Aero wheels don't just look cool but we're
also told that they make you faster too.
But how much faster? We wanted to do an
experiment to see typically how much
more speed an aero wheel can give you.
So to do that we came down here to
Herne Hill velodrome in south London
where we are going to put three
different sets of wheels to the test. So
the first set of wheels we have is a
pair of Mavic Ksyrium R-SYS SLR clinchers.
We've picked these because they
represent the typical box section
clincher wheel that you get on a normal
road bike and most road bikes are
equipped with a shallow wheel like this.
Second set of wheels were going to
test are a pair of Enve Smart 4.5 which have
a 40mm front rim and a 50mm back rim.
Now we picked those because that's a
very classic typical current
professional set up. For the final set of
wheels we've got a HED GT3 trispoke
front wheel and a Lighweight Autobahn Disc
which is incredibly bling in about
£2500. Now we've
picked this because it's said to be the
ultimate time trial setup and it's been
used by the likes of Alberto Contador
amongst others. For our experiment
Dr. Hutch's going to be doing the riding.
For those unfamiliar with Dr. Hutch he's
sort of a pound shop Stig. And he's gonna
be riding each set of wheels for 10
minutes at 200 watts and 10 minutes at
300 watts around the velodrome. We're
doing this because we thought 200 Watts
was maybe typical of a decent club
rider or a sportive rider
and 300 watts is maybe more than a
number a time trialist or a racer at
hit. So we'll see what the benefit might
be if you're riding quickly and even
then what the benefit might be if you're
maybe not going quite at a race pace. For
consistency Hutch is going to begin
every run from a rolling start and we're
using Powertap P1 pedals for power
measurement and we're also using
Challenge Record tyres with latex inner
tubes on all the wheels. I'll be riding
the same Merida Reacto team bike and
all the tests and keeping a consistent
position on the drops and all the tests
we do to try and keep a level playing
field.
Before we get on to the results, Oliver
is a proper scientist and would like to
issue a quick disclaimer. Yes, so we're
aware this is not the most accurate test
in the world but for all the wind tunnel
data that exists around bikes and wheels
no one actually rides their bike in a
wind tunnel. I do. Apart from Hutch. So
based on that we want to see what
actually happens when you ride these
things outside so there is value in that
and Herne Hill is about as much as a
controlled environment as you can get
outside. So, Oliver, what were the results?
The Mavics that you rode first at 200
watts you travelled the distance of
5120m,
an average speed of 30.7 km/h and at
300 watts you traveled 6070m at an average speed of 36.4km/h.
So quite a
bit faster faster - yeah, yeah. So then on
to the Enves you travelled at 200 watts
5460m
at an average speed of 32.7km/h. So that's
two and a bit kilometres an hour faster? A two kilometers an hour faster. And at
300 watts you travelled 6442m
at an average speed of 38.6km/h.
So again roughly two kilometres an hour
faster. So for the super-duper TT set
up at 200 watts you travelled 5520m,
an average speed 33.12km/h.
And at 300 watts... Little
quicker... Yeah, a little bit quicker. And at
300 watts
you traveled 6600m at 39.6km/h.
So that's basically
25 miles an hour. And that's
quicker again. Yeah, so just a little bit
quicker than the Enves but I think the
main thing is the difference between the
Enves and the time trial wheels were quite
small. So the big
step up is from the kind of box section
simple shallow rim wheels up to the
modern rim wheels. Yeah and even at 200
watts you're traveling 2km/h faster
on  a 40/50mm rim.
And it's actually
quite windy here today so you know with
the kind of your angles and the rest of
it actually deep rims probably start
to perform even better. But it does go to
show that I mean even if you're just
averaging 200 watts over the course of a
100 miles sportive that could really
add up to a massive. If you're spending
5 or 6 hours out it's going to be most of
another hour's work. So if saving two
kilometres an hour is important to you
then investing in some aero wheels is well
worth considering. How much you care
about two kilometres an hour Oliver? I've
killed for two kilometres an hour.
