This was basically an uphill short time trial, not rolling topography. The same critical reasoning would hold true for a rolling course, but even more so. This might also help you understand why you almost never see anything but discs in pro cycling time trials unless the time trial is up something like L’Alpe Duez where the grade exceeds 6% for almost the entire distance.
The link to the article at Bike Tech Review is listed below. My apologies for still not being able to successfully pasting a hyperlink. Sorry, you’ll have to copy and paste.
Definately Renn. I´m certain that Hed is a stand-up guy and a great company, but Renn has proven himself over and over again… Bought a used Renn disc, which FedEx decided to put a nice hole in… Frank at Renn offered to take a look at it and fix it if possible, or if not repairable, replace the disc at cost. He ended up fixing the disc for free, plus he refused payment for the shipping! All this despite me being honest and telling him multiple times that I did buy it used! From that point on… I won´t use another disc than Renn. Helps that the product performs on a top level as well.
