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Sur La Plaque: Café Roubaix Haleakala Climbing Wheels

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/”/]

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

Gianni says:

Feb 21 2013 at 1:44 pm

@Buck Rogers

Yeah, seeing Virenque crack is a beautiful sight. Pantani was at the height if his powers right there. Hematocrit at 49.99.

@frank Brilliant way to win...the Pantani argument. Baboooosch.

to my point

Mathematically, instantaneous acceleration"”acceleration over an infinitesimal interval of time"”is the rate of change of velocity over time:

i.e., the derivative of the velocity vector as a function of time.
(Here and elsewhere, if motion is in a straight line, vector quantities can be substituted by scalars in the equations.)

Average acceleration over a period of time is the change in velocity divided by the duration of the period

boom.
frank says:

Feb 21 2013 at 1:52 pm

@tessar

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.

Don't sweat it, nothing like a good argument to get the juices flowing. And contrary to what ol' Gianni says, I don't mind being wrong. Its just really hard to convince me I'm wrong. Which I'm not.
The Oracle says:

Feb 21 2013 at 2:13 pm

@Gianni

Uhhhh ... what the ...?

I'm not around much for a few months, and all youse guys is turned into effin' geniuses or sumptin.
Dr C says:

Feb 21 2013 at 2:47 pm

@Gianni

to my point

Mathematically, instantaneous acceleration"”acceleration over an infinitesimal interval of time"”is the rate of change of velocity over time:

i.e., the derivative of the velocity vector as a function of time.
(Here and elsewhere, if motion is in a straight line, vector quantities can be substituted by scalars in the equations.)

Average acceleration over a period of time is the change in velocity divided by the duration of the period

boom.

Your calculations are correct Gianni (I just looked it up on Youtube)
paolo says:

Feb 21 2013 at 2:49 pm

@frank

@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.

Fuck me that clip is inspiring....makes me want to go out and just crush it!! 37 mins for a 14k+ climb. Piuma is an average 6% at just over 6k and it takes me 37 mins....on a good day.
Nobody has really talked about stiffness being a big factor. My climbing wheels are 500g less in weight than my "training wheels" which are complete noodles and it sure feels like the stiffness is at least as much of a factor.
Dr C says:

Feb 21 2013 at 2:51 pm

@roger

top drawer on the spoke count!

@Chris

@Dr C Jesus, you'll be elected official club time keeper or record keeper if you carry on like that? Are you growing a beard as well.

There's only one solution: up the doses on your self medication, tell your colleagues you're off to an important conference in Lille at the end of march or there abouts and come and rattle the fuck out of your brain until normal function is resumed.

Maybe all that banging around on the stones last year has caused all my ongoing mental problems - I'll wait until 2014 for some smoother tarmac - so long as the Keepers Tour isn't to Belfast for the start of the Giro....
Fausto says:

Feb 21 2013 at 2:51 pm

@The Oracle

@Gianni

Uhhhh ... what the ...?

I'm not around much for a few months, and all youse guys is turned into effin' geniuses or sumptin.

I don't buy it - I think it's a glitch in the matrix.

Great video though, I'd forgotten just how damn fast pros used to go up hills in the Top Fuel era. Beautiful, if not a little terrifying.
roger says:

Feb 21 2013 at 3:24 pm

@Dr C it was a close call. i almost ran out of fingers and toes.

@Gianni before you start up with all that, can you please explain how the circle peg fits into that triangle hole? please?
Barracuda says:

Feb 21 2013 at 3:44 pm

If lighter wheels are better than heavier aero wheels, and a lighter bike is better for going upwards that a heavier bike, the surely this story must be true also :-

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/10/scientists-suggest-beer-after-workout/

Not sure if its been posted previously, but makes sense to me, I think, better have a beer a decide.
Barracuda says:

Feb 21 2013 at 3:54 pm

@frank

@tessar

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.

Don't sweat it, nothing like a good argument to get the juices flowing. And contrary to what ol' Gianni says, I don't mind being wrong. Its just really hard to convince me I'm wrong. Which I'm not.

You were wrong once, but then you realised you were mistaken.