sweepy – Member
So really then I should be getting a mountain bike with bigger wheels, and a road bike with smaller wheels when for years ive been told just the opposite…

No, no, get a roadbike with bigger wheels than those puny 700c and 27″ rims. Here’s mine 🙂

Can you substantiate the moultons are faster?

Nobody survived.

Can you substantiate the moultons are faster?

Back to back comparisons are always going to be hard. Same rider, same course, same conditions. I’d be interested to see it done.

The Moulton design relies on more than simply reducing wheel diameter, so it’s not entirely fair to use that as the main proof of wheel size superiority, could such a claim ever actually be made.

A while back, Moulton seem to have been trying to break into the road race and TT scene, and riders on Moultons repeatedly broke the London to Cardiff place-to-place record.

Vic (on a Moulton) knocks 18 min. off

To what extent this was a deliberate targeting of a record that most cyclists could have cared less about, I don’t know. There’s also reference in the comments to Moultons being a pain to ride uphill, so maybe this course was more suitable for them than a hillier TT.

But still, 24 mph average over 6 hours. You don’t manage that on a toy.

hmmm – 24mph for 6 hours. I’m sure I could do that on my FS, I just need to find a 144 mile long downhill.

Argument ref 29’ers & 26’ers and braking bumps. Some test somewhere I read on this – Bump develops matching wheel, so 29’er is different size, so frequency of bump changes, mitigating some of the harshness encountered through 26’er braking bumps. If everyone goes 29’er, braking bumps alter to match frequency & 26’ers then ride better through said bumps, as frequency is different to wheel size. Would like to see more on this.

Also seen a test with 26’ers & 29’ers in racing situation. Test determined that 29’er faster on the open stuff, but as trails tightened, the 26’er had faster direction change & acceleration from corner. The “extra grip” marketing is pushing was balanced by faster turn in & exit by 26’er. The results showed seconds per lap, with variations showing both sizes marginally faster, so end result was that is was purely rider preference & riding style, with neither size showing a big enough gap to prove faster (on that particular course, which was claimed to be chosen as a fair mix).

>Moultons were deemed to give an advantage in road racing because the >rider could get a better draft from the rider in front therefore giving >an advantage over standard wheel bikes.

My 5′ 0″ roadie friend can get a much better draft off me than I can off him without using UCI specified bikes, will the UCI ban him…

Resonance FM had a couple of programmes about the Moulton (still available on their site if you’re interested Moulton Programmes ). Apparently MIT carried out some rolling tests in the 80s and found that the most efficient wheel size was approx 17″ with a high pressure tyre.

Orange Crush
Resonance FM had a couple of programmes about the Moulton (still available on their site if you’re interested). Apparently MIT carried out some rolling tests in the 80s and found that the most efficient wheel size was approx 17″ with a high pressure tyre.

Thanks for the link. Well worth a lunch hour listen.

Some data for those interested.

http://www.schwalbetires.com/tech_info/rolling_resistance