DISC or DEEP for girls

[Maggie D]

Hiya. I'm considering upgrading my time trial wheels to either disc or deep section (eg Zipp 808?) and would be interested to know what experiences other females have had with the like. At 5'5" tall and 55 kg weight (just under 9 stone) would a disc be relatively too heavy (?) or the potential for windage too great. I am particularly considering the rear wheel option.

Any comments regarding handling ability, responsiveness, strenghts and weakness would be appreciated. thanks.

[velogirl]

A disk is super-light (it's all foam inside). And it makes such a cool sound. You can't beat it for time savings in a time trial -- even on windy days.

The reason you hear so many negative comments about disk wheels is because folks don't train on the equipment they plan to race with. If you're a dedicated tt'er, you'll be on your tt bike one or two times a week all season. If you're an occassional tt'er, you should still get on the tt bike at least once a week for the 4-6 weeks prior to your race (and several times the week of). This includes riding with your race wheels (your disk).

I've got a zipp disk and also a power tap wheel with a ch aero disk cover (turns a box rim wheel into a disk). The latter is quite heavy, but good for flat tt's because I pace with power.

You would only put a disk on the rear. On the front, I recommend a tri-spoke, or another deep dish aero option with a low spoke count.

[Eden]

I've just picked up a nice used TT bike and since it takes 650's I know I can get some good deals on wheels too, but I must admit I have been a little leery about using a disc - I'm small enough I get blown around on a regular road bike when its windy.
How much of an advantage do you really find you get out of one? If its seconds I should probably work on my form and fitness first

[velogirl]

The time savings from a disk are HUGE. If I've got time I'll pull up the study that breaks down various savings over a 40k tt (aero helmet, no gloves, shoe covers, disks, skinsuit, aero bike, bottle on seat tube, etc). If I recall, wearing an aero helmet actually gives you the biggest bang for your buck.

Folks always assume that they'll blow around with a disk. That's not necessarily true. The wind is channelled around the bike and with a little practice you'll feel very stable.

If I were giving advice to a newish racer about time trialling, I'd say the most important thing you could do is learn to pace correctly. Read everything you can about TTs and then practice them (most racers don't practice TTing because they don't have a good course). These two things will help you be more effective than the "free time" saved from aero elements.

[RoadRaven]

My partner has a disc wheeel - but it only comes out on non-windy days.

The boys and he have some deep rim wheels... thats on my shopping list - when I do a good time in TTs, I'm going to either make my current race bike into a TT bike with bar end shifters and aero wheels... or, if I'm very good and sweet talk my family I might get a beautiful Trinity...

Ah... I better stop, I'm drooling on the keyboard...

As for disc or deep... def use them, but avoid the disc if its windy - I have yet to try a aero wheels... but I am very keen too