Originally Posted by
tyrion
While those fat tires make it far far away from optimal (105 rule or Hambini's exception/refinement), my guess is increased aspect ratio generally decreases drag. Of course those aero gains might be so marginal with fat tires it's not worth the weight penalty. I have no idea where the trade-off lines intersect, where the sweet spots reside.
I'm pretty sure the wheel companies and engineers like Hambini and Poertner haven't really dug into the aero/weight optimization of 40mm+ tires yet (the big money is still in road racing), so it's all rules of thumb and subjective experience.
That’s what I was getting at, the wheels that the current gravel bikes come with don’t seem to be particularly finding some sweet spot, they just look more like road wheels but then with wide tires what’s the point.
There must be some sweet spot for light and sturdy gravel wheel that may or may not take aerodynamics into consideration at all because it may be negligible. If it was so, then the weight aspect comes as first. I can certainly feel when I put heavier wheels on, even heavier tires, but I wonder if someone can feel 14C shallow vs 19C deep rim difference on a road bike even in terms of less drag.