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Caleb K.PRO
Caleb K. Sendmail

Aero Wheels for Triathlon

posted almost 3 years ago | Report

Alright folks, let's get to the nitty gritty. What do aero wheels REALLY do for you? If you race on aero wheels, which ones do you have and can you notice a difference or is it just the placebo effect? I am just beginning some research on these bad boys (looking at HED, ZIPP, SRAM, Reynolds, etc) and there is a lot of mixed reviews as to their performance.

Thoughts from Daily Milers?

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7 posts

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  • Matthew L.PRO
    Matthew L. Sendmail

    I'll play, just because I'm at work today and working hard ;)

    From wind tunnel results: Most people don't realize that a nonaero helmet creates four times the drag of a nonaero wheelset. So you can spend two thousand dollars on a wheelset, or spend two hundred on a helmet and be faster. How you put your race number on matters more than having an aero wheel; today, we glued on our numbers to get them to fit flatter. Then there's water bottle placement: On a round-tubed frame, having a bottle on your seat tube is more aerodynamic than not having one at all, and it's much more aero than putting it on the down tube. And wearing gloves in a time trial will slow you down more than using a nonaero front wheel.

    From here: http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6610,s1-3-12-14995-1,00.html

    and a very good read:
    http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=1099

    posted almost 3 years ago

  • Brodie B.
    Brodie B. Sendmail
    in reply to what Matthew L. said:I'll play, just because I'm at work today and working hard ;) From wind tunnel results: Most people don't realize that a nonaero helmet creates four times the drag of a nonaero wheelset. So you can spend two thousand dollars on a wheelset, or spe... read more

    Nice. I love it. I get to give my standard answer again.

    Make a product. Price it really, really high. Do a few studies. Market the results to triathletes. Retire rich.

    I've got some great swampland in Florida. Any investors out there? Buying it will shave 3 minutes off of your next Ironman time.

    Good post Matthew.

    posted almost 3 years ago

  • Jennifer B.
    Jennifer B. Sendmail

    The last tri bike I purchased came with Real Design rims. What I wanted was a nice pair of trainer rims. Since the bike dealer would only give me a LAME credit on the real designs, I kept them. When I rode them in Ironman Arizona, we were fortunate to not deal with cross wind much. Most was head on or at your back. That course is a great example of where one might benefit from fancy rims. Not technical in the least, straight forward time trial style. There were no issues.

    That all said, since I don't care a rip about them they are used for training. They make for sketchy rides with wind that is in the slightest cross directional. If anything, I've found them to make me slower in most circumstances because the handling is inferior. They contribute to wobble at high speeds, and it truly is a shame to have to use the brakes so much when you get cranking. It doesn't take a lot of wind to grab hold of your wheel either.

    Now I'm training for IM Wisconsin. The course is a lot of climbing, and I can't really imagine what perk they would have in a climb that carrying one less water bottle wouldn't provide.

    posted almost 3 years ago

  • Gehr 1.
    Gehr 1. Sendmail

    Position and a helmet is better than wheels, not that they aren't helpful but proper position and a aero-helmet is faster. A helmet is chaper than a good set of wheels as well.

    What they don't tell people is, you actually need to ride fast enough to get an aero advantage.......if you can't hold 22mph+ there's not much point.

    posted about 2 years ago

  • Mark S.
    Mark S. Sendmail

    spend the money on a power tap, hit it hard in training and rent race wheels for your A races. Power tap will help you train harder and thus go faster.

    posted about 2 years ago

  • Jean-Paul L.
    Jean-Paul L. Sendmail

    It's the Indian, not the arrow. This applies to most, if not all, sports.

    posted about 2 years ago

  • Jason M.
    Jason M. Sendmail

    thought i would put my 5c in. My wife just bought me a disc wheel cover for my back wheel of my TT bike. Its a lot cheaper than a disc wheel and she got it from www.wheelbuilder.com. How much cheaper you ask. well try less than $100 with shipping the that kind of price, who cares if it works. its really really cheap and weighs less that 400grams.

    At $3000 for a proper Zipp rear disc wheel i will take my $89 cover any day of the week.

    posted about 1 year ago

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