Race wheel upgrade?

matthewbward

Hey guys,

Question about the benefits of upgrading my rear wheel for racing.  I race a rear Open Pro with a wheel cover and a Powertap.  I race an American Classic 420 in the front.  Trying to determine what time savings might be found on a long course (I'm 135#) by racing the 420 in the rear (with or without wheel cover) and putting a Powertap in it.  I'm racing IMMT (hilly) this year but also race flat 70.3s.

It doesn't seem like it'd pay off in terms of time, but I'm trying to quantify it.  And I hate just seeing the 420 never get ridden.

Thanks.

-M

William Jenks

Matthew - I'm confused. Do you mean that you have both a 420 front and rear wheel and that the rear wheel isn't being used at all? If you're talking about changing a front to a rear, that's a different matter. (And of course, you'll want some kind of aero front wheel!)

If you put a cover on a 420 and a cover on the Open Pro (ie., comparing back wheel to back wheel) , the difference between the two in performance will be entirely due to weight, and therefore only relevant going uphill. Hard to put a number on that without knowing the course, and I honestly don't know the weight difference anyway.

There are an awful lot of us that already do what you describe - an aero wheel up front and a disc cover over an Open Pro (or similar) with a power tap in the back. I happen to have a Hed Jet (the one that's more or less equivalent to the Zipp 404) and Open Pro in the back.

I personally don't think it's a cost-effective purchase to buy an additional rear hub for the 420, unless you plan to sell the one in your Open Pro.

Good luck!

Brian Quarton [OLD]

Be sure the AC can be covered. Some can't.

http://www.wheelbuilder.com/store/a...shoot.html

 

Then check out the data.

http://www.wheelbuilder.com/store/aerodisc-data.html

I see diminishing returns in terms of speed/dollars. But power is getting cheaper (hubs). And competition is increasing. It is a tough decision. Personally I would like to have an Open Pro/PT hub for training and a little nicer covered PT wheel for racing, because I don't like taking the cover off/on. Others don't mind a bit. The fact that you are thinking it through carefully and will get a good bargain increases the chances of you being happy. And that is the bottom line.

 

matthewbward

Thanks guys, and yup William, you're right. I've got the 420 in the front that I race. The question is about racing my rear 420 too. It just bums me out to see it unused. I'm keeping my eye out on a cheap wired PT to put in the 420.

William Jenks

If you're willing to look around and wait for a wired PT, then you definitely can find something relatively inexpensive and get it hooked up. I think the resale on used ones of those is falling because of all the fancy ANT+ stuff.