What’s faster up 14,000 feet? light wheels or deeper aero wheels?
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- As cyclists, we know that deep aero wheels are usually faster than lighter, shallower wheels when riding on flat roads. And we know that when climbing very steep roads, lighter wheels will be faster than deeper wheels. But what about conditions that are in between? At what point do aerodynamics, er, outweigh the benefits of slightly less weight?
In this episode of Project 14er, presented by Cadex, we set out to test our model-based theory that a gradient of 5% and a speed of 9mph is that tipping point.
To test our theory, we picked Lookout Mountain outside of Golden, Colorado, which averages 5% up 1,273 feet of elevation gain over 7.4km. Doing 11 laps up Lookout puts us at 14,000 feet.
Why 14,000 feet? Our colleague Betsy Welch cooked up Project 14er as a challenge earlier this year. It’s far more accessible than Everesting, and is an ode to all the 14,000ft mountains here in our great state.
Dan Cavallari and Ben Delaney alternated among riding three sets of wheels:
Cadex 42 Disc Tubeless front and rear (42mm-tall rims, 1,327g)
Cadex 65 Disc Tubeless front and rear (65mm-tall rims, 1,501g)
Cadex 42 Disc Tubeless front, Cadex 65 Disc Tubeless rear
Ben's plan was to standardize everything he realistically could: the same bike, the same new Cadex tires at the same pressure, the same position as much as possible, and one bottle per lap. He aimed to keep average power the same for each lap, at about 275 watts. Dan spent the day paying attention to feel, not numbers. Since conditions would likely change throughout the day, we switched wheels every lap or every other lap.
Read the full story: www.velonews.c...
And check out the full line of Cadex wheels: www.cadex-cycl...
I got Roval CLX50 and CLX64 on 2 of my bikes and I always prefer the 64 for the aero advantage and the flywheel effet but they are terrible in crosswinds compared to the 50, period.
As someone whose racing and Strava segment hunting days is behind him, my choice of equipment is based entirely on how it makes the ride feel. Because I like the way shallower wheels feel on any climb, I will stick with those since I don't pay attention to numbers anymore. Oh, and this way I have an equipment excuse to use if my friends drop me on the flats!
Loved the approach and content - next time introduce yourselves at the start :-)
Is 42 considered shallow? I thought you'd go with something sub 35.
6:44 you had 2 laps of the similar time. Only 1 lap was there a difference.
You don't have aero nor light weight with disc brake
Certain wheels may have some benefits but it’s really all about the motor.
The most impressive thing about this vid is that you can still talk to the camera whilst cycling up that hill!
Why 42’s and not 22’s? Seems the weight difference might be worth more then.
Hay guys ,thanks for pointing me towards best bike splits been looking for somewhere that could supply me with this information.
Guy compared aero wheels… to aero wheels 😂
I saw the pros use the 42 front wheel and the 65 rear wheel 😁
What tire width was used for the test?
6:42 : how do you explain the 1m15s difference beetween the second runs? when on runs 1 and 3, there is just a few sec? is it 24:50 instead of 25:50....seems strange and hard to understand !
Do disc brakes play any factor in crosswinds too?
y wouldnt they
I use front wheelset 35 dt swiss prc 1450 and rear zipp nsw 454 really comport for using climbing and aero too😂❤
Were the wheels givin to you by Cadex for this challenge?
Stunning, wonder how you possibly got slower results with the lighter ones
shouldve went rim brake tubs and smashed the aero time
This would depend on the rider
Thanks for sharing
I wonder what the average gradients was on that mountain stage ?
I think the biggest obstacles when riding a bike are the fitness of the rider and the wind conditions. I can beat someone up a climb with aluminum wheels if I have legs that day lol
nope cuz thats like saying you could beat a dead person. the equipment is the variable not the rider, you are a different rider to yourself at every moment so whats the point of trying to define yourself everyday. what we do know is equipment does effect results
😊
Very interesting and enjoyable, even if the result was probably what most people would expect. Makes you wonder why most pros run fairly shallow depth wheels.
most pros?
Rim brakes for a start duh!
i don't know rick ...
What Computer ist that @ 1:19 ?? thx for info
14000 ft is 4.2km. Not sure who came up with the 7.4kms?
7.4 kms is the length of the climb to gain the 1273ft of elevation. Then they do that 11 times -> 14,000 ft overall of elevation gain.
the only guys that uses deeper/disck brakes which are heavier and says that uphill are faster ... sorry i don't buy it, heavier it's always slower uphil
No, it’s not. Lower ‘steepness’ like 1%-5% or so the aero still is faster. It’s also stated in this vid, but also in other vids. Lower weight comes into play when it gets really steep. Mind you, best weight loss is still the rider him/herself. Just do some research on it.
@@Stevenafoe yes and no, try to climb a 6km +10/18% with a 9kg bike and then try it with a 5.9kg if ur are good climber u will finish them both, but the heavier the bike the higher the energy cost, if ur not compiting then who cares, but i r are, u will get dropped.
@@Bungle2010 aero uphill ? no one climb that fast, not on steep paths ... downhill and in straight terrains its faster.