50mm aero wheels on gravel bike?

[1swiftvelo]

Go aero. Did Dirtykanza on Roval 64s with no problem. Bombed the decents never worried about the rims.

[Fellrunner]

I’ve upgraded to 40mm Fulcrum carbon wheels on my CX bike, they look good and ride great.

[bm0p700f]

if your fitting 40mm gravel tyres to your 50mm deep aero wheels then the aero adavntage is moot anyway. If your fiting 28mm road tyres that different if the rim is 28mm or wider.

[AJS914]

I agree. If you are doing a gravel race on well packed gravel roads on narrowish tires then by all means go full aero. I ride my gravel bike on gnarly trails with 40mm tires. I'm not racing so I'd rather go with a 30mm aluminum rim that provides a better bang/buck.

I've had a cracked 404 tubular on my cross bike. I don't buy that carbon rims are tough as nails and you'll have no problems.

[dim]

This whole aero thingy gets me confused ....

so.... people buy an aero carbon integrated handlebar for £400 ..... yet they sit semi-upright and once the wind has streamlined around the aero bar, it whacks them straight in their belly ?

then we have the aero wheel story .... weighs more than climbing wheels ... good for going directly into the wind and with the wind pushing you ... do a long loop ride with strong winds and you may be better off with light climbing wheels?

sorry ....I'm old and my son is into aero and tried explaining, ... but I still don't understand .... my experience is that I'm faster on a loop with a light bike

try riding 80 km into a headwind of 30km/hr+ .... if you are not dressed aero, with an aero helmut and aero bars, you will most probably be slower than a climbing bike that weighs a lot less (IMHO)

thats why I'm opting for lightweight climbing wheels as my all rounders

[Marin]

Classic mistake.

[jfranci3]

This whole aero thingy gets me confused ....

so.... people buy an aero carbon integrated handlebar for £400 ..... yet they sit semi-upright and once the wind has streamlined around the aero bar, it whacks them straight in their belly ?

then we have the aero wheel story .... weighs more than climbing wheels ... good for going directly into the wind and with the wind pushing you ... do a long loop ride with strong winds and you may be better off with light climbing wheels?

sorry ....I'm old and my son is into aero and tried explaining, ... but I still don't understand .... my experience is that I'm faster on a loop with a light bike

try riding 80 km into a headwind of 30km/hr+ .... if you are not dressed aero, with an aero helmut and aero bars, you will most probably be slower than a climbing bike that weighs a lot less (IMHO)

thats why I'm opting for lightweight climbing wheels as my all rounders

The aero wheels turn into sails when turned sideways. For a gravel bike with 32mm+ treaded tires, they don't do squat for aero, but they keep sand/mud from grabbing your wheel.

[bm0p700f]

Really do they turn into sails. How come mine don't.

[frogtape777]

Whats a good lightweight wheelset for 40mm tyres?

[jfranci3]

Really do they turn into sails. How come mine don't.

They do.
At 0deg, on this sample graph, you're at 175gr of drag. At every other angle, the resistance falls (down to -50). The wheel section is acting as a rigid sail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wingsail , providing a relative 225gr of forward push (in simple concept).

[emotive]

Whats a good lightweight wheelset for 40mm tyres?

Light Bicycle RG922 rims with DT Swiss hubs.

[vanmatthew]

What is the minimal internal diameter you're willing to go for these wheels?

[Noctiluxx]

Folks, I was/am considering 50mm aero wheels mainly due to deep discount I can get on Factor Black Inc. wheels. My preference really would be wheels in the 35-40mm range.

[jfranci3]

I'd only go deep dish because I've got a set of disused road wheels laying around. A shallower dish will give the spokes more room to work, allowing for a better riding bike and laterally stiffer wheel (allowing for more confident handling and less tire rub)
https://www.velonews.com/2018/08/from-t ... ero_474617

That Black company is smoking crack if they want to charge $2k for a CN carbon build. There are better brand name options for the same price.
Have you considered AL wheels? You can get a set of 24mm wide / 32mm deep DT Swiss wheels for $350. They'll cost you 200g total, but you'll pay a lot less, have enough depth to look cool, and can get them a lot dirtier. You can have 2-3 sets of mounted tires for the price of even CN carbon. 200g isn't going to make a big difference on a big tire bike you're covering with mud and extra water bottles.