Enve rim advice and spoke lacing question

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by 11.4

One thing I'd add is that you don't necessarily want to go to a tall (deep section) carbon rim on the track. It might sound good, but there's a lot of angular torque and while the rim is very strong within its axial plane, it can actually become pretty wobbly riding on bankings. You can stiffen it up again a bit with a tubular at fairly high pressure, but it's a bit unnerving to ride a really tall carbon rim on steep bankings.

What is angular torque? And what makes deep rims wobbly? All else being the same, a wheel with deeper rim will be a stiffer (in all axes).

I sure seem to see a lot deep carbon rims ridden on tracks.

[11.4]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

What is angular torque? And what makes deep rims wobbly? All else being the same, a wheel with deeper rim will be a stiffer (in all axes).

I sure seem to see a lot deep carbon rims ridden on tracks.

Deep rims can flex more side to side, akin to a tall clincher sidewall flexing sideways in a turn. On the track, a deep section rim can have a pronounced wobble as the carbon flexes sideways. It's not uncommon and riders have to choose between stability and a potentially more aero rim. You'll notice that rims have gotten a bit shallower recently as designers have figured out how to optimize wheels without those huge rim sidewalls, which pose a number of shortcomings. On the track there are plenty of older deep-section rims still out there (I'm thinking particularly of the really crazy 75-120 mm deep ones). Some riders will still use them for the timed events because you aren't having to steer much, though they can still cost you on a kilo start because that same kind of flex occurs on the start and causes the bike to skitter a bit. In massed start, you can justify them if you're riding 13 second laps, where you again aren't maneuvering as much, but not many riders on this forum are riding those speeds and most are dealing with a lot of maneuvering at slower speeds.