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  • Wheel rim profile affects cornering (road bike)?
  • mtbtomo
    Free Member

    Had a few issues cornering on my Cero 50mm carbon rims the last couple of races I’ve done. It seems they are quite happy to skip out or affected by the road surface on tight bends. Wasn’t happy in tonight’s Colne GP crit and the back also skipped out at Litherland a few weeks ago. Felt like I’d gone over some gravel on the hairpin bend.

    Never had a problem on my Wheelsmith Race 23’s……so I’ve lost a bit of confidence in the Cero’s, rational or not.

    So my question would be, the Race 23’s are slightly wider….does that help? Or is more likely that the GP4 Season tyres on the Wheelsmith’s are grippier and generally better than the Giant P-SL tyres on the Cero’s?

    In the dry, I should surely be able to lay the bike over to nearly the point of pedals clahing the ground, regardless of wheel profile?

    wiggles
    Free Member

    tyres will be making much more difference than your rims

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    The stiffness of the deep section rim may be a factor.

    What pressure are you running? High pressure = less grip and comfort.

    You could swap tyres.

    scaredypants
    Full Member

    Change the tyres over & see – that’s favourite for me

    Beyond that I’d have thought braking would be the biggest variable (??)

    TiRed
    Full Member

    Tyres and air pressure. Try some 25c and you’ll corner like you never have before. Schwalbe One’s have a very rounded profile for just this.

    igm
    Full Member

    Tyres will make a difference.

    Rim width will make a difference as it changes the shape of the tyre cross section, but as they are different tyres this is moot.

    Rim stiffness and the manner and direction in which it deflects under cornering stress will make a difference.

    Of these I suspect the tyre is the biggest difference. GP4seasons are pretty good, but for my money the GP4000s black chilli are better in all but the worst weather. Faster and grippier (and normally more expensive).

    Start by swapping tyres.

    titusrider
    Free Member

    IMO the wider rims do make a difference to cornering grip/confidence.

    im much better on A23 / h+Son Archytypes (both ‘new skool’ wide rims) vs the Aksiums I had previously.

    However tyres are more important + 1 for Conti GP4000’s fantastic grip light weight and ok puncture protection (the sidewalls are a bit delicate but ill happily put up with that for how sticky they are!)

    Another thought might be if you now have a stiffer deep section wheel that will be a bit more ‘skippy’ than a traditional build which would have been flexier and followed the road a touch more but we are talking miniscule differences here! When they do road bike reviews they swap the wheels round to account for this type of difference and nail down if the stiffness is in the frame or wheels

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    TiRed – Member
    Tyres and air pressure. Try some 25c and you’ll corner like you never have before. Schwalbe One’s have a very rounded profile for just this

    HOW does a rounded profile effect the contact patch?

    TiRed
    Full Member

    Lean the bike over at 45 degrees.

    Imagine a tyre that has a square profile. Vertical, the patch is the width of the tyre. At any other angle, the patch will be the edge. A rounded tyre retains the same contact patch at all angles – see any high performance motorbike tyre.

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    But the contact patch size is dependent on pressure alone – so it is the same at any angle – the tyre deforms to acheive this.

    A motorbike tyre is quite different I’d have thought, much greater contact area, higher rolling resistance, probably shaped the way they are so they deform more easily cornering where most grip is needed.

    HoratioHufnagel
    Free Member

    I’ve been in a crit race behind someone with deep carbon wheels, and they did exactly as you describe. Mine didn’t. we were doing the same speed through a tight corner. I run the narrow rims (never had a problem with them tbh).

    My moneys on them being too stiff.

    Seen it happen a few times.

    (fyi – i was using 25mm GP4000s/4 Season).

    mtbtomo
    Free Member

    I generally run at 110psi.

    The deep section rims do seem to be pretty good on the straights, and I used to think pretty good on the bends. But it must have been dry and super smooth.

    Having tried them in wet (but not torrential) conditions, braking isn’t that bad.

    Has anyone had any experience of Specialized S-Works Turbo tyres?

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