Just ordered a 2011 H3 clincher, now what tire?

I’m also not supposed to use latex tubes right?.. totally kidding.

Grant

Aerowing 19mm. Stock up on them while you can because there won’t be any more when the current stock has gone.

Does the H3 have an airfoil design yet?

Bontrager R4 aero. This tire seems almost made exactly for the Hed 19mm rims which are on the H3 clinchers. VERY low rolling resistance too. You “probably” gain in aero over the miniscule loss in rr to the tiny few tires with lower rr’s.

I think you must mean a toroidal bulge to increase the aero width, like they do with the Jets? The H3 clincher I bought last year certainly didn’t, and there is nothing on the HED site to say the design has changed.

So you really need a tyre that is no wider than the rim, i.e. Aerowing 19, not R4 Aero which is 22mm wide.

Yeah but who has them is the question…

Last time I looked you could still get them direct from the US Trek/Bontrager website, but they won’t ship to us in the UK which is why my H3 hasn’t had much use. Tested it against a Jet 9 and it just doesn’t compare well with a wider tyre.

they only seem to have 650x23c on the website
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If you can’t find the “out of print” AeroWing TT 19Cs, then my suggested alternate would most likely be a 20C Conti SuperSonic (one of the newer ones with the Black Chili compound).

Bontrager
Race X Lite Aero TT

Thats what the tire is called right?

Bontrager
Race X Lite Aero TT

Thats what the tire is called right?

That’s the one.

Cool but the damn places say on the websites they wont ship… son of a…

Cool but the damn places say on the websites they wont ship… son of a…

You’ll probably have to find an LBS that can still get them from the distributor or something…or offer me insane amounts of money for one from my “secret stash” :wink:

I’m still on my original set of aerowing tt’s…I didn’t realize the R4 only comes in 22mm width. That MAY change the game a bit. I’d be interested in seeing some tunnel results comparing the two on that wheel…but I doubt that will be worth anyone’s time and $. I’d be apt to still go with the R4s on that wheel over others. 3mm isn’t likely to be a huge difference. That said…the Veloflex Records are still an EXCELLENT choice for the H3s.

That said…the Veloflex Records are still an EXCELLENT choice for the H3s.

I’ve been told (by someone who should know…i.e. they’ve tested this in a wind tunnel) that the Veloflex Records, although they are low Crr tires, are “an aerodynamic mess”.

Again…the newer Conti SS rolls nearly as fast and has a much smoother shape to it than the VF.

Tom, hows the durabilty of the 20C Conti SuperSonic for race day use only?

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I do have a couple of R4 Aero tyres heading my way, and I plan to re-test (field test with power meter & Chung VE) the Jet 9 against the H3 when both are fitted with the R4 Aero. I can’t see why the H3 wouldn’t be worse, as the problem of wider tyres is the whole reason why the toroidal bulge is desirable, but I figure I may as well try it.

Tom, hows the durabilty of the 20C Conti SuperSonic for race day use only?

Don’t know…but I can’t imagine it would be any worse than a VF Record on the front, and those are surprisingly “robust” for front wheel use IME…then again, it’s possible to “get away” with a much less robust tire on the front than on the rear typically.

I do have a couple of R4 Aero tyres heading my way, and I plan to re-test (field test with power meter & Chung VE) the Jet 9 against the H3 when both are fitted with the R4 Aero. I can’t see why the H3 wouldn’t be worse, as the problem of wider tyres is the whole reason why the toroidal bulge is desirable, but I figure I may as well try it.

You may not necessarily see the majority of the effects at near zero yaw anyway…

Thanks, Tom. Its good to have some even second-hand reporting on the VFs. And I was unaware that Conti had actually improved the SS with the new compound. Have they changed the casing material and layup as well? I just remember getting a pair of the SS when they first hit the market and those rode like bricks, handled terribly, and flatted way too often for my liking. I never thought I’d ride Conti’s again until I happened to ride a loaner bike that had the Grand Prix 4000 w/the chili compound. Those were pretty nice…and rode about like my favored PR3s.