Updated Jan 22, 2004
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What Wheels to Ride

There has been, and will be, much debate about what wheels should be used during a race. Here I hope to unravel some of the myths of the race wheel.

The type of wheel you choose will be dependent on the event you ride. For a crit, road race, or hill climb, you need some sort of lightweight wheel. For hill climbs and road races, the light weight will help when fighting gravity. Road race and crit riders will also require the low weight for less inertia, and better acceleration. The problem for crit riding is that with tighter corners, the wheel has to be quite stiff, to help combat the higher cornering forces encountered.

For a time trial, or triathalon, low weight is less important than aerodynamics. For this article, I shall simplify the choices into three categories of aero wheel, and these are listed below.

  • Aero deep section rim with oval or bladed spokes, such as Zipp 404, or Hed Alps
  • Composite spoke wheel, such as Hed trispoke
  • Disk wheel

The best aero section wheels can reduce the drag area of the bike and rider by 4.5 percent, and so velocity should increase by 1.5 percent - a time saving of approx 46 to 73 seconds for a 40km time trial.

With composite wheels, the drag area tends to decrease as the wind angle increases, i.e becomes more of a side wind. The side effect of this is that if the wheel is used on the front, the large surface area can make controlling the bike difficult. Some people may not find this a problem, and others, myself included, may be uncomfortable riding such a wheel in windy conditions. Composite wheels will reduce the drag area of the bike and rider by 4.6 percent, and increase velocity by approx 1.5 percent, leading to a time saving of 47 to 74 seconds over 40Km.

Disk wheels have the lowest drag area, and like composite spoke wheels, drag area decreases as wind angle increases. The large surface area of a disk makes them unsuitable for use as a front wheel except for indoor track cycling, and the rules prohibit their use on the front except for track cycling.

For this reason, we assume that a disk wheel is used as a rear wheel in combination with the best composite spoked front wheel. Compared with conventional wheels, that combination will reduce the drag area of the bike and rider by approx 5.5 percent and thus increase velocity by 1.8 percent. This leads to a decrease in 40Km time by 57 to 90 seconds.

40KM TT time for different wheel configurations
Wheel typeTime for 200 wattsTime for 300wattsTime for 400watts
Standard67:4358:2952:48
Aero rim66:4657:39 52:02
Composite66:44 57:3752:01
Disk rear & Composite front66:3257:2651:51
Adapted from Greenwell et al. 1995

It would appear that there is not much between aero rims and composite wheels. This is true for the best wheels, as there are only minimal aerodynamic differences between them. The thing to remember is that "more surface area = faster".

So what do I ride? I.ride a Hed trispoke front and Hed disk rear, both are clinchers. Why do I ride Hed? It wasn't the choice of manufacturer that swayed me, nor the fact that "Lance Armstrong and David Millar use it". I chose Hed because their wheels have an aluminium braking surface. This might seem trivial to you, but if you want to stop aluminium braking surfaces are far better than carbon. Chris Boardman talks about the Zipp 303 below.

"The all carbon deep section rims were light and looked good. But, predictably, they had braking surfaces that were not parallel to each other and consequently produced that grabby feeling on descents, albeit less than with the Ambrosio rims featured in September�s bike test [ Procycling]. Virtually every manufacturer has this problem, but they are determined to persist with using carbon, even when there are some fantastic aluminium designs (with machined brake surfaces) on the market."

Below is a helpful guide to the choosing of TT wheels.

  • You're an absolute beginner, and are slow as Molasses:
    • Rolf Vector Comps, standard wheels
  • Your getting better, you have a TT bike, or a road bike with clip on tribars, and are looking for a decent set of 18mph wheels:
    • Zipp 303' or Hed Alps, either of which as clinchers
  • You have a road race bike with clip-ons and reversed seat post, or you might have a TT bike. You need a set of 24mph wheels:
    • Hed 3's or Zipp 404's. Now start to consider tubulars
  • You have a TT bike, you'd give Lance a run for his money, you need the best set of 26mph race wheels:
    • Any rear disc. On the front should be a Hed3 , Hed Alps or Zipp 404. Tubulars mandatory.
  • You're a girl, you weigh 110 pounds, you go 20 mph, but get blown around and need a safe set of race wheels:
    • Zipp 303 front, with a 404 on the rear.
    • Alternatively, a Hed Alps front and rear (no 3 or 4 spoke wheels for you).
Adapted from Slowtwitch.com

Tyre choice is largely a personal matter, but there are various models that are better suited to one task than another. Also, whether the wheels are race wheels, spares, or training wheels will affect the type of tyre you use. I won't get into a large debate about the merits of different tyres, but I will tell you what I am using, and what I'm using them for. Hopefully this might help you make a decision on the type of tyre you buy.

Although the list above suggests that tubs are mandatory for top flight racing, I disagree. Clincher tyre technology has progressed a huge amount in the last few years, and the benefits of tubs are now simply a lower weight rim, and the "run flat" nature of tubs.

I ride Continental GP3000 23c tyres on my training wheels and spare road wheels. These tyres are a near perfect blend of puncture resistance, grip, and wet weather performance.

On my road race wheels I ride Continental GP Force and GP Attack tyres. I haven't ridden these for long enough to pass judgment on them, so will leave that for more qualified riders.

My spare time trial wheels are shod with Vittoria Corsa CX 23c tyres. These are very quick tyres, but I'm not sure about their puncture resistance as I've only had to ride them once this season. Wet weather performance is very good.

My Disc and Trispoke are shod with Panaracer Stradius TT tyres 20c on the front, 23c on the rear. These are pretty quick tyres, with good puncture resistance. I have no idea about the wet weather performance of these tyres. Prior to riding these tyres I rode Vittoria Ultra Speed 20c on the disc and trispoke. The Vittorias are excellent tyres, though hard to get a hold of. Once I've worn through the Panaracers, I will put a new set of Vittorias onto the TT race wheels, if I can find them.

Continental Supersonics are currently being used on my track training wheels. These are excellent fast tyres, but are too puncture prone, in my opinion, for use on the road.

My track disc, and deep section front, are both tubular, and are shod with Continental Tempo tubs. Excellent quick rolling tubs for racing.


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