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Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best
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The best in aero anyway... by a healthy margin. I've not seen a cross-section of this rim but from the description it sounds like a big fat oval... ie similar to the Zipp Firecrest concept. It seems like a very unaero shape to me... but I guess not. The other funny thing is that Zipp and Hed have been at the top of the aero game for many years with their toroidal rim shapes, and now that the patent on that has run out they are making a completely different shape... that is even better. I'm impressed.

They tested the wheels with a 21mm Corsa CX... which makes the results even more surprising, since the Hed is the only one designed for wider tires. They did a sweep from 25 down to zero yaw, and the Hed was the only rim to have flow attachment at 15 deg... which resulted in a drag of only ~30g, compared to 150-200g for all the others. At 10 degrees things tighten up a bit, but the Stinger is still the best... and it's the best at every angle from 0-20.

Wheel, Drag @ 10 deg yaw (front wheel, 30mph)

Vision Trimax Ultimate, 175g
Cole T85 Lite, 160g
Easton EC90 TT, 145g
Bontrager Aeolus 9, 120g
Zipp 808, 110g
Hed Stinger 9, 85g

I see that Zipp has a new Firecrest 808, but this one was the old model.
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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [rruff] [ In reply to ]
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I guess they are the fastest without testing zipps fastest wheel? Why wouldn't they use the 1080 instead of the 808
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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [draketriathlon] [ In reply to ]
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All the wheels in the test were of similar dimensions. The 1080 wouldn't be of similar dimensions.
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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [NateC] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
All the wheels in the test were of similar dimensions. The 1080 wouldn't be of similar dimensions.

This.
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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [rruff] [ In reply to ]
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the Stinger is 9mm deeper then the 808

Link to the test results??
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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [rruff] [ In reply to ]
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Actually in the final assessment, they scored Zipp 2.8 and Hed 2.9 - giving Zipp a slight win.
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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [DC Pattie] [ In reply to ]
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Where can I find all this info?

And does a lower score equal better or worse? 2.8 what?

How can the Stinger be faster over all yaw angles from 0 to 20 and not be better?
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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [The Real Animal] [ In reply to ]
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Link to this so called 'test'?

Did they test slower speeds? 20-25 MPH?

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SOLD - 2009 Trek TTX 9.9 For Sale - S/54

SOLD - SRAM Red Crank 165mm 53/39
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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [tehbry] [ In reply to ]
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The test and results were just published in the recent Velonews that came out a few days ago. I dont think the results are up on their site though.


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HED. Cycling - Twitter @hedcycling - HED Wheel Selector iPhone App
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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [Vince@HED] [ In reply to ]
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ah, ok,. Well I'll have to wait till they are online somewhere. Can't get that mag in my country.
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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [tehbry] [ In reply to ]
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"Did they test slower speeds? 20-25 MPH?"

Why is it important? The effects are known and predictable enough to extrapolate the values for lower speeds from the standard 30mph wind tunnel speed. The equation(s) are fairly straightforward.
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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [DC Pattie] [ In reply to ]
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I would really like to understand why Zipp 808 got a better score. What else was used in the comparison. It could not have been price. Bearings? If you use FR I would think they would be even.

I assume the Stinger was the 09 - 10 version. I don't believe there is a new one with a new shape.
Last edited by: bartturner: Jul 29, 10 6:40
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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [TriBriGuy] [ In reply to ]
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Fair enough. I haven't done enough research to extrapolate the data myself, thus I was curious.

Just because a wheel is the fastest at 30mph and 15* means that it is also the fastest at 20mph and 15*?

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SOLD - 2009 Trek TTX 9.9 For Sale - S/54

SOLD - SRAM Red Crank 165mm 53/39
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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [rruff] [ In reply to ]
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It is interesting that on the HED web site they indicate the Stinger 9 was designed for optimal aerodynamics with a 23mm tire. They go on to say the warranty will be voided if you use anything less than a 23.

Yet in this test a 21mm tire was used. In a post earlier this year HED indicated the test results on their web site were done with a 21mm tire.

Something is up with this. Would be interesting to see test results with a tire that does not void the warranty.
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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [tehbry] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
Fair enough. I haven't done enough research to extrapolate the data myself, thus I was curious.

Just because a wheel is the fastest at 30mph and 15* means that it is also the fastest at 20mph and 15*?
Yes. This is because of how yaw angle is derived. Remember that that 30mph and 15* doesn't mean that the wind is coming at you at 30 mph and 15*. It means that you're doing 30 mph, and that the wind is coming at you at somewhat more than 15*, but the two vectors add up to 15*.

http://www.hedcycling.com/...y/yaw_calculator.asp

According to this, at 30 mph (which is fast), a 10 mph wind has to be blowing at 55* from central to show as 15* yaw. However, at 20 mph, that wind only has to be 7.5 mph to have the same yaw angle. So, here, yaw is much more important than speed.
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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [The Real Animal] [ In reply to ]
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Link to the test results??

Latest issue of the magazine.

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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [bartturner] [ In reply to ]
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I would really like to understand why Zipp 808 got a better score.

They ranked by the following criteria with no regard for absolute differences... ie if a wheel was first it got 1 point and last got 6 points... even if there was little difference between them. Plus as you can see there are 3 scores for "weight/inertia" which makes this category three times as important as aero to the overall ranking. So the ranking is useless, IMO. For TTs only the aero really matters for these.

Aero
Weight
Front wheel stiffness
Rear wheel stiffness
Front wheel inertia
Rear wheel inertia

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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [bartturner] [ In reply to ]
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I assume the Stinger was the 09 - 10 version. I don't believe there is a new one with a new shape.

Beats me... I've not seen one in person or a cross-section of these rims. Anyone? What is the shape like?

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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [rruff] [ In reply to ]
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Yep, the Stinger tested was our current version. The one that is on our site


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HED. Cycling - Twitter @hedcycling - HED Wheel Selector iPhone App
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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [NateC] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
All the wheels in the test were of similar dimensions. The 1080 wouldn't be of similar dimensions.

Then you can't really say its the fastest aero wheel. Its jut the fastest wheel between 80-90mm
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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [persondude27] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
In Reply To:
Fair enough. I haven't done enough research to extrapolate the data myself, thus I was curious.

Just because a wheel is the fastest at 30mph and 15* means that it is also the fastest at 20mph and 15*?

Yes. This is because of how yaw angle is derived. Remember that that 30mph and 15* doesn't mean that the wind is coming at you at 30 mph and 15*. It means that you're doing 30 mph, and that the wind is coming at you at somewhat more than 15*, but the two vectors add up to 15*.

Not exactly...testing at 30mph of tunnel speed is the same as when the apparent wind (i.e. the vector sum of the wind) is at 30 mph, not the bicycle ground speed. If you have a 10 mph crosswind and the apparent wind angle (the angle the wind "appears" to be coming from relative to the bike direction) is at 15 deg, then the actual bike speed is only ~22.5 mph.

Go into that yaw calculator and put the wind speed at 10 mph and the direction at 130 deg. Vary the rider speed until the values on the bottom are at ~15 deg and 30 mph. You'll see what I mean.

And to address the other poster's question, within the range of speeds we're talking about, the drag basically scales with the square of the wind velocity, so yeah, the wheel fastest at 30 mph of apparent wind and 15 deg is going to be the fastest at 20 mph of apparent wind speed and 15 deg.

http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/
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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [Vince@HED] [ In reply to ]
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Vince... is the cross-section shown anywhere? If not, can you describe the shape and dimensions?
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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [rruff] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
The best in aero anyway... by a healthy margin. I've not seen a cross-section of this rim but from the description it sounds like a big fat oval... ie similar to the Zipp Firecrest concept. It seems like a very unaero shape to me...

Perhaps it's the best compromise for an object that is hit by the air from both the tire-side (at the front of the wheel) and the rim-side (at the back of the wheel), as well as at multiple yaw angles?
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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [Andrew Coggan] [ In reply to ]
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Apparently so, but it still seems wrong to me. The edge on the 808 is not an ideal leading edge, but I'd think still a good one... and at any rate the trailing edge is most important... and how can a fairly blunt oval make a good trailing edge? At higher yaw I'm less puzzled, but I'd never predict that a fat oval would be better at zero yaw.
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Re: Velonews aero wheel test... Stinger 9 is the best [rruff] [ In reply to ]
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