Currently have stock aluminum rim break with tubes.
I’m thinking of getting 60mm as they’re supposedly easier to handle in crosswinds and are nearly the same speed as 80mm wheels
Plus it seems if I get 80mm I’ll have to deal with valve extenders and such whereas 60mm I can buy tubes with an 80mm valve and not have to worry about it.
Am I thinking about this correctly or is 80mm the way to go.
I will likely eventually set them up tubeless but wanna make one change at a time.
Bonus points on if anyone has a preference between flo and hed rc performance wheelsets
Rim brake or disc brake?
Dedicated to a tri bike or dual -purpose road bike?
How are your bike handling skills?
Flo are great. HED are great. There are no better choices between those two.
If you are rim brake, then I highly recommend HED Black. The braking is amazing.
I started with Flo 60/90 for my tri bike. They were great, but I wished I had gone deeper right away.
If you want max performance, get a disc for the rear.
I later upgraded to 90\disc HED Black. Best choice I made.
Rim brake or disc brake?
Dedicated to a tri bike or dual -purpose road bike?
How are your bike handling skills?
Flo are great. HED are great. There are no better choices between those two.
If you are rim brake, then I highly recommend HED Black. The braking is amazing.
I started with Flo 60/90 for my tri bike. They were great, but I wished I had gone deeper right away.
If you want max performance, get a disc for the rear.
I later upgraded to 90\disc HED Black. Best choice I made.
Rim brake
Dedicated tri bike
Bike handling skills are good
I’m 175 lbs for reference too
I considered her black but a few hundred above what I’d like to spend which is why I was considering the performance
Not interested in a disc as I don’t want to train and ride on one full time nor buy one only for races
HED has wider aluminum tracks that ride faster and smoother than Flo.
I don’t think so. HED Jet+ is 25mm at the brake track. So is Flo A+C (apparently no longer for sale). Flo AS (all carbon) is 28mm at the brake track.
The Jet is almost two millimeters wider (than Flo A+C) in internal width (21mm vs 19.4mm) at the same brake track width, though, which could affect ride quality.
I echo the same sentiment that for rim brakes, can’t beat HED Jet, preferably “Black” series with the “Turbine” brake track machining.
Rim brake
Dedicated tri bike
Bike handling skills are good
I’m 175 lbs for reference too
I considered her black but a few hundred above what I’d like to spend which is why I was considering the performance
Not interested in a disc as I don’t want to train and ride on one full time nor buy one only for races
I use Swiss Side which are identical to DTSwiss - I absolutely love them, but do not have experience with Rim Brakes
In a recent test run by Cycling News, the DTSwiss came top on aerodynamics… its not a surprise as JP Ballard and his team at Swiss Side come from a formula one background.
The DTSwiss/Swiss Side wheels are very stable, the 80mm are great in strong cross winds, you can really feel the sailing effect. 4 out the top 5 female pros in Kona were on these wheels.
No issues with valve extenders in the past, however, I am a tubeless convert.
Tried 50mm, 60mm and 90mm front wheels and definitely 60mm was the fastest for me. I would highly recommend 60mm for the front whatever you go for the rear.
Interesting. Would be curious to read the views of DesertDude, Marcag and other ST aero experts’ views on this test.
Not so surprised by Swiss Side but quite surprised by Hunt as I thought they did pretty poorly in other tests and I thought they were more of a Chinese wheels rebranding shop (I actually have a pair that was cheap, I like them but can’t really compare and tell if they are faster than the other wheels listed). I’m actually looking for a pair of race wheels and my short list was HED, Premier and Swisside Enve or Princeton]. Was targeting 60 front / 80+ back but surprised to read that 60 / 60 might actually be faster?
Flo are great. HED are great. There are no better choices between those two.
cough Light Bicycle cough
LB is great price/spec, that’s all. There is zero info to suggest that their wheels are designed with any meaningful aero work, which is reflected in their lower prices.
Wheels like HED, Flo, Premier, Aerocoach, and Enve SES are proven fast. If you want fast wheels, LB is unlikely to be better.
I agree with you to take magazine aero tests with a large pinch of salt, I have never tried Hunt wheels so cannot comment on them - one of my friends loves them, while another is less keen on his wheels.
Speed difference between Swiss Side, DTSwiss, ENVE, HED, Zipp etc will be pretty negligable, where there are differences is their stability in cross winds. Last year I upgraded from the older model DTSwiss ARC1100 80mm to the newer design Swiss Side Hadron2, there were 3 really noticeable differences:
In cross winds the Hadron2 was miles more stable, I used to travel to windy races like Kona and Lanza with 2 front wheels, I don’t bother any more. A more stable wheel wheel will enable you to stay on the aerobars much longer - this is far more of an advantage than any aerodynamic gains from the wheel itself
When descending at speeds over 40mph the older style wheels had a strange sensation where the air attached so strongly that an effort was needed to turn the bars, however, as soon as you turned the bars, the air would detach resulting in a wobble as I was applying force to the bars… it was a slightly unnerving feeling. With the newer rim design, the air detaches far more progressively so gives more confidence at speed.
I am a competitve windsurfer, I have a really good feeling for the wind. In windy conditions, I was amazed how much I can feel the sailing effect on the Hadron2, In places like Lanzarote and Kona, I can actively work the wind, slowly turning into the wind, then bearing off (my line is a little bit S shaped), Its a beautiful feeling… I cannot recall ever feeling this on the older DTSwiss wheels
Wind tunnel data will not reveal the 3 benefits above.