Aero Front Wheel and Rear Wheelcover on a Road Bike?

Dave Mehl

My one and only bike is a Specialized Allez Comp roadie.  I added clip-on aero bars last year and feel comfortable on them, then added a powertap when I joined EN in October.  A tri bike is not in my near future, but I was thinking of trying to find a used aero front wheel for < $500 and throwing a wheelcover on the rear powertap wheel.  Just thinking something on the front that might make a little difference over the stock wheel.  My A race is IMWI and I'm MOP - is it worthwhile to try and add these things on a road bike and have the bike gods signed off on doing such a thing?  Or are aero wheels really only "meant" for tri bikes?  Would I be better off saving that cash towards a tri bike in a year or two?  If kosher, any recommendations on depth and/or specific models to keep an eye out for?  Thanks!

zwuba

If your are about to compete in more than just that single race I'd say go for it!!

I've used a pair of wheelcovers last year for the first time and I loved them setting a new personal record on my favourite olympic distance!

... but if you are just about that single race I'd say borrow you some nice wheels and have a great race with them

Dave Mehl

Thanks Stefan - I've got Olympic on the schedule that is another A race - I'd like to go faster than last year. I think the EN training alone will allow for that to happen to some extent. I have another C-event sprint tri, too. More of a fun, local club race. I'm curious about renting the wheel(s) - if you haven't trained on them or something similar, doesn't that violate the nothing-new-on-race-day rule? Just wondering how long into the bike leg it would take to get used to them. Or do you have access to them say a week ahead and can take them for a few easy spins?

zwuba

Yes exactly that's how it works at my local dealer - you get the wheels let's say for 1-2 weeks so you have a little time to get used to them before the race!
Be sure to check your sprint-tri rules for disc-wheels because on most of our local sprints drafting is allowed and the use of disc-wheels is prohibited (as well as the use of TT-Bikes ...). Those races follow the rules of ITU.

Of course I would not do that when going on any longer distance than olympic .... just my personal feeling.

John Withrow

A disc cover is cheap and provides a nice aero advantage. No problem doing that on a road bike... An aero front wheel also has it's advantages and you can get one for ~$300-400 on eBay if you want. It's not really going to give you all that much time on a Sprint or an OLY so it would be cheaper to just rent a front for your IM (at the expo onsite). If you have decent bike handling skills, I don't think you will have any problems putting the front wheel on a day before the race. For IMMOO, something the depth of a 404 is probably a good choice and is also very versatile. But there are a ton of other options: Zipp 404, SRAM S60, Hed Jet60, FLO, etc, etc, etc. If you want ease of use and piece of mind, my personal opinion is to not buy a tubular wheel even though they will seem cheaper. By the time you pay to glue on the wheel, it's not all that much cheaper anyways, and you will forever fret about getting a flat.

Dave Mehl

Thanks for the advice, guys. I'll keep a look-out for used wheels and consider the rental, too. Happened upon the Flo site yesterday - the Flo 60's would look neat on my bike in red and not too pricey, it didn't seem. Thought there was a thread a while back on them - another pre-order coming up the first part of April.