I’m not going to lie to you, friction is an asshole. In the bottom bracket, in the bending of every single link in your chain as it rolls over the cogs and threads its way through the rear derailleur, and in the pulleys themselves, the devils. I cleaned out my rain bike last weekend after a few rides where I was forced to neglect my usual daily maintenance routine and they puked up chunks of grit before they started moving lightly again. Every turn of the pedals, each of those points of friction adds up and take away from your Maximum V Potential at any given moment.
While this next point is true for Cycling in general, it is true for climbing in particular: the trick to riding well is to keep turning the pedals at your current rhythm. Failing that, you just wind up being less awesome than you were a moment earlier. Speed is like time; you can never get it back (it might also be money, but the math is hard to sort out.) You worked hard to get going as fast as you were, and slowing down just means you lose all that effort. What’s worse, if you want to get going that fast again, you have to do all that same work all over again, and even then, you’re just back to where you were, except a little lighter on the V Potential.
Friction may well be an asshole, but its not as big an asshole as gravity. The acceleration of gravity is 9.8 meters per second squared, which means that climbing at a sustained speed is basically like accelerating constantly; in order to climb at that rate, you’re accelerating enough to neutralize the pull from gravity which is trying its best to drag you back down the hill. Not to mention that you’re working against all that friction in your drivetrain.
To summarize, friction and gravity are assholes.
With these two points in mind, earlier this year I had Café Roubaix build me some lightweight climbing wheels. I didn’t really know what climbing wheels are good for, but I wanted to try some and I was thinking that any weight advantage I could find would be a good thing with respect to the winter months and the associated packing on of the wrong kind of weight in the engine room. 970 grams, you say? That sounds good – I’ll have them, thanks.
The first surprise was the box they arrived in, which I was certain must have been empty. Mounting them with tires and a cassette, I got used to how they felt in my hands. Funny how weight works; you grow accustomed to it. When I went to place them in the bike I first removed my rear Zipp 404 from the frame, which in comparison felt like an anchor.
They looked the business installed, but photos do a better job describing that. On to the riding. The first pedal stoke felt good; responsive and light. But nothing crazy, once I got going a bit. There was some more snap, for sure, but it wasn’t like I’d just had a blood transfusion on the second rest day of the Tour or anything like that. But on the hills the world turns on its head as the acceleration of gravity rejoins the conversation. The steeper the gradient, the more the wheels shine; simply put, they just keep spinning. Should you encounter a change in pitch for the worse, apply a touch of V and they spin up like a washing machine.
They almost converted me into a grimpeur. Almost. And, they help answer how the Pros move Sur La Plaque up giant mountains, absorbing changes in pitch like they’re nothing and accelerating away on the steepest sections. I am given to understand that talent and training play a part, but their climbing wheels don’t hurt either. The right tools make all the difference.
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/frank@velominati.com/CR Haleakala/”/]
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@tessar
Congratulations on passing your exams. Strong work, chappy.
First off, lighten up. This is humor, not science or fact or probably even amusing or informative. I would have thought referred to Gravity as an asshole might have suggested that. On the other hand, I did refer to the acceleration which the force of gravity causes an object to be subjected to. Drop something and you'll see what I'm talking about. We refer to this as the Acceleration of Gravity, and people smarter than me have worked that out to be 9.8 m/s2.
If you've been paying attention in your classes, you will understand what the coefficient of friction is, and that even if something is blocking something else from falling at any given moment, gravity is still exerting the same pull on that object. Thats why you're not floating away right now.
The coefficient of friction together with the bike plus your body's friction with the air (which we call wind resistance) is what will make your bike stop rolling forward once you stop pedaling.
The force of gravity is what will make your bike roll back down the hill once you stop pedaling.
Both of these facts mean that any time you're riding at a constant speed, you're combatting both of those forces, which effectively can be viewed as constantly accelerating.
Finally, with all due respect, your classroom can't adequately demonstrate the difference between climbing wheels and deep dish wheels. Go out and compare them, and you'll immediately realize that your teachers are not always right.
Cheers.
@frank
While I know we never let facts get in the way of a good story, but clarification for the readers: front is 20hole and rear is 24 hole. but what that boils down to is 22 avg front and 22 avg rear. so maybe both of ya'll just split the difference right off the bat. i like that kinda math.
@frank We agree right until the point where you say it can be seen as constantly accelerating. If you're applying the same amount of force, and the evil gremlins are applying the same forces, then it's constant speed. And once a wheel - any wheel - moves at a constant speed, it doesn't matter how heavy it is, or where that heaviness is (moment of inertia), it will require the same zero net-force to remain at that state. Surge, stand on the pedals or slow down - and we're talking about another issue entirely.
Obviously, I know they're not exactly the same. My budgetatus "climbing" wheels may be humble 1600g wheels, but it's the same weight-delta between them and my training bricks as between your Zipps and Hakeakalas. The difference in feel is marked, however any difference in time would more likely be down to worn out shit hubs, heavy-duty tyres and, well, the extra 500g I'm lugging around than just the difference in rim weight. As soon as I put in an extra surge - of course the lighter hoops respond better. But surging is a no-no when it comes to time-trialling, regardless of terrain.
Finally, just a note: It may come of as serious and overly important, but that's just because nit-picking into bike-related details is fun. I'm not a serious person.
VVLV
@tessar
Don't worry about Frank, he is dutch and hates to be wrong. Riding at near steady effort is not the same as accelerating either on the flat or up a slope. I'll stop there and say I agree with the mechanical engineer.
@tessar When climbing though, because one has to overcome the constant deceleration of gravity one needs to be constantly accelerating to maintain constant speed. When coming back down the hill, except if you've reached terminal velocity, one has to constantly decelerate to keep speed constant (brake).
@snoov
This.
@Gianni
WHO'S SIDE ARE YOU ON HERE?
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Need a DS? @cal did it last year and knows from cycling. I did it the year before and don't know shit. Give a holler if you come early for a recon ride.
@tessar
The reason I consider climbing accelerating is that's basically what you're doing uphill. Your bike wants to go back downhill, and unless you have a perfect stroke (I don't) you are constantly accelerating your bike with every turn of the pedals. In climbing, I don't think there is any such thing as actually maintaining a constant speed (probably not on the flats either, but you certainly get closer). And, the steeper the climb, the more pronounced this effect is as your bike basically jerks its way uphill.
The steeper the climb or the longer the climb, the more it matters.
@frank Fucking AWESOME Video!!!
Loved seeing the ultimate twatwaffle Virenque blow in the corner. BAM, lights out.
@ Frank : Man i love those old clips, they have a way of just getting me pumped up and the music didn't hurt . Lucky for me i have the day off. So out to see if i can find that man with the hammer. Cheers.