steka

Looking to buy a new race wheel set and found a decently priced 3 spoke tubular wheel set. I’ve never used 3 spokes before, are they stiff enough for use in points race, elimination race and the like?

Or is it better to stick with more normal wheels like carbon rim 50mm ish and 20/24 spokes?

Morelock

there are a lot of 3spokes out there of varying quality.

The most common is the dupont/specialized design (HED3) which are good wheels but built on the old "narrow is aero" philosophy where tire selection is critical to them being aerodynamic. (with wider tires they often test worse than standard box section wheels)

The general communal thoughts on the 3spoke for track is it's good for timed events (pursuit specifically) but not stiff enough for sprinters. Events in between kinda depends on the rider.
Another thing to consider is if you're riding an outdoor track double trispokes can be a little twitchy in some wind conditions. Depending on your group riding prowess you might not make a lot of friends in bunchie races on them.

steka

Yeah. Major worry is stiffness.
Better opt for conventional wheels instead.

Many thanks for your input.

bicievino

I ran a trispoke (light bicycle, based on the Revolver design) for all the events at masters nationals this past week at T-town. The gamut of wind conditions, and at no point did I have stiffness or twitchiness issues.
I'm not a true sprinter, but I am 185lbs, for what it's worth.

My only other points of reference are a deep (88mm) conventional spoked wheel, and a FFWD 5-spoke, and both are far twitchier in the wind. I'm not sensitive enough to notice any stiffness differences between the three.
End of the day it likely comes down to the specific wheelset you're considering, not something inherent to trispokes.

Morelock

^The design of 3 spokes (in regards to stiffness) is the issue. It's why mavic developed the iO as 5 spoke vs. their 3G wheel for sprinters.

I agree with your assessment for the most part though as for the majority of us we aren't breaking chains or worrying about stem / bar stiffness either.

topflightpro

That's exactly something a former triathlete/pursuiter would say.

Morelock

I've broken a lot of stuff, but sadly never anything that warrants bragging rights

steka

Btw. I ended up with a tubular 50mm carbon wheel set, 20/24 spokes.
Just waiting for the DHL guy now..,

DMC707

Been there - (waiting on DHL that is ) Hopefully those wheels will serve you well

For future reference if it ever comes up or you need to borrow a wheel for an event or something, rest assured that the 3 spoke will be fine too - ive never had the outcome of an event decided by whether i was using a 3 spoke or a 5 spoke, and i have both



With clearances like this, any issue with stiffness would show up in the form of tire scrub too

BojacSandiego

Trispoke feels faster and looks badass