I put this out here just for discussion and maybe helpful info for all. With my somewhat limited understanding, I can see all the data concerning front wheels. Wind tunnel testing, different yaw angles, field testing, etc. What I am wondering is when a real aero wheel becomes more of a liability then an asset. When the normal not elite rider must spend more and more time at the end of their bars, out of fear, or inability to maintain an aero position. When do the watts saved become a negative because of less time in an aero position. I understand a lot of this pertains to certain data. I can remember back in the late 80’s riding with a Ambrosio front disc in 10 mile time trials. The disc weighed almost six pounds, but even in an area with bad side winds, Magic Mountain, I was pretty steady. Now sometimes I use a deep dish rim, and get blown sideways sometimes. And this is without aero bars.
I have never tried a field test in really windy conditions, once with a normal 32 spoke wheel, and the other with a deep dish wheel, on aero bars. I wonder about the results in time, and how much time would be spent in an aero position with either wheel.
Steve
SMp
There is no magic number.
A 140lbs person who isn’t a great bike handler will probably be slower on a Hed Jet90/ Zipp 808 on a windy day
a 200lbs person who is a good bike handler will probably be able to handle those wheels even in hawaii.
You just need to take an educated guess at what you can handle and try it out. You seem concerned about handling so you might start with something like a 404/jet60/flashpoint 60 and see how it goes.
I think you will find that a disc in the rear is always faster except perhaps for some fringe scenarios like a time trial up an 8% grade with no downhill, no wind, and the disc is really heavy.
Was there a question in here?
I’m 144 lbs, and can ride a disc in most conditions comfortably. Anything over 45 mph or cross winds above 30 mph and I get sketched out.
I put this out here just for discussion and maybe helpful info for all. With my somewhat limited understanding, I can see all the data concerning front wheels. Wind tunnel testing, different yaw angles, field testing, etc. What I am wondering is when a real aero wheel becomes more of a liability then an asset. When the normal not elite rider must spend more and more time at the end of their bars, out of fear, or inability to maintain an aero position. When do the watts saved become a negative because of less time in an aero position. I understand a lot of this pertains to certain data. I can remember back in the late 80’s riding with a Ambrosio front disc in 10 mile time trials. The disc weighed almost six pounds, but even in an area with bad side winds, Magic Mountain, I was pretty steady. Now sometimes I use a deep dish rim, and get blown sideways sometimes. And this is without aero bars.
I have never tried a field test in really windy conditions, once with a normal 32 spoke wheel, and the other with a deep dish wheel, on aero bars. I wonder about the results in time, and how much time would be spent in an aero position with either wheel.
Steve
SMp
Cintrifical (spelling) is what was giving you the stability. You could always buy a new disk and line it with lead 
But boy it must have been fun accelerating that 6lbs disk.
I put this out here just for discussion and maybe helpful info for all. With my somewhat limited understanding, I can see all the data concerning front wheels. Wind tunnel testing, different yaw angles, field testing, etc. What I am wondering is when a real aero wheel becomes more of a liability then an asset. When the normal not elite rider must spend more and more time at the end of their bars, out of fear, or inability to maintain an aero position. When do the watts saved become a negative because of less time in an aero position. I understand a lot of this pertains to certain data. I can remember back in the late 80’s riding with a Ambrosio front disc in 10 mile time trials. The disc weighed almost six pounds, but even in an area with bad side winds, Magic Mountain, I was pretty steady. Now sometimes I use a deep dish rim, and get blown sideways sometimes. And this is without aero bars.
I have never tried a field test in really windy conditions, once with a normal 32 spoke wheel, and the other with a deep dish wheel, on aero bars. I wonder about the results in time, and how much time would be spent in an aero position with either wheel.
Steve
SMp
There is another issue here also. Even if one is not blown so hard as to need to come out of the aero position it can cause them to change direction. Turning just 10 degrees means one is no longer taking the shortest course to the finish line and the distance of the course is now about 1.5% longer (arccos of 10º), at least until one gets back on to the shortest distance path. So, not only does getting blown about slow one down it also makes the course longer. There is no wheel out there, I suspect, that would give one a 1.5% speed advantage over a wheel that would allow one to ride straight in the wind.
Most people, I think, underestimate the advantage of being able to control the bike and to being able to ride in a straight line.
Frank