Originally Posted by
canam73
Are you attributing the speed gain in your coast down test to better aero dynamics or what? What did you do to equalize differences in rolling resistance that could be caused by different tires and tubes, rim widths and tire pressure? And on your old wheels, do you know for sure that the bearing tension was set optimally and that they were in good enough condition to provide a suitable comparison?
And how many runs are you talking, anyway? I have seen enough well documented coast down tests to know that very minor differences in body position and wind can cause large differences in results. For one person to assemble meaningful data it would required a lot of time and effort with a very focused and disciplined tester.
Per the OPs original question which was regarding $2000 wheels vs. $400 dollar ones, how do you know that your simple test would not have yielded similar results had you compared your original wheels with an identical set that had been built with a 23mm wide touring rim with freshly serviced hubs at little to no additional cost?
...and your post is 100% why I rarely get into gear conversations.
Listen, I have a giant hill that is right outside my home...a hill I have to coast down, then ride back up every time I ride. A hill large enough that other local riders attempt to set speed records on it. I've taken it literally 100's of times...or more. The hill is so large, I refuse to push it with pedaling, I can easily coast down it at 40+ mph...if I were pedaling it would be higher (my max on it was 52 mph back before I stopped pushing things...). So...coasting down the same hill, 100s of times, on different wheels and different tires, I have a good set of data to go off of.
I'm not claiming anything is snake oil...or that some piece of gear made me a pro racer. I'm saying that the wheels I currently own ride quite a bit nicer than my stockers...which may have a whopping 300-500 miles on them tops.