Wider Is Better.

Wider Is Better.

John Kodin has been a friend of mine for about 30 years.  He rides over 10,000 miles a year and knows his stuff.  Here’s an e-mail I just got from him.

“I thought it was interesting that on Sunday I did 2 hours on a bike with the wide rims. Then switched to my cross bike with the old R28SLX rims for the final hour. I did notice a big difference on how the bike handled around turns and accelerations. I kept looking down at my tires to see if I have a slow leak and and to see if my tire air pressure had dropped. Because the bike felt much softer and spongier just rolling along on the flat sections. So wider is better!”

On sale and for sale this weekend are all of my wider rim wheels.  The R28SWCX SRP $799 Sale $499.  TheR28 AW SRP $565 Sale $339.  The M28 AW SRP $465 Sale $279.

With all of my wheels you can add cassettes, chains, tires or tubes at extremely low prices.  Much lower than I could sell them for on their own.  MAP pricing (minimum advertised pricing) policies don’t apply when I bundle them up so you get the savings.

Even in Alaska there are a couple of months left before the snow flies so now is a good time to get the new wider wheels.

Thanks for reading - John Neugent

Aero Versus Weight

I am not an engineer but I have learned how to listen to good ones.  Ever since most of us were bitten with the bike bug, we learned lighter was better.  As Shimano found out in the late 70s, teaching the value of aerodynamics is a hard lesson.

Here’s how the HED website states it.

Let's look at a few figures. Assume a rider uses a conventional bike over a 25 mile flat course time trial. He weighs 150 lb, his bike is another 20 lb, and he is producing 185 watts of power. The aero drag with this scenario would be approximately 6.5 lb using aero bars into a 2 mph headwind of between 0 and 5 degrees. With his standard bike, our rider's time would be around 1 hour 7 minutes and 38 seconds. If we reduced the weight of his bike by three pounds, that time would come down by just 3 seconds. However, swap the wheels to an aero design and the drag could be reduced to 6 lb. Even with the additional quarter pound weight of the new wheels, his time saving over 25 miles jumps dramatically to over 1 minute 30 seconds. No contest.

That's not a typo.  At speed, on relatively flat roads, 3 pounds only cut off 3 seconds.  Ever think about why all of the super high mileage cars look like bullets?  It saves gas.

losing 3 pounds only cut off 3 seconds

being aero cut off over 1 minute 30 seconds

Tire Sizes On Wider Rims

Tire Sizes On Wider Rims

What tire size should you use on the wider rims?  There are three factors to consider.

The wider the tire the lower the rolling resistance.

The wider the tire the heavier and less aerodynamic it is.

The Zipp 27 mm wide carbon tubular wheels were designed for 23 mm tires.  The Enve SES rims are slightly narrower and designed for 22-23 mm tires.

For ultimate speed, the answer is to go with the stock 23 mm tires for our wide alloy and carbon wheels but if you want a little bit more comfort and stability go with the 25C tires.  My personal favorites are 27C tires but there are many frames that don’t have that much clearance.

And if you want to ride almost flat free, don’t forget the tire sealant.