Bike Wheel Aerodynamics Comparison

Deeper section wheels are more aerodynamic but are heavier than their shallow rim.
Bike wheel aerodynamics comparison. Tom tests wheels in bikes and compares the venge to his own semi aero custom frame. 44 of the best road bike wheels reduce bike weight or get aero gains with new hoops. Wheel wind tunnel data. Our pick of the best wheelset upgrades by colin levitch 30 april 2020 upgrading your road bike wheels can transform the performance of a bike by improving aerodynamics.
A mid section aerodynamic wheel usually has a 30mm rim to improve your ride quality lower weight and overall better bike performance against the wind. When evaluating wheel performance wheel aerodynamics are the most important distantly followed by wheel mass. Some wheel manufacturers have claimed their wheels were more aerodynamic with wider tyres for this claim to be valid the wheels would have required a lower combined drag coefficient to overcome the increase in frontal area. While many riders focus on wheel and bike weight aerodynamics almost always matters more once you start riding above 18 20mph 30kph.
Specialized clx 64 vs zipp wheels tested in a venge vias. A deep section aerodynamic wheel has 50mm deep rim but a mid section one is trimmed back some while still providing the same benefits. Trig mag 2014 aero wheel test tested in a canyon speedmax bike. Aero bike wheels summary.
The rims are usually the first thing you notice on a pair of wheels. Road bike wheels with a deep rim not only give your bike a professional look but actually make it go faster. The deeper the rim extends towards the hub the more aerodynamic gain you get. All wheel reviews on road cc.
The anatomy of a road bike wheel rims. Instead buy the bike with the cheaper. Available in both rim and disc versions the roval clx 32 is a low profile carbon wheelset specialized claims is more aerodynamic than the previous generation deeper section clx 40 wheels. The graphs below show the comparison between two wheels a narrow bodied shimano c60 and a wider bodied enve 7 8.
If you ride on flat terrain or do road races aero bike wheels will noticeably reduce your drag over shallower ones to help you go faster while requiring less power output. If you already have aerodynamic deep section wheels then there s no point in paying more money for an aero bike that comes with similarly posh wheels. Wheel inertia effects in all cases are so small that they are arguably insignificant.