Spinning my wheels

Cubic

Hi,

I got some RS80 wheels recently, they're great and I love using them!

I quite like to lift the bike up and spin the wheels to see how smooth they run and how long they go for. They seem to spin for a decent amount of time.

I saw my brother recently and we decided to compare spin times. His wheels (Mavic Aksiums) span for considerably longer than mine! Almost twice as long.

Is there anything I should read into this (other than my brother and I are very sad )? I always assumed that one aspect of better wheels are that they would spin for longer due to the better hubs. Am I mistaken? Does it matter???

The wheels are excellent in every other respect.

Thanks.

Cretan Steve

Could it be that the wheels weren't spun with the same force, hence the mavics spun longer. Or am I missing something ? 8)

Cubic

Cretan Steve wrote:

Could it be that the wheels weren't spun with the same force, hence the mavics spun longer. Or am I missing something ? 8)

Ahh if only it were that simple

Although hardly scientific, we did take it in turns to spin them several times and tried to use equal force. Same result each time.

keyser__soze

Cubic, your rims are probably a lot lighter, therefore when spun to the same speed (which is what you're probably doing, not the same force!) they'll stop quicker as you've put less force and angular momentum into them.

Cubic

That makes sense. My brother also has heavier tyres on his wheels to add to the effect.

Maybe his bragging isn't so justified after all 8)

davenice

This really made me chuckle :-) It's just the kind of thing I can imagine me and a few cycling mates doing.

I can almost feel how crestfallen you were when yours stopped first.

And now you've got a cast iron excuse to wave in his face!

Dave

Monty Dog

New wheels - bearing seal drag - try again after a few more hundred miles. FWIW it's a fairly meaningless comparison as rolling resistance and aerodynamics have a far greater influence on a rolling wheel.