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Have you wasted money on super light new wheels?

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  • April 29, 2013 at 5:49 pm #18632
    spongebob

    Ok, so I’m currently researching a new set of wheels, I was primarily looking at the weight of the wheels but during my research I came across a number of articles that would imply that 250g’s off a set of wheels would make a minimal difference.

    Here is an article backed with scientific research: http://www.biketechreview.com/index.php/reviews/wheels/63-wheel-performance it shows that reducing a wheelsets weight by 50% has a sub .5% difference in performance. The main gains that can be made by a wheel are in it’s aerodynamic ability.

    So I thought well, I will need a 40mm+ set of wheels to reap the aerodynamic benefits, then I stumbled on the following research: http://www.cyclingpowerlab.com/ComponentAerodynamics.aspx this data would suggest that the Campagnolo Zondas are a more aerodynamically sound choice than a Mavic Carbone SLR!

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  • April 30, 2013 at 6:11 pm #730859
    badback

    SammyG wrote:
    Btw are you

    SammyG wrote:

    Btw are you selling the Khamsins?

    They are going on the good wife’s bike.

    April 30, 2013 at 5:18 pm #730857
    Colin Peyresourde

    One factor to think of is
    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.

    April 30, 2013 at 5:00 pm #730855
    spongebob

    Rolling resistance is
    Rolling resistance is incredibly important, and aero wheels are still important at low speeds (see the hill climb data from the original post).

    Getting the wheels up to speed will take less effort with less weight. For instance a Zipp 404 will take 118joules of effort to reach 19mph from 0 and a Shimano RS30 will take 143 joules. A bit of a difference, but let’s take into account the rider. If the bike and rider weighs 80kg 2800joules of energy will be needed for the acceleration thus making the wheels account for only 5%.

    With regards to the bike and rider making up 8% of the effect lets take the same 80kg bike + rider figure and work out what difference a 500g lighter wheelset would make. Just over .5% if you had a 1kg lighter wheelset (super expensive) that would be a 1% difference.

    Btw are you selling the Khamsins?

    April 30, 2013 at 4:10 pm #730853
    badback

    Interesting as I’m just about
    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.

    April 30, 2013 at 3:45 pm #730851
    KirinChris

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

    April 30, 2013 at 2:01 pm #730849
    roly

    IMHO No1 reason to upgrade is
    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

    April 30, 2013 at 9:17 am #730847
    ragtag

    Gkam84 wrote:
    I decided, just

    Gkam84 wrote:

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

    This is good advice.

    April 30, 2013 at 8:57 am #730845
    themartincox

    Yup, would echo that the feel
    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!

    April 30, 2013 at 8:32 am #730843
    therevokid

    RichTheRoadie wrote:
    … the

    RichTheRoadie wrote:

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

    Went from Kysrium Elite to Nemeis Clincher on Royce which
    are markedly heavier but echo richtheroadie’s commensts
    as they feel nicer 🙂

    April 30, 2013 at 5:53 am #730841
    iammarcmason

    Not to forget a decent
    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)

    April 30, 2013 at 5:15 am #730839
    spongebob

    I don’t understand your point
    I don’t understand your point Tom are you suggesting that a smaller wheel will be faster as the weight of the rim and tire will be closer to the axis of rotation?

    Either way the research points to the weight of the wheels does not matter just the total weight. Apart from when initially accelerating when overcoming the inertia of lighter wheels will be slightly easier.

    April 30, 2013 at 3:15 am #730837
    badkneestom

    Physics: look up rotational
    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%

    April 29, 2013 at 9:38 pm #730835
    RichTheRoadie

    Rode my heaviest wheelset
    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).

    April 29, 2013 at 8:40 pm #730833
    davecochrane

    Interesting post. My stock
    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?

    April 29, 2013 at 8:23 pm #730831
    ilovemytinbred

    As above, light high quality
    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.

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