What did you do to your Cruzbike today?

[ratz]

Yeah so I'm going to save myself the trouble and just go with your pre determined results. If side winds are truly not an issue I'll keep them on.

Ditto Larry; compared to the weight of some 90mm rims without covers, the lighter wheel with covers are way ahead; to the point of why worry. If you want Lighter than in the off season (you have one of those right ?) You could take a super light set of box rim climbers and shrink fit some Dacron cloth covers for the ultimate light weight climbing disc wheel. As long as you don't mind a shorter life span they could give you that edge is a super climbing event.

The Old link is dead but you can still see the last snap shot of the website from 2014.

https://web.archive.org/web/20140209122737/http://www.fleettrikes.com/tth9.htm#maxdacron

The Dacron is still a very competitive solution; the rest form that article not so much.

 

[RojoRacing]

Can anyone with a full disc or wheel setup with wheel covers get an exact weight in grams of just their wheel with no tire or tube? I'd like to compare my setup to see where I land in the spectrum of wheels. I don't recall my wheels bare weight so I'll have to weigh it again with and without the covers. I'll also remove the rotor and weigh it separately since most of you don't have a rotor.

We can't really compare our discs wheels to what the DF guys use because their disc are drive wheels and thus have heavier and more complex hubs.

 

[ratz]

Can anyone with a full disc or wheel setup with wheel covers get an exact weight in grams of just their wheel with no tire or tube? I'd like to compare my setup to see where I land in the spectrum of wheels. I don't recall my wheels bare weight so I'll have to weigh it again with and without the covers. I'll also remove the rotor and weigh it separately since most of you don't have a rotor.

We can't really compare our discs wheels to what the DF guys use because their disc are drive wheels and thus have heavier and more complex hubs.

I can get you weight with a tubeless tire mounted; un-mounting it won't be in the cards as it's a bontrager and those are a some-b to unmount.

 

[RojoRacing]

I can get you weight with a tubeless tire mounted; un-mounting it won't be in the cards as it's a bontrager and those are a some-b to unmount.

Yeah I figured you tubeless guys would say that but I know you know exactly how much that tire weighs so we can do some math and guestamate the sealant and stem weight as well.

No skewers though

 

[trplay]

Flo 30 100mm wheel with aero jacket:
wheel w/ two wraps stans tape: 765 g
Aero jacket disc 449
------------
total: 1214g
Mounted : pro one tubeless
& stem 36mm: 251g
no sealant: --------------
total 1465

Flo is my go to guys when it comes to wheels. Why? Not because I actually believe everything they publish simply because they will answer your questions promptly. They will return your phone calls. I do believe they are sincere in their propaganda. Give them a call and give them your quandary. They will give you an educated opinion. Here's what Flo has to say about disc vs weight climbing: http://flocycling.blogspot.com/2014/01/flo-cycling-great-debate-aero-vs-weight.html

 

[RojoRacing]

Flo 30 100mm wheel with aero jacket:
wheel w/ two wraps stans tape: 765 g
Aero jacket disc 449
------------
total: 1214g
Mounted : pro one tubeless
& stem 36mm: 251g
no sealant: --------------
total 1465

Flo is my go to guys when it comes to wheels. Why? Not because I actually believe everything they publish simply because they will answer your questions promptly. They will return your phone calls. I do believe they are sincere in their propaganda. Give them a call and give them your quandary. They will give you an educated opinion. Here's what Flo has to say about disc vs weight climbing: http://flocycling.blogspot.com/2014/01/flo-cycling-great-debate-aero-vs-weight.html

Thanks for the info and even though I have zero dealing with Flo I do get the impression of passion from them. Glad to hear they also are a pleasure to work with as well. The reason I didn't use them was they don't offer a non drive disc and the aero jacket covers weren't a final option I was willing to consider due to several reasons including weight and a potentially poor fit to my application. I have read most of their stuff and like that they put it out there in a clear manner so I can interpret it how I like.

 

[RojoRacing]

Ok I read the findings on the link you posted and they are interesting but hard to use on many of my courses. So many of my climbs are near as steep as their hill climb course but when descending there is little to no chance to coast the bike up to speed like you'd find on an Ironman course. So weight has you at a loss on the climb but aero is useless on the descent because your on the brakes. If all my DHs were like my one top speed hill on my commute it'd be aero hands down.

They also show that even with the climb insolated that the disc setup is basically the same as the lightweight training wheel setup but that based on a crappy rim design with its weight cut down to top of the line specs. I wonder where a high end sub 40 mm Reynold or Enve wheel would land on this charts because we know based on FLOs own findings there is more to aero then simply rim depth.

Another factor that isn't so related to us on recumbents is drafting and attacking. Sure we can draft but it isn't as critical for us compared to the DF riders. So if a DF attacks we can let them burn themselves up a bit a slowly reel them back in. Now if you were on a DF bike you want go with the attack to stay in the draft as much as possible and prevent a breakaway. When this is required wheel weight has a much bigger role to play then aero because your accelerating and not maintaining speed.

 

[trplay]

If I remember correctly you are 20 minutes down to the guy in the 3crown lead. Knowing you, I seriously doubt you are going to be in any group ride. My bet is you haul ass from the start and try and break the guy currently ahead. Essentially if he doesn't bonk you don't win. From an old geezer, get the fastest, lightest, high end wheel you can find and make him bonk before you do. This ain't no strategy race.

 

[ratz]

What's the old saying; "You can't make it up on the down hill"; If you are going to be riding the brakes down hill and there are no flats that require a sustained output leave the covers at home and get a 20 spoke climbing wheel with bladed spokes. Nobody does the assault on MT Michell on Aero wheel unless that's the only ones they have/brought.... Or it's @LarryOz treating it as a training ride.

For that matter if you really want to know Best Bike Spits can tell you the answer; just use the best TT bike model they have and adjust for Aero and Weight of the two scenarios. Their math will get you into the 98 percentile. Cool stuff, not sure it improves or ruins racing but it's still cool.

 

[RojoRacing]

It'll be a much more complicated race then you just played it out as. It starts with like 20 miles of flat -1% where I hold a huge advantage but they are fresh to trying and stay with me. Then it's a 6000' climb over 20 miles where if I did manage to drop them they'll certainly catch back up and probably still open up a gap of several mins at the very least. The DH is unknown unknown to me so at best on the Vendetta I can match the leaders pace, if I was on the Ridely I could easily out match anyone on a DH. Then the rest of the course is generally flat with several 3-4% climbs and one very long 35mile -1% grade back down to the start. So in theory I'll pull away, get passed and dropped, catch back up and hopefully pull away again over the last 100 miles or so. Basically a 11 hour game of cat and mouse. Oh and I need to win by 30 mins and not 20 mins. If the race wasn't 6 hours away I'd take the motorcycle out to the mountain and give it a few good runs to familiarize myself with it. I think I'll just focus my goals in this order

1. Win the individual race which is always an accomplishment
2. Try and break the current course record
3. Finish ahead by 30 mins and win the series

I'm confident in goal #1 and the more I look at the data I think I can manage #2 as well. Goal #3's success probably lies with the other guy not finding a group to work with or having a pour day.

The one advantage I have it my main rivals are under the impression I won't be there because I explicitly said I wouldn't make the last round so they don't have to worry about if a recumbent is fair or not. They'll obviously see me at the start but if I play it low key and dart out from the get go they may not have the time to organize a team to work against me in the first 20.

 

[RojoRacing]

Flo 30 100mm wheel with aero jacket:
wheel w/ two wraps stans tape: 765 g
Aero jacket disc 449
------------
total: 1214g
Mounted : pro one tubeless
& stem 36mm: 251g
no sealant: --------------
total 1465

Flo is my go to guys when it comes to wheels. Why? Not because I actually believe everything they publish simply because they will answer your questions promptly. They will return your phone calls. I do believe they are sincere in their propaganda. Give them a call and give them your quandary. They will give you an educated opinion. Here's what Flo has to say about disc vs weight climbing: http://flocycling.blogspot.com/2014/01/flo-cycling-great-debate-aero-vs-weight.html

Ok so bare 55mm wheel with rim tape 860g
Wheel covers 178g per wheel
Tape to hold on covers 18g per wheel
Latex tube 87g
Gp4000s reflective 25mm 227
Wheel with covers installed no tire 1052
Wheel with covers, tire, latex tube 1367
Complete disc wheel with rotor and tire 1480

So may setup is a touch lighter then your when you add sealant but basically close enough to call even. Your wheel is 100g lighter probably from the hub alone then my heavier wheel, rotor and lighter covers balance it out.

 

[trplay]

Yes, but Flo wheels are considered to be heavy when comparing true high end wheels. Flo's give you that almost as good but at half the cost kinda thing. What is 30 minute ahead boy riding on?

 

[RojoRacing]

Yes, but Flo wheels are considered to be heavy when comparing true high end wheels. Flo's give you that almost as good but at half the cost kinda thing. What is 30 minute ahead boy riding on?

S-works tarmac or similar road bike no tri bars I didn't note the brand but looks like ever other team kitted road racer in a skin suite . I Figure is 15lbs or less similar to my Ridely.

 

[trplay]

Wish you the very best. Will be eagerly waiting to hear how it goes. Thanks for racing!

 

[RojoRacing]

Rode it to work this morning then stomped on the local noon race/ride for and hour. My cat 1-2 riders seem a bit more like cat 4-5 right now. I was worried I didn't have the outright power I did 3 months ago because I haven't really tried much since getting back on the bike. I've only really just been logging in good solid miles to rebuild my base. Today I got my HR up to 187bpm reeling in the group on the big climb, that's 99% of my max and I felt strong doing it. I now feel slightly more confident going into next weekend 200 mile race then I did a week ago.

 

[trapdoor2]

Installed a set of bar-end plugs from Fyxation

Took 'em for a test-drive yesterday evening. Work like they're supposed to, made my LBS very happy for only $13.

During the test drive, I was running down a 1/4 mi descent (concrete slab MUT, very bouncy) at 20mph and was passed by a kid on a 'freestyle' bike, pedaling like mad to catch his buddy up ahead. Of course, the trail takes a hard right and the two of them slowed down and bunched up right in the turn where I needed to pass. I snaked my way thru them (and the turn) and started winding up the clock again when I heard "on your left!" and 'whoosh', a kid (DF) in full kit went by me like I was standing still.

I couldn't let him just drop me like I wasn't there...so I jumped on it and caught him...doing 21mph. The trail takes a very narrow (and very blind) turn under a rail trestle and I refuse to do more than walking speed there (I actually hit my brother there head-on once with the Barons. Of course I went down. He just bounced off. ). The kid squirted thru and was a couple hundred yards ahead of me by the time I got thru the turn. So...I cranked it up again and re-started the chase...I was gaining until I looked down at my HR = 157. That's 97%...and I was doing 22mph. I wound it down and let him go.

The good news is that all this riding has made a difference. Wed night at weigh-in, my BP was 118/60. HR was 51.

 

[trapdoor2]

What did I do to my V20 this weekend? I tore down the shift & brake cabling (all around) and installed full new Jagwire "Pro XL" kit. I had several niggling problems that had been haunting me for the past couple of weeks...I'll talk about them in a separate post.

I'd be out riding it except the old bar wrap didn't survive the tear-down. I also split a brifter hood (minor split, I'll have to order a new one). I didn't think about this being Labor Day...LBS not open today. I'll get a hood on order and pick up some more bar wrap at the LBS tomorrow.

I did do another training ride on Sat...35miles, very pleasant. Had to walk up the last 100yds of one hill (around mile 25). I kept turning the pedals but not enough to keep the speed above about 6mph. The V20 does not like to remain upright at such a crawl so I chose to bail and walk. Ah well, I got to sail down the other side and post my fastest speed yet on this bike: 32.7mph. Very impressed with how smooth and stable it was...rock solid. Most of that 'feel' is simply me having gotten more comfortable on the bike. There were no 'white knuckles', just a delightful rush to the bottom of the hill. Helps that this is a dead-straight descent with smooth asphalt. Scads of bikes out Saturday, even saw a lady on a tadpole trike.

 

[hoyden]

Wrapped the bars and trimmed the cables to length. Note to self: I know red bar tape makes the bike faster but next time go with black. It matches the chain grease on my hands better.

 

[RojoRacing]

Drilled, tapped and installed a tiny 4mm bolt and O-ring to prevent the forks on the Vendetta from flopping open during maintenance and wheel changes.

 

[RAR]

Jason, I do like your style !