Wheels for Sprint Triathlon

Conditions and course matter on choice of wheels. Not so much the length. I'll ride the same wheels for 56 miles that I would for 10.



Edited by smilford 2008-08-29 5:10 PM

Good question. The answer actually is more straightforward than you'd think.

A good place to look for an authoritative answer is often the top professional cyclists. These riders depend on the performance of their equipment for iincome. While sponsorships do heavily influence their choices, we do see a consensus when it comes to aero wheels.

The best choice, from an aerodyanmic perspective, is a rear disk and deep section front.
The aerodynamic perspective will be the primary motive in nearly all cases until the course has an extremely steep, long climb, such as a mountain pass as we see in events like the Tour de France or the Alpe D' Huez Triathlon in France. Ironman France would be included on the list of events where climb specific (lower rim height, ultra-lightweight) wheels would be optimal compared to a disk/deep combination. So would the Monaco 70.3 course and the St. Kitts Triathlon in the Caribbean. Few other triathlon courses are mountainous enough to need climb specific wheels- oh, missed two: EmbrunMan and The NorseMan Extreme.

You will have crosswind turbulence with a disk, and the degree to which this affects a rider is subject to their bike handling skills and confidence.

Now, race wheels do make you faster. but there are other things that make you faster with less money. For instance, if your current racing outfit has any wrinkles in it when you are in the riding posture- those are (remarkably enough) slowing you down at higher speeds (above 20 M.P.H.) more than you may imagine. A technician at one of the country's largest wind tunnels here in Allen Park, Michigan told me my normal racing uniform was the equivalent of towing a 6" diameter parachute behind me at 25 M.P.H. When we switched to much snugger fitting race apparel my drag in grams as measured in the tunnel did decrease. These were the wind tunnel tests done by the World Triathlon Corporation several years ago and featured in several Ford Motor Company promotional brochures- I'm the fellow in the photos in the wind tunnel riding the blue Cannondale tri bike.

So- make sure you have snug fitting race apparel before you think about dropping the big bucks on race wheels.

Secondly- some recent independent (read: Has nothing to sell...) wind tunnel tests suggest quite strongly that an aerodynamic shaped, teardrop helmet may offer nearly as much time savings at a given speed as does a set of race wheels at ten times the price or more. That means the aero helmet is a smarter buy: About the same time savings but a heck of a lot less money.

I hope that helps.