Zipp 404 weight pair Tubular front 568g – rear 696g - 1266 grams
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.
Lightest Wheels:
My front wheel is based on a Tune Mig 45 20 hole. Built onto AX-Lightness SRT 22 20 Hole rim superspokes.
This comes in at 365 grams (actual)
The light carbon rims are responsible for extremely low acceleration values so they will not waste even the tiniest bit of energy on uphill climbs; the stable rims have a high spoke tension of 1300 N also ensure high stiffness.
SRT (spoke reinforcement technology) and SBS (seamless brake surface).
Very light, and still quite stiff. Accelerate marvellously up inclines. Handle very well.
The braking surfaces is integrated into the rim of the wheel, there is no separate braking surface. Though braking is fine.
Zipp 202 were 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!
Very fast and light weight. Good for hilly time trials.
Clincher wheels tend to be slightly heavier with tyres and inner tubes and bigger rims. However, recent developments, have helped reduce weight of clincher wheels. Quite a few now come with carbon rims to help reduce weight.
The Mavic Kysriums are relatively good value.
See: Review: Mavic Kysriums SL and SLR
Lightweight Ventoux – 999grams (link) $3,000 – $5,000 a pair
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.
Zipp Disc Wheels at Wiggle
One of the best disc wheel on the market. The Mavic comete is not completely flat, but lenticular shape. It weighs 1,285grams (tubular or clincher)
For those on a tighter budget, the Fast Forward disc wheel offers great value. At under £750 it is£ more affordable than the Zipp 900, but has excellent design and aerodynamics. However, it is a little heavier. Weight Clincher: 1445 grams. Weight Tubular: 1195 gram. This is fine if you are doing flattish time trials. But, if you are doing many hill time trials, you might like to save the extra 200 grams.However, this weight is not so critical (for world Hour Record O.Sojenska actually chose a heavier rear discwheel for a ‘flywheel effect’ The Fast Forward disc is stiff and rigid. It comes with cork brake pads for the carbon rim.
Fast Forward Disc Wheel at Wiggle
Using disc wheel in Circuit of the Dales (over 1,000 metres of climbing 50 miles)
If you want to improve aerodynamics, there are also cheaper ways than a disc wheel. Even a simple aero bottle can make a big difference to aerodynamic drag. See: Improving aerodynamics
Some try to make their own disc wheel and save a lot of money.
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