Did Ironman Lanzarote two weeks ago and just wanted to post about wheel choice. I didn’t do enough research beforehand and only brought my ZIP 808’s (front and back). Lanzarote is crazy windy. During the week prior to the race, the winds were “normal” for lanzrote. I was white-knucking and had a very hard time staying in aerobars due to the strong cross winds during my training rides during the week . Thank god, race day was relatively calm and I didn’t have any major issues with my wheels, although I did get pushed by a few gusts during some descents. If there has been normal winds, my 808 front wheel would have significantly slowed me down as I wouldn’t have been able to stay in aero position during the cross wind sections and descents.
If I was to do again, I would use nothing deeper than a 404 up front (and maybe even shallower), but would stay with my rear 808. Looking at other competitors, I saw one person with a disc rear wheel and only 3 others that had 808’s on the front; no one had anything deeper than a 808 on the front. Everyone else had shallower front wheels.
For my background, I am a fairly strong biker in regards to power/speed (25.7 mph avg in clearwater, 22.2 mph IM Cozumel and 20.9 mph Lanzarote this year), but like most triathletes am probably average at bike handling skills. I weigh about 180lb.