Recently got my first set of deep section road wheels (58mm) and have liked them so far. However as yet ive not riden them in strong wind. I've got a sportive tomorrow and the forecast is wind at 15mph with gusts to 30mph. That sort of wind wouldnt normally bother me much, but i keep reading scare stories of deep sections and the wind....is it a daft idea riding with them? What sort of wind forecast do you change wheels for?
I've seen a friend blown four feet across a road on a light bike with deep rims. It was a crosswind coming out of a tunnel on a descent. Afraid I wasn't measuring the wind speed though 😀
They just take more physical effort to keep in line,which becomes tiring over time.
Its a fairly light bike with a fairly heavy lump riding it 😀
It's the moments you're not expecting it, like nach's example. Farm gates and gaps in hedges become entertaining. They're not [i]that[/i] bad though.
OP you're not doing the Cambridge sportive by any chance are you? National Forest one as well (amongst others no doubt) I suppose, but if it's the former I too am concerned about whether I am about to be blown off course tomorrow!!
They are fine and you'll adapt pretty quickly. You will also gain most benefit into a headwind. Just be a little wary of gusting conditions and don't use a death grip.
I did a very windy race with a triathlete in his first race on 808's. Everyone gave him a wide berth!
They're fine. And are they your only wheels anyway? Its more the terrain that dictates choice for me.
50mm on my main bike and it's the strong gusts that catch you but I've never felt like I was going to be taken out. Relaxed grip and absorb the buffets.
Worst has been on the TT bike in 25-30mph side winds and the tri spoke front was quite alarming at times.
Ask Hora ... 😀
Was the Drumlanrig tearfund sportive (an event which i'd thoroughly recommend - good route, good cakes all the proceeds go to charity too).
They are my only 11sp wheels (i have ordered shallower ones too but they've not arrived yet) and my existing 10sp ones are a few years old now and not compatable. Survived ok only one scary moment, combination of an exposed section after a sheltered bit, one hand off the bars digging around in my back pocket and descending so my own fault. For similar conditions in the future i'll go with a shallower front wheel.
Just be wary of gusting cross winds as always. Those conditions are fairly standard for Northumberland as we have a lot of open exposed Moorland.
In my experience it actually depends a lot on the wheels and their shape (and I don't mean round...).
The modern, wider styles like HED and Zipp are much much better and easier to handle than the sharper, flatter older styles like Cosmics.
I've recently had two races in strong winds i.e enough to break mall branches.
I have Lightweight Standard Generation 2 and they were lethal up front, so reverted to a low profile rim on the front. Two riders on Tuesday went down with no one else around them, both on deep rims.