As I did my easy effort, active recovery trainer ride on my bike this evening, I happened to look over to the wall of the basement.  Resting against the wall, were the deep section aero wheels for my bike.

A lot of people call their deep section wheels their ‘race wheels’.  That is because they tend to keep them off their bike, until the bike is used in a race.  Deep section wheels get their name from their ‘deeper’ rims.  These deep rims are much more aerodynamic than regular rims, so they give the rider a slight advantage in races.  The deeper the rim, the bigger the benefit, with the biggest benefit of all, coming from a full disc wheel.

My wheels are a HED Jet 6 Plus Black front wheel and a HED Jet 9 Plus Black rear wheel.  The ‘6’ means the front wheel rim depth is 60mm and the ‘9’ means the rear wheel has a rim depth of 90mm.  This is a fairly common combination.  A smaller depth is chosen for the front wheel, because of concerns about cross winds and their impact on bike handling.  

I don’t call these wheels my ‘race wheels’, because I use them every time I ride outside.  I do that because I want to get very experienced in handling my bike, with these wheels in place.  Any kind of decent wind, will physically move the bike around, as the wind ‘presses’ against the deep rims. There have been occasions, when my bike has literally been blown several feet sideways, by the wind.  It is a nerve-racking feeling the first time it happens, but as you ride more with the wheels, you learn to control it much better.

So my recommendation is to not save these kind of wheels for race day.  Race day might be very windy and if it is, you will be grateful for all those days you spent practicing your bike handling skills, with these wheels on your bike. 

The old adage ‘nothing new on race day’, also applies to bike wheels.