Tri spoke wheels Q.

Colinthecop
Colinthecop Posts: 996
edited November 2013 in Road beginners
Quick newbie question,

I was browsing wheels on Ebay and was wondering why the Hed Tri spokes and the like always seem to say, suitable for TT's and Triathlons.

What makes them unsuitable or unpopular for normal road use...?

As I would have thought that TT's an Tri's would suggest they're fast and fast is good surely...? :?

Comments

  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,321
    They are very harsh and uncompromising. They are not ideal in cross winds and they are an expensive way to downgrade your bike to something barely rideable.

    For racing, the UCI demands the wheels to be spoked and I am not sure a trispoke qualifies as a spoked wheel by UCI rules.

    That said, plenty of hipsters on fixed gear and trispoke around Shoreditch
    left the forum March 2023
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    Tri-spokes / quad spoked wheels are not permitted in road racing events, mainly because the large section of unsupported rim fails the UCI impact test, plus the chopping-action between the spoke and forks/stays should there be a crash.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • Colinthecop
    Colinthecop Posts: 996
    Ah right, cheers for that.

    I'm not planning on doing any racing - way too competitive for me. Just thought they might make me a bit better.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,321
    Colinthecop wrote:
    Just thought they might make me a bit better.

    Probably not
    left the forum March 2023
  • Colinthecop
    Colinthecop Posts: 996
    If you'd seen me ride, you might disagree.... :oops:
  • simon_e
    simon_e Posts: 1,707
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    Colinthecop wrote:
    Just thought they might make me a bit better.

    Probably not

    They wouldn't make you any better (at cycling), but they would make you a lot poorer.
    Aspire not to have more, but to be more.
  • DiscoBoy
    DiscoBoy Posts: 905
    Colinthecop wrote:
    Ah right, cheers for that.

    I'm not planning on doing any racing - way too competitive for me. Just thought they might make me a bit better.

    Don't buy upgrades, ride up grades.
    Red bikes are the fastest.
  • declan1
    declan1 Posts: 2,470
    I saw a guy in a sportive recently riding a Cervelo S5, full Castelli gear and two tri-spokes. This was a very hilly route.

    He looked like an absolute tw*t. If you want to get faster wheels and you're riding on the flat, buy some deep section carbon ones, not tri-spokes.

    Road - Dolan Preffisio
    MTB - On-One Inbred

    I have no idea what's going on here.
  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 17,414
    surely the most important reason to eschew trispoke wheels is that people might think you're a triathlete

    :)
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny
  • marcusjb
    marcusjb Posts: 2,412
    sungod wrote:
    surely the most important reason to eschew trispoke wheels is that people might think you're a triathlete

    :)

    Or, even worse, a hipster.
    Stuff about riding a bike a long way

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