On Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 7:22 PM, Patrick Moore <[email protected]> wrote:
> It's the same bike, a 1999 Rivendell road custom, formerly with 650C > wheels and Pro 4s, now with 559 wheels and Elk Passes. The gear is now a > tiny bit higher (76" versus 75", since the wheel is 1/4" bigger with the > Elk Passes) but I seem to be able to push it more easily -- cadence versus > effort versus conditions. The Elk Passes I've owned weigh between 172 and > 178 grams; the Pro Race 4 was about 200 grams. > > That said: why would a 700C bike fitted with 700C Pro Race 4s be faster or > lighter than a bike built for 26" wheels? > Lots of variables here, rider conditioning, course conditions and bike build characteristics. Did you measure your yourself on the same segment with the exact same conditions to arrive at your conclusion? I recently rode my Trek 660 with someone riding my Atlantis and though that person is in decent shape I can assure you the Trek 660 shod with Conti Grand Prix 700x28mm was faster. This wasn't a controlled experiment so pretty meaningless. Note that a faster bike may or may not be lighter than a slower bike. > Right, sure the engine may be finely tuned. > > Do you mean that smaller wheels have pari passu greater rolling resistance? > Nope that's not what I'm saying and I have no data to confirm deny that. > That may be so, but the difference IME (which is considerable) is hard to > feel, and I certainly feel that the 26" Elk Pass tires roll better than any > 700C tire I've used (well, the 50 mm Furious Fred certainly rolls well, but > it has knoblets to slow it down on pavement). > I've found when riding alongside folks with relatively similar conditioning on 700c bikes and me on my 26er I have the advantage on climbs and am at a disadvantage on descents. The 700's can keep the momentum up. Again maybe if I had the wheels and tires you're rolling those disadvantages would disappear? > As for weight, ceteris paribus, a smaller wheel will have lighter rims, > tires, and tubes -- this by mere fact of size; but the change brought > further weight reduction, in that the 650C ME14As weighed ~430 grams while > the 559 M14As (no eyelets) weight 370 grams. And as before, the EPs are > lighter than the PR4s. (The gofast weighs ~17.5 lb with cage and pedals but > no seat bag.) > Those are light wheels and tires. And you've made a great point for 26ers. Would you use them for mixed terrain and loaded touring? Finally, I don't recall, despite subscribing to BQ for the last 10 years, > that Jan tested the relative speeds of wheels of different diameters. He > made judgements about handling and wheel diameter and tire width. Did I > miss something? > > However, assuming the bike shod with Michelin Pro Race 4 @ 22mm are shod >>> on a 700c bike versus a bike with the Compass ELk 26x1.25 I'll remain a >>> skeptic that the 26er will be faster. A bike designed with that tire in mind >>> >> Less of a skeptic. > (Michelin Pro Race 4) is lighter and consequently faster. As Doug >>> mentioned, *perhaps* Jan did a test on this very thing, if so I'd be >>> curious to read it. >>> >> >>> ~Hugh “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” ― Albert Einstein http://velocipeedemusings.com/ > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/cerNIKH36P0/unsubscribe > . > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
