that question about faster wheels, faster riders, faster bikes

[eddief]

i originally installed shimano r500 wheels on my new gunnar sport. i chose the wheels due to getting them at a great price...and thinking they would be the right aesthetic choice for the build. it might have been my vivid imagination, but i swore the bike rode "heavy" right from my first trip out on the road.

ride heavy. that sounds like bs. i wanted to check things out some more so today i subbed the r500 wheels with my ultegra open pros. did not weigh them but i'm thinking the open pros are at least a half to three quarters of a pound lighter.

just took initial test ride and again, it could my imagination, but the bike seems to have a modified riding personality...in a faster sorta way.

i have poo pooed these "faster" threads, but seems i can learn a lesson.

[wasfast]

The rolling resistance of the tires and tubes are likely a big part of that. What tires on on each wheelset?

[eddief]

shimano r500 wheels shod with with Rubino Pro by 28
open pro/ultegra set has Riv Rolly Poly by 27.

according to spec on the net the tires are very close in weight, but maybe the Roly Poly do really rolly with less resistance.

irrreeeegardless, i am more open than ever to multiple subtle and not so subtle factors that may enter into the equation. most seem hard to quantify, but maybe just the feel is enough to warrant an opinion.

[johnnymossville]

shimano r500 wheels shod with with Rubino Pro by 28
open pro/ultegra set has Riv Rolly Poly by 27.

according to spec on the net the tires are very close in weight, but maybe the Roly Poly do really rolly with less resistance.

irrreeeegardless, i am more open than ever to multiple subtle and not so subtle factors that may enter into the equation. most seem hard to quantify, but maybe just the feel is enough to warrant an opinion.

I have R500 wheels with Rubino Pro's on one of my bikes. They ride like crap compared to my other bikes' wheels/tires.

[eddief]

ride like crap, feel like crap, cost like crap. it all goes together to equal a crappy ride. still hard to get my head wrapped around tire rolling resistance as a factor.

[johnnymossville]

ride like crap, feel like crap, cost like crap. it all goes together to equal a crappy ride. still hard to get my head wrapped around tire rolling resistance as a factor.

I don't think it's a rolling resistance thing with the R500/Rubino pairing.

The Rubino's to me feel like riding on those solid plastic wheels my tricycle had when I was a kid. They just feel harsh, crude. I don't think I'll buy another pair.

[C5 Snowboarder]

I had a similar feeling when I first rode my Wilier-- It has Campy Eurus wheels and various tires I was trying... it was not until I put on Conti 4000 tires did the bike come alive and feel faster than my Serotta. My usual test on on the same hill - about 7% grade- and when I braked going downhill -- how the bike felt when it accelerated down hill - no pedaling... when the 4000 tires are on -- it feels like someone gives me a push as soon as I let up on the brake lever... none of the other tires did..-- weird ... good luck..

[TAW]

Everything is a factor, some more than others. ;)

[thegunner]

i had fulcrum 7's (read: heavy wheels) and switched to zipp 303 tubulars. night and day, now i'm back on clinchers, and i can feel the additional weight. say what you want, wheels can change a ride.

[eddief]

will be to install the riv tires on the alleged crappy wheels and see maybe if the tires are the obvious factor.