I was hoping to get your thoughts on upgrading from a 62mm DT Swiss Arc front wheel to something more in the 80mm range.
My current setup with the Gen 2 62mm wheel, Continental Aero111 and TriRig scoops is stupid stable. I can take the bike out in gusty, windy conditions or get passed by semis and never really feel more than a mild tug on the wheel.
This has led me to consider upgrading to something like a Newmen Stream 80, or Reserve 77. Does anyone have any experience running one of these wheels with a Conti 111? Would you recommend a different, deeper wheel? The newest generation of the Arc has a more V shaped profile. I’m wondering if the newest generation is better in the wind or not.
I’ve ridden and raced 50/50mms, 62/62 mm (current, HED Vanquish), 88/88, and 88/disc.
I was surprised at how small the gains were after 50/50. On training and racing, it was nearly impossible to tell if I was riding a 50 vs 88 vs disc. Really small variations in speed on the same courses well within the range of what I normally see based on my fitness, like <2 minutes over a 3 hr loop I do a lot. I do think the deeper you go the faster, but it’s surprisingly small.
In contrast, there was a very big, noticeable difference going from training wheels to a 50mm rim. I also wonder if having the aero wheel in front gives more gain than the back one as my results suggest I rode faster with 50/50 compared to my old-school training wheel front + disc cover rear but that comparison is complicated due to fitness gains when I was using the 50/50. (Power difference of <15 watts though).
I’ll admit I still want the 88/disc combo again (my were rim brake, I know have disc brakes) for looks alone. The 62s are also slightly easier to handle in crosswinds, but to be honest once I got used to my 88s, I could handle them in all but the nastiest crosswinds.
I am with Jim here - ‘leave it alone’’ is my opinion.
I use to have both, get jerked around on the 80 mm, stress in the days before a big race with high wind forecast which wheel I would race on, etc.
After a while, sold the 80 mm.
Love the stability of the 60-ish mm rim, and one less decision to make at the last minute. Peace of mind is worth it.
And I really do not feel like I am leaving much if anything on the table.
Potentially go for a less stable tyre than the 111 that rolls a bit faster. The stability change won’t be much, but you get the rolling resistance reduction in all yaw angles.
Thanks everyone! Looks like the hive mind says - not worth it. I was hoping real world testing would show larger improvements, but it looks like it’s simply not the case. Good point on the lower rolling resistance tire. Once this one wears out, I’ll switch over!
I don’t think you give up a ton with the 111. Per BRR, the 29mm 111 rolls 2.5 watts slower at 72psi than a 30mm Archetype and 2.2 watts slower than a 28mm GP5000 TT at 29kph.
But if you look at the Nero wheel test data the tire is consistently about 2.5 watts faster in aero compared to a 28mm front, at least at 50kph.
I did dozens of tests last summer with the 111 and it was never faster than then TT. It lost like 10 times to 0.
I also compared it to the 5000s and showed almost identical RR
We took it to Silverstone and we saw the aero savings were real but it was always at > 12deg yaw, which I never saw in the road tests.
Recent road Archetype tests show it is a bit faster than the TT. Silverstone aero tests showed the RR outweighs the extremely marginal aero penalty over the 28 TT. Puncture resistance is the big question mark at this point
