[Closed] Will lighter wheels make me faster?

Almost certainly, it just may not be by a perceivable amount.

only bigger diameter wheels can be faster.

yes £5/s/100m of racing

The lighter a wheel is faster to accelerate for a given input of power.

Also, lighter wheels are quicker steering as they have less gyroscopic effect.

However, if you are pedalling at a steady 90rpm in top gear, two wheels identical in every respect apart from weight will have the exact same surface speed regardless.

So YES, lighter wheels will ACCELERATE faster for a given power input, but NO lighter wheels will NOT make the bike travel faster for a given input and gear ratio.

In other words, OVERALL you may be a microscopic margin faster over a given distance if you put in the same effort with lighter wheels.

So YES, lighter wheels will ACCELERATE faster for a given power input, but NO lighter wheels will NOT make the bike travel faster for a given input and gear ratio.

In other words, OVERALL you may be a microscopic margin faster over a given distance if you put in the same effort with lighter wheels.

Why bring science into it!!

if someone wants to pay for performance improvement 🙂 let them do it.

You'll notice them on climbing, but probably not descending.

what johnellison said, but also if its very windy, lighter wheels can get blown about more

and of course if they are so light they break, that will make you slower

I find it makes very little difference whether they are black, grey or lighter. HTH

lol @

if they are so light they break, that will make you slower

Pretty sure you blokes are missing the point of the thread!!

Jonba, I dont think its January thats at fault here, its the same every month since I started loitering on the site in 2004..

But if you can let me know what tyres for Afan I would appreciate it.

There's also bound to be a placebo effect. If you think your wheels are lighter, you will believe you can go faster and it's likely that you will go faster. So it's OK that manufacturers' quoted weights are all cobblers 😉

Light wheels do make a huge difference when coupled with decent training,good rubber,and technical ability.

I would argue how ever 2 interval sessions offroad a week and technical skills training would make a bigger difference and I own a wheel company...

I find it makes very little difference whether they are black, grey or lighter. HTH

It's a scientific fact that red wheels are faster. Fact.

aracer - Member

I find it makes very little difference whether they are black, grey or lighter. HTH

It's a scientific fact that red wheels are faster. Fact.

What about deep dish [sic] carbon one's they certainly look fast. Do they make them in red?

I was truly puzzled by my two identical wheel builds, the only difference was the rim colour & spoke colour, the silver rims certainly looked lighter but the scales argued & suggested they were the same weight.

I removed the stickers from the silver set & hey presto they were indeed lighter.

I had read that red is faster, but when I painted the black rims even though they appeared lighter, the scales again argued & insisted they where heavier, but they were indeed a lot faster in use.

Anyhow about those tyres for Afan?

Psychology is great. I'm a fair bit quicker with lighter wheels. It's not because they're quicker, it's because I love the way they feel, so I put more effort in. With my heavy dh wheels and tyres, they feel slow and orrible so I find it harder to throw myself into the pedalling, since the reward doesn't feel as great.

And frankly psychology is as important as anything else in biking. If your bike feels fast you're more likely to make it go fast.

Go for a really big poo, you'll loose more weight and won't cost you anywhere near as much.

I'll get me coat .

😉

See, I disagree, I have heavier wheels and lighter wheels. In the real world when I time myself around my local trails (stravaaaaa) I am significantly faster on the lighter set.

This must be due to all the changes in acceleration you get on a mountain bike. You rarely sit at one speed consistently like you do on a roadie. So I think lighter wheels do indeed make you quicker on the trails.

ooooo just read op. been trolled. oh well....I find hoverbikes are the quickest.....