Can anyone tell me why we (as a community of Tri-geeks) don’t use disk front wheels?
I recall once upon a time seeing some sort of bike race where both wheels are disks. is weight and cross-wind that bad that it would prevent people from using one?
Andy
Front disks handle really, really poorly in a crosswind. About the only time you see front disks anymore is on the track, and they’re not very common there, either. Deep rims and Tri spokes have come very close to the performance of a front disk with a lesser magnitude of handling compromises.
Front discs handle like bloody bollocks. The deeper the front wheel, the worse the bike handles. They are basically the antichrist, especially in a cross- or any wind. But, if you could handle it, then you would love the Bunnyman Institute Project One bike that I will be showing very soon. It is a 650c front disc, 700c rear disc with one brake lever and a pair of aerobars without the cowhorns. It is a very slippery, if not impractical bike, even if it is as old school as the day is long.
Remember what I said about front discs when I say about what front wheel I recommend for an aero set of race wheels. I always recommend a shallow front wheel for all but the most highly experienced bike handlers. Maybe a Bunnyman Project Two bike will be more modern with my recommendations for a everyman rider.
corima makes one, they are hard to handle in the wind, I know of one tt racer who uses a fr disc:
I usually get scolded for telling people to get the Hed 3 front wheel and “get used to it” I ride in Hawaii and have lots of practice with wind and weigh the shady side if 200 lbs.
I tried for about a month to get used to a front disc and was able to do ok with my hands on the bars. Driving in the aerobars was too much for me to handle. I still show up with the disc in the car and may find some day that is flat enough to tt with it on. If you want to buy a real heavy front for cheap you could probably have mine for a C-note. G
There are lots of front disk wheels. I think nearly everyone who makes disk wheels offers a front version…they just aren’t used very often outside of the track, due to handling issues. They were more common in road TTs during the funnybike era, since the smaller front wheel may have cut down slightly on the wind effect. I have a 24" front HED disk for my Hooker TT, as well as a HED Cx, but haven’t ridden it much at all with the disk, other than around the neighborhood to try it out. Since the UCI has now mandated same size wheels and USAT doesn’t allow front disk wheels, it’s unlikely that we will see many on the road or at the races.