Wheel Flex...solveable or just live with it?
 

First, I gotta say I feel badly 'cause all my posts are questions about oddball stuff. I usually try and figure things out on my own and I appreciate everyone chipping in with answers to this crazya$$ stuff.

My new thing is wheel flex. I recently picked up a pair of Zipp 202's tubies laced to Cane Creek hubs with Ti spokes for cheap. Now I ran Canes on my mounatin bike when I was racing in the dirt and loved them. These, I'm not so sure. They're certainly way light and climb great for sure but they seem to have a lot of side to side flex at the rim...enough to where I can move the rim laterally a good 5mm each side without really pushing all that hard with my fingers. Is it the ti spokes? They're shorter than standards and being Canes, obviously straight pulls too so I can't imagine they'd be the cause but the wheel do move like a salsa dancer. Especially the rear. I'm not a shy downhiller...far from it really...but the last couple test rides on these have had me making a LOT of corrections at speeds over 40mph and that certainly could lead a person to be shy. Is there something I'm missing when trying to diagnose this?

Maybe the flex is why I got them so cheap. :rolleyes:

unless you are a lightweight, stick with stainless steel spokes

replace the spokes, live with them, or sell them

202's are known noodles. You fix this by jacking up the bike and sliding a better pair of wheels under it!

Also Ti spokes are noodles

Caveat emptor!

:lol:

OK, from the replies I get it. Since these only cost me $300 (with new Vittorias) I figure I'll keep them for riding Merckx class TT's or hill climbs since they're so doggone light. My Protons are about a pound heavier through the pair but they're as solid as Han Solo in Carbonium. I am a lightweight at 142 pounds...it scares me to think what a 165 pound rider might do to these spokes!

A wheel built with Ti spokes will tend to be more flexible, than if built with SS spokes. How much depends on the relative gauges.

Wheel flex isn't a totally bad thing. It improves handling on rough pavements, though is worsens handling in tight corners, and in hard sprints.

Don't worry about some artificial measurement of flex, but about how the wheels perform in service. If they're rigid enough not to cause you any handling problems, ride them and consider whether to go the same or a different route when it comes time for a rebuild.

ti
 

sorry, you are a welterweight. ;)

You're right of course. A welterweight but compared to my heavyweight beer consumption ability, a lightweight :D

FBinNY, like I said, at speeds above 40 I can feel them moving under my butt in turns and it's not a comfortable feeling. I'll see if I can take some of the slop out of them with a little more spoke tension but if not they go on the wall until it's TT or hill climb time!

Don't bother trying. Damon Rinard did some decent testing on spoke tension vs wheel stiffness. Basically spoke tension doesn't effect a wheel's stiffness unless spokes currently are going slack while riding.

+1, You took the works right off of my fingertips.

Unless the wheels were poorly built and seriously loose, changing the tension won't change the character of the wheels. If these are decent wheels save them for the right events, or sell them to someone lighter who'll benefit from their greater flexibility.