Carbon Disk wheels for hilly courses
Finchystryder1
Posts: 6
I am competing at Ironman 70.3 Wiesbaden next year, heard its a hilly course but was considering buying a carbon disk wheel for next year season anyway...
Is this a bad Idea to use for a hilly course?
Also anyone got any suggestions for a good disk wheel under £1500?
0
Comments
Our grouptest in issue 296 puts 10 race wheels through their paces, and also tackles the subject of when – and if – to use disc wheels.
In summary, they are most useful to top-placing athletes on relatively flat courses: they're much heavier than non-disc wheels, and only provide tiny gains at lower speeds.
What's more, they can make a bike nearly impossible to handle when the wind picks up, which is why British Cycling don't allow double-disc combinations in time-trials.
Hope this helps!
Wow - astounded by the comment above.
"What's more, they can make a bike nearly impossible to handle when the wind picks up, which is why British Cycling don't allow double-disc combinations in time-trials"
Clearly never ridden a disc. The person asking is not questioning the use of a disc on the front, the reason they make a bike a handful to control is because the front wheel is connected to the fork which gives direction and can pivot. Basic. A rear disc does not have that issue. If you are a strong cyclist go disc every time, even on technical courses. If you are a weaker cyclist then go 60 or 90mm deep to save weight and make getting up to speed that bit easier even if getting a slightly lower top end speed.
Sorry Jamie, got to agree with the above. Basically, what I was saying in the grouptest is that disc wheels are, by and large, heavier than, say, 80mm rear wheels (or shallower, obviously). So if you're not the strongest cyclist you won't want to be lugging that extra few hundred grams up and down hills all day long.
Having said that, it totally depends on your definition of 'hilly'. Weisbaden is like 1,500m of climbing over 90km I think, which isn't exactly Alpine. Plus, as the excerpt from Jim Gourley's book 'Faster' that we ran recently said, weight only really becomes an issue when gradient gets upwards of 10%. He looked at two bikes with a 1.5kg weight difference, and the difference in power output needed to ride the two uphill at the same speed only reached 10watts when the road reached 10%. I don't know the course you're riding that well, but I'd imagine there isn't too much 10% climbing!
What I'm saying, in a shockingly long-winded way, is that on an Ironman course, those few extra grams you save by not going disc aren't anywhere near as significant as the aero gains you'll make by choosing one.