I've always wondered about that.

This issue keeps me up at night.

"This moment of Inertia will be found somewhere in the range of 0 < I < infinity."

What's amazing is that you were able to narrow it down to such a tight range.

He could have used negative infinity instead of zero.

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"Go yell at an M&M"

Theorem.

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Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

There is no possible way to narrow it down any more than that, unless your talking about a specific rider, course, and conditions.

What type of wheels would you use for a moon race?
what about a race on a planet the size of jupiter?
how about pluto
or an asteriod(really really heavy) oops I meant massive
what about the far away planet with the riders the size of rabbits?
what about the planet with the riders the size of blue whales?
or the place with whipping 500 mph winds(humans have a hard time here)?
or the place with the aquatic creatures that ride on the bottom of a ocean?
or the race that is all up hill
or the race that is all down hill

Are you talking anti matter wheel? Moment of inertia depends on mass so what is "negative mass", anti matter right?

Isn't inertia a vector?

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"Go yell at an M&M"

Its funny how old english isn't the same as it is now. If everyone was uptight about spelling, languages would stay constant, aside from new words.

no inertia is something real, a vector is just an imaginative tool we use to describe things.

mott's theory:

you continue to be obsessed with a red herring.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

So have you gone and road heavy yet, I'm guessing not. So your saying there is no ideal moment of inertia and that it doesn't really matter? Or just that light as possible is the way to go. If there was a 1gram wheel on the market as stiff and strong as any of the others, would you buy it?

Yes, I have one disc setup that is very heavy and one that is very light.

I don't notice any difference when riding.

theres just nothing substantive here howard, I'm not saying there are some theoretical stability and handling advantages with a heavy wheel, I'm sure there are, but they are tiny. I can ride around on my superlight tubies just fine.

the handling issue is a red herring, a distraction.

even more of one than wheel weight slowing you down is.

might as well go light if you have the option, it is a wee bit faster.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

My road is heavy.

I haven't tried to pedal with my hands, but I'm willing to bet it would be slower

You're a physics major - show us mathematically how heavy is faster...

Fair enough, but I'd suggest that a budding scientist such as yerself have a firm grasp on, say, spelling "theorem," especially if you're gonna attach your name to one.

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Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

It's hard to have a significant moment-of-inertia without also having some mass. If you constrain yourself to 700x23's, and all the mass is near the tire bead, you will still be incurring some extra mass. That mass will increase your rolling resistance. So whatever benefits you may (think you) gain from inertial smoothing will be offset by rolling resistance.

I guess I haven't seen your math yet, so I can't say either way. Do you have anything compelling to show us?

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AndyF
bike geek

the math for inertial smoothing is in one of my threads about wheel weight, explaining why wheel weight is actually LESS bad than frame weight at steady speeds.

but its a TINY benefit.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

So the sensation of stability comfort and ease of riding I got riding heavy was all just a delusion? Or my observation that heavy wheels are more stable in the wind? just a delusion. Or that I did not rock about as much. Or that I could put out power more efficiently into a more massive than usual wheel? Or that I actually was able to perform at a better level riding heavy. All just delusions? Its funny I look at the obsession with lighter and lighter as the red herring.

Jack your not as big as me, you don't need to ride as heavy :)
would you seriously put Shane Hamman on the same wheels that a scrawny little mountain goat tour rider would ride?
give me a break, all riders are not created equal, nor should there wheels.

Do you seriously think I would ride a 7 pound homemade disk at a race I was trying to turn pro at if I had not throughly tested and determined it to be of benefit? I road over 100 miles of testing on it before I even raced on it. Then I raced on it at smaller races, then I took it to Augusta.

So there is two scenarios, the wheel works and I ride well with it, the wheel is terrible and is actually like dragging a brick and I just use it as a handicap because I'm just so good, which is it?

as long as the course is flat the extra slowness from your 7 pound disc would require more precision in testing that you have been doing to detect.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

I have actually road with heavy wheels, with a powertap, you guess are just saying what should happened. I went out and found out what does happen. I road with water something that everyone says should increase my rolling resistance, it road great. I did not notice an losses in the least. The biggest difference was HOW IT ROAD, it was easier to ride, more stable, more forgiving. Thats why I liked it. If you had a "perfect bot" ride a bike with and with out water yes the without would most likely win. I am not a perfect machine and riding heavy helps me ride more efficiently, and this is most likely why I saw the gains I did.

have you tested your ability to notice things?

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Help me understand: you rode on wet pavement, or you rode with extra water?

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AndyF
bike geek

he put water in the tubes

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

howard here is a careful, uphill, power meter test someone did where they carried a mass of water on the frame, and then did it with the water in the tires:

http://www.training4cyclists.com/...-cost-on-alpe-dhuez/

they concluded wrongly that it was slower with the water in the tires, than on the frame, due to inertia.

in fact it was slower because rolling resistance was increased.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter