YIKES! Specialized Recall - fingers crossed

[confusedcyclist]

@ianrauk is right, save your pennies, they will be only marginally faster. Comparing the frankly rubbish Schwable Luganons to top of the line Conti GP 4000 II, you'll save a meager 10 watts on rolling resistance. Wait until your current pair are worn, then upgrade to higher spec if you think you need it. Treat it as an extra workout!

 

[bpsmith]

Pleased to hear it's all back together. It sounds like Spesh/Tredz get about 6/10. Not too bad but could do better.

What did Tredz do wrong?

 

[Lavender Rose]

Tredz were pretty slow at notifying me of things. I also had to ring to make sure everything was still being processed. In the end, I didn't want to send the bike to Tredz HQ in Cardiff/Swansea so I asked Specialized directly if I can take it somewhere more local. At this point Cycles UK and Specialized took my case over from Tredz and were both amazing.

When I visited Cycles UK, they mentioned that Tredz hadn't followed the full recall procecure (which I could quite imagine) so I was pretty glad I took the initiative to follow it all up myself.

I really cannot fault Specialized and Cycles UK - they have been brilliant!!!

 

[Lavender Rose]

@ianrauk is right, save your pennies, they will be only marginally faster. Comparing the frankly rubbish Schwable Luganons to top of the line Conti GP 4000 II, you'll save a meager 10 watts on rolling resistance. Wait until your current pair are worn, then upgrade to higher spec if you think you need it. Treat it as an extra workout!

Yes, I have Schwalbe Durano Plus - I would be having the GP 4000 II or the Grand Prix ones. And the saving is around 11-12 watts at 80psi. I thought that was pretty good? Clearly I am a tyre rookie

 

[confusedcyclist]

Saving 12 Watts is better than a kick in the teeth... but you will not perceive any major benefit in daily riding unless you are riding long distances/are concerned about conserving your energy or competing in timed events that you intend to win.

Two riders on a 0% gradient, and all other other things being equal, but one putting out 100 Watts and the other 112 Watts will be travelling within 0.75mph of each other. In reality, the rider with 'slower' tyres will be working harder trying to keep up and maintain a similar speed and the effort required to do so will be inperceiptble at low speeds. The rider with slower tyres may end up being fitter than the cyclist with 'faster' tyres. When our fateful rider with slower tyres eventually upgrades to faster tyres for a special race event, they will be better trained than our rider with more expensive equipment, and thus you'll actually benefit by riding that slower tyre in your training rides.

So, if you intend to compete and beat your pals in a race effort, switch to the better rolling tyres, but for every day training and riding, stick with the budget/economy tyres so long as you are satisfied they meet your other requirements (puncture protection/durability/cost per mile of use).

 

[cyberknight]

Unless your putting out pro level output ( hey you might be i dunno ) then the power saving are minuscule as most of those figures are based at speeds we only attain down hill. 40 km/h i believe is the standard test speed.

 

[bpsmith]

Saving 12 Watts is better than a kick in the teeth... but you will not perceive any major benefit in daily riding unless you are riding long distances/are concerned about conserving your energy or competing in timed events that you intend to win.

Two riders on a 0% gradient, and all other other things being equal, but one putting out 100 Watts and the other 112 Watts will be travelling within 0.75mph of each other. In reality, the rider with 'slower' tyres will be working harder trying to keep up and maintain a similar speed and the effort required to do so will be inperceiptble at low speeds. The rider with slower tyres may end up being fitter than the cyclist with 'faster' tyres. When our fateful rider with slower tyres eventually upgrades to faster tyres for a special race event, they will be better trained than our rider with more expensive equipment, and thus you'll actually benefit by riding that slower tyre in your training rides.

So, if you intend to compete and beat your pals in a race effort, switch to the better rolling tyres, but for every day training and riding, stick with the budget/economy tyres so long as you are satisfied they meet your other requirements (puncture protection/durability/cost per mile of use).

Why can’t the rider with the faster tyres also work harder, just like the rider on the slower tyres, thus ending up even faster then?

 

[bpsmith]

Because that would be ungentlemanly or unladylike, as the case may be.

Ungentlemanly/unladylike to be faster than someone else out training or to win at competition level. What’s the point then? The post didn’t suggest these riders were mates.

On a different note, nobody can assume that if you were to train on a heavier/slower bike, then you would be faster when you get on a lighter/faster bike. If you have to put more effort in on the bike with more resistance, then you won’t be training at the same cadence as on the one with less resistance. You could actually find yourself riding the same on both bikes or actually slower on the bike with least resistance.

If it was as simple as training on the heaviest/slowest/least effficient/highest resistance bike then resulting in a massive speed boost, then why haven’t the Pro’s been doing this for years?

Or have we just stumbled upon a breakthrough for a genuine British TdF winner to train by?

It’s clear that winner is Geraint btw!

 

[nickyboy]

If you're competing, 10W is a hell of a big advantage

I average about 160W so the effect of 10W is about 7%. Wind resistance is square of speed increase so that 7% would give me about 3.5% more speed. So even at a modest 15mph I would add 0.5mph. That's massive in competitive cycling

Of course if @Charlotte Alice Button is pushing out fewer watts on average the impact will be greater. If she is pushing out more watts the impact will be less

 

[cyberknight]

If you're competing, 10W is a hell of a big advantage

I average about 160W so the effect of 10W is about 7%. Wind resistance is square of speed increase so that 7% would give me about 3.5% more speed. So even at a modest 15mph I would add 0.5mph. That's massive in competitive cycling

Of course if @Charlotte Alice Button is pushing out fewer watts on average the impact will be greater. If she is pushing out more watts the impact will be less

I think the reverse is true?
The figures are based on certain speed / wattage eg 300 watts or at 40 kmh whatever wattage that is so if your putting out half the power/ speed then you will get less of a benefit in total watts but still a benefit .
At the end of the day your getting a few watts , its up to the OP if they feel its worth it , wait its new stuff for the bike of course itsworth it !

 

[nickyboy]

I think the reverse is true?
The figures are based on certain speed / wattage eg 300 watts or at 40 kmh whatever wattage that is so if your putting out half the power/ speed then you will get less of a benefit in total watts but still a benefit .
At the end of the day your getting a few watts , its up to the OP if they feel its worth it , wait its new stuff for the bike of course itsworth it !

You're assuming that the rolling resistance variation of 10W varies with speed. I guess it varies, but I don't know how much. ie if you travel half as fast is the resistance variation halved or something else?

Anyway, I know that 10W average is the difference between me being ok fit and being as fit as poss so if I can get the same effect by changing tyres I'm all for it

 

[Lavender Rose]

Thanks for all the input. I took the bike out since getting it back with the Espoir's on - it has pretty good roll on them, but I still would like to have the other tyres on the bike.

I know it's money etc, but if it can help me push harder for my cycling when I do duathlon then it's worth spending the money. These wattage figures are of course subjective as everyone is different - it depends on the bike, rider, rider fitness, course ridden etc.

 

[Smokin Joe]

I know it's money etc, but if it can help me push harder for my cycling when I do duathlon then it's worth spending the money. These wattage figures are of course subjective as everyone is different - it depends on the bike, rider, rider fitness, course ridden etc.

You want 'em, you go for 'em.

Never let the killjoys stop you spending money on bling.

 

[Lavender Rose]

You want 'em, you go for 'em.

Never let the killjoys stop you spending money on bling.

Hehe! Anything that can help me - even marginally is welcome Thanks for the advice

 

[bpsmith]

Whatever you choose, give varying tyre pressures a try. It is popular current belief that wider tyres will lower pressure is better. This of course has to balance with your combined body and bike weight.

I always run my tyres on 100/110 psi, Front/Back. I gave them a try yesterday with 85/90 psi on my new wheels, due to the new wheels being stiffer and therefore feeling more bumps. Due to them being gumwalls, it did put me off a touch looking down, as they look a lot flatter visually.

How did they perform?

Wow, a lot smoother and felt amazing! Not going to suggest faster, as will get shot down on here, but I if smoother is the way to gain speeds then who knows.