carbon tubular but what size?

[Premier]

Hello,

Looking at purchasing some carbon tubular wheels, but not sure what size?

I live in a town where there is no bike club, and cycling Australias exhorbitant fees ensure that I wont be joining one for when I would only be able to get along to a few events per year. So my main use will be entering team triathlon events. I may join a cycling club some time in the future - but at the moment it is unlikely.

So the main use is triathlons more than road races.

Also - I am a lightweight! 178cm, and 63kg.

I am tossing up between the 50mm size at 1320g for the set, or 1770g for the 90mm set.

I guess I am wondering - would I be better off with either set? I guess it is aero advantage, vs weight advantage. Would being a lightweight rider myself make a difference to which way I should go?

Appreciate your opinions / advice!!

[MarkG]

Unless there's an abundance of hills I'd look at the 90mm jobs

[jacks1071]

For a rider your weight unless you are a very, very strong guy and an awesome bike handler I would recommend going for 50mm wheelset. 90mm are a real handful when the wind picks up with a light rider, especially if you are planning on getting down on TT bars.

[MarkG]

Being scared of cross winds is half the fun.

[toolonglegs]

^^^If you have to slow down because of cross winds it ain't no fun.
50mm front / 80-100-disc rear ( obviously for events only, not for training ) ... you will struggle to hold a 90mm front in a good blustery side wind, especially if tucked down. Also trucks blasting past breaking the wind flow is pretty scary when on aero bars .
I am 90 plus kgs and sometimes I struggle to hold my 90mm front, I have no trouble with 50mm front even in really bad ( my favourite ) conditions. The larger rear wheel on the other hand has no effect on handling.
If you want to do it cheap check out PlanetX wheels... they do 50 / 82 mm sets pretty cheap. Plus at your weight they will be plenty stiff enough.
PS... for maximum aero don't put a 23mm tub on the front, 19-21mm is fine.

[MarkG]

Even on alloy clinchers it gets hairy when trucks go past. I deal with it every day on my way home from work.

[jacks1071]

Being scared of cross winds is half the fun.

Believe me, you cannot ride fast if you are spending all your time fighting the bike to keep it going in a straight line. Add aero bars and if you arn't confident on the bike its an accident waiting to happen.

Like Toolong says - you can go deep as you like on the rear, it has little effect on the handling but for a light guy like the OP deeper than 50mm on the front anyway will find his expensive wheels sitting in the shed on a lot of days he'd otherwise have liked to ride them.

I've had a disc, 90/90, and 50/50 wheels all at the sametime and I ended up selling the 90mm to a heavier rider (I'm 68kg) as I just wasn't getting enough use out of them. On a still day, the 90mm's were awesome - very fast, crazy fast sounding wheels as well but just didn't get enough use out of them to justify the $$ sitting there.

A good buddy of mine would be 60kg wet (if that), he is a very strong guy and an awesome bike handler (ex. pro XC and Downhill MTB rider) and he rides his 90mm wheels all round in road races and puts a disc on the back and a 90mm on the front for TT and Ironman - he doesn't have an issue with it. He is quite short, probably around 160cm. I suspect a combination of his strength plus small stature means the wind doesn't knock him around. He's probably the only small guy I know thats really happy with the 90mm's for all-round racing in any conditions.

[nickobec]

In general, unless you are racing 5%+ climbs, aero will improve your performance more than weight savings - Jeukenrup & Martin 2001

that said, given:
1 your weight
2 this is your 1st set of deep rims

I would suggest 50mm front, I recently upgraded from 38mm which I never had a problem with to a 60mm front, it has been a learning experience, especially racing down a hill at 55 and getting hit with an unexpected crosswind.

I am not a great bike handler, but do weigh 79kg, which is less that TLL or MarkG, but a lot more than you and don't use tri bars.

My advice get a 50mm front, get use to riding it and being comfortable in crosswinds and then get a 90mm front for calm days if necessary

[citizen101]

If you are unsure, and you are an allrounder kind of rider with hills and flats, you should go for a depth that is around 30-35mm deep such as a zipp 303. They are light enough to go up hills, but still give you a aero advantage that is not that worse than a 40mm rim. Only go deeper if you are using for time trials or you are rich, so you can buy multiple.