bobthib

I'm not trolling or looking to start some flame war, but I guy I ride with (who has been racing for almost 40 yrs) says Aero Wheels add 1.5 to 2.0 mph. What say the Oracle of BF?

RT

I have seen in other threads that aero wheels at least double your speed. I read it on BF, honest :-)

Seriously though, I assert that it is a negligible gain outside of a controlled environment, and a placebo effect.

Quel

Maybe 0.5 mph. Probably not even quite that high. Don't have any numbers to confirm that off hand though.

mrvile

What's aero wheels? Everyone here obviously rides on lugged steal and box sections.

lazerzxr

I cruise at 20mph, for the same power output do you really think those wheels will add 10% to my speed? You really think standard wheels soak up 10% of my speed in the first place?

No mate.

In the TDF this year, a few seconds separated the top 2 riders after 3 weeks of riding. Aero wheels are used to give you the best chance of being the one that is a few seconds up after that sort of distance. They dont have engines built into them.

echappist

good ones will save you about 15 watts over box sections, that's assuming you are going at 25mph, and the wind is going pretty much parallel to you

umd

My own personal testing has shown about 3% power savings going from moderately aero clinchers (relatively low spoke count, not box section) to 46mm tubular wheels. Not huge, but measurable.

KendallF

The difference from a road bike in the drops to a TT bike with full aero gear might be close to that..but not wheels alone.

Here's data from two recent 15k time trials. First one was on the road bike, no aero gear, Kinlin 27mm tall rims (not aero). Totally flat course, very slight wind:

Total Elapsed Time 00:23:06
Distance, mi 9.07
Work, kJ 381
Temperature, °F --
Average Power, Watts 275
Average Cadence 85
Average Speed, mph 23.57
Average Heart Rate --
Ride Time (Time Moving) 00:23:07

Second TT: 15k, slightly rolling course, moderately windy, full TT bike, deep section wheels (Hed Jet 60 front, PX 101 rear), everything but the aero helmet: I went .6 mph faster with 20 watts less average. You could go plug those numbers in to the analytical cycling web page and estimate the total CDA reduction. It's substantial, but mostly due to the body position.

Total Elapsed Time 00:22:28
Distance, mi 9
Work, kJ 418
Temperature, °F --
Average Power, Watts 255
Average Cadence 88
Average Speed, mph 24.16
Average Heart Rate --
Ride Time (Time Moving) 00:22:29

Nachoman

What kind of testing did you do? Same route, same conditions, different wheels?

socalrider

sure high end zipps with ceramic hubs could give you that much of a boost, but it will cost you $$$

gregf83 

20W savings at a power of 300W would be 6.7% power savings which should translate into roughly 6.7/3=2.2% speed improvement. So if you were going 24MPH you could improve to 24.5MPH. Definitely worth it for a TT. A 2 MPH improvement would be 8% and require about 24% extra power or 75W. Impossible from a set of wheels.

MrCjolsen

I read in Bicycling magazine a story about actual wind tunnel tests. They found that a $200 aero helmet gives you more speed than $2000 aero rims.

sbxx1985 

That's what I did. Campy Eurus v. Reynolds Assaults.

Results were consistent with umd. For me, negligible.

DScott

I think they might be worth that 1-2mph on a good, long 7-8% downhill.

Edit to add: I see the above gain on 38mm aero wheels compared to Open Pros. You might see even more, depending on wheel depth.

caloso

20W might be the difference between hanging on and getting dropped.

umd

Basically. Nothing formal, just whenever I use the wheels on courses where I get consistent speed for power results, that's about the bump I get. Note that 3% power savings does not equal 3% faster...

umd

I didn't say negligable.

Cdy291

The tires you use can have just as much of an effect.

BikeWise1

Maybe without a rider on the bike. Otherwise, the rider-his/her body type, clothing, style of helmet and position on the bike would likely negate the added benefit, if it even exists....

umd

wut

umd

The benefit is not so much from the frontal area of rim passing through the air, as it is the extra rim depth making less spoke constantly moving through the air.

paste_me

this is what zipp claims

https://www.zipp.com/_media/pdfs/support/aero_edge09.pdf

they say you can save a minute with the 303s in a 40k time trail.

logdrum

Why would hard core racers and pros bother if they did not make a difference?

You may have to realize you full power potential. ideal weight and adaptive endurance before it makes a difference for you. That state of fitness is supposedly being able to do a 25 mile TT ~1 hour.

And even if the above conditions are not met, no LBS or online retailer will stop you from getting aero wheels.

merlinextraligh

I don't think so. I have 303's 404's and 808's, as well as a disc and a tri spoke. With just some rough observation, Disc and the tri spoke might be close to half a mile an hour above 25mph, then its down from there, more like .2 to .25 mph.

rollin

Will they make you faster? yes.

Will that be 1.5 to 2mph? - depends, but unlikely.

They may make the difference between 58 mph and 60mph (which I cruise at on most rides) but not 20mph and 22mph (where most of you probably ride).