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Disc Wheel upgrade?

david waredavid ware
in General Training Discussions
I am currently riding Hed3s.  (I have a Quarq so wheel choice is not an issue.)  Is it worth the cost to invest in a disc if I only do 2 or 3 races a year.  I see some pretty good deals but just not sure it is worth the cost for the amount of time savings...  Thoughts?

Comments

  • manconamancona
    Disc will be faster than your H3, but i don't think anyone can tell you how much faster as it depends on your bike frame and wind conditions. Therefore my advice is focus on bang for the buck.

    Best bang for buck is a spoked wheel with an aero cover just like many folks with powertaps use. A standard 20-30 mm box rim will work fine, or step up to a 50-100mm deep rim with a cover for a slight improvement.

    The flo and hed discs are basically just a deep wheel with a permanent cover and are a great bang for the buck (especially used).

    Renn makes an affordable solid disc if you want the cool sound effects.

    While the latest and greatest carbon clincher disc like the Zipp Super 9 CC are awesome, you pay a HUGE premium for very little (to zero) actual performance increase.
  • kimmydctkimmydct
    Yeah, my Wheelbuilder disc cover doesn't make the "woosh woosh" noise. Whatta rip off. image
  • Al TruscottAl Truscott
    +1 on a wheelcover for your Hed3. Me and my wheelcover  have been doing just fine for years. Some people argue that the slightly lighter weight and the curved surface of the cover as opposed to flat on the dedicated disc wheels make the cover faster. Check out the wind tunnel reports on wheelbuilder.com.
  • Gaudir8Gaudir8

    David,

    I will end up hating myself since I will be racing you at IMAZ if my shoulder cooperates next year(and my only chance to beat you is on the bike) but I wouldn't do anything but a disc. The Zipp Super 9 clinchers are awesome. I guess I am a gear snob but if I got 15k into a bike what is another 2k to have the best thing available on it.

  • Gaudir8Gaudir8

    As a matter of fact I bought this for myself as an early Christmas present today. Just picked it up from the shop

    ZIPP IMPRESS LIMITED EDITION SUPER 9 DISC CARBON CLINCHER SHIMANO/SRAM


    Price: $2,499.00
  • GMAN 19030GMAN 19030

    Posted By Al Truscott on 20 Dec 2013 02:24 PM


    +1 on a wheelcover for your Hed3. 

    Wheelcovers will not work on a H3.

  • Al TruscottAl Truscott

    Oops! Never mind ...

    Still, I stand by the rest.

  • Dave TalloDave Tallo

    Posted By Bob McCallum on 20 Dec 2013 04:04 PM

    Posted By <a href="http://members.endurancenation.us/ActivityFeed/tabid/61/userid/226/Default.aspx">Al Truscott</a> on 20 Dec 2013 02:24 PM


    +1 on a wheelcover for your Hed3. 

    <p>Wheelcovers will not work on a H3.</p>

    I would think a wheelcover for an h3 would be insanely easy to make - it would just involve 2 flat pieces of plastic cut to size. I wonder if it would be worthwhile calling wheelbuilder to investigate if their jig has a setting to do a custom cut? Or, the op might reach out to the guys who have recently been posting on ST about the new carbon wheel covers they are producing to see if they could do a flat one-off. In either case, the cost-benefit is probably going to still outpace that of a "real" disk.

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