Is there any performance to be gained-new wheelset

[AndreZA]

...will average Joe notice it in his performance?

 

 

 

 

no, but the bike shop and manufacturers will say yes. Just look at at he amount of carbon bikes out there and how many of them end up in the D-Z starting groups.

[chuck]

 

...will average Joe notice it in his performance?

 

 

 

 

no' date=' but the bike shop and manufacturers will say yes. Just look at at he amount of carbon bikes out there and how many of them end up in the D-Z starting groups.[/quote']

 

+1

 

Also more expensive mostly, not always, means more reliable because better materials are used. But I have found cases where the opposite is true.

 

[Edge_Design]

We're not talking about frames here, we're talking about wheels... And I think we can safely say that either lighter wheels make you go faster/easier or they don't, irrespective of who it is sitting on the bike. Maybe they don't make a R5k difference, but there has to be a difference otherwise the pro's wouldn't ride on expensive, lightweight wheels - in general, what works for them is going to work for the rest of us.

 

Why then do our 'pro' riders try and get the same stuff TdF riders use? Surely they aren't at the same level as those riders so therefore (based on your conclusions) those parts don't actually benefit them in any way and they should rather ride MTB's with knobblies? Where is the line between 'average joe' and your so-called professionals? Does riding funrides in the 'elite' group make you one of these professionals and only when you enter these groups do your components suddenly spring into life and give you the edge they never gave you before?

 

I really don't understand how it is you are deciding that funriders (be it D group or Z group) don't benefit in any way from good quality components yet ppl in higher groups do?

 

Back to the point of the thread, I believe that a jump like that in wheels will make a difference to your riding. If you were talking about 50g or 100g's then no it probably isn't worth it at all. Theoretically you should also be getting better quality hubs with the more expensive wheels which should also help...

[AndreZA]

I really don't understand how it is you are deciding that funriders (be it D group or Z group) don't benefit in any way from good quality components yet ppl in higher groups do?

 

 

 

Like a said. The pros and other serious riders have done as much as they can to themselves and the only place they can gain something is by getting better equipment. It's like shaving your legs or use rotor rings. Yes you save 4 seconds over 100km but to you and me who gives a sh!t. To the pros is means finishing first or tenth.

[Gobbo]

wheels make a difference , so does training regularly

my 2c .....i think a good set of wheels can make a slight

improvement as stated by previous peeps.

i wish for a set of eastons , had a set ..got written off in a

prang , i miss them soooooo much

[Eluder]

I remember one of the league rides i did a while back, i  used a friends carbon bike with ksyrium sl's on. Usually i fall off the back of the bunch towards the end on the climbs, but that day i actually still had the legs to make an attack 3km's from the finish on the last climb. Finished top 10 and the finish was on Tiekiedraai. I haven't managed to get such a finishing position in the league again on the aluminium frame and old box section wheels. I would say wheels do make the biggest difference if you are racing...

[parabola]

 

I really don't understand how it is you are deciding that funriders (be it D group or Z group) don't benefit in any way from good quality components yet ppl in higher groups do?

 

 

 

Look, nobody is saying that better equipment will not make any difference to a funrider, however the reality is that the best way an average rider can improve his/her performance is merely by training better on a structured program, more regularly etc.

 

As an MTB rider, better equipment for me usually means tougher, more durable parts, with lightweight being an advantage. More expensive wheels are generally stronger and lighter, however a law of diminishing returns applies here. At the end of the day, the rider limits the performance so much that the equipment becomes more about how good it feels, rather than how much it increases your performance. If you feel good on your bike, you will usually ride better. Also remember that an expensive bike usually costs more to maintain.

 

Bear in mind a pro MTB rider riding a neon-green 90's Nishiki, will still shred a funrider on their 9kg carbon HT with XTR, while wearing a smile on his face.

 

Its not about the bike, but spending what you are comfortable with is fine. Just don't expect monumental performance increases overnight. The only real way to get better is the hard way!

 

[Kletterer]

Agree with parabola. There is no question that the potential benefit from training is larger than bling on your bike. I was still taken aback, though, when I decided to take my old aluminum frame with mavic aksium wheels and a compact crank for a ride the other morning. On the same route as any other tuesday morning I couldn't keep up with my training partner. We rode hard but I was down by a little more than 1.5 km/h on average, which I found significant. Maybe the fact that I weigh 92 kg amplifies the effect from a softer frame and heavier, less stiff wheels?

 

In any case, I felt much better about all the crazy money that I spent on my 'new' bike, wheels, etc, etc

[Christie]

The biggest performance gain would be aero (deep section) vs non aero wheels. Time savings ammount to 60-120 seconds over 40km, Zipp 404s will save 71 seconds per 40km over box section rims, in a time trial. (Purely because of less drag.) If wheelsucking in a bunch, a small bit less drag makes no difference - you still move at the speed of the bunch. It will only save you energy while you pace at the front.

Weight is a bit more complicated. Less mass only helps on hills. In SA, we don't race over mountains, and the climbs we race in Gauteng can mostly be ridden in the big blade. On 20km climbs like in the alps, 500 grams less mass will save some seconds.

 

The there is the issue of rotating mass. This has been debated ad nausium on this forum. Fact is that it takes more energy to accelerate a heavy wheel. That is only true while accelerating. Another fact is that acceleration humans are capable of achieving on a bicycle is very small in engineering terms. Think about it - we average 40 km/h, take corners at about 30 km/h. While riding a race, speed actually fluctuates very little. This means that in the real world there are no significant advantage to saving weight on the rims vs saving weight elsewere on the bike. On most SA races, heavy wheels may actually require less energy over the course of the race than light wheels, because once up to speed, the flywheel effect would cause less energy to be input to maintain speed.

 

Bottom line is wou will still be riding in the same bunch and finish in the same time if the only thing you change are the wheels.

  

[parabola]

 

 

 

Agree with parabola. There is no question that the potential benefit from training is larger than bling on your bike. I was still taken aback' date=' though, when I decided to take my old aluminum frame with mavic aksium wheels and a compact crank for a ride the other morning. On the same route as any other tuesday morning I couldn't keep up with my training partner. We rode hard but I was down by a little more than 1.5 km/h on average, which I found significant. Maybe the fact that I weigh 92 kg amplifies the effect from a softer frame and heavier, less stiff wheels?

 

In any case, I felt much better about all the crazy money that I spent on my 'new' bike, wheels, etc, etc

[/quote']

 

The difference could also be down to the fact that you are used to the fit of your current bike, changing to your old bike so quickly could reduce your pedalling efficiency. I noticed this when my riding partner recently rode his old hardtail, while his usual bike was being fixed. Whereas he usually leaves me in the dust I ended up waiting for him at the top of every hill. Next ride out on our usual ride, I was battling to keep up with him once again.

 

The stifness of the bike could definitely be a factor, less power being transferred to the wheels.

 

I upgraded to a nice set of Mavics on XT hubs recently, after finding my cheapie old wheels were out of true after almost every ride. Once I had the spoke tensions on the Mavics right, I havent touched them since and they definitely feel more responsive on climbs.

parabola2010-03-18 11:11:46