A challenge against yourself (before your opponent) in three segments: that's triathlon. To get an edge during the bike section, it's important to know how to choose the right equipment, starting, of course, with a high-performance triathlon bike. How can you best optimize its smoothness? By choosing the best wheels, of course!
Triathlon: the importance of being a high-performance cyclist.
It's fair to say that in triathlon, the bike segment is crucial to the final placing. While the first swim is particularly challenging, the challenge becomes even more crucial from the moment you switch from swim to bike , when the details can truly make the difference between victory and defeat.
Once on the bike , it's crucial for a triathlete to stay in step with the group at all costs : this prevents them from losing pace, ending up continuing the session alone and watching the gap to the race leader inexorably grow. The increased energy expenditure, due to the inability to take advantage of the opponent's slipstream (in events where it's allowed), also makes the final stretch of the race terribly complicated. This is why in triathlon , you need to pay the utmost attention to the technical details of your bike .
Triathlon: wheels for sprint / Olympic distance and wheels for Ironman.
How do you choose the right setup for a triathlon bike? Wheels are an important component, and their technical characteristics can significantly impact your bike's performance.
It's often thought that triathlon bike wheels are a no-brainer. Bicycle manufacturers often offer builds where the purely aerodynamic aspect is emphasized by the presence of wheels with high-profile carbon rims . In the collective imagination, this is the standard, but it's certainly not the only possible solution.
The high-profile solution is particularly suitable for long distances , culminating in the most extreme type of triathlon: the Ironman. Especially in this specialty, where drafting is not permitted, a bike setup with high-profile carbon wheels (from 60 to 90 cm) will be useful for cutting through the air and thus reducing energy loss. This is a good way to minimize fatigue. On the other hand, the high profile doesn't help in the presence of lateral winds , which crash on the surface, thus negatively impacting the bike's handling. (Although this problem can be partially solved by choosing the best triathlon wheels.)
This is why, for medium distances like sprints and Olympic races, where drafting is permitted, experienced triathletes like our Davide Uccellari (Italian at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics) typically choose carbon wheels with medium-height profiles (30 to 50 cm). When riding in a group, they have less need for a highly aerodynamic setup, so they prefer endurance bikes with lighter, more maneuverable wheels.
Conclusion.
Triathlon bike wheels: how to choose the best ones? We've seen how there are different solutions to adopt based on the type of route you'll be tackling: the advice we can give you is therefore first to understand what type of triathlete you are , that is, whether you plan to race on long or short distances . Based on this, you could further your research by reading this article , in which we'll present the best wheel models from the Ursus range for triathlon use.
