Its about time HED updated their trispoke! I’ve been waiting for them to do this for years (well, since firecrest).
props to HED for finally updating their rim width, valve location, and shape! although, i’m not exactly blown away by the aero chart (the original H3 remains faster at low 0-5 and +15 yaw).
now just we just need the clincher version.
http://www.slowtwitch.com/Products/Things_that_Roll/Race_Wheels/Hed_revises_iconic_H3_4242.html
The majority of people you see at triathlons/local/regional TT’s are going to fall in the 5-12 yaw range.
So, at 10 degrees, the deeper stinger 9 is apparently quite a bit faster than the Stinger 6.
But for the H3 and GT3, with the GT3 having just a wider rim, but -shallower- depth than the H3, it is somehow way faster than the H3 at 10 degrees?
I like HED wheels, but get tired of all this marketing bullshit.
The majority of people you see at triathlons/local/regional TT’s are going to fall in the 5-12 yaw range.
I would say 0 to 7, especially for TTs and sprint/oly tris.
It is an entirely different rim shape, not just wider. So I don’t know that I would jump to the conclusion that the difference is marketing bullshit.
So, at 10 degrees, the deeper stinger 9 is apparently quite a bit faster than the Stinger 6.
But for the H3 and GT3, with the GT3 having just a wider rim, but -shallower- depth than the H3, it is somehow way faster than the H3 at 10 degrees?
I like HED wheels, but get tired of all this marketing bullshit.
Well, the article says the rim is wider. And because of the width, they made it shallower. Even if a wide rim is a bit more aero at that angle (is that a given now, wide = faster at angle?), they said that because of that they made it shallower, which is typically slower than a deeper wheel, according to all their other aero charts… Just seems hard to believe, as always.
Then again, I never believed that an S5 could save 32 watts over a ‘normal’ bike…so I guess I’m a non-believer… 
Anyway, no hate towards HED, I use the stinger disc/9 on my bike, and have used stinger 6’s on my road bike which I loved. Tired of the charts…
Hopefully this wheel fares better than Porche’s new GT3!
I always thought the main reason why the HED3 was so fast was the narrowness, which allowed it to be so fast even at a modest depth. Don’t really see how that benefit still holds with a fatter rim… I wonder why they didn’t go “tweener” - 22mm or so - to mate with slightly wider tyres but without killing the narrowness.
Then again, I never believed that an S5 could save 32 watts over a ‘normal’ bike…so I guess I’m a non-believer… .
You’re just not going fast enough. In a bunch at recreational speeds the advantage scales down to only a few watts.
Right. The trick is to be a pro tour breakaway artist, to get all 32 watts. Like when Zabriskie did a solo flyer on his…
DAMNIT ZABRISKIE!!
Then again, I never believed that an S5 could save 32 watts over a ‘normal’ bike…so I guess I’m a non-believer… .
You’re just not going fast enough. In a bunch at recreational speeds the advantage scales down to only a few watts.
I always thought the main reason why the HED3 was so fast was the narrowness, which allowed it to be so fast even at a modest depth. Don’t really see how that benefit still holds with a fatter rim… I wonder why they didn’t go “tweener” - 22mm or so - to mate with slightly wider tyres but without killing the narrowness.
Here’s the tweener: http://www.visiontechusa.com/products/588/METRON-3-SPOKE
It never has gotten much love, probably because no data is really out there on it, but it looks fast to me!
Well, the article says the rim is wider. And because of the width, they made it shallower.
I think you may have misinterpreted that.
The quote is, “Not only did the width of the rim change, but also its depth. Due to the improved aero performance with the wider rim, they were able to make it slightly shallower for a reduction in side force.”
It sounds like they could have kept it the same depth, but chose not to. To improve the handling. Since going deep predominantly benefits higher yaw angles, and they’d already decided this was a low yaw-angle wheel, it sounds like they were willing to trade a bit of aero for a bit of handling.
And it may be that the tri-spoke design doesn’t benefit from “deep” as much as a conventional wheel. The H3 “Deep” is pretty underwhelming on paper in terms of benefits over a regular H3. So the aero cost may not have been that much anyway.
Right. The trick is to be a pro tour breakaway artist, to get all 32 watts. Like when Zabriskie did a solo flyer on his…
DAMNIT ZABRISKIE!!
Then again, I never believed that an S5 could save 32 watts over a ‘normal’ bike…so I guess I’m a non-believer… .
You’re just not going fast enough. In a bunch at recreational speeds the advantage scales down to only a few watts.
LOL. That is kind of funny that the guy they modeled the test dummy off of isn’t using it! OK, OK, I’m pretty sure he wasn’t on the S5 because they were having trouble making enough of them… 
(For the record, I also happen to ride a Cervelo road bike…S3… :))
I always thought the main reason why the HED3 was so fast was the narrowness, which allowed it to be so fast even at a modest depth. Don’t really see how that benefit still holds with a fatter rim… I wonder why they didn’t go “tweener” - 22mm or so - to mate with slightly wider tyres but without killing the narrowness.
Here’s the tweener: http://www.visiontechusa.com/...s/588/METRON-3-SPOKE
It never has gotten much love, probably because no data is really out there on it, but it looks fast to me!
I also would like to see data on those, they do look really cool IMHO! But I’m guessing that maybe they aren’t so amazing in a wind tunnel…who knows…
No, he had one available. Just didn’t like the S5.
DAMNIT ZABRISKIE!!
At least Terpstra wore the semi-aero helmet on his (successful) solo flyer:
I wonder how this wheel gets along with current fork designs. The H3 was always reported to work better with wide fork spacing.
Seems prudent to test this wheel in the tunnel while monitoring power required to spin and within a range of fork designs.
I like the drag of the old H3 better.
Tired of the charts…
You do know this is Slowtwitch, right?
My guess is that Bradley Wiggens and Team Sky are testing the speed of the GT3 in comparison with his HED H3 on his Pinerello Bolide as we speak. I’d assume we’ll see the fastest wheel for his setup in a near future time trial. He’s scheduled to race the Tour of California.
Here’s his 2013 Bolide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAfoPVqHr8U and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Pinerello fabricates a new fork to pair with the GT3 for Wiggo. Not sure anyone would even notice a fork change with the same paint job though.