Weight vs width

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daninplymouth
Posts: 129
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2021 1:50 pm

by daninplymouth

Hi, looking at purchasing a set of hunt wheels but am torn between these 2.
A21B8949-E7D6-4526-B0E2-7AD4A014A73F.jpeg
03A9FF98-92B7-4BAC-AC88-5AE0F5F309CA.jpeg
The aerodynamicist are supposed to roll faster and I would imagine be more comfortable with the wider rim. The carbon spokes are quite a bit lighter but not sure how much of a difference this'll make as I'm about 89kg so a few hundred grams is probably negligible to me as a whole. According to hunt these are stiffer than the equivalent steel spoke wheel even though it has fewer spokes 4 less on the rear and 2 on the front, is there anything to fear from a set of 18/20 spokes at my weight?
My riding is quite hilly but I like speed on the descents

by Weenie


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C36
Posts: 2471
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2017 3:24 am

by C36

daninplymouth wrote:Hi, looking at purchasing a set of hunt wheels but am torn between these 2.
A21B8949-E7D6-4526-B0E2-7AD4A014A73F.jpeg
03A9FF98-92B7-4BAC-AC88-5AE0F5F309CA.jpeg
The aerodynamicist are supposed to roll faster and I would imagine be more comfortable with the wider rim. The carbon spokes are quite a bit lighter but not sure how much of a difference this'll make as I'm about 89kg so a few hundred grams is probably negligible to me as a whole. According to hunt these are stiffer than the equivalent steel spoke wheel even though it has fewer spokes 4 less on the rear and 2 on the front, is there anything to fear from a set of 18/20 spokes at my weight?
My riding is quite hilly but I like speed on the descents
Hunt carbon wheels are barely stiffer than their steel counterparts (that are quite flexible even per today’s stds), their carbon spokes bring them only a 4-5% higher stiffness that is quite a disappointing result.

The wider tires will only be more comfortable if you lower the pressure below what narrower tires would allow you to... and you will increase rolling resistance and aero drag.

daninplymouth
Posts: 129
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2021 1:50 pm

by daninplymouth

I had a set of their original 50mm Carbon wheels and found them to be nice to ride and were fast (I have a 37mm set at the mo with carbon ti hubs) and can't match the hunts on my favourite downhill segment

Aesch
Posts: 332
Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2020 10:09 pm

by Aesch

C36 wrote:
Sun Nov 28, 2021 12:46 pm
daninplymouth wrote:Hi, looking at purchasing a set of hunt wheels but am torn between these 2.
A21B8949-E7D6-4526-B0E2-7AD4A014A73F.jpeg
03A9FF98-92B7-4BAC-AC88-5AE0F5F309CA.jpeg
The aerodynamicist are supposed to roll faster and I would imagine be more comfortable with the wider rim. The carbon spokes are quite a bit lighter but not sure how much of a difference this'll make as I'm about 89kg so a few hundred grams is probably negligible to me as a whole. According to hunt these are stiffer than the equivalent steel spoke wheel even though it has fewer spokes 4 less on the rear and 2 on the front, is there anything to fear from a set of 18/20 spokes at my weight?
My riding is quite hilly but I like speed on the descents
Hunt carbon wheels are barely stiffer than their steel counterparts (that are quite flexible even per today’s stds), their carbon spokes bring them only a 4-5% higher stiffness that is quite a disappointing result.

The wider tires will only be more comfortable if you lower the pressure below what narrower tires would allow you to... and you will increase rolling resistance and aero drag.
You won't increase rolling resistance if you drop pressure on a wider tyre. BRR tested this for Gp5000 tyres. It's ~identical for 25, 28, 30, 32mm if you drop your pressure according to what fits with the size you ride.
It will be wider so less aero.

User avatar
C36
Posts: 2471
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2017 3:24 am

by C36

Aesch wrote:
C36 wrote:
Sun Nov 28, 2021 12:46 pm
daninplymouth wrote:Hi, looking at purchasing a set of hunt wheels but am torn between these 2.
A21B8949-E7D6-4526-B0E2-7AD4A014A73F.jpeg
03A9FF98-92B7-4BAC-AC88-5AE0F5F309CA.jpeg
The aerodynamicist are supposed to roll faster and I would imagine be more comfortable with the wider rim. The carbon spokes are quite a bit lighter but not sure how much of a difference this'll make as I'm about 89kg so a few hundred grams is probably negligible to me as a whole. According to hunt these are stiffer than the equivalent steel spoke wheel even though it has fewer spokes 4 less on the rear and 2 on the front, is there anything to fear from a set of 18/20 spokes at my weight?
My riding is quite hilly but I like speed on the descents
Hunt carbon wheels are barely stiffer than their steel counterparts (that are quite flexible even per today’s stds), their carbon spokes bring them only a 4-5% higher stiffness that is quite a disappointing result.

The wider tires will only be more comfortable if you lower the pressure below what narrower tires would allow you to... and you will increase rolling resistance and aero drag.
You won't increase rolling resistance if you drop pressure on a wider tyre. BRR tested this for Gp5000 tyres. It's ~identical for 25, 28, 30, 32mm if you drop your pressure according to what fits with the size you ride.
It will be wider so less aero.
Read what I wrote « The wider tires will only be more comfortable if you lower the pressure BELLOW what narrower tires would allow you to ». If you just align pressures to the tire width you have no confort change and minimal rolling variation (but weight and aero penalty). A wide tire will allow you to find more confort when you lower pressure much more (that you can’t do on a narrower tire).
Last edited by C36 on Mon Nov 29, 2021 11:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Nickldn
Posts: 1866
Joined: Mon Mar 25, 2019 12:35 am

by Nickldn

Many racers use 25mm tyres for general road racing, special courses like cobbles and gravel excepted. For reference most race tubs come out at about 24.5mm actual width.

For fast road riding the 25mm tyre width is the sweet spot of RR, comfort (at 90-100psi), weight and aero. Most 25mm clinchers come out at about 26mm and need 27-27.5mm wide rims to get most effective aero gains.

28mm clinchers come out around 30-31mm and need 32-33mm wide wheels for good aero. This of course adds weight and increases drag. It also makes the bike less responsive, which is important for some.

So why would you use 28mm tyres for your fast, aero optimised WW road bike? I think comfort is the main driver behind choosing wider tyres, but as noted above that requires dropping the pressure and that can impact RR. Not great for going as fast as possible on smooth roads.

Personally I would only choose tyres wider than 25mm if the roads I was riding on were bad and I need wider tyres to make the bike reasonably comfortable. On poor quality roads running lower pressures may provide better grip and RR too, which makes the trade off even more worthwhile.

So when you are choosing tyre width think about road quality and if going as fast as possible is important to you. That's it.
Giant Propel Advanced SL Red Etap 11s Easton EC90 wheels CeramicSpeed BB Zipp SL70 bars 6.5kg

Vitus ZX1 CRS Campy Chorus 12s Bora WTO 45 disk brake wheels Zipp SL70 bars 7.5kg

SL8 build with Craft CS5060 Wheels in progress

daninplymouth
Posts: 129
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2021 1:50 pm

by daninplymouth

Road quality isn't the best here and being fairly heavy I think anything under a 28c for me would be like riding on bricks

by Weenie


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Nickldn
Posts: 1866
Joined: Mon Mar 25, 2019 12:35 am

by Nickldn

daninplymouth wrote:
Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:02 pm
Road quality isn't the best here and being fairly heavy I think anything under a 28c for me would be like riding on bricks
I think you have your answer then:

The Limitless wheels are 35mm wide and so will have excellent aerodynamics with 28mm+ tyres.

I get they are about 250g heavier, but I think that as soon as you ride at over 20mph the aerodynamics will more than compensate for the additional weight.
Giant Propel Advanced SL Red Etap 11s Easton EC90 wheels CeramicSpeed BB Zipp SL70 bars 6.5kg

Vitus ZX1 CRS Campy Chorus 12s Bora WTO 45 disk brake wheels Zipp SL70 bars 7.5kg

SL8 build with Craft CS5060 Wheels in progress

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