Hey: I am hoping to qualify for Kona this year and have a HED Kona disc wheel, made specifically for the conditions there. I would like to get this wheel approved for use and have written some letters (to USTA and someone who helps run the race) with no response. I need to find out how to get this wheel legal for use in Hawaii. Any ideas out there?
Hey: I am hoping to qualify for Kona this year and have a HED Kona disc wheel, made specifically for the conditions there. I would like to get this wheel approved for use and have written some letters (to USTA and someone who helps run the race) with no response. I need to find out how to get this wheel legal for use in Hawaii. Any ideas out there?
Try Charlie Crawford… although I haven’t seen them raced there so I suspect you’re out of luck…
if you’re talking about the kona coast wheel, it’s not allowed.
USAT has one set of rules for triathlons. Any race director is allowed to designate additional (stricter) rules for many things. For example, a race director can set stricter drafting penalties.
The WTC which runs Hawaii Ironman is within their rights as race directors to set the ruling that disallows disc wheels. WTC has never allowed disc wheels in Hawaii because of the severity of the winds.
So begging USAT or their officials is a waste of your time and theirs, you need to go to the WTC.
BrokenSpoke
Hate to dissapoint you, but that wheel is not legal for use at Ironman Hawaii.
the above post is right on.
also, unless you are a bigger/stronger guy who can handle those side gusts, you are probably better off with a deep dish rear wheel. like a zipp 404/mavic cosmic/etc. may seem boring next to the hed kona coast, but hey it works.
if you haven’t yet raced kona, some people here can tell you about the severity off the crosswinds in certain parts of the course. I am 185lbs, and wouldn’t want anything more than a tri spoke for my rear wheel out there…
Thank you for your replies. I have raced in Kona and know about the winds and have also used this disk wheel in heavy winds. It performs beautifully, as it was made to do in side winds. Charlie Crawford has nothing against use of the wheel at that race; I just need to know how to go about trying to get it approved for use in that race and will try the WTC. The year the wheel came out it didn’t get to the race director in adequate time for review. I have no idea if it went to the WTC first.