Cross Winds Lighter Riders 50mm Rims

caadybrompton

Hello all,

Am looking at getting a set of DA C50's potentially when I travel to Japan soon.
The exchange rate is very favourable at the moment. Especially on all Shimano stuff.
Coming in at around £807 for C50's and £787 for the C35's (CL's).

I'm 65kg and riding in and around the usual London spots plus surrounding counties.
Just wanted to hear from others and their experience with cross winds and higher rim depths ,especially riders around my weight etc.

Already on my elites I can be moved a bit with a side/cross wind. Just wondering if the 50's would be an accident waiting to happen and the wiser bet would be the 35's?

thegreatdivide

I'm about 66kg and have a set of Zipp 303 FC wheels (48mm depth). If I get hit side-on by a strong gust then I definitely feel it, but they are manageable in winds around 15mph. If the winds are strong (and where I live in Tayside they can be VERY strong) then I’ll use my shallow wheels.

IMO if you plan on having these as your ride a lot wheels I’d get the 35’s.

cougie

I'd not be riding 50mms in windy conditions either. Gusts and entrances to fields will see the bike shifting a bit.

If you have normal rims too though - I'd happily ride 50mm when its not that windy. And I do.

turnerjohn

Zipp 404s are very good with sidewinds but even then if its windy I stick a non-aero Ksyrium on...best to be safe !

one not on bringing back wheels....your need to declare at customs and pay import and VAT taxes...unless your going to risk it

Monty Dog

My race weight is about 60kg - in a 30-40mph crosswinds, deep rim wheels certainly catch the wind IME, in really gusty conditions they'll push you off your line by a couple of feet so not the best if riding in a bunch.

caadybrompton

Thanks all .... Good info
So general consensus - higher winds stick to my elites.
Very tempted by the C50's at that kind of price.

heavymental

I bought my Campag Eurus for my ride a few years back purely for the looks. Have always thought I should have gone for some handbuilts with Mavic Open Pro rims which was my other option. I haven't regretted it enough to change the wheels but the benefit of 'looks' soon wears off. I get worried in high winds and notice the effect.

buckles

Someone turned up to the windiest race of the year last April with 50mm tubs. Only 21 people finished out of 67 riders it was that windy. I saw him pushing his bike after the first of 7 laps, dropped due to being blown sideways!

caadybrompton

Heavymental wrote:

I bought my Campag Eurus for my ride a few years back purely for the looks. Have always thought I should have gone for some handbuilts with Mavic Open Pro rims which was my other option. I haven't regretted it enough to change the wheels but the benefit of 'looks' soon wears off. I get worried in high winds and notice the effect.

These aren't for looks :oops: promise! - while being a nice looking wheel, it's all about the price.
In all seriousness , the exchange rate is so strong at the minute , that it would be silly not to consider them or the 24's/35's. Even a DA9000 full groupset is ridiculously priced.

I have thought about handbuilts , but looking around in the 50mm context , it doesn't match up price wise.
The obvious choice for 50mm's would be Gigantex's , but they are full carbon , which is something I want to avoid until I'm ready to go full tubs.

We'll see, food for thought. One things looks certain, forget about them in the wind , judging from all the replies.

heavymental

caadybrompton wrote:

Heavymental wrote:

I bought my Campag Eurus for my ride a few years back purely for the looks. Have always thought I should have gone for some handbuilts with Mavic Open Pro rims which was my other option. I haven't regretted it enough to change the wheels but the benefit of 'looks' soon wears off. I get worried in high winds and notice the effect.

These aren't for looks :oops: promise!

Fair enough, just saying that looks was the reason I bought mine without considering the rim depth and the wind. They were also on sale so had them at a good price. Cash is king but not at the expense of practicalities.

trek_dan

I run my 42mm deep rims most of the year, its gets pretty windy where I live (on the coast near Newcastle) and I think I've only had a couple of brown trouser moment when they've been court in cross winds.

neeb

Remember it's the front wheel that's the main problem in cross winds. You just need to have a shallower rim front wheel to swap out for the 50mm in windy conditions.

ivanoile

I have to disagree with most of opinions here,especialy after the ones that 50mm and 35mm makes a difference.

I also had a race with a lot of find,half riders didn't finished but I with 63kg and 50mm Red Winds finished the race ,somewhere in the middle.Also there were just 2-3 other 50mm wheels and all of them made it to the finish.
It is just a small difference and between 35mm you can't notice on strong wind.Wind was strong enough to push few riders of the bike...
To notice a big big diff you would have to use 80mm at least

heavymental

Come to think of it, half my problem was due to the width of my bladed spokes. I did sit down and do a (rough) calculation on how much extra surface area they had over the mavic open pro with sapin laser spokes on my winter bike. I reckoned it was about 50% more with the additional rim area and spoke area combined. I can't remember the exact figure now (50% seems high) but it was definitely significant. Not that I worry too much but my next wheels will have straight spokes and flatter rims.