Wheelset comparisons?

Jacques63
Jacques63 Posts: 5
edited September 2013 in Road buying advice
I am looking to upgrade the rims for my road bike. I Googled a little and found some different wheel reviews (including the one done by BikeRadar), but none went as far as to compare the performance like BikeRadar's review of tyres that measured the difference in power required to maintain a certain speed with each of the different tyres. I haven't found a review that does that for rims. Does anyone know where I could find such a review?

Comments

  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    it doesn't really apply for wheels, that's why.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,312
    There was something similar, based on the aerodynamic properties only.

    http://www.rouesartisanales.com/article-15505311.html

    As you can see, the difference between the best aerodynamic wheel and the worst is around 15 Watt at 32 Mph. Considering it will take you in excess of 400 Watt to get there unaided, you are looking at a 3% advantage. Drafting behind a few big guys will save you up to 100 Watt in the same scenario... and it's much cheaper... :wink:
    Drafting behind a lorry can push you to 50-60 mph, but I don't advise you that...
    left the forum March 2023
  • Jacques63
    Jacques63 Posts: 5
    Hmmm. OK. I assumed with a better rim, you could gain quite a bit. But 3% doesn't sound like much. If there isn't much gain from better rims, why pay the extra price? Is it in the hubs? Or do you not glide better with top-end wheels?
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    Not really. Other than weight saving advantges and build quality, there's not much in it. The differences are all marginal, as Ugo says.
  • Jacques63
    Jacques63 Posts: 5
    @ugo. One follow-up question if this thread is still active. Most of the wheels tested appear to be high-end wheels. With regards to the small difference in performance, could that be attributed to them all being high-performance wheels to start with? Is there a bigger difference when comparing say a high-end Ritchey with an entry-level Bontrager?
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,312
    Jacques63 wrote:
    @ugo. One follow-up question if this thread is still active. Most of the wheels tested appear to be high-end wheels. With regards to the small difference in performance, could that be attributed to them all being high-performance wheels to start with? Is there a bigger difference when comparing say a high-end Ritchey with an entry-level Bontrager?

    HI, those were aerodynamic tests only... they included some obvious bricks like Mavic R-SYS (or SLR), which are the least aerodynamic wheels on the market. High end or low end doesn't really matter when it comes to aerodynamics of shallow wheels. It does matter on deep wheels, as some manufacturers put a lot of R&D into their rims design and others just make deep rims... but if you are not into competitive triathlon or time trialling you are not likely to experience any benefit
    left the forum March 2023
  • Jacques63
    Jacques63 Posts: 5
    OK. Thanks

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