I was doing some reading (from time to time I have been known to read something other than this forum) and noticed a few things - granted, these are selective recollections, but thy all struck me as interesting.
In 2005, The Disco team started using the new Bontrager areola (or something like that). It's a carbon rim with a carbon faring and the set weighs 1600 grams. The quote I read said something to the effect that the team liked these wheels for long rolling courses because of the "flywheel effect". They have abandoned the Bontrager deep carbon Zipp knockoff.
I was at the SF GP the other day, and couldn't help but notice that a bunch of the Mavic sponsored riders were all on the Cosmic Carbone's, and Hincapie was riding the Areolas. That course is 90% downhill, flat
or rolling...
Last night I was flipping through VeloNews and read the report on the recent hour record being set - the bike had a 7lb rear wheel. It was slow to spin up, but the weight on the rim kept the wheel moving - flywheel effect.
Then I started thinking about the types of races that I do. Vineman, Coeur d'Alene, local spints and World's Toughest. One climbing race per year - not even doing that one in 2006, so next year there will be no big climbing races.
All of this being said, can it really make sense to go for a heavier wheel in most triathlons to get the flywheel effect? Is that something that we, as triathletes, should consider? Would an aluminim clad Hed Alps actually be faster than the all carbon 404 that I am riding?
In 2005, The Disco team started using the new Bontrager areola (or something like that). It's a carbon rim with a carbon faring and the set weighs 1600 grams. The quote I read said something to the effect that the team liked these wheels for long rolling courses because of the "flywheel effect". They have abandoned the Bontrager deep carbon Zipp knockoff.
I was at the SF GP the other day, and couldn't help but notice that a bunch of the Mavic sponsored riders were all on the Cosmic Carbone's, and Hincapie was riding the Areolas. That course is 90% downhill, flat
or rolling...
Last night I was flipping through VeloNews and read the report on the recent hour record being set - the bike had a 7lb rear wheel. It was slow to spin up, but the weight on the rim kept the wheel moving - flywheel effect.
Then I started thinking about the types of races that I do. Vineman, Coeur d'Alene, local spints and World's Toughest. One climbing race per year - not even doing that one in 2006, so next year there will be no big climbing races.
All of this being said, can it really make sense to go for a heavier wheel in most triathlons to get the flywheel effect? Is that something that we, as triathletes, should consider? Would an aluminim clad Hed Alps actually be faster than the all carbon 404 that I am riding?