Kahrpistols

Are there any skills I should know/learn before I ride my new deep-ish wheels in hard wind? (15+ mph steady)

Should I keep weight off the front so that twitches won't send me over the handlebars or should I put more weight on the front so that the wheels won't move laterally as easily?

I ride in NE NJ across the GWB almost every day and sometimes the wind up there can get quite hairy and the sidewalk is barely 8' wide. I don't have all that much space to buffer a gust so I'm wondering if I'm going to have to leave the deep wheels at home on windy days or if I can continue to ride them?

They are not the new Zipp 454 NSW that has the special shape supposed to help with crosswinds. Regular U shape 50 mm deep wheels.

Thanks!

jsigone

led forward and maybe stay in the drops longer? The front iwll always move, it's a skill set learned on the bike rather than interwebz

StanSeven

I ride regularly with 50+ deep wheels. The secret is learning to relax and avoid sudden jerk reactions. The wind won't knock you over but overreacting will. Practice keeping your arms, hands and shoulders loose.

datlas 

BTW please call them "deep section" wheels and not "deep dish." In wheel talk, dish refers to how the rear wheel rim is off center to compensate for the asymmetry due to the gears on the drive side.

Thank you for your cooperation in these matters, and enjoy your wheels.

fa63

This. Don't fight the bike too much.

SpeshulEd 

This!

Just relax and ride, you'll be fine.

FBinNY 

Crosswinds aren't that much of a problem if they're steady since you'll easily adjust. But gusty crosswinds call for sharp reflexes and being in tune with your bike.

The combined action of your body and the front wheel can make for sudden changes in steering and the point of balance. I don't know that any special skill is needed, except the instinct to react correctly which will come with experience. Keep your speed down, especially on descents until you have those instincts and are comfortable with your ability to hold a line in gusty winds.

In my personal experience the only secret is trusting yourself and your bike to control the effects and staying relaxed rather than overcorrecting.

Doge

I was thinking pizza but I'm hungry.

ClydeTim

Could be 11 speed wheels. That could be deep dish compared to 6 speed wheels.

FBinNY 

One other warning about cross winds on the road, regardless of the wheels.

A sudden interruption of a strong crosswind is as bad or maybe worse than a sudden gust. So be ready to react if passing trucks, or if commuting in a highly built area, for the difference between a straight shot down a cross street and the lea of buildings.

99Klein 

As has been stated, keep your weight forward and relax your grip/body. You'll get use to it in no time. My first ride was 35mph winds with gusts. Not the way I would recommend learning, and I went from 32's to 50's.

Sy Reene

Actually, this is good advice for whatever type of wheels you ride.

Shimagnolo

No kidding.
I've almost fallen into a transit bus when I was Northbound, leaning into a heavy wind from the West,
then the bus passed me, and suddenly the wind was gone for a few moments.

RushFan2112

One suggestion, which happens to be what I do, is to pick up a second set of inexpensive wheels and put them on for really windy days. I'm running 46s, and the wind will push me around to the point where it can be quite frightening. In my experience wind gusts are far more difficult/scarier than sustained winds. As others have mentioned you learn how to compensate in steady winds, but the gusts will catch you by surprise.

jsigone

or you can always find a drafting buddy

Seattle Forrest

I had a near miss coming down Stevens Pass when a Uhaul went by. Pay attention to what FBinNY says.

FBinNY 

This is a lesson burnt in very deeply. Many decades back I almost went off the George Washington Bridge when riding on the bike path in a stiff crosswind. A tractor trailer passed me and I overcompensated when recovering and crashed into the guard rail. The second part of that lesson is that guard rails made for pedestrians offer limited protection to cyclists who's asses are higher than the top rail.

Seattle Forrest

You bring up something else I learned. I used to kayak a lot. I'd pay attention to tell-tales, things like flags, leaves on trees, etc, to watch the wind shift. I'd see it, then the water would change a few seconds later. When I got more serious about cycling, I'd try to do the same, anticipate gusts by paying attention to the stuff around me. It wasn't just a distraction (eyes on the road!), I'd also always over-compensate when I was waiting for it. Unlearned that habit pretty quickly. As mentioned above, you're much better off being relaxed and reacting more slowly.

dougphoto

When it's really windy you'd be better served with regular rims.

Doge

If the wind is smooth and you got the yaw right - go for it. They are like a sail. Otherwise they likely rob energy.

noodle soup

The shape of the hoop also matters greatly. I've had 32mm and 46mm V-shaped hoops that were a bear to ride in crosswinds, but my U-shaped 38mm hoops are just fine. The 38s seem as steady as the 24mm non-aero hoops that I use for hillclimb TTs.

Kahrpistols

Yeah, I thought that was what they were called but I kept reading "deep dish"... Anyway, I'll keep the deep dishes limited to pizza and refer to it as deep section.

I'm quite excited to try them out the next time it's gusty after reading everyone's response. My experience even with my current shallow 24mm rims is the same as most of y'all's - that steady winds are no problem... It's those gusts....

UnfilteredDregs

Uh no.

Ride your bike.

UnfilteredDregs

and what FBinNY says is spot on.

Ride your bike, don't let it ride you.

79pmooney

Except: Lea lives in the building, not behind it. We riders have to watch for the lee of buildings, etc. (When you grow up racing sailboats, these things matter. Now, maybe we do have to watch out for Lea, but that's a totally separate issue.)

A funny story of birds encountering the lee of boats for the first time. Sailing across the Atlantic. We were often accompanied by shearwaters for hours at a time. Shearwaters are one of the great soaring birds, only they soar inches off the water surface, using the surface effect to maintain that tiny altitude over a constantly moving surface, frequently touching the surface with their wingtips. We were obviously the first sailboat they had encountered. Some discovered the updraft off our stern and would "park", sometimes for more than an hour 6' above the rearmost of the deck and just out of our reach.

Others would soar across in front of us - once! They would hit our wind shadow, momentarily lose lift, and crash! It was hilarious. They learned fast but there was an endless supply of newcomers.

Ben