Fifty Plus (50+) - The wheels again.

Just gone out on the first ride on the wheels and WOW.

I am not going to separate the tyres from the wheels so count it that the two of them are what I am reporting about. First thing I noticed was how road bumps are not transmitted. Just as I leave my house there is an area of Tarmac breaking up. This was out of the saddle on the old wheels but no longer. The new wheels absorbed the bumps. 1/2 mile into the ride there is a rise. Normally I have to change down as I am not warmed up yet and it is stiff on cold legs. No gear changing and sailed up it.These tyres/wheels roll a lot better. Then I have a couple of short rises that I accelerate into. The increase in speed is a lot faster. Then my riding speed was 2 to 3 mph faster on the flat. 3 miles in and my legs felt better than they should. Heart rate was up to working rate- legs felt good and breathing perfect. Push a bit harder to get my breathing up and HR to 140. I am doing 21mph. Normally at this stage I still have a bit of warming up to do but once warm on this road- I am only about 16mph. Felt so good- but check on the monitor and I am a bit high. The adrenalyn was running with the excitement of the ride. Check the gearing and I am one or two gears higher- everywhere. Then a couple of slopes that i normally do at 12mph- I am at 15. Top of one sharp rise and I normally get out of the saddle to save going into granny- I still have two gears left in middle but out of the saddle and I had to sit down again as I was going too fast.

I did not realise what a difference the wheels and tyres were going to make. Admittedly this is the first time on a "Quality" tyre on the road and my originals were Kenda Kontenders in 26 size. and that probably had a lot to do with it. The wheels are Giving a softer ride, it must be the wheels and not the tyres, as the OM's fitted were straight pull spokes and these are 2xcrossed.

I had better stop enthusing about these tyres and wheels but my ride this morning was on my normal route of 35 miles and it was not a bore. Normally at some point I am wishing for this section of road to finish and get to a slope- or a few corners - or the one bit that can be called a hill. I enjoyed everything about the ride this morning- Including catching the other road bikes on the route and passing them. Previously it has been the other way round with them taking me and me trying to stay on their wheel.

I even cut breakfast down so that I could get on the bike again but pic attched of my quick snack. (Have to refuel on a ride like this)

Average speed was not that much higher than normal as on one leg of the triangle- on the open section along the coast- I had a 25mph headwind and that did hurt a bit. Average was only 15.9 so watch this space when I do it again on a good day.

It is suprising what a difference can be made with a new wheel set. When you asked about tires (sorry, tyres for you) I had mentioned the Kenda Kaliente was a fine tire but somewhat harsh.

Well, as luck would have it I just had to rebuild one wheel of a set outfitted with the Kenda's that I had sold to a friend at work. He had run them through road salt and stacked them away for the winter. 4 of 5 consecutive nipples failed from corrosion (these were aluminium as the wheels were built for performance). During the rebuild I decided to change from radial (it was a front) to 3 cross with brass nipples because he was actually using these wheels on a commuter. After the first ride his comment was "why didn't you tell me about that before. The bicycle has become a dream to ride."

Two lessons learned.

1. Different wheels for different applications.
2. Make sure that the friend understands lesson 1 and tells you what they really intend to do with the wheels.

I always like to tell my riders (who tend toward average biking skills) that the new wheels will feel 2-3 mph faster. I get the blank unknowing stare. Then after a couple of rides the come back with "hey, what did you do to my bike, its 2-3mph faster."

It is possible that the new hubs contribute as much as half of the new found speed in your wheels.

Stapfam's going to catch on to this road riding for good before it's all over with. Really good to hear that you're enjoying the new wheels/tires. Interesting, but you would not have noticed the difference and been so impressed if you had not had the OM set to begin with. That's a good lesson for us all.

Now......just imagine what going to an even lighter wheelset at around 1400 grams and with similar tires at 200 grams each would do!!! I think you'd drop about one more pound. The quick acceleration and climbing becomes even that more more noticeable. Technology is a wonderful thing!!!!

As in the race car world, the saying is speed costs money...... How fast do you want to go?

But you are right about the first change from an OEM wheelset to your first custom. Possibly the biggest difference that can be made to a bike.

From listening to friends I get the impression that your tires are at least as
fast as mine, Victoria xxx CXs (can't remember the model but 290 tpi) and
when I ride with others I have this repeated experience: trying to talk to
the next rider on modest downhills I have to brake and they have to pedal
to maintain the same speed. These tires aren't durable, but damn, they are
fast.

BTW, I run the same rims as you but on my 'cross bike and have found that
I can use 36 mm stems on my tubes. Advice: If you want to do that check
it first with _your_ tire pump.

Stapfam's going to catch on to this road riding for good before it's all over with.

To be honest- I was not enamoured with this road biking. For the effort I was putting in- I not doing aswell as I expected. At least on the hills on the MTB I can achieve something for my efforts and believe me- Some of our Normal hills are where we have had experienced bikers walking. They are tough so an achievement just to get up them. Road riding just does not give me that same sense of achievement. Its a flat road- Just turn the pedals and get it over with. Slopes are just the same- HILLS? Not too bad but I should be beating that mountain biker with ease on the Tarmac- Even if he is fit and strong and young.

These wheels have given me an insite to what road biking can be about. It is not hard work- or not yet. The achievement is not going to be on how I can climb slopes- or how I can get 20mph on the flat. That just does not interest me. But to get up some of our more drastic hills on road gearing- and still feel like tackling the next one- Let you know when I go out on a couple of hills that most of my OLD (In their mid 40's and early 50'S) roadie friends no longer tackle as they are too hard.

12 years ago-I bought my first set of Hand built wheels for the MTB. Every time I have bought a new bike- The OM wheels went as the mud wheels or spares- just in case or got sold. It is years since I used any OM wheels. As I have just found out- Hand built rules----Still. A few months ago- I did a road downhill that On the MTB with knobbly tyres I get 37mph on. I only got 30 mph on the road bike and I put it down to a headwind. I think that was when I started to have my doubts about the OM wheels.