$5,000 wheel sets

[petitepedal ★]

That is what is running on today's Tour...

Parr8 you need another part time job!!

[ChrisL]

Just now, petitepedal said:

That is what is running on today's Tour...

Parr8 you need another part time job!!

Shoot a full time job, G man needs two sets for cross!

[Rattlecan ★]

I'm selling wheels too cheap, obviously.

[Parr8hed]

4 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

Shoot a full time job, G man needs two sets for cross!

Two sets?  One of the Dudes that races around here is sponsored by Zipp.  He still has to buy wheels, but they are deeply discounted.  He was trying to sell G a cross bike.  It was so nice, but rim brake (the reason he was selling it).  He had two of them.  Had 2 sets of 303's and a steel set of zipps (councourse 30?) to go with each bike.  A file tire, a mid tire and a mud tire.  So when he traveled he took a minimum of 2 bikes and 6 sets of zipp wheels with tubulars attached.  

[ChrisL]

3 minutes ago, Parr8hed said:

Two sets?  One of the Dudes that races around here is sponsored by Zipp.  He still has to buy wheels, but they are deeply discounted.  He was trying to sell G a cross bike.  It was so nice, but rim brake (the reason he was selling it).  He had two of them.  Had 2 sets of 303's and a steel set of zipps (councourse 30?) to go with each bike.  A file tire, a mid tire and a mud tire.  So when he traveled he took a minimum of 2 bikes and 6 sets of zipp wheels with tubulars attached.  

See, two full time jobs!  Get on it sir!

[Zephyr]

I am not nearly a good enough rider for $5000 wheel sets.  Plus i probably exceed the maximum weight limit for then

[Parr8hed]

1 minute ago, ChrisL said:

See, two full time jobs!  Get on it sir!

And my wife would need 2 full time jobs as well.

[Kzoo]

3 minutes ago, Parr8hed said:

And my wife would need 2 full time jobs as well.

Is this a problem?

 

[maddmaxx ★]

Nope.  Nada. Never.

I splurged last year on a $150 dollar set of Shimano wheels.

[ChrisL]

2 minutes ago, Parr8hed said:

And my wife would need 2 full time jobs as well.

Right, bats, cleats, gloves and travel ball expenses don’t come cheap!

I’m assuming softball pitchers drag their foot too.  We went through 2 sets of cleats a season, sometimes 3 and the team cleats didn’t have toe guards so they were useless to us...

[Razors Edge ★]

2 hours ago, petitepedal said:

That is what is running on today's Tour...

Parr8 you need another part time job!!

I don't quite "get" the Lightweights - any model. But in this particular case (AND WHERE ARE THE SPOILER TAGS) I am wondering why/if Ineos' bikes are portly and over the 6.8kg limit normally.  It seems odd that the premier team in pro cycling wouldn't normally have to add weight to many of the bikes the team uses (minus the TT rigs) - especially for a littler guy like Bernal (5'9").  

I think it would be more interesting to see if they did the wheels swaps, but then also added some weight at the BB or may some other place on the bike.  Pros generally ride fast enough for aero wheels to almost always have an impact, so dropping wheel weight but losing aero advantages seems an odd choice. Ineos will have put some thought into it, but I doubt they will pass that info on to us.

[Rattlecan ★]

I just delivered 3 wheels today, two front with dynohubs, one rear. Thru axle boost standard, $1,700 Cdn for the three.  I guess he got a good deal.

[Page Turner]

...I assemble my own wheels. I don't try to sell them to anyone else.  All of my wheel sets have an insurance value of $10,000 per set,

[Razors Edge ★]

1 minute ago, Rattlecan said:

I just delivered 3 wheels today, two front with dynohubs, one rear. Thru axle boost standard, $1,700 Cdn for the three.  I guess he got a good deal.

What kind of dynohubs? Are they ones you pick for them, or that they give you?  I like those for touring rigs.  I liked the look and reviews of the SON, but it is way overkill for my needs.

[Rattlecan ★]

I've been dealing in Shutter Precision hubs. I'm using one myself, and I'm quite impressed with it.

About half the price of the SON with all the performance.

 

[Prophet Zacharia]

7 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

so dropping wheel weight but losing aero advantages seems an odd choice. Ineos will have put some thought into it,

Not on climbs. Rotational weight is key.

And it’s Sky, so a small e- motor in the BB that brings the bike UCI weight limit isn’t outside the scope of possibilities.

[Razors Edge ★]

47 minutes ago, Prophet Zacharia said:

Not on climbs. Rotational weight is key. 

I don't necessarily agree.  Speed on climbs (and the SIX descents) are usually enough for these guys to warrant aero over rotational weight. Likewise, once the weight is rotating (ie accelerated), again, aero seems to become more important.  In a LOT of stop and go situations, a lower weight to spin up would seem helpful, but once wheels are moving at essentially a steady rate - one speed on flats, one speed on climbs, one speed on descents - you're done accelerating that rotational weight (which is already relatively insignificant).

It's a topsy-turvy world when you start digging into what seems to makes sense vs what scientifically makes sense.   But feel free - as ever - to show me the error of my ways. 

 

[Prophet Zacharia]

17 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

I don't necessarily agree.  Speed on climbs (and the SIX descents) are usually enough for these guys to warrant aero over rotational weight. Likewise, once the weight is rotating (ie accelerated), again, aero seems to become more important.  In a LOT of stop and go situations, a lower weight to spin up would seem helpful, but once wheels are moving at essentially a steady rate - one speed on flats, one speed on climbs, one speed on descents - you're done accelerating that rotational weight (which is already relatively insignificant).

It's a topsy-turvy world when you start digging into what seems to makes sense vs what scientifically makes sense.   But feel free - as ever - to show me the error of my ways. 

 

Do you know at what point they talk about wheel choice during this stage? I’ve been in and out of the room and haven’t seen it. I’m at 17 miles to go.

[Razors Edge ★]

4 minutes ago, Prophet Zacharia said:

Do you know at what point they talk about wheel choice during this stage? I’ve been in and out of the room and haven’t seen it. I’m at 17 miles to go. 

I saw some short little discussion about it pretty early on. It was just a photo of the Lighweights on the team car.  Minimal discussion.

[Prophet Zacharia]

4 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

I saw some short little discussion about it pretty early on. It was just a photo of the Lighweights on the team car.  Minimal discussion.

I just saw a photo about the 20 km to go. They look like 60 mm deep rims... they should be plenty aero!

[Prophet Zacharia]

56 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Speed on climbs (and the SIX descents) are usually enough for these guys to warrant aero over rotational weight. Lik

Grades over 8% are generally thought to favor low weight over aero for pros. You’re right, on this stage with ups and downs and valleys in between, the aero may be more important, until the last climb. The time to make a bike/wheel change would probably negate the value of the lighter weight wheel, so it would probably make sense to run aero wheels all day. Unless, of course, the commentary is wrong, and they are deep dish lightweight wheels, as they do appear to be on the team car.

[Razors Edge ★]

10 hours ago, Prophet Zacharia said:

Grades over 8% are generally thought to favor low weight over aero for pros. You’re right, on this stage with ups and downs and valleys in between, the aero may be more important, until the last climb. The time to make a bike/wheel change would probably negate the value of the lighter weight wheel, so it would probably make sense to run aero wheels all day. Unless, of course, the commentary is wrong, and they are deep dish lightweight wheels, as they do appear to be on the team car.

Here's an interesting bit from a post I read:

The decision gets stranger if considered through the lens of modern aerodynamics. Ineos is not on Lightweight’s latest rim shape; it’s on a very old-school V-shaped rim. These sort of shapes are plenty fast at low yaw angles – meaning a direct or near-direct headwind – but are completely awful in crosswinds. There are dozens of wind tunnel studies that show this. They’re not stable in crosswinds either, as the sharp edge at the tail of the rim shape catches wind. Make no mistake: These Lightweights are not aerodynamic, particularly compared to the latest low-profile rim shapes.

Every aerodynamicist I’ve ever spoken to has made it clear that running a deeper, more aerodynamic wheel, even while riding in a peloton, is on balance faster and more efficient than riding a slightly lighter but less aerodynamic wheel over the course of an entire stage. That 200 grams must mean a lot to Ineos, if it’s willing to give up on aero.

This does ignore rider feel, which, in the pro ranks, shouldn’t be ignored. Not every decision in cycling is based on data. Lightweights are also incredibly stiff, thanks to the way they’re constructed. They use carbon spokes, bonded at the rim and hub, rather than traditional metal spokes. The ride feel is unlike any other wheel, and many love it.

Regardless of why the team made the switch, when the road tilts up to 24% on La Planche des Belles Filles tomorrow, Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas surely will be happy with the swap. At the very least, they’ll feel fast.