Triathlon - First installation of my Wheelbuilder.com disc cover

Looks pretty nice. Installation was fairly simple--as long as you remember to serially tighten all the screws as you go, the cover centers itself pretty nicely on the wheel.

Wheelbuilder.com did a nice job pre-cutting for this wheel--a Reynolds Solitude.

It's a little involved because you have to remove the cassette, etc to install, but that's no big deal with the right tools. I'll be using it at a tri next weekend... It'll do while I save up for my Zipp disc. :D

Nice Doc! Let us know what you think of it. I keep thinking about getting one for my 404. I've read a few reports that they are actually more aero than the Zipp disc...not sure if that's true but it's certainly more aero per dollar spent.

Nice Doc! Let us know what you think of it. I keep thinking about getting one for my 404. I've read a few reports that they are actually more aero than the Zipp disc...not sure if that's true but it's certainly more aero per dollar spent.

I don't know that I'll ever be able to prove which is more aero, but I'll definitely let you know how the ride is...

Clearly the big penalty is still weight--Zipp has the '09 900 tubular down to 936g. That's competitive with most deep-section rear wheels... My Solitude with the disc cover is almost a pound heavier. :eek:

Just installed mine as well. I had to file the center hole ever so slightly for it to fit perfectly but once I did that it was easy to install. what sucks is my floor pump head is way to big for the cutout so I need to find a way to air up the tire without having to pull it off! I'll be using it at a Tri this weekend as well...

Hmmm.
Steve Hed made covers like that back in the 80's.

Hmmm.
Steve Hed made covers like that back in the 80's.

He still does, and sells them as disc wheels. :) Granted, they're much classier. Kind of explains the absence of Hed discs in races where UCI rules apply, though.

Wheelcovers are the biggest bang for your aero buck as far as wheels are concerned.

They work so well, in fact, that anyone who actually buys a real disc has more money then sense.

All IMHO of course :-)

Oh, and the customer sevice at Wheelbuilder was excellent when through a combination of impatience and incompetence I had trouble fitting it.

Here´s mine, on a Mavic Cosmic Expert:

Silca makes an adapter for airing up. I believe it is the Silca 26 adapter commonly called a "crack pipe" since it resembles one.

He still does, and sells them as disc wheels. :) Granted, they're much classier. Kind of explains the absence of Hed discs in races where UCI rules apply, though.


Their discs are going to be UCI approved, strait from the mouth of Hed. However, Hed doesn't have the money to put discs under UCI teams like Zipp does.

Signed up for the Longhorn 70.3 in Austin (October 25th) so I think I will be getting one of these for my 404 tubular in the near future.:thumb:

Their discs are going to be UCI approved, strait from the mouth of Hed. However, Hed doesn't have the money to put discs under UCI teams like Zipp does.

How's he going to convince the UCI that it's not a fairing? My understanding was that having a fully workable spoked wheel under the cover--the "fairing" according to UCI--was the reason they're illegal. Not that I have any plans to race UCI events or anything--just curious about the vagaries of the rules.

Signed up for the Longhorn 70.3 in Austin (October 25th) so I think I will be getting one of these for my 404 tubular in the near future.:thumb:

Nice. Mine is as yet unraced because I looked at the elevation profile for my last race 2 nights before the event, then promptly 1. removed the cover, and 2. installed an 11-26 cassette. It was a little hilly. :)

I have an older HED disc. I'm pretty sure the carbon disc on those is structural.

It's a little involved because you have to remove the cassette, etc to install, but that's no big deal with the right tools. I'll be using it at a tri next weekend...
Have you raced it yet? Just wondering how it went.

Have you raced it yet? Just wondering how it went.

No--I actually took it off because the course was pretty hilly, so I haven't raced it yet. At some point this summer, though, I will...

How's he going to convince the UCI that it's not a fairing? My understanding was that having a fully workable spoked wheel under the cover--the "fairing" according to UCI--was the reason they're illegal. Not that I have any plans to race UCI events or anything--just curious about the vagaries of the rules.


Same way that the Hed Jets and Mavic cosmic carbones got the okay from the UCI. Hed claims that the carbon cover helps support the outer aluminum/carbon rim.