Thanks Gary for the spy shots
I have been doing some test with various combinations of wheels to try and see which ones performed the best.
But with the wind being so strong and pretty gusty, the results where all over the board.
Each test was done for 5 minutes on a oval track. I did about 10 different combinations.
Sat had fastest speeds on lowest wattage where using front FLO disc and rear "Cruzbike" CF 88mm rims (22.91 mph on 152 watts.
It was pretty windy on Sat, but Sunday was worse. (Probably 15-10mph constant with higher gusts. The wind also seemed to just get stronger as the afternoon wore on. Can't be sure without a wind gauge though.
On Sun, the best was with "Cruzbike" CF 88mm rims, and back solid RENN disc (23.32 mph on 145 watts).
It is really hard to know which combo is the best, as we all know the wind doesn't blow that constant normally, so the best times were probably just because the wind may have slacked up more on that combo than any other.
If you look at the actual file on Strava you can definitely tell which way the wind is coming. Down the front strecth my wattage topped out over 300 watts usually, and down the back stretch I was barely pushing 50 watts sometimes.
It would have been nice to have a nice calm day to test with, but doesn't look like it is going to happen before Sebring.
In either event, all the wheel combinations I tried where very fast.
The time I almost took a fall: I was ramping up my wattage and rpm to go for a really hard 10 minute effort, I was coming out of turn 4 at about 28mph, when I had to turn into the headwind still with a pretty good lean for the curve (before the straight). I think the combination of going nearly 30 mph, then suddenly turning into a 20mph headwind on a curve was just a bad combination. The rear wheel shot out from under me, but I did manage to recovered without falling. It scared me slightly, so I did not push it nearly as much from that point on. My 10 minute test yielded: 4.41 miles, avg speed 26.16 on 225 watts. rpm=95, Hr=159. Max power 575 watts. I might could do better on an out and back course. It's hard to go much fast than that safely with the sharp curves you have to navigate every 100 meters or so.
All in all it was fun - and sure nice to ride outdoors for a change!
