Aero disks

Considering the cheapest new disc wheel that I know you can purchase is just under 600 dollars, 65 for a disc cover is an amazing deal. A fraction of the cost for almost the same level of performance.

The only real con of a disc wheel is if you live in a rather windy location they are tough to handle in cross wind situations at times.


Now a disc is something you'll rarely see on a road bike, and especially an entry level one. But then when you think about it you're only spending 65 bucks, which isn't really that much. There's not going to be much improvements you can put on a bike for under 65 that will make such an impact as a disk wheel.

But I'm not going to say go for it or not :p

This user's post has been ignored.

I just bought some of these and used them for my 'A' race. www.wheelbuilder.com gave me great service, cutting them to my custom size and shipping them the same day (I had emailed them first and asked if they could get them to me in time).

Anyhoo, I'm sure you care more about how well they worked. I smoked the bike course yesterday

Here are some facts about my bike split.

* bike split was 1:09:48, 1st AG, 12th OF. Hilly OLY course.
* bike split was equal to some of the open female bike splits (I am 45)
* only 2 minutes behind the #1 female bike split.
* knocked 5 minutes off last year's time.

Part of my improvement over last year is that I am a stronger biker, and also have a new tri bike (the Valdora I won off BT contest) and a new aero helmet. I can't really say how much the aero covers contributed. But, I'm glad I got them.

The down side is they were very hard to get on my wheel and aligned properly, and smoothed out with no puckering of the plastic. I can see that I will need to buy a spare wheel to avoid taking them off and putting them back on for each race. I don't think I need a new cassette, as that seems fairly easy to swap out. Also, the granny gear rubs the disk when coasting. I didn't hear it and it didn't seem to slow me down when I get into a tight aero for coasting downhills. But, I did wonder about it.

PS: If you don't have aero bars or an aero helmet, those are better uses of your money. Making your body as aero as possible will gain you more speed than what you do to your back wheel. My bike split was really good last year, too on my road bike with clip on aero-bars. Get aero bars first. Then the helment, then the wheel. This year, I got my LG aero helmet for $120.


Edited by keyone 2008-10-05 1:00 PM

I'm starting to agree with you on this. I've been looking at wheels, and they're costly. My first thought was to just buy the same type of wheel that came stock with my tri bike, since that is what the aero covers are cut for. But, they are $250 per set, and it doesn't look like you can buy just one. I've already plunked $100 on the covers, add another $250 for a wheelset, and I might as well save up for the real deal. I'm currently looking on ebay for something used.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a brand of lite wheel suitable for racing, that doesn't cost an arm and a leg (~$100)? I'm finding quite a few Bontrager X-lite's on ebay. Are they any good? Is it a bad idea to buy a wheel off ebay?