I’m thinking about matching my rear tri-spoke with a front tri-spoke but I am curious about cross winds. Has anyone had experience with running a front tri-spoke if moderate cross winds? How would it compare to say a 50mm front rim?? Thanks.
Worse then a 50 by quite a bit but its not rediculous… the more direct and stronger the crosswind is the better the H3 becomes. I have a 1080 and H3, there was a windy race out here and switched the h3 after i went for a warmup and had my fastest 40km bike every. So its a very good wheel and once you get used to it very easy to control.
This is one of those things that is probably worth searching.
My n=1 experience is that I weigh 140 lbs and have ridden a hed 3 set in winds gusting up to 35 mph. It wasn’t the easiest to control but I also was never out of my aerobars due to wind.
As far as a 50mm wheel. I train on a 40mm wheel and never notice it.
I’m thinking about matching my rear tri-spoke with a front tri-spoke but I am curious about cross winds. Has anyone had experience with running a front tri-spoke if moderate cross winds? How would it compare to say a 50mm front rim?? Thanks.
I rode trispokes as a pair and did not like it. Generally, the trispoke seems to be a wheel where if you want to run it up front, you ought to run a disc in the rear. So given that your rear wheel is already set, I think a spoked wheel might be a better choice up front. This seems to be the trend among folks that run the 3 spoke in the rear, though there are a few folks that campaign them successfully as a pair.
I’m 170lbs and have been blown off my bike during 30mph gusts of cross-wind. This experience has made me very conscious of using the H3 wheel on windy days.
I’ve learned a couple of things from this.
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If you ever face cross winds, give yourself more room for error than normal. For instance, if the wind is traveling from your left-to-right, ride more in the middle of the lane than on the very right edge of the road. This could make the difference between you getting blown a little to the right (and staying upright) vs. you getting blown into a ditch.
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The faster you go, the less cross-winds affect you… so you better be going fast.
I’m 170lbs and have been blown off my bike during 30mph gusts of cross-wind. This experience has made me very conscious of using the H3 wheel on windy days.
I am honestly surprised that you have had that much trouble with a H3 front. Like I said, a little extra concentration and I’ve never had a big problem(and I promise I wasn’t over exaggerating on the wind speeds I’ve ridden mine in).
I will concur on what Jordan said with a spoked wheel front. I think there are two reasons that going that route may be smart:
First, the Hed 3 is designed for a 19-20mm tire, and if you aren’t going to use one, you are throwing time out the window on a fast wheel. But 19-20mm tires with the exception of a few including Bonti’s Aero tire have high rolling resistance. So you need to be conscious of tire choice. Whereas Zipp/Hed design their spoked wheels around 21-23mm tires, and there are a lot more options in that size.
Second, I think the Hed 3 is an uncomfortable wheel on rough terrain. A fact not helped by running 19-20mm tires.
In your original post you mention 50mm wheel up front, but I would remain open to deeper wheels. Say 60-90mm.
I rode a front and rear H3 during a race where we had 75 mph wind gusts. The wind was so hard that it knocked down trees and it knocked the power out in our area for several days. I had to be careful during the race because of the winds/handling, but so did everyone else. I don’t think the H3 was any harder to handle than anything else would have been. If I had to race again on a windy day I’d still use them again.
Wow, I wasn’t expecting such different opinions. I weigh 172 lbs. and will ride in winds that will approach 25-30 mph at times.
I a 5’7" 150 pounder here. I have raced every IM I have done (4) with a disc rear and tri spoke front. It’s the fastest combo you can run that provides stability in windy conditions.
Dave
I use Hed3 clinchers front and rear. I train quite a lot on them and if you do that you’ll have no problem. I’m 160lbs and have ridden them in very windy conditions - I live in Auckland, New Zealand and we get a lot of wind being on a narrow isthmus between the Pacific and Tasman sea.
Regarding tires, I’ve always used Michelin PR2s or PR3s in 23mmm size as we have chip seal roads here and they’re a good combination of low rolling resistance, durability and comfort. Can’t say it feels like I am giving away speed (I did 5:06 in IMNZ on chip seal roads with 700m of vertical ascent). I have ordered some of the Bonty aero TTs in 19mm and will see if they are faster in local conditions.
I’ve also ridden Hed Stonger 90/60 combo and can’t say the handling seemed much different but they didn’t seem as fast.
I’m 5’9 170lb and have been racing the dual trispoke combo for about a year. I concur with what most of the posters have written. They are a little feisty in the high cross winds (for me over 25mph). Just when I was getting cocky about riding them in any condition, I zoned out on a regular training ride and got moved over about 2 feet by a strong gust. Since then, I’m not quite as comfortable when the wind kicks up. I’ve never crashed on them but I got a little more conservative in when I use them. Though I know they’re faster than my Reynolds Assault wheels in the crosswinds, if it’s windy, I’ll go with the Reynolds.
I’ve ridden a H3 front with a disc and a Jet 90. It can be a handfull at times but easily controlled if you are used to it.
Toyota challenge in '08 was pretty windy and I rode that combo. I had more of a problem with the wind turning my head because of my aero helmet than I did with the steering.
Muncie in '08 was rainy and windy. It was more gusty than Toyota challenge but still controlable if you allowed youself room to move.
I’m small at 5’4" and 148lbs.
jaretj
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I have a HEd3 I had planned to use for Kona and opted to use a 606 instead because the morning I was packing up my bike we had some really big gusts and crosswinds near the ocean out here and I had to constantly fight the wheel between gusts. I steady crosswind is fine, but it is the 30+mph gusts that make it unstable. Otherwise its probably the best front available.
I ride my hed 3 in Moderate 5-12 mph winds with no problem 5’10" 165lbs. In gusty stronger winds I have some problems and sometimes can’t stay on aero bars. My friend rides a 50 front . I think it may be better but not much. We put our training wheel on front in very strong gusty winds.
30 mph wind is very strong to me.
I have double trispokes and I agree with Rappstar, in crosswinds you’d better have a disc in the rear if you have a trispoke in the front. The wind steer is highly magnified with double trispoke. A 50-60mm front with the trispoke rear would be Kona legal (what I used at Kona) and reasonably stable.
At IMAZ 07 I borrowed a fellow STer’s disc (with my Tri front) for the rear and it worked well in the winds there.
As the wind picks up, you definitely have to concentrate more with an H3 vs. a standard deep dish rim. Strong cross winds can move you around a bit, but it is manageable. I ride a pair of H3’s pretty regularly at 6’ and 170lbs. Whenever I switch front wheels back and forth (other will is Reynolds 46mm), I definitely notice the wind more with the H3. My n=1 study says that I am faster with the H3 and I always use it on race day.
5’10, 162lbs. ride the set of 3c tubulars with a vittoria corsa evo 21 tire
BSLT this year was remarkably windy and I had no problems controlling the bike.
ideally, I’d ride a rear disc with the 3 up front, but I haven’t spent the money for the disc yet. The set is pretty fast.
I have used the Hed 3 in Hawaii and have it here with me this year. I usually pray for the 20’ decent down from Hawi, but after that I smile. stay aero, relaxed and give yourself PLENTY of room when passing!
Cheers,
Rich
I’m 5’6", around 150 and have run a trispoke paired all year - incl. Muncie and Steelhead. I had 404’s @ Silverman last year. (Apparently I’m a wind-magnet.) I’ve never been blown off my bike or off the road. In high winds (25 - 30mph) when it’s gusty they do get a bit of an attitude. Hard, steady winds aren’t fun, but they’re at least more predictable.
Bike handling skills come into play when it’s windy regardless of rim depth. If you know how to handle a bike (leaving some room for maneuvering, riding relaxed, etc.) you’ll be fine. My trispokes turn into helicopter rotors when the wind picks up, but I can still ride 2x2 or paceline on group rides. I’ve not had to be out of aero in any races this year due to wind - due to fatigue caused by fighting said wind after awhile, yes, but not the wind itself.
Silverman was special last year - hellacious gusts and one of my first times on the 404’s. I cried and prayed for about 1/3-1/2 the bike course. Having done 2 HIM in gnarly winds this year on the trispokes, I can’t say there’s a drastic difference to me. Wind is wind to me. Know how to handle your bike, have a strong core and you’ll be fine.
I’m 5’9" and about 145# and have been racing paired tri-spokes (Nimble Crosswinds) since 2000. I’ve had only one race in that time where I had any handling issues. The winds on that day were probably gusting to ~40mph. Moderate crosswinds are no problem.