flythebike
captain
Reged: 08/26/04
Posts: 272
Loc: N. Virginia, USA
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Re: Racing with Calfees, again
09/28/05 12:46 PM (66.7.29.142)
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Disc wheels are legal for mass start events. Usually it isn't a good idea to run them. Even super-light ones, such as the Zipp are a bit heavy, at about 5 ounces more than my Zipp 404 rear. But at 960 grams, it weighs about as much as the wheels that many people race on. Also, the are so expensive it is a risk to run them in the event of a crash.It weighs about as much as a Mavic Cosmic Carbone (2005 and previous), for instance. But it is harder to handle, because it has a gyroscopic effect. You can't just encourage the bike to turn, you have to firmly order it to do so.
You can't see it from the picture, but the run-in to this finish goes down a significant hill. Then it flattens, and the last 150 meters even kick up slightly. So, there, the inertia of the disc is actually an advantage, not to mention the aeodynamics. Since we're talking about a 40mph+ sprint, that makes a big difference, too.
The race course only had three turns in about 1.2 miles, with none of them real tricky. So I decided that the disc would be a significant competitive advantage in the sprint, and not a significant competitive disadvantage in the rest of the race. The field was small, so I wasn't overly concerned about wrecks. In this case, I made the right decision to use it, and as you can see by the gap, I won the race handily.
I used the same wheel on the track last weekend, so it was also good practice for that. Cheers. 
Edited by flythebike (09/28/05 12:46 PM)
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