Carbon Wheels Question - Overweight Performance?
 

Hi BF,

I'm building up a bicycle and I decided to purchase Campagnolo Sciroccos which come in around 1735G without tires. They were chosen over Zonda's due to the fact that I'm around 180-190 lbs (about 20-30 pounds overweight .. beer and pizza) and I felt the price bump for a lighter wheelset did not make sense.

My question is with carbon wheelsets out on the market are there any that you would consider for daily riding given my weight condition? I suspect that a lighter wheelset performance gain will be cancelled out by the fact that I'm overweight. However I do like the look of carbon wheels and I'm interested in a future upgrade.

Am I correct on my weight vs performance weight thought? Would like your thoughts on this.

Happy Holidays.

Irrespective of your weight, you can still reap benefits of lighter or more aerodunamic wheels, because the benefits they offer do not derive from the wheels per se, but rather the effort the rider puts into moving them.

In other words, a scrawny cyclist who only preens while cruising around town will never see aero benefits from his wheels, but a clyde who goes out and rides hard, putting in max efforts, will realize the effects of reduced drag, like feeling the cumulative relief of shaving a few watts at Tempo.

Lightweight wheels improve feel and responsiveness of a bike, for whomever is pedaling it.

I have Zipp 303's and put 4000 miles on them.

I'm 200#

I just bought some Easton ec90sl's (38mm deep, 16/20 spoke count) and I'm 225lbs, love them! All wheel manufacturers will give you a recommended rider weight limit for each build so as long as you follow these guidelines you should be okay and at your weight I'd say you'd be fine on anything out there.

Hi tech components that make it easier to go faster reduce the amount of exercise/calorie burn you'll get for a given distance or speed. If you think it'll help you win races, go ahead, but if you ride for fun and exercise I wouldn't worry about knocking a few extra seconds off your regular ride with dollars.

Exactly.. all that lighter weight components accomplish is to make it easier to do your riding -- leading to weight gain (or lesser amounts of weight loss), and worse conditioning in general than you'd otherwise have. :rolleyes:

^^^ "It doesn't get easier, you just go faster."

Not if you're with a group.. the herd travels at whatever speed the herd travels.

You guys are crazy! Having a light bike with a nice set of carbon wheels is an experience all in its' self, it makes you want to get out there and ride and go further when you do so. Why do they make a 6cyl Mustang and a V8 GT? Nobody needs the GT to get to work but it sure is a whole lot of fun to drive in comparison, is it not? More fun equals more riding, more riding equals better conditioning and fitness.

No.. I would find it much more exhilarating going 35mph on a road bike than in a V8GT.

Look up the quote.

Go to the front and then the herd goes as fast as you want.

Good to see you back. I miss reading your posts.

I was TOLD to come back. Not my choice. Let's see how it goes once the clown car shows up.

...or not. :)

Lighter wheels will spin up faster (i.e. will offer less rotational inertia, will accelerate faster, won't slow you down as much when you are taking off) so they will feel like they are offering a big performance boost, compared to your heavier wheels ... until you get used to them in which case they will just be round wheels. However, rotational weight is the best weight to take off the bike (so I have been told) because it offers the greatest sensation of weight reduction, so yes ... go for lighter wheels.

As for all that rider weight stuff ... I got a set of Vuelta Zerolite comps (2100 grams) with 24 spokes each, and I weigh at least 30 pounds more than you do. Many people might have suggested 28- or 32-spoke wheels for a Clyde like myself, but I have hit potholes and train tracks with considerable force and never done a thing to those wheels. I think most manufacturers over-rate their wheel weight capacities to provide a huge margin for safety.

I'd bet you could safely ride those Sciroccos all day long every day and unless you were jumping off ramps, would never have a problem. Also ... assuming you lose some or all of that weight, are you going to drop another $350 for a whole new set of wheels? I'd wait for more opinions here, personally, but I'd bet the Zondas would hold you up just fine--both seem to be 16-front and 21-spoke rear.

Good job, Bdop and dvdslw, calling out the fallacious notion that better gear ruins your fitness and makes you gain weight. Ridiculous, that was!

My wheel/tire swap got 800 'rotational' grams off my bicycle. Can't really say I felt any difference apart from the new wheels being louder while coasting.

Did you gain weight after the swap? :)

Not yet but come January... Darned new wheels!

"it does get easier, when you go slower".

A semi-deep profile carbon wheel will be stronger than any alloy wheel of equivalent quality construction. For bigger boys that's a plus.

I am not sure why you are concerned about your weight at 180-190 lbs. I range anywhere from 178-185 and have been riding the Campy Sciroccos for about 2 years now. They are a great choice, especially for the price. If you are serious about upgrading later than I would just save the money and either do it now or wait as spending the money for them now and then spending more money down the road seems a little silly. If you can afford it, than just get what you want. If not, than do not worry about the Sciroccos. They are fantastic wheels at a great price.

I'm sure you know this but you'll reap much more benefit from dropping some of those beer and pizza pounds than losing a few grams on your wheels...

Equals
[h=1]A fool and his money are soon parted[/h]

Not so much. It is more saying, "Unless you are a dedicated athlete who lives to train and will actually see tangible gains in terms or race results, never buy anything for your bike unless it is for maintenance." I would guess at least three quarters of us are riding more bike than we actually need, and are planning upgrades which will offer negligible measurable performance gains---But I will also guess (based on what I read here and my knowledge of people) that at least 75 percent of us like to buy nice things for ourselves, and for the people who post here, those things are often bike-related.

Except for professional racers whose income and thus survival is based on race results, the rest of us---even those who race---are doing it more to do it than because it is what those folks love to do. Riding might add immeasurable richness to our lives, but we could reap most of that richness on bikes which weight 27 or 32 pounds ... bikes with ten speeds (in fact some of us do it on bikes with only one speed.)

None of us bar people whose entire income comes form racing, Need lighter wheels, lighter frames, electronic shifters, or any of the rest of the stuff we buy. We could ride 32-pound 10-speed Schwinns wearing t-shirts and cut-offs and we'd get by just fine.

After all, most cyclists literally since cycling was invented, didn't have even that much, and they didn't quit.

Further, the OP does acknowledge in his post that he understands that his extra weight is the real performance limit, and losing it would be the best upgrade.

But I am sure no one else here has ever bought a single component s/he didn't absolutely need for performance which absolutely had to be improved. None of us ever bought a jersey s/he really liked, despite having half-a-dozen all ready. None of us ever bought a single mechanical bit for our bikes---instead, we went to the gym, paid a trainer, and/or rode more intervals, hill repeats, or distance, because none of us would ever spend on our bikes when the cheapest upgrade is almost always the engine.

Because all that would be foolish, right?