Climbing wheels

overlord2

If i'm in a foreign country climbing a mountain my first concern about a wheel is 'is it going to break and if it does break will it still be rideable'.

Forget your lightweight hair width spokes.

ugo.santalucia

It really depends how do you ride:
In terms of wheels, if you save 500 g, which is an enormity, you can do with 2 fewer Watts (give or take) going uphill, which is nothing, really, less than 1% of the average power output of a decent Mamil.
It is a common mistake that light wheels climb significantly better. Light wheels accelerate significantly faster, which make them ideal for "puncheur" type riders, those who like to attack and ride very aggressively.
If you sit on the saddle and climb at a constant pace 500 g = 2 Watt so not a lot, not even a little

Bobbinogs

jon33 wrote:

Hi all

Rather than starting another wheel thread thought I'd just ask here, realistically what would the difference performance wise be between a 24/28 spoke wheelset and a 28/32 wheelset? Obviosuly the later will be slightly heavier but other than that? (85kg rider)

As ugo states, the answer is "feck all". An 85kg rider, 10kg bike (all in with water, saddle bag, computer, etc.) and you are talking about the difference of probably less than 250g on the wheels, do the maths! Despite all the talk about light/aero/wider wheels (and there is a lot of it including one of the best threads on here which is well worth seeking out) there will be very, very little to gain from 24/28 over 28/32 as there is no magic performance factor to be had.

An 85kg rider who wants to go faster up hills needs to ride more, lose weight and get fitter (the latter two usually being linked to the first one). About as simple as it gets.

drlodge

Just get some nice high tpi tyres & thin inner tubes to put on the wheels, it'll make a lot more difference than the wheels themselves (although Ugo will argue tyres make sod all difference to his performance...) Even if performance isn't affected, the ride and comfort will be improve which itself is a positive.

hypster

"there is no such thing as a ‘climbing wheel’; there are just wheelsets and weights. The weight of a wheelset needs to be seen in the overall context of total bike and rider weight. It is all just subjective opinion as to what constitutes a climbing wheel. Given that total bike and rider weight will in most cases for amateur riders be north of 160 lbs, the difference in wheel weights is a tiny percentage."

http://le-grimpeur.net/blog/archives/648

ugo.santalucia

thegreatdivide wrote:

SmoggySteve wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Shame Lampre hasn't won a race that matters for ages... probably since they started using the Zeros?

What, you mean like two hilly stages of the Giro this year?

Indeed - they've had a quality year so far!

Right, so let's erase those two stages Ulissi won, clearly Salbutamol's merit, more than Fulcrum...

cycleclinic

The 24F will be a bit aero than the 28F and that is the end of the difference if the same rim and spokes are used. 50g will not even make 2W difference up a steep hill.

The climbing wheel thing has been dealt with further up this thread by myself ugo and others so repeating a quote from another site which itself repeats what has been written (or the other way round) is just becoming circular and I am getting dizzy.