Wheel set upgrade

[jowwy]

I totally understand that my chain made the bike feel more responsive. I never said it gave me more power, as you suggest!

There is no proof required for my feeling @Citius.

You have never said what you ride btw? That would be interesting to know, to put your attitude towards upgrades into some perspective?

Still nothing on what bike he rides

 

[NormanD]

all thanks to the wheels

At what point in any of my statements did I say it was entirely down to the new wheels, don't add stuff that's not there to justify any of your pointless argument.

It sounds to me like you bought some new wheels and now you are justifying them with some silly performance claims.

I really don't have to justify myself to you or anyone, I simply stated I arrived six minutes early, which is a fact and not stated as a performance claim.

Now that we've exposed that claim

The only thing that you've exposed is that you are a complete and utter argumentative idiot IMHO

 

[fossyant]

Ok children, give it a rest.

 

[potsy]

Has anybody claimed it was a tail wind yet?

Were you also 6 minutes later getting home Norman?

 

[NormanD]

Were you also 6 minutes later getting home Norman?

that means I would get home to the Mrs quicker, no it was longer as I deliberately kept the brakes on

 

[Yellow Saddle]

As a semi-serious question to those pro light wheel performance, and those who do not believe.

I am slightly overweight (serious recent injury, meant lots of overeating and no exercise), and aiming to lose 8 to 10kg. Before my injury I did a combat sport which needed a lot of muscle mass. So I could probably safely drop down to around 70kg, from my current 88kg.

If you can gain 2 minutes of 10 miles, from a wheelset that is 1.2kg lighter, how much time will I save if I lose 18kg of weight? I will also become more aerodynamic too!

Will I do my 14mile loop in 30 minutes instead of 55? Or is large performance gains only applicable to shiney bits that goes on bikes?

That's an interesting question with lots of variables but I'll try and answer with generalities.

On the flats, weight is not a disadvantage to holding speed, only in getting up to speed, which mostly only happen when you start your ride. We accelerate very, very slowly so you have to drop a huge amount of weight in order to see a small improvement.

Then, if you lose muscle mass, and lets assume you lose it where it matters most - hamstrings, glutes and quads, then you lose power. However the small increase in aerodynamics will be negligible because of the nature of a cylinder's volume and by implication, the frontal area. Human bodies are cylindrical shaped and the volume of a cylinder increase disproportionally less than the increase in mass. In other words, the frontal area doesn't decrease as dramatically as weight. That's why big heavy muscular cyclists are so good at time trialling and pace-setting. Their muscular body is a bigger advantage than disadvantage. That's also why big muscular cyclists never win in the mountains. Their muscular mass is a bigger disadvantage than advantage. Horses for courses.

Back to your loop. If it is flat, keep your lean muscle but lose the fat. If it is flat, lose both.

The associated weight loss will give you some benefit, as stated above, and that will be beneficial when you climb. You'll notice a huge difference in climbing with 18kgs off your total weight. By that same account, any weight loss on the wheels is a small proportion of total weight loss and generally not worth it unless you are already at fighting (climbing) weight and can't shave off more from your fat layer.

In short, the wheels by themselves will do very, very little for you. If you want to know how much, search for the various wheel upgrade threads where we have quantified it specifically for weight. You can plug different values into the formulas and get the answers you want. As for the "responsiveness" lore bandied about, you have to remember that we don't accelerate a wheel in isolation. We accelerate a wheel attached to a heavy body (bike and rider), therefore they can't accelerate noticeably faster because their overall loss in mass is tiny in comparison to the body that you are accelerating.

To do your 14 mile loop in half the time, you will have to find four times more power (drag increases exponentially) and losing weight will not give you that on a flat course.

 

[Cyclist33]

A scooter

An electric bike.

 

[Citius]

Still nothing on what bike he rides

Why is that even relevant?

 

[jowwy]

Why is that even relevant?

Why quote me - i never asked the question..........

But if you dont want to tell us what you ride, then fair enough

 

[Justinslow]

http://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/00007256-200131070-00009

60 - 82 seconds over 40km (modelled). So, maybe 30 sec over a 10 miler? And presumably that's with the very best aero wheels money can buy, compared with some bog standard wheels. So there is an advantage, just a very very tiny one, which is all I think anyone is saying.

That's an interesting read, thanks for sharing, did you read that @Yellow Saddle ?

 

[ColinJ]

 

[Justinslow]

Trouble is, it's not our first time is it? First time this week ?

 

[ColinJ]

Trouble is, it's not our first time is it?

Yes it is!

 

[Yellow Saddle]

That's an interesting read, thanks for sharing, did you read that @Yellow Saddle ?

No, I'll go and have a look. If anyone's interested, why not go and plug in your data at http://www.analyticcycling.com/ and see what benefits you can achieve with your various changes to aero positions and/or equipment?

 

[gbb]

You lot ?

Yeah I thought that. Just highlights a terrible attitude.