Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Why have a carbon wheel in front? (Ex:Aerospoke, HED, Spinergy)

why do some folks have those nice trispoked wheels in front instead of back? I was thinking maybe is not as strong as a spoked wheel in the back but wasn't too sure. Is there any advantage to it or is it just for aestetics?
Personally i love the way it looks but just was curious.

Aero-fashiondynamics

:)

Maybe it's just me and my picky opinions in aesthetics, but like non-threaded headsets and aluminum frames... I just think they're ugly as hell. But if they made some kind of significant difference in weight or strength, maybe it'd be cool for those with a lot of money to blow.

Track-specific rear carbon tri-spokes, etc, are hard to come by and prohibitively expensive. Front track wheels are interchangeable with road/tri/tt fronts, thus they are much more easy to come by as the market is much larger. Also, front tri-spokes (I'm using this as an oversimplified catchall to describe anything in the aerospoke/carbon/hed/spinergy family) are often paired with rear discs (esp. w/r/t track wheelsets), which are not only impractical for street use, but also downright dangerous. Weight varies with the specific wheel - some are incredibly light, others not so much. Whether or not the weight savings are a good thing or not depends mostly on the particularities of your own riding.

As to the why - why not? If you like the way it looks and you want to spend the money, go for it. If you don't like the way it looks and don't want to spend the money, don't.

but like non-threaded headsets and aluminum frames... I just think they're ugly as hell.
+1

Carbon /plastic "Tri" wheels are heavier then "normal" wheels

Main advantage is areodynamics but it seems that they're mainly used in BMX stunt on fixed gears so aerodynamic advantade is none.

My question is: are them durable for stunts or they're gomme breaks after a cuople of bad crashes??

(same question is for carbon forks) :rolleyes:

BMX are steel and have steel forks :D

I thought BMX was short for "bite my ______"??

they are nice, you can lock frame/ront-wheel ab bit faster. i linke "difference" an old track frame and components with an 20th century front wheel

at point there are no real adwantages, but the cost of an used aero wheel is less than a nice front wheel with phil hub so i chose this way

I tried riding a bike with 650c Spinergy's

The sideways flex is unbelievable!
For front wheeled tricks there is no way I'd run an aerospoke/spinergy/carbon front wheel.
I'd even go to say that riding a low-flange radial front spoked wheel is wack too.

Albeit, if you don't do tricks, ride really light on your wheels, and go really fast, getting a aero/spinergy/carbon wheel is fine.

Why?

Street cred.

Why?

Street cred.


but what to do with spokecards? on the rear they bekomm really fast dirty

but what to do with spokecards? on the rear they bekomm really fast dirty


http://uroncrack.blogspot.com/clothespin.jpg

i can't imagine wheels like those holding up to city riding. i remember when i used to ride BMX and a few kids had mag wheels; they couldn't take any punishment and would just crack.

i can't imagine wheels like those holding up to city riding. i remember when i used to ride BMX and a few kids had mag wheels; they couldn't take any punishment and would just crack.

carbon fiber tri-spoke != plastic bmx mag wheel.

carbon fiber tri-spoke != plastic bmx mag wheel.

omgz! programzor logicz!

I have been riding an old 650 aerospoke around for a while on the streets. Its before they went aluminum..so its not as strong as their current ones, but it has held up fine. I do wheelies occasionally and am scared about coming crashing down on it.

they go zwick-zwick-zwick like helicopter rotors, and combined with the apocalypse now/jarhead soundtrack make you feel like you're about to bomb a vietnamese/iraqi village [delete according to age].

awesome.

fsnl
sparky

It is because you used to be able to get them for pretty cheap...but in resent. The things have ****in sky-rocketed. Used to be cheaper than building a wheel.

once one of these jawns gets a little dent or goes out of true, your kinda screwed right? as in you cant true it back?

style points!

they are the rich man's deep v i guess ._.

Word of advice. Lurk the Tri-sports message boards. There's always someone who doesn't know the fair market value especially if they think it's out dated technology.

saw someone riding a disc wheel on the street today. guess it was only a matter of time. admittedly it was being ridden by someone i know to be a strong, skilled rider, but damn...

style points!

they are the rich man's deep v i guess ._.
Not true...a set of Deep V's would cost more than I paid for my HED wheel.

saw someone riding a disc wheel on the street today. guess it was only a matter of time. admittedly it was being ridden by someone i know to be a strong, skilled rider, but damn...
Now that is just silly...

b/c you can do something silly like this
http://velospace.org/files/DSC_0196.jpg

have you noticed that ppl riding aero wheels are usually fat?

don't call me fat.

Did you ever see somehting that was so ******** it kind of went all the way around the scale to genius?

I linke "difference" an old track frame and components with an 20th century front wheel

WTF???

The twentieth century went from 1901-2000. The vast majority of bicycle wheels from that century were made from metal spokes and rims much as they are now. Also as far as I know, nothing that would be classified a track bike was ever produced before the 20th century.

you just dont like the retro pre-1900 look

dont be a hater

b/c you can do something silly like this
http://velospace.org/files/DSC_0196.jpg

I have to admit, I'm kinda feeling the Mad-Max rat-ride look.

Did you ever see somehting that was so ******** it kind of went all the way around the scale to genius?

I can honestly say: no

why do some folks have those nice trispoked wheels in front instead of back? I was thinking maybe is not as strong as a spoked wheel in the back but wasn't too sure. Is there any advantage to it or is it just for aestetics?
Personally i love the way it looks but just was curious.

To answer your question, the reason they run them in front only is because there is more aerodynamic advantages to running them in the front than the rear. The rear wheel is mostly obscured by the seat and down tube and has less aero advantage if you decide to only run one aero wheel. Plus, in side winds having both aero can move you around the road a bit.

As for durrability, my father has about 25-30k MILES on his HED (Specialized) tri-spokes and they are still going. He is about 200 lbs so not a featherweight. I have about 15k on mine (same wheels) and still going.

Spinergys are notoriously sloppy laterally, not so the HED trispokes.

Anyone who uses Aerospokes just likes the looks for they are not as aero as a 32h radial spoked wheel and way heavier. HED's and Spinergys are a different story.

Cheers.

I have to admit, I'm kinda feeling the Mad-Max rat-ride look.

+1 on the mad max

Great way of describing it, but which mad max?

+1 on the mad max

Great way of describing it, but which mad max?


i'm pretty sure this bike is straight out of road warrior.

i really like your setup. its fabulous, but in that "ghetto" kind of way. somebody should come up with a buzzword for it.

by the way, none of those spoke cards would happen to say 'zelda' on them, would they?

saw someone riding a disc wheel on the street today. guess it was only a matter of time. admittedly it was being ridden by someone i know to be a strong, skilled rider, but damn...


a couple months ago a roadie and i stopped at a traffic light together and discussed bikes for a few seconds. He was out for a training ride (he was on the BU road team, I think), and running a disc rear, he said the potholes and ****ty roads were "f'ing killing me". I guess they don't really absorb any shock either. Are disc wheels solid all the way across, or is it some kind of covering over a framework? I've never seen one up close long enough to inspect it.

them shiits is GIBSON!!!

i don't know.

sorry.

"hacking one of those gibson's man, that would be sweet"

big wind comes and blows away all carbony wheel sportin cool guys

saw someone riding a disc wheel on the street today. guess it was only a matter of time. admittedly it was being ridden by someone i know to be a strong, skilled rider, but damn...

I saw a full suspension mtb with a disc rear wheel locked up a few weeks ago. Wierd.

because Jovantae rides one
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/150/360254680_8fab882d1e_b.jpg

I love how that picture relates to every thread... ever.

I love how that picture relates to every thread... ever.
If they had mentioned messenger bags, it we could shut down this forum completely.

"hacking one of those gibson's man, that would be sweet"

that's universally stupid

glad i read all this, cause i concidered buying a CF front but no way now!!

just get a BMX mag front. mad aero yo! it's not like you're gonna run a brake anyhow :P

When was that article published? I know nothing about skateboarding.

it was published maybe a month or so ago.


kick/push, kick/push, kick/push, kick/push...COOOOOOaaaassssst

Jovante on a bike:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaAO8Eo2-oY
(he's the guy doing all the wheelies)

Jovante on a board:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cil0pcoArmY