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Upgrading wheels one at a time?

MNGoldGo4's picture
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480 days
started by MNGoldGo4 on October 30, 2007

Here's the deal...I have a stock Cervelo Dual that I would like to upgrade the wheels in the future. Like most people, I don't have $2k to buy a whole wheel set at once. Is it OK to upgrade one wheel at a time and if so, does it matter front or back? Is there an advantage/safety issue/performance issue if you pick one or the other? Thanks in advance for your help.

Gary3's picture
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454 days
Gary3 posted 1 year ago.

Keep this in mind from Bike Hugger
Front vs rear wheels- You’d be right to think that a disc is the more aerodynamic wheel but wrong to think a disc was choosen as the rear wheel because the rear position is aerodynamically more important. Not true. Time trialists on the road rarely use a disc up front because a disc’s large side area makes it too sensitive to crosswinds. A disc in the rear position won’t affect steering like it would in the front. But here’s a fact that most people don’t understand: the front is the more important position. The front wheel is your leading edge into the undisturbed airstream; the rear wheel lives in the “dirty” air churned up by the front wheel, fork, frame, and your very unaerodynamic, spinning legs. The most aerodynamic wheel in the world can only do so much to smooth that airflow. What does this mean? Well, unless Zipp is sponsoring you, you likely have a limited budget for time trial wheels. You want bang-for-the-buck? Just buy a front with a deep-profile (like 50mm or more). .

UFTriGator's picture
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UFTriGator posted 1 year ago.

IIRC, ballpark figures are 60 sec over 40k for an aero front wheel and 30 sec for a disc.

______________________________________________
-Matt
Not fast enough.

Triguy98's picture
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Triguy98 posted 1 year ago.

Upgrade to a nice deep front dish, and buy a disc cover (~$80) for your rear.

Life is short. Play hard and get dirty doing it.

tri-ac's picture
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tri-ac posted 1 year ago.

Triguy98;84013 wrote:
Upgrade to a nice deep front dish, and buy a disc cover (~$80) for your rear.

do the disc covers have that badass,cool whirring sound like the true discs?

Adam
Tri-ac

Triguy98's picture
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Triguy98 posted 1 year ago.

No, but they do just as fast at 1/5th to 1/9th of the cost. Make the whirring sound with your mouth as you go by ;)

Life is short. Play hard and get dirty doing it.

tri-ac's picture
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tri-ac posted 1 year ago.

Triguy98;84052 wrote:
Make the whirring sound with your mouth as you go by ;)

...and no one will ever know the difference! :) I like the way you think!

(i'd probably make the whirring noise on my own anyway if i did have a real disc...just sing along with it....[sigh] one day i'll have nice wheels)

Adam
Tri-ac

triad's picture
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triad posted 1 year ago.

lol at TriGuy98. I truly did. Actually, this thread has given me a great starting point for the wheelset decision.

You can follow my progress @ http://triphile.wordpress.com.