[Closed] "Aero" road wheels for general use?

Are you racing? If so, by all means go aero.
Are you just out enjoying your ride? If so, get some well built, strong but comfy wheels with normal spokes.

*Edit, and helped by the below!*

WGAS, they look cool!

There's a strange, almost cultish approach to kit from many on the road side of things. Almost some sort of self-flagellation to use kit that may be a bit crap but looks all of teh orsumz! Aero works great in the right application, but if you're not racing, I'd say that wasn't the right application. However, if you care what a bike looks like more than how it performs....! 😉

WGAS, they look cool!

(or at least my fulcrum quattros do, or do they? The make a cool humming noise too - probably beacuse they're crap...but they look cool, possibly

HTH :-))

Why would swooshing noises indicate aerodynamic inefficiency?

Aero wheels [i]are [/i]loud. I'm always mildly amused by the notion that people notice a difference in crosswind handling with bladed spokes though!

I do, my bikes are toys for having fun on. Whereas I presume yours are used for international rescue missions and performing open heart surgery? 😉 😉 😉 x 1,000,000

I'm not convinced that aero wheels really work - at least unless you've maximised all your other gains like position and a daft hat etc

That said, I don't think they're any worse from an aerodynamic pov and of course, as the honourable member mentioned, WGAS !

I have some deepish LB wheels (can't quite remember, but 50 or so deep). I'm no faster on them than before but they are nice and wide, so will take bigger tyres nicely and I also got them thinking that they'd possibly be more resistant to pothole impact than shallow rims. They're 28 spoke too, which I suppose limits any aero benefit they might have offered but means I'm happy to put discs on them when/if I get a relevant frame.

On a TT bike/course aero wheels work. Anything else there is minimal advantage.

They are comparatively heavy and expensive to normal wheels.

Depends on where and how you ride. I have recently bought some Rs21s for winter duties, I use cosmic carbone SLs all summer.

Top speed is slower by a fair few mile an hour, I find it much harder to maintain and hold north of 26mph.

I have a flat 2hr / 35mile ish loop (including 10mile into / out of a busy city on crap roads). For a HR of 160-165 I can average upto 19.9mph with the cosmics. With the Rs21s it was 18.7mph on first attempt. Obviously plenty of other factors like wind, cold etc.. but imo my cosmics are a bit quicker once you get them upto speed.

(the rs21s are approx. 100g heavier than the cosmics too)

I like the sound of aero wheels too. It makes me smile. They can be a handful to ride in gusty wind conditions. Constant wind is fine as you can adjust your 'lean' for the most part. Only a couple of times have I had to back off and slow down due to crosswinds / fear of crashing and I ride in some fairly exposed roads in the new forest (Roger Penny way is generally the worst)

I got the Front wheel cheap, barely used for £30 from ebay as I needed a front wheel and for what I paid it's a great wheel, but perhaps not the most appropriate for my uses, I might just ride it into the ground and then go looking for something lighter and less aero...

Are you just out enjoying your ride?

Oh yes, definitely and I doubt I'll chop in the wheel just for being [i]"too swooshy"[/i] but I'm the sort who still likes to mull such things over...

I'm not likely to do any racing so perfect aero, super light-weight isn't top of the agenda TBH...

Now I have some Wiggle Vouchers from my birthday I'm perusing what they have available for the back end as I wrecked my old wheel and I'm "making do" with an old tiagra hubed [i]Omega[/i] 32h rim...

Why would swooshing noises indicate aerodynamic inefficiency?

Surely generating noise requires some energy, is that that audible swooshing sound not caused by turbulence as the air comes off the trailing edge of each spoke?

Like I said I even got the noise when going relatively slowly into Head winds, I don't seem to get the same noises with round section spokes, TBH it's just an idle thought, I'm simply asking the question does an audable sound from the wheel indicate some "inefficiency" or not?

Aero wheels are loud. I'm always mildly amused by the notion that people notice a difference in crosswind handling with bladed spokes though!

I don't think it's the spokes, probably more the deeper section rim , that's quite a bit of extra side area around the whole circumference when you think about it, perhaps though it's just "psychosomatic", I notice side winds effects more because I'm aware of the different wheel...

they are a bit noisy - every now & then I look round to see if there's a car on back wheel

Aero wheels will be slightly faster all other things being equal, but they're one of the most expensive £/Cd improvements you can make.

That said, you got the front one cheap, no need to ditch it. I would be tempted to get an aero one for the rear, but just because matching wheels are better. Crosswind effects are greater/more noticeable on front wheels than rear (hence TTers never run disc front wheels) so it is quite possibly a real effect.

The swooshing is of course an indication of inefficiency, the sound you're hearing is a form of energy and has been generated at the expense of forward motion. Noise levels aren't a good measure of total energy loss though, as only a small fraction of your total energy losses will be turned into audible noises.

The bigger surface area gives more noise from the road, and may amplify any wind noises etc, for example.

I'm not convinced that aero wheels really work - at least unless you've maximised all your other gains like position and a daft hat etc

They certainly work into a headwind. Since they are most efficient at speeds above 20 mph - that is RELATIVE speed, so a 10 mph headwind means that they are working at pootle pace.

I ride my Giant pslr-aeros for day rides and racing (the skin suit stays at home for day rides!). Alloy surfaces make them an excellent all round wheel. Not too heavy, fashionably wide rims and now with added LESS GIANT BRANDING - the old ones do tend to be a bit shouty 😉

Cycling Weekly's aero wheels of choice a while back.

 

is increasing wind noise volume directly linked to increased drag?
it would be interesting to understand the relationship between the two.

a deep section rim with its larger hollow voids might also amplify the noise of the wind.

They certainly work into a headwind

I'm sure there's a difference between a totally square 20-odd mm rim like an open pro and a deep section but I also bet it's trivial compared to lots of other aspects
(My winter road bike is a cx frame with higher handlebars, shallow squarish 29er mtb rims, full mudguards with flaps and about an extra 4kg wieght. As best as I can tell it's no more than 5% slower than the "proper" road bike for a 50 min ride at ave 21mph)

this image is always interesting in this context.
whilst the wheel stats are a bit confusing, wheels are way down on the list in terms of bang and bang for buck aero equipment.

[img] [/img]