Have you wasted money on super light new wheels?

250g is half a water bottle, you cant really tell much difference in pace with a change that small. My summer bike is 2kg lighter and goes maybe 1kmh quicker than the all-year one.. which is likely partly down to aero of not having mudguards. Feels a bit racier though..

Aero wheels seem to make a bit of difference, but you need to be going pretty quickly in the 1st place, and might not suit if you go up lots of hills as they tend to be heavier, and the best ones are lots of pennies.

I'm not sure I understand your point. It almost sounds like you're suggesting that spending money on bike upgrades may not be a good idea...?
nope, still not getting it

I could buy super light wheels for the trike, not that I can afford them, because they are expensive. It would make minimal difference to my speed and climbing ability.

I decided, just to get a bit fitter and loose a couple of KG from.....around my waist line

Based on a little experience and lots of reading, I'd say that lighter wheels feel nicer but won't boost your speed by much, even on hills. Deep section aero wheels don't help as much as the adverts suggest, whether carbon or alloy. Also, I've read a number of times now, including from a couple of wheel builders, that bladed spokes are overrated.

If you enlarge the graph on this page you'll see that some so-called "aero" wheels don't necessarily fare better than some pretty ordinary hoops:
http://www.rouesartisanales.com/article-15505311.html

As above, light high quality wheels ride better, but like most bike bling they dont make you any faster. But as we ride for enjoyment something that is nicer to ride is not a waste of money.

In terms of increasing speed, aero wheels are only really worth it against the clock where 30 seconds over 25 miles is going to mean a few places in a race. You would struggle to measure the difference under normal riding conditions.

Interesting post. My stock Aksium Race wheels that came on my Fuji Team Pro 2009 pretty much almost fell apart on me this month and I was considering maybe the new Zipp 30 alu wheels for what are said to be great hubs and strong build quality. Anyone tried them?

Rode my heaviest wheelset (around 2.5kg with tyres & tubes) on my 8.5kg steel bike last night and bagged 3 hill climb PBs.

AND the wheels (H+Son TB14 rims on Royce hubs) feel better than most others I've ridden (FMB-shod tubulars aside).

Physics: look up rotational and translational speeds.

What it really comes down to is the closer your weight is to the axis of rotation, the more speed you'll get. The image my mind goes to is a man holding weights on a spinning stool. The closer to his body, the faster he spins. Another way to think of it is your crank chainrings.

Overall, how much difference? I'd bet it's a pretty fair change. I don't buy that .5%

Not to forget a decent wheel-set be it heavy or light should still handle and feel better than a £50 set of hoops and girders which in theory would allow you to be less battered when you are out on the ride therefore allowing you to be fresher towards the end.

(Also 0.5% of four hours is still 72 seconds which in this day and age is a race winning amount of time. Just saying)

Yup, would echo that the feel of the wheels is probably more important than the performance 'gains' quoted.

Aero really only makes a difference once you are up to a good rate of knots, at lower speeds its kindof irrelevant.

A nice riding pair of wheels makes a difference ALL the time!

IMHO No1 reason to upgrade is hubs. some nice rolling wheels make all the difference. and where is the scientific research into the effect of loving your new wheels you just spent money on and riding faster. works for me

With apologies to George Best... I spent all my money on carbon fibre frames, titanium components and expensive wheels - the rest I wasted.

Interesting as I'm just about to upgrade my Khamsin's to Campagnolo Neutrons.

Whilst there is wheel intertia only has 0.5% effect on performance, the bike and rider weight has an 8% effect. Surely if you knock some weight off the wheels this will have an effect on this figure.

Plus surely if you reduce the weight of the wheel rim it will take less time to accelerate up to speed. (As Tom said rotational and translational speed.)

Tyre choice must be a factor as well as this is critical in reducing rolling resistance.

IIRC aero wheels only come into their own at speeds above 40 kmh.

One factor to think of is that if you get lighter wheels the wheel and it's design need to be just as rigid as a heavier wheel. I used to have Bontrager XL race lites on my bikes. These were light and the bike flew, but I couldn't ride them on back to back runs without them warping.

I got the Ksyeriums which are bullet proof. I hardly ever have to check the spoke tension on them and they run like a dream.

I must admit that I thought that rotational force of the wheel could help (on a flat), so strategically weighted wheels are faster. I seem to remember that the old time trial bikes had ball bearings in them which would allow an athlete to keep their speed up. The only problem is if the speed drops and so not so good for going up hills.

I completely agree with robdaykin. As someone who spends most of my day reading peer reviewd scientific articles I didn't find the article particularly convincing (although I didn't follow all the maths).

From my personal experience as well, I know I can ride higer gears up the same climbs and keep up with faster riders in my club when using my Ksyrium Elites than the bog standard Bontragers off my Trek.

I didn't *waste* money on new light wheels. My new wheels made me very happy.

I spent £400 on a pair of Planet X 50mm aero tubulars, and saved myself both weight, and money over the Fulcrum Racing 1s I was considering getting! They feel great, look great on my bike, and I believe I go faster (according to my recorded times over routes I have cycled tens of times).

It's not all about weight, or even speed. I enjoy covering ground quickly as much as the next guy, but my winter wheels weigh a total of 3.15kg with tyres/tubes/cassette/skewers. My christmas present, on the other hand (Mavi Ksyrium Equipes) weigh 2.6-2.7kg fully loaded. However, the difference on climbs is really not that great. They spin up easier, but they also flex under load. I'm going to get the spoke tension checked out, but as things stand, I wouldn't buy them again.

@notfastenough - That's a simple matter of handbuilt Vs factory. My 3 sets of handbuilt are rock solid, but all factory wheels I've owned have had lateral flex. Even Lightweights and Mad Fibers.

I do think there's a real risk of wasting money on expensive wheels, if you factor in the law of diminishing returns, and the additional complications that come from using high end Wheelsets, for example:

My £300 Zondas feel great, I'm used to how they ride, the summer Vittoria's have bedded in and hum along the road fantastically

My new Reynolds tubulars (paid £1100), freewheel more freely, are a bit faster on the flat above 25 mph, but the installation of tyres was a pain in the arse, I screwed up the mounting first time, they need special brakes and can't be used when it's windy (or at least I'm scared to at present...) And are less comfortable

I may get used to them in due course, but are they worth 4 x the price I paid for the clinchers?

I think not..