Tired of Talking About Tires?
by Ian Murray
 

Here's my wheel philosophy, shared by many but not by all - All serious triathletes and bike racers should have two sets of wheels; one for training, one for racing.

A "training wheel" set should be heavy, tough, nearly indestructible, with lots and lots of thick round spokes, and then capped off with a super heavy duty tire (like a Continental Duraskin or something similar). The beauty of this is that you can ride lots of long hard miles with few flats and seldom truing even after endless pot holes, rocks, and other debris. The weight of the tire/wheel combo makes you work a bit harder - and, although I don't believe in running with ankle weights or weight vests, the concept of training heavy and racing light works here. Training wheels should absolutely be clinchers (not sew-ups) so that you can quickly and inexpensively change tubes when/if you flat. The great thing about wheels sets such as these is that they are relatively inexpensive.

A "racing wheel" set should be light and aerodynamic. The absolute fastest set up would be a solid disk rear and a tri spoke front - all carbon and with a tubular tire (aka sew-up). BUT, with benefits come several problems.  Disks are fickle things. Riding a disk cross winds is a bear and riding a tri spoke front in cross winds can be challenging. The bike gets tossed around a lot and more energy is spent on keeping the bike on the road than in sending it down the road. There's a reason why disks are not allowed in Kona - it's too windy there. An all carbon wheel (that is to say, with a carbon breaking surface) can be a bit "grabby" when the breaks are applied. Some triathlons courses require breaking only when entering T2 but in others we are on and off the breaks throughout. An aluminum-breaking surface on a carbon wheel adds little weight and is much smoother.

Let me also say that going with a sew-up wheel/tire is no longer a must either. Sew-ups are a bee-atch to glue on when you have time in the shop and all the necessary tools - flatting in race and changing a tubular out on the road is an incredibly brutal experience. The reason why some still go with tubulars is because the don't pinch-flat like a clincher can - but they still puncture and still go flat.

Also, sew-ups hold more pressure, and harder has been equated with faster. Another benefit is that sew-ups have always been lighter than clinichers. Some of these facts are changing; there are clinchers out there now that hold harder pressure (140 psi and up) and that are very light. I'm most familiar with the Conti line so I can only reference the Super Sonic Grand Prix as an example.

I think the perfect, all around race wheel set up might be something like a tri spoke rear and a moderately deep dished, flat spoked front. The tri spoke rear (like a Hed 3, Nimble, etc.) is very aero but less like to be affected by wind. A moderately dished front (like a Hed Alp, for example) with ~18 flat spokes is a good balance of durability, aero, lightness, etc. Both wheels should have an aluminum breaking surface and go with clinchers.

A very light and fairly strong wheel set can be constructed by taking the time to select the right items.

Thanks for reading, Ian

Ian Murray
TRIATHLETIX