Chicago23

Aero Wheels for a 225lb rider
Opinions on:
Zipp 470/315 rims
American Classic Carbon 58
Mavic Cosmic Carbone
others...
Is carbon just a bad idea?

Giant TCR C1
Training wheels= Campy Eurus/Mavic Ksyrium Elites

brianappleby

i know nothing about real life.. but aren't those zipp wheels made especially for clydesdales? that's what the internet tells me

jimblairo

American Classic Hurricanes are 38 deep and with DT 14 spokes are good for a rider up to 230 lbs.

thewalrus

doesn't Zipp make 'Cyclocross' editions of many of their carbon wheelsets?

used for normal roads, not CX, they'd probably hold up to a 225 lb rider.

Elvish Legion

Why are you looking for an aero wheelset? And what sort of wheelset? Disc/tri spoke or what?

ovoleg

I like my non-aero 32spoke front Ares wheel...

I am going for a stiff wheelset next. Light only goes so far with me, I want to feel like I am on rails!

Patriot

For heavier riders who really want good aero wheels....

Try these. They'll work just fine.

https://www.rolfprima.com/products/vigor_rs.html


And if you really want them to be strong (and under 1900g)...

These.

https://www.rolfprima.com/products/vigor_tandem.html

I think those could easily handle 230#.

53-11_alltheway

Speaking of the Rolfs I like the spoke pattern, but isn't velocity breaking the patent by using paired spokes in the uriel set?

roadracer13

Campagnolo Bora Ultra's! No special wheel for heavier guys... just the best wheels around!! (But a stupid high price!)

EURO

Why get aero wheels if you are massive? The rider is 90% of the frontal area of a bike.

jimbud

I'm 220 and have owned both the Mavic Cosmic Carborne and Spinergy Stealths without have any type of issue with the wheels. The mavics are so stiff they seam bomb proof.

roadracer13

Euro,

I am not sure of your background, but having been a professional motorcycle racer and having a background in auto racing as well the answer is simple... why, even if you are a group rider, would you want inferior equipment?

A motorcycle roadracer suffers from the same fate as a cyclist. If you are a larger rider and have broader shoulders then you are disrupting more air than a smaller person. You need more power to move you through the air. So as a motorcycle rider why would you want to replace the air filter and gain 4 bhp just because you are a larger person? Why not run Zero weight Oil to reduce friction in your engine for a couple more BHP? Because every little bit helps!!

Let me see if I can take this back to something you might understand... why do Pro Teams like CSC, Discovery and so on, go to the wind tunnel, spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to get a minute amount of drag reduction? Because every bit helps.

Now, lets get back the question at hand... if you are a bigger rider then have to produce greater watts to stay with a smaller person. In my conversations with Magnuns Bachstedt (a large rider) he tells me that he needs to produce about 120 more watts on climbs than the average pro rider... and puts out over 2000 watts in a full sprint. So, if an aero wheel gives any person a (random number) 1% advantage over non aero wheels, it would seem that for a larger person that advantage is going to be much greater than a smaller person.

A non substantiated, fictitious example:

In a full sprint over 20 MPH:

The small person who puts out 1700 watts.
In that sprint will get a 17 Watt advantage with Aero Wheels
A guy like Maggy... 20 Watts.
Hard to argue with 3 free watts.

This is the same reason riders loose weight on their bikes... they have to produce less watts for the same speed.

So you tell me, why would you not want Aero Wheels if you are a big guy?

EURO

All things being equal - you are right, but aero wheels are generally not as stiff as traditional ones, and it may be that the stiffness is more important given the larger forces a heavier and stronger guy would put through a wheel. Also there is the fact that the performance return is proportionally less for a guy with a bigger frontal area because the aero wheel reduces a smaller percentage of said frontal area than with a smaller guy.

I personally think that the advantages that aero wheels give are exaggerated, and I would only ride them when racing on the flat. Also, when I saw Backstedt in person a few weeks ago, it was clear to me that he was pretty much at the lightest he could possibly be for his height (6' 4"). I'd suggest that anyone looking for tiny incremental advantages in performance should be looking at doing the same before they worry about aero wheels.

See attached picture of skinny looking Backstedt.

roadracer13

Well, not that I want to drop a name on my feet and hurt 'em... I have some riding to do today... but Maggy is a personal friend of mine... and in his opinion, any and every advantage you can take away from a smaller rider works to his benefit. That is why he rides his TT's with his shoulders rolled forward... cuts the frontal surface area... in his mind, helping him take away a bit of an advantage on his competition.

That may be a bit off topic, because we are talking about Elite athletes... but if you want to be competitive with your friends who may be smaller... then I say run Aero Wheels. If the conditions are right…

One more thing... the President of Camagnolo USA is a very close friend of mine... he has told me time and time again that the Bora's are one of their stiffest wheels... so I am not sure where you get your info about Aero Wheels not being as stiff as traditional. Oh yeah and I got the same info from the President of Cane Creek. But what do I know... just a Poseur American on this board.

Oh one more thing Euro… did you as for Maggy autograph when you saw him? If you didn’t get it, let me know, I can get you hooked up.

jimbud

Hey Euro, Where is the photo from?
Roadracer13, Very nice looking bike. Love the Bora's.

EURO

Derny paced hour record attempt.


Well the Obermayers are the stiffest wheels you can buy and they are deep dish too - I'm not sure if the OP has $2k to spend on wheels, though.

zakk

https://www.zipp.com/products/wheels/...ydesdale.shtml

I got them and love them

jimbud

The weather looks nice. Was this at a velodrome? Where was it?

High Fist Shin

These...

https://www.zipp.com/products/wheels/...ydesdale.shtml

Expensive though.

Dante.

EURO

https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/20...us_backstedt05

Albany-12303

To help support the wheel industry and keep prices lower for the lighter riders

Elvish Legion

Supply and demand...the higher the demand the higher the price

ovoleg

you guys judge the bigger guys too much...

53-11_alltheway

Nice!

EURO

Nah - I just worry that the guy is gonna spend the money and not get any tangible improvement.