So, I think most of us here have some sense of the nuances of what works and doesn't with deep wheels and road tires.
And it's pretty clear that having a road tire even slightly oversized or badly shaped can delaminate flow from a deep wheel and especially in off-axis winds negate some or all of the benefits.
And there are a few "deep" -- in this case meaning 40-50mm -- gravel oriented wheelsets out there. But I haven't seen any data anywhere that would suggest whether they are helpful even a little with real gravel tires on, and if so under what conditions...
You can see that even 4-5 watts of help would be much appreciated at, say, Kanza if you're looking at a hundred miles of 20mph headwinds solo. But if they really have no chance of helping much, I just see extra weight.
For reference, I'm talking specifically about 40-43mm tires with some tread/knob and for wheels Reynolds 700ATR, which are 40mm deep and ENVE 4.5 AR, which are even deeper, but there are a couple others out there in 40mm range and all are pretty wide.
Seems like if there is any benefit its like to be a couple watts straight on, but that's just a WAG.
And it's pretty clear that having a road tire even slightly oversized or badly shaped can delaminate flow from a deep wheel and especially in off-axis winds negate some or all of the benefits.
And there are a few "deep" -- in this case meaning 40-50mm -- gravel oriented wheelsets out there. But I haven't seen any data anywhere that would suggest whether they are helpful even a little with real gravel tires on, and if so under what conditions...
You can see that even 4-5 watts of help would be much appreciated at, say, Kanza if you're looking at a hundred miles of 20mph headwinds solo. But if they really have no chance of helping much, I just see extra weight.
For reference, I'm talking specifically about 40-43mm tires with some tread/knob and for wheels Reynolds 700ATR, which are 40mm deep and ENVE 4.5 AR, which are even deeper, but there are a couple others out there in 40mm range and all are pretty wide.
Seems like if there is any benefit its like to be a couple watts straight on, but that's just a WAG.