Entries Tagged 'wheels' ↓

An evaluation of the lightest wheels available for a road bike. As a hill climb specialist saving weight is crucial, for several years I’ve been using my Zipp 404′s which are excellent all round wheels, they are also quite light, yet aerodynamic. However, they are not best choice for some of steepest hills. See: Zipp 404 review

Zipp 404 weight pair Tubular front 568g – rear 696g  1266 grams

Why Do People Say Weight of Your Wheels Counts Double?

It is to do with acceleration and the fact the top of your wheel travels twice as fast as your bicycle. Thus to accelerate, the energy taken to push the wheel is greater than for the bike. Once you have maintained a constant speed, then the weight of your bike and wheels count for the same. But, if you slow down and then accelerate, the energy to move the mass of your wheels is greater than for the bike.

Therefore, a secret of climbing is to try and maintain constant speed and effort. Keep the action smooth (an advantage to maintaining a high cadence and smooth pedalling power). If you have a twisting climb of varying gradients then the effort to move your wheels will be proportionately greater.

Zipp 202

• Zipp 202 front 477 grams -(front – £728)
• Zipp 202 rear 604 grams total: (rear – £924)
• Total Zipp 202 1,081 grams
• Zipp 202 pair at Chain Reaction Cycles (764 + 944)
• Zipp 202 at Evans Cycles ( 679 + 839)

Was actually used in Paris Roubaix for 4th place finisher. Used also by Carlos Sastre in high mountains during his Tour win.

I bought a Zipp 202 rear for £750 in January. when on special offer at Wiggle. If you can be patient, keep an eye on price and wait for a sale to get wheels at discount. It is worth the wait!

Lightweight Wheels

Lightweight Ventoux – 999grams (link) $3,000 – $5,000 a pair

Campag Bora

• Campag Bora – 1,310 grams (deep section)

Campagnolo

• Campag Hyperon 1,231 grams

Shimano Dura Ace

• Shimano Dura Ace 7850 C24  1386 grams

Lightweight Clinchers

• Fulcrum XL Lightweight wheels 1245g pair £2,257

MDT Disc wheel. Cost £500. Quite light. Good Value

Buying a disc wheel is one of the best ways to improve the aerodynamic performance of your time trial bike. They are expensive – you can easily pay £500 (and much more). But, they do make a difference. Also, the faster you go, the more aerodynamic drag they save. Disc wheels work by smoothing the passage of side wind. Less wind turbulence means less drag and faster times.

A flat carbon disc wheel has an aero drag of 97grams. This compares to an aero drag of 154grams for a standard 18 spoke wheel (source: bsn)

The weight of a disc wheel is not as important as the aerodynamic aid. Even on the hilliest of time trial courses, you will go quicker on a solid disc wheel. Chris Boardman used a disc wheel for winning the national hill climb championship. I don’t advise this, but aerodynamics are much more important than weight. Also if you are going to be doing a lot of hilly time trials, look to buy a light weight carbon disc – some of them are surprisingly light.

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