TAIPEI cycling show 2015

Questions about bike hire abroad and everything light bike related. No off-topic chat please

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djconnel
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by djconnel

Yeah -- measurements are mixed on that. But some really supple clincher tires have become available and with latex tubes they're going to be really close. I don't know about FMB hand-built tubulars, though -- those might be best of all.

But clinchers are heavy and more puncture-prone so among the pro riders the sew-ups are still the most popular.

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wingguy
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by wingguy

Mr.Gib wrote:So in other words, if your not racing elite level or higher, than it is irrelevant. 147 grams? People sweat more than that in an hour. Less difference than type of shoe or if your jersey fits properly. Wiggen's beard steals more watts.


Yeah? And if you have shave 147g off your bike and then sweat the same 147g that you were going to sweat regardless, you're still 147g lighter than you would be if you hadn't shaved it off your bike. Likewise, if you wear a tight jersey and use a good glue job, you'll still be better off than if you wear a tight jersey and use a crap glue job or crap tape.

I don't get why people pretend not to see that benefits can be cumulative? Like the tired old "That bike is how much lighter? I could take a dump and lose more than that!" As if buying a light bike gives you constipation... :noidea:

TheKaiser
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Joined: Thu Sep 05, 2013 3:29 pm

by TheKaiser

wingguy wrote:
Mr.Gib wrote:So in other words, if your not racing elite level or higher, than it is irrelevant. 147 grams? People sweat more than that in an hour. Less difference than type of shoe or if your jersey fits properly. Wiggen's beard steals more watts.


I don't get why people pretend not to see that benefits can be cumulative? Like the tired old "That bike is how much lighter? I could take a dump and lose more than that!" As if buying a light bike gives you constipation... :noidea:


I agree fully on the cumulative benefits point. It is incredibly frustrating in both discussions of weight savings and aero gains to see this kind of nonsense, as if there is a threshold when benefits suddenly appear, as opposed to there being a continuum. People act as if 6sec saved is irrelevant, even if it is repeated in 10 different places, but somehow a single 60sec savings is a big deal.

BTW...Didn't Specialized do one of their wind tunnel aero tests and establish that beards don't slow you down...at least within the margin of error of their tunnel. :wink:

russianbear
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by russianbear

Their "win tunnel" is kind of a joke though.

jooo
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by jooo

Junior Varsity wrote:The show wrapped up today. As far as nothing new, that just isn't true.... It's just not in public view.

Even if there is a bunch of cool stuff, it seems weird that there was a whole lot less coverage from the usual news/blogs this year. It seemed like there was less coverage from NAHBS so maybe they're just cutting back on coverage?

djconnel wrote:But clinchers are heavy and more puncture-prone so among the pro riders the sew-ups are still the most popular.

I don't think the tyres are necessarily heavier. A good clincher and latex tube can weigh almost the same and in some cases less than a similar tubular. Clinchers might have beads, but there is less casing material, no base tape etc. The weight advantage to tubulars seems to be from the rims, especially on carbon where the bead hook seems more difficult to manufacture.

As to them being more puncture-prone, I don't really think that's the case either. The casing and tread is basically the same, why would there be any puncture difference? To me it seems one of the main benefits to a tubular (with a good glue job) seems to be that a pro can sort of keep riding on a flat, helping with safety and lost time waiting for a team car.

wingguy
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by wingguy

So yeah, when you look at a tubular wheel/tyre system it's lighter :wink:

Also, tubs are definitely less prone to snakebite/pinch flats, again because of the rim. Anecdotally they seem to be better in terms of normal punctures compared with like for like clinchers, but I don't know why that would be. Maybe to do with this mystical 'ageing'? But then surely you could do that with cotton clinchers too. Hmm, we've actually got a maybe 10 year old Veloflex Record clincher lying around the shop, maybe I should mount it and see if by now it's tough enough to handle some abusive road riding :P

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Rick
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by Rick

Mr.Gib wrote: Wiggen's beard steals more watts.


If you don't mind, I am going to start using that expression for theoretical increments of improvement that have no effect on the actual results at my level of accomplishment.

"It gives me a Wiggins' beard of advantage" :lol:

Or as a humorous excuse for coming in 10 minutes behind the leaders: "I lost by a Wiggins' beard." :lol:

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