Wheelsmith Aero 38mm v Zipp 303

teebs_123

Teebs_123 wrote:

neeb wrote:

dstev55 wrote:

My bike had Cero AR30's on before the Aero Dimpled, and despite the much criticised narrowness of the AR30's, they were excellent climbing wheels (weighed under 1400g).

However I don't feel any decrease in uphill 9performance on the Aero Dimpled and to me they definitely feel quicker at higher speeds. And in terms of ride comfort and smoothness, the Aero Dimpled wheels are in a different league to the AR30's.

By all accounts this is one of the biggest advantage of wider wheels - I certainly noticed a massive difference going to wider rims on my alloy winter wheels (even with the same 23mm tyres). I guess with tubulars it may be slightly less of an issue because you can run tyres at lower pressure without pinch flats, but everything I've heard about the modern wider carbon suggests that there's a big difference in feel and handling.

From the profile diagram on the wheelsmith website it looks like the aero dimpled tick all of the boxes for being a modern rim aerodynamically, not only being wide at the brake track but also being toroidal and expanding even wider in the middle. It's just the weight that puts me off a little bit, especially as I'd be going for the tubs - my Reynolds 46, for all their 21mm narrowness and v-profile, are about 200g lighter and I feel that if I'm putting up with the hassle of tubulars they should be silly light.. ;-)

Can't find any rim section diagrams or even decent photos of the aero38 (only the 50s) - Teebs_123, I'd be really interested to know if these rims have a toroidal profile - i.e., do they bulge to become a little wider than the brake track in the middle?

Sorry, I'm being cheeky hijacking your thread and asking lots of questions, it's just because Wheelsmith are on holiday right now and I can't ask them directly..

Hi,

Give me a few mins and I'll go and take some photos if that would help you?

neeb

Brilliant, thanks! It's kind of difficult to tell but it looks like they could be slightly toroidal. Definitely "U-shaped" anyway.

napoleond

Matt_N wrote:

NapoleonD wrote:

If you were using 23mm tubs on the narrow Reynolds then you'll have lost most of the aero advantage. Tyres need to be same width as the rim to transition smoothly. This is why Mavics often performed poorly in aero tests, they were tested with 23mm tyres instead of 21.
I bet you wouldn't notice 200g until the steeper (over 6%) hills, even then it'll be negligible and far outweighed by the aero benefit on the flat/rolling roads.

That goes against what the industry has come up with and defined as the rule of 105%.

Whereby rim width should ideally and aerodynamically be 105% of tyre width.

Meaning a 25mm tyre sits perfectly within that rule on something like a 303.

https://silca.cc/blogs/journal/part-5-t ... rodynamics

Nice Extreme Power btw 8)

I think you're actually agreeing with what I said I.e. Tyres should not be wider than the rim.

Cheers.

charlie_potatoes

dstev55 wrote:

Matt_N wrote:

dstev55 wrote:

The only issue I'm finding with my 45mm Aero Dimpled wheels are that the!Blue brake pads are wearing ridiculously quickly. I've only ridden about 400 miles on them and the front pads are nearly half worn already. Anyone else have this issue?

I've got 303s and use SS Black Prince, they do wear quickly but that seems fast.

Is that the supplied pads or Reynolds blue?

His own blue pads, he won't recommend anything else

Exactly the same as Wiggle lifeline pads as far as I can tell. Great pads and at under £5 a set I don't worry about wear rates.

matt_n-2

NapoleonD wrote:

Matt_N wrote:

NapoleonD wrote:

If you were using 23mm tubs on the narrow Reynolds then you'll have lost most of the aero advantage. Tyres need to be same width as the rim to transition smoothly. This is why Mavics often performed poorly in aero tests, they were tested with 23mm tyres instead of 21.
I bet you wouldn't notice 200g until the steeper (over 6%) hills, even then it'll be negligible and far outweighed by the aero benefit on the flat/rolling roads.

That goes against what the industry has come up with and defined as the rule of 105%.

Whereby rim width should ideally and aerodynamically be 105% of tyre width.

Meaning a 25mm tyre sits perfectly within that rule on something like a 303.

https://silca.cc/blogs/journal/part-5-t ... rodynamics

Nice Extreme Power btw 8)

I think you're actually agreeing with what I said I.e. Tyres should not be wider than the rim.

Cheers.

Not quite the same.

You said tyres need to be the same width as the rim which is not what I said.

To get the most aero efficiency the tyre needs to be narrower than the rim.

napoleond

Whatevs. Aerocoach suggest a smooth transition tests fastest.
Having a rim that sticks out past the tyres causes its own pothole related problems, so I wouldn't do that personally.

dstev55

Charlie Potatoes wrote:

dstev55 wrote:

Matt_N wrote:

dstev55 wrote:

The only issue I'm finding with my 45mm Aero Dimpled wheels are that the!Blue brake pads are wearing ridiculously quickly. I've only ridden about 400 miles on them and the front pads are nearly half worn already. Anyone else have this issue?

I've got 303s and use SS Black Prince, they do wear quickly but that seems fast.

Is that the supplied pads or Reynolds blue?

His own blue pads, he won't recommend anything else

Exactly the same as Wiggle lifeline pads as far as I can tell. Great pads and at under £5 a set I don't worry about wear rates.

Thanks very much, they do look identical and the reviews suggest they are. Bargain!

matt_n-2

dstev55 wrote:

Charlie Potatoes wrote:

dstev55 wrote:

Matt_N wrote:

dstev55 wrote:

The only issue I'm finding with my 45mm Aero Dimpled wheels are that the!Blue brake pads are wearing ridiculously quickly. I've only ridden about 400 miles on them and the front pads are nearly half worn already. Anyone else have this issue?

I've got 303s and use SS Black Prince, they do wear quickly but that seems fast.

Is that the supplied pads or Reynolds blue?

His own blue pads, he won't recommend anything else

Exactly the same as Wiggle lifeline pads as far as I can tell. Great pads and at under £5 a set I don't worry about wear rates.

Thanks very much, they do look identical and the reviews suggest they are. Bargain!

Worth a go at £5 a set!

I've got SS Black Prince in at present but they are nearing the markers, may give these a go as quite a few suggest they are re-packaged Reynolds blues.

cal_stewart

I only use the lifeline pads, best value pads I've ever used.

Nap your EP is a thing of real beauty it's a ageless classic.