Thursday, February 24, 2011

New wheels arrived

My existing wheelset for my 'road' / 'touring' /'cyclocross' bike are pretty durable custom wheelset built from Mavic A119 rims and Shimano Deore XT (mountain bike) hubs.  They have 28mm tires on them and have proved a fairly good ride but, although I climb much better than on my hybrid, I'm still way behind those on lighter-weight bikes. More importantly, from standing stop, the fast riders on bikes with skinny tires and light wheels leave me struggling to catch up to the paceline.

Lightweight vs. aero wheels are a subject of considerable discussions from various sources from the well-regarded Jobst Brandt to wikiepdia Bicycle weight and power.  Here, though, I'm changing two variables: rotating weight and contact patch width (along with higher pressure tires).