What type of wheel do I need?

[sirroada]

I am considering switching from a Ksyrium wheelset to a set of Zipps. Has anyone ridden the 303 or 404 CLINCHER style zipps and care to comment on areodynamics, acceleration and ride? Any imput would be nice. Also, what I want is a wheel that cuts through the wind, spins up and sustains speed nicely. My experience with the Ksyriums is that they are light enough to spin up to speed but require more work to keep them at speed than a more areodynamic, heavier wheel. Maybe I am totally off but it seems heavier wheels carry more inertia? Speak your minds. If anyone has a wheel recommendation that would fit my needs let me know!

[Fixed]

bro mavic carbones cheers :beer:

[stevep]

how fast are you?
race?
fast club rides?
what rides are important?
how much money do you have?

[stevep]

how fast are you?
race? 25mph average?
fast club rides? 23mph average?
tt? how fast really?
what rides are most important?
how much money do you have?
seriously.

[sirroada]

how fast are you?
race? 25mph average?
fast club rides? 23mph average?
tt? how fast really?
what rides are most important?
how much money do you have?
seriously.

When riding by myself I average 19.7 mph. I usually ride SOLO, however, if I am with a group we can get going on a 23-25mph average.
I ride fast, hard, 25-30 mile rides usually over flat to slightly rolling terrain. Money, has to be less than $1700 buckeroos.

[Ken Lehner]

I am considering switching from a Ksyrium wheelset to a set of Zipps. Has anyone ridden the 303 or 404 CLINCHER style zipps and care to comment on areodynamics, acceleration and ride? Any imput would be nice. Also, what I want is a wheel that cuts through the wind, spins up and sustains speed nicely. My experience with the Ksyriums is that they are light enough to spin up to speed but require more work to keep them at speed than a more areodynamic, heavier wheel. Maybe I am totally off but it seems heavier wheels carry more inertia? Speak your minds. If anyone has a wheel recommendation that would fit my needs let me know!

"Spins up" and "sustains speed" are pretty much mythological for any real-world bicycle wheel. The effects of wheel weight and moment of inertia on acceleration of the whole bike-rider combination is so small as to be nearly indiscernable to the rider. Here's an excellent technical analysis of the physics: Bike Tech Review article (http://www.biketechreview.com/archive/wheel_theory.htm). If you don't want to read the article, here's the takeaway message (emphasis added):

"So, what do all these numbers mean? It means that when evaluating wheel performance, wheel aerodynamics are the most important, distantly followed by wheel mass. Wheel inertia effects in all cases are so small that they are arguably insignificant.

How can it be that wheel inertial forces are nearly insignificant, when the advertisements say that inertia is so important? Quite simply, inertial forces are a function of acceleration. In bike racing this peak acceleration is about .1 to .2 g’s and is generally only seen when beginning from an initial velocity of 0 (see criterium race data in Appendix D ). Furthermore, the 0.3kg/0.66lb difference in wheels, even if this mass is out at the rim, is so small compared to your body mass that the differences in wheel inertia will be unperceivable. Any difference in acceleration due to bicycle wheels that is claimed by your riding buddies is primarily due to cognitive dissonance, or the placebo effect (they paid a lot of money for the wheels so there must be some perceivable gain)."

In short, get the most aerodynamic wheels you can afford that are durable enough for your needs.

[Ray]

Any difference in acceleration due to bicycle wheels that is claimed by your riding buddies is primarily due to cognitive dissonance, or the placebo effect (they paid a lot of money for the wheels so there must be some perceivable gain)."

In short, get the most aerodynamic wheels you can afford that are durable enough for your needs.
I've seen all of this stuff and I believe the numbers (because what am I gonna do, dispute them?), but that particular placebo is a STRONG mofo placebo and I'm sticking to it. No matter how many times I read this, a light wheel seems to spin up easier than a heavier wheel. It may only be a 'seems to', but its a powerful 'seems to'. Since my actual speed doesn't matter to me at all, but perceived ease of accelleration matters a lot in how much I enjoy a ride, I'll keep going for light and blowing off aerodynamic.

Science sucks.

-Ray

[Ken Lehner]

I've seen all of this stuff and I believe the numbers (because what am I gonna do, dispute them?), but that particular placebo is a STRONG mofo placebo and I'm sticking to it. No matter how many times I read this, a light wheel seems to spin up easier than a heavier wheel. It may only be a 'seems to', but its a powerful 'seems to'. Since my actual speed doesn't matter to me at all, but perceived ease of accelleration matters a lot in how much I enjoy a ride, I'll keep going for light and blowing off aerodynamic.

Science sucks.

-Ray

You go, guy. I'm glad lots of people share your opinion, as it possibly helped me win my AG (and $100!) in a triathlon last year that had a large hill in the middle of the bike leg. Nearly half of the disk wheels in the field of over 400 finished in the top ten overall (myself included); mine was a really heavy Power Tap, 32 spoke, Open Pro with a homemade cover. Most of the disk users were scared away by the climb.

[znfdl]

Save some money a get some Nimble Flys www.nimble.net

[Samster]

i dunno about light=faster spin up... but my heavy campag. protons (real world weight = 1705 fr + rr) spin up just great both off the line and down hills.