Would new wheels really make a difference to my speed?

[Equinox100]

Hello,

I have the bike shown on the following link:

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/2014- ... ced-2-2014

Would it be worth my while paying for some new wheels if I would like to increase my average speed? I am considering joining a cycling club and might start doing a few time trials when the weather improves so just wanted to know if it is worth investing money.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[thelawnet]

What tyres do you have fitted? If not the original tyres or some other fast choice could be slowing you down.

Otherwise best way to increase speed is ride more. Nothing wrong with those wheels.

Aero wheels could give you 3% more speed, but it depends also on your existing speed/weight/etc. Not going to turn you from a granny into a speed demon.

I'd probably get a power meter before fancy wheels.

[gregoryoftours]

Yes tyres are your first port of call for bang for buck speed gain if you haven't already looked into it. You could also make sure that your position is as aero as possible on the bike eg lower your stem if possible, try Tri bars if allowed. I would think that these would give greater speed advantage than changing your wheels, although I'm sure that would also help a bit. But you might as well join a club first and get faster by training with them before you shell out too much on wheels when you already have a decent bike.

[Debs]

Often the stock tyres fitted to brand new bikes are slicks, or not much tread, and with inferior rubber compound, which means they won't grip well on wet roads.
They can also be lacking in puncture protection, and this added to the slippery ride on wet roads can make them a concern in winter.
It could also be said stock tyres can be a concession of the bike manufacturer to keep the price point down and profits up.

One needs to find the right compromise between a tyre with good grip and reasonable puncture protection vs a lightweight tyre with softer sidewalls which tends to roll faster.

If a summer only bike then lightweight fast tyres are very feasible, but if used all year around in all weathers would be wise to have two sets of wheels, or at least tyres for summer/winter use.

I'd recommend something like this for fast road riding: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-gra ... -pair-25c/

Having said that ^ there are better winter tyres around, and faster/lighter summer clinchers, but the above is a good compromise.

[reohn2]

The only thing tthat'll make the OP appreciably faster is to ride more and ride hard.
Greg Lemond when asked about getting fast said "it doesn't get any easier you just go faster".
So you put the miles in and you go faster,equipement only amounts to small percentages.
The engine is you and it needs running in so foget the bike and concentrate on the enigne.

[Debs]

The only thing tthat'll make the OP appreciably faster is to ride more and ride hard.

I can see your point, however, punctures and crashes on crap stock tyres will slow one down lot

[reohn2]

The only thing tthat'll make the OP appreciably faster is to ride more and ride hard.

I can see your point, however, punctures and crashes on crap stock tyres will slow one down lot

Straws are being grasped at.....

[Debs]

The only thing tthat'll make the OP appreciably faster is to ride more and ride hard.

I can see your point, however, punctures and crashes on crap stock tyres will slow one down lot

Straws are being grasped at.....

Seriously, better tyres do make a difference with average speed, but it's slight [ less than 1mph ] it may or may not make a difference with the OPs level of riding skill, but we don't know what that is (?)

However, reliability and dependability of cheapo stock tyres can be far more of an issue.

[gbnz]

The only thing tthat'll make the OP appreciably faster is to ride more and ride hard.

+ 1. And while I don't race, it's invariably amusing to pass the lycra clad road cyclists on their £2k mount, while on an old steel mount, eating a pain au chocolate and hoping the 20kg shopping on the back is ok

[alexnharvey]

I would get a good bike fitting done to maximise biomechanical and aerodynamic efficiency, or at the very least spend some time with following one of the fitting guides discussed previously in this forum.

[Brucey]

your bike is fitted with Giant P-SL1 wheels and Giant P-SL1 tyres.

Plenty of folk just ride those tyres until they are worn out. They are faster than the average training tyre but not quite as fast or quite as grippy as (different) tyres that excel in those departments. Nor are they as puncture resistant as some training tyres either, i.e. they are -like every tyre- a compromise of some kind.

The wheelset is not a particularly heavy or unaerodynamic wheelset. IIRC that model of wheelset has cartridge bearing hubs that are as smooth as any out there and (may) have a rear hub that is slightly heavier (and probably stronger) than lots of others. Provided the wheels are stress-relieved and the bearings are kept lubricated they should be a reliable wheelset, (for one of that type and weight). You could easily spend several hundred pounds on different wheels and they would be fractionally lighter (and possibly quite a bit less durable) because of the rear hub design.

If you are interested in time trialling, it is as well to bear in mind that when you are doing (say) 25mph then about 90% (or more) of your effort is dissipated against air resistance and of that, 90% (or more) of the aero drag is the aero drag of you sat on the bike (it could easily be a lot worse than that if you are not well tucked in BTW). This means that if you change

a) the rolling resistance of the tyres by 10% then really it is 10% of 5-10% of the total drag, i.e. up to 1% of the total drag or
b) the aero drag of the whole bike by 10%, (which is an absurdly high estimate of the possible drag reduction from changing wheels) then again it is 10% of ~9% or less than 1% of the total drag.

This means that if you fit the most aero wheels possible and the lightest flimsiest tyres, you are looking at 2% improvement in drag. Maximum.

By contrast if you work on your bike position and/or power output (by training) then you can expect to make much larger changes; for example just lowering your head by 1/2" might make a bigger difference than buying the most expensive wheelset going.

On a practical note I would suggest that you concentrate on training over the winter, using the extant wheels and tyres. The tyres you have may not be puncture resistant enough for winter use where you are (remember they are a compromise....) thus you may want stronger (heavier, slower) tyres for the winter. You will soon find out. When spring comes and you can wear fewer layers, you can start to work on your aero position on the bike. If you want to go racing then you can start racing on anything; your bike is good enough to win races on, so it is more than good enough to dip your toes in the world of time trialling. In a 10-mile time trial a 1% improvement is about 15 seconds or so. This means that changing the bike might net you half a minute (tops) but obviously changing the rider (power output, position on the bike) may be worth whole minutes.

If you want a simple way of checking your fitness and position, just find a hill locally and use that as a reference point. Time yourself climbing it (at a fixed pulse rate or discomfort level) as a gauge of your power output. If you can freewheel down the hill, time yourself (pref in the same session so that wind variations don't skew the results) doing that using different positions on the bike and see what difference that makes.

If you spend much time with your nose poked into any one of dozens of different cycle magazines you will repeatedly be advised to get different wheels, (in pieces of editorial, sandwiched between advertisements for, er, wheels, strangely enough)..... Yes there are benefits to be had there but realistically they are much smaller than you might think. The main benefit of buying wheels is that you have a spare set of wheels to be going on with, which is always useful, even if you keep one set shod with training tyres and one with race tyres.

cheers

[Equinox100]

Thank you all very much for your advice.

I have Continental GP 4000 II tyres which I bought separately they didn't come with the bike.

I am 6' 2" and weigh 95KG.

Sounds like I just need to put the mileage in and then fitness and speed should naturally improve. Interesting what has been said about ride position and aerodynamics playing a big part in this. The engine is in for Winter maintenance at the moment

Do you tend to get lower back pain if you ride in a more aerodynamic position? I would say my current riding position is halfway between totally upright and completely flat.

Thank you

[thelawnet]

Thank you all very much for your advice.

I have Continental GP 4000 II tyres which I bought separately they didn't come with the bike.

I am 6' 2" and weigh 95KG.

That's going to slow you down tbh.

You have a sub-8kg bike, which is very light and not far off a pro's bike.

But a pro road cyclist is going to be about 75kg at your height...

95kg might be ok for track cycling but on the road people like going up hills, and that weight is going to slow you down a lot. (Not an issue on the flat, but up a steep hill 10kg off your weight would be worth almost 10% off your speed)

[reohn2]

I can see your point, however, punctures and crashes on crap stock tyres will slow one down lot

Straws are being grasped at.....

Seriously, better tyres do make a difference with average speed, but it's slight [ less than 1mph ] it may or may not make a difference with the OPs level of riding skill, but we don't know what that is (?)

However, reliability and dependability of cheapo stock tyres can be far more of an issue.

Read my first post.

[reohn2]

Thank you all very much for your advice.

I have Continental GP 4000 II tyres which I bought separately they didn't come with the bike.

I am 6' 2" and weigh 95KG.

That's going to slow you down tbh.

You have a sub-8kg bike, which is very light and not far off a pro's bike.

But a pro road cyclist is going to be about 75kg at your height...

95kg might be ok for track cycling but on the road people like going up hills, and that weight is going to slow you down a lot. (Not an issue on the flat, but up a steep hill 10kg off your weight would be worth almost 10% off your speed)

Magnus Backstedt won Paris Roubaix weighing just under 90kg,his normal racing weight was always between 85 and 90kg.
Weight only counts against you when climbing.