Dogsled

Ok, so here's the deal, I have an S-Works Roubaix with Ksyrium SL wheels. When decending or going 25 plus in any kind of crosswind the bike is very unstable. It seems as though the crosswind hits the front wheel and actually steers the bike. I am blaming this on the blade spoke design but not 100% sure as the bike frame is much lighter than my old bike.. I had an older aluminum bike with standard spoke type wheels and never had this problem. It is really agrivating to see the group motor away on decents while I am braking for fear of going over. This weekend I will use the front wheel off of my old bike to see if it makes a difference. Anyone had this problem? is it the bike? the wheels?

SDRider

Yep, they'll do that. You'll get used to it.

karinbur

Same here. We had a beautiful ride up Donner Pass one day, and everyone had a blast on the descent except for two of us who have Kyserium SLs -- we were holding on for dear life during a stiff crosswind.

botto 

i think you should portion some of the blame to your bike handling skills.

yes, kysrium sl wheels have some problems with heavy x-winds, but not every x-wind.

roadwarrior

With all due respect, could it be the rider?

I am kind of wondering how so many professionals who use this wheel, who regularly ride all day long at 25+ can handle this with no problem.

I've ridden these wheels exclusively for four years without incident. Ridden them on 10+ mile descents with swirling winds, no problem.

Ride them a while and get used to them. Honestly, these are so good that it could be you are actually getting a different feel from the bike...a lighter wheel can make a big difference.

la rosa 

I agree

umd

The wider spokes to deeper rims do catch a bit more of the crosswinds, but the lighter bike will also toss you around more too.

krazyderek

+1

Lighter bikes and wheels always get thrown around more by the wind, you'll adjust.

auroch

A natural reaction to a crosswind is to sit up which could mean less of your
weight is on your front wheel. That could make it easier for the wind to blow
you around. Balance your weight evenly and bring your center of gravity down
(in the drops).

That said I'm 135lbs and get destroyed by crosswinds

jeff

Dogsled

Yes, I did wonder if it was me, I have about 5000 miles on the new bike and thought I would have gotten use to it by now. I can deal with general crosswind and I lean into it, It's the gusts that seem to grab the front wheel. I try to lean forward putting more weight on the front but it doesn't seem to help. I take no offence to it being operator error but it seems as though others have had the same thing happen. If this is just part of owning a carbon bike with blade spoke wheels, what things can I do to improve my riding skills and combat this issue. Thanks in advance

krazyderek

Maybe find a bridge with a solid cross wind and ride it every day as a warm up. I used to commute for 2 years across the harbour bridge that's about 1km long and more often then not it was a direct cross wind, sometimes quite noticable, on stormy days or high wind days it was borederline dangerous but the fences on the bike lane are a good 6 ft tall so i knew i wasn't going anywhere. I'd always laugh when i saw just how angled me and the other cyclist's where, i'd say sometime's as much as 20 degree's off 90(straight up), just leaning into the wind.

The worst is ridding past the 2 towers on the bridge, each time i'd go past one i'd enter a void in the wind and i'd have to adjust my steering to normal, then i'd go right back in the wind 5 seconds later and the first gust of wind would throw me around a bit till i got back into the proper angle to deal with it.

slvoid

You'll be fine, they're standard sized rims. If you think that's bad, try riding a deep dish rim.

I was standing there with a 30mph cross wind once, decided to pick up my bike by the seat/stem and let it hang there. The wind hitting my open pro rims had my bike hanging there blown at a 30-40 degree angle. That was pretty surprising.

The worst is going home with my commuter. There's a section of road when I routinely get slammed with a 20-30mph cross wind that comes from my right side but hits the building to my left and swirls back down at me. So I'm riding banked to the left to compensate but the moment I enter an intersection I get slammed from the right and thrown across the road.

baiskeli

It may be the wheels (bladed spokes). I have Mavic Ksyrium Elites and I can definitely feel strong crosswinds. But since I adjusted to it it does not bother me

Thomill

Hmmm... glad I started reading this thread. I was actually considering purchasing a set of Mavic Ksyrium ES wheels for the same reason, stability in crosswinds, as well as to have a lighter set of wheels generally. I have been considering Topolino's (AC29 and C19's) and Campagnolo Eurus as well. Looks like I have more researching to do.

T

bccycleguy

Crosswind are definitely more noticeable with any bladed spoke wheel.

The worst situation is when you are flying down hill into a head wind and you meet a big vehicle like a Greyhound bus coming up. The eddy that comes off the rear of the bus hits you sideways and I've been almost knocked off the road by it.

I have 2 sets of paired spoke wheels with the same spoke count (one set bladed, one set regular double butted) and this cross wind effect is much more pronounced with the bladed spoke wheels. The Mavic Ksyrium's have a wider blade than my Brontrager Race Lites have and it's reasonable to expect them to be buffeted more by a cross-wind.

SpongeDad

I've had a similar feeling about SLs. Definitely, some of it is me, but I don't have as much of an issue on Trek 1500 with round spokes.

LapDog

Nonsense. Been riding many different types of wheels and they don't react that badly with a cross wind. The only way you can get away from much effect is to use round spokes on wheels with a low spoke count.

2manybikes

Exactly.

You might be able to feel a slight difference, but it is not that much. The light bike makes a big difference. I've had my light bike picked up off the ground by wind on a bridge when I was straddling the top tube with no weight on it. The difference is so small with my Ksyriums I'm not sure I notice it. Just hang on and stay in the drops and go slow.

Don't lean your nice light bike against a bridge railing and leave it on a windy day.

Thomill

To that end, which production wheelset have such characteristics? The ones I listed above, I think, all use bladed spokes. I am still looking for a ~1500g wheelset with rounded, low count spokes if you have any recommendations. I have not checked out the custom options since I have never build a wheel and would have little comfort in doing so without *much* help.

Thanks.
T

Dogsled

This morning before I went out, I pulled the front wheel off of my old bike ( round spoke type) slapped it on the Roubaix and went looking for some wind. Didn't find any big crosswind situations but there were a few side gusts that didn't seem to phase the bike at all. By design these wheels cut the wind in the forward direction, the trade off is that they suffer a bit from side drafts. I know there are plenty of these wheels out there going fast downhill with crosswinds but for me, it lowers my comfort level. I will run this test wheel on the front for a while and report back if anyone is interested. Thanks

galen_52657

Any deep rim section or semi-deep rim section wheel with or without blade spokes will catch more crosswind. But, IMHO that is only part of the problem. The other part being that today's bikes are designed with much less trail in the front end geometry and thus steer much quicker. I think this trend is the result of two things: 1) manufacturers want to save money and use one fork with the same amount of rake throughout the frame size range. 2) everybody has brake/shift levers so rider do not have to steer with one hand like they did back in the days of downtube shift levers.

LapDog

Try these...they're good wheels.

https://www.neuvationcycling.com/wheels/r28sl2.html

onRoffR

I ride the Krysium Elites and 25 mph cross winds don't effect the ride much. I've been over a tall bridge with steady 35 MPH winds from the side and gusts to 45 MPH. I found the bladed spokes and semi aero rims kept the bike in line with my center of gravity, much better than having the top part, me, being blown off the centerline and having to keep doing major adjustments to the wind. considering my Six13 team 2 weighs 17.5 Lbs it handles cross winds really well with the krysium wheels.

daytonian

Nothing disturbing about SL's in crosswinds for me. I would say the blades help more on overall topend than they hurt with crosswind.
I'm surprised the openpro/ultegra police haven't started on this thread yet.

patentcad

It's partly you, partly the wheels. The SL's are slightly more susceptible than my other wheels in a VERY stiff crosswind- but it's not always noticeable. If you're on a road bike descending @ 25mph+ and a strong cross wind buffets you- you'll feel that instability on just about any bike/wheel combo. I get that up here all winter on the road I ride out on. Once you get enough experience with it, you learn to compensate- and it's less frightening.