Did getting lighter wheels help your climbing?

[Ana]

What is a decent weight for a wheel to enhance climbing? My wheelset is 1755g but I would really like to make climbing easier.

Any experiences/advice would be very much appreciated :) I've already read the threads about Peter White so no need to repeat ;)

[smilingcat]

hill reps and being at your optimal weight will do more for your hill climbing. Wheel weight only matters for fast acceleration needed for the sprint. Even then, I just don't think the weight of wheel will make much difference.

I'm sorry if this is not what you were expecting. Do hill repeats.

smilingcat

[Ana]

I doubt it will make me hate them less ;)

Thanks for the input (and helping me save my pennies)

[maillotpois]

hill reps and being at your optimal weight will do more for your hill climbing. Wheel weight only matters for fast acceleration needed for the sprint. Even then, I just don't think the weight of wheel will make much difference.

I'm sorry if this is not what you were expecting. Do hill repeats.

smilingcat

+1 (at least 1, maybe more)

[MomOnBike]

The classic quote (various attributions) is:

"Don't buy upgrades. Ride up grades."

I fear that is good advice - but I do understand that shiny new wheels are just so pretty!

[Biciclista]

wait, wait! it depends! my 1980's Raleigh had incredibly heavy steel rimmed wheels. Replaced them with Aluminum "Alloy" wheels. Not even particularly fancy ones. it made a huge difference, POUNDS in fact. so how bad ARE your wheels?
If they're already a type of lightweight wheel, probably not....

[Eden]

To be actually noticeable any upgrade has to lose you *a lot* of weight. If you can measure it in pounds you'll probably feel it..... if you are paying $1,000's extra to lose the weight of a paperclip - eh not so good an investment. I've always heard that it really is more beneficial to lose rotating mass than static weight (and I even saw an article recently, wish I could remember where..., that did some real world testing and confirmed it), but still it is definitely right to say the best way to be better at hills is to ride up hills.

Shaving grams will save you seconds.... unless you are racing and those seconds are vitally important then its not going to make too much of a difference to you. Anyway climbing never gets any easier - you just suffer faster :D

[OakLeaf]

If wheel money's burning a hole in your pocket, buy them for stiffness more than weight.

Stiffer wheels make an enormous difference in power transfer, no matter the grade.

[MartianDestiny]

Everybody has valid points.

Clearly nothing will help unless you put in the training and miles as well.

But it's also true that rotating weight IS where you will see the most (if any difference), and your wheels are pretty heavy. So, you may see some benefit to a lighter stiffer climbing set. In the end new wheels likely won't drastically improve your times, but they may help a little bit, and, perhaps more importantly, they could change the feel of your bike (which could be very very good, or bad as well).

If it would ever stop snowing (grrrr) I'd let you know. I just switched from some Mavic Kysrium Equips (about the weight of your wheels) to some custom built wheels (king hubs, etc.) that, although I haven't weighed them, should be significantly lighter. The bigger difference for me though will be the nicer hubs and the straight gauge spokes (no more bladed spokes to blow me everywhere!).

Which is another point. Weight alone likely won't make a huge benefit, but if you are upgrading all around (less weight, better hubs, less rolling resistance, better ride qualities for your type riding (stiffer, smoother, etc. rims)) then there will be a difference if only in how your bike feels and handles.

For actual number comparison.

From 1755g to say a 1400g wheelset (not incredibly light, and not ridiculously expensive to obtain) saves you ~.75 lbs. (or 3/4 of a pound).

If you go to a true lightweight wheelset, say 1150g, you loose 1 1/3 pounds. Not HUGE, but definitely noticeable (but may or may not lead to a noticeable difference in time as has been mentioned).

[GLC1968]

Which is another point. Weight alone likely won't make a huge benefit, but if you are upgrading all around (less weight, better hubs, less rolling resistance, better ride qualities for your type riding (stiffer, smoother, etc. rims)) then there will be a difference if only in how your bike feels and handles.


Ditto this.

I went from a ~ 1850g touring wheel set with high spoke count, to a 1300g road wheel set and it made a huge difference. Both sets of wheels were from the same manufacturer, but the road wheels had better hubs and a slightly stiffer feel. I kept the same tires and neither my bike nor my route changed at all when I made the comparison.

I didn't really get any faster up hills (this is on my commuter bike and it's still heavy) but the hills were definitely easier and wore me out MUCH less. Of course, the same could be said of the whole ride, but it was most noticeable on moderate incline hills. I suppose that if my goal were to be faster, then I would be faster on the new wheels but since I was commuting, speed wasn't really a concern.

[bikerHen]

Or, what about upgrading tires instead of wheels. I just put new tires on my LHT. They are 300+ grams lighter and 1/4" narrower and I'm feeling downright speedy. I've been knocking minutes off my commute with the new tires. Almost 5 minutes on the first (uphill) section of my commute this AM. :eek: :D Last Friday my average speed to work was 13.1 mph. My average for January was in the low 11mph. bikerHen

[Ana]

Or, what about upgrading tires instead of wheels. I just put new tires on my LHT. They are 300+ grams lighter and 1/4" narrower and I'm feeling downright speedy. I've been knocking minutes off my commute with the new tires. Almost 5 minutes on the first (uphill) section of my commute this AM. :eek: :D Last Friday my average speed to work was 13.1 mph. My average for January was in the low 11mph. bikerHen

I already have Michelin Pro Race tires...so I imagine they are pretty light :p

If I went with new wheels, they would be custom with better parts :) I'll try practicing hills and think about the wheels :) At 1755 grams my wheelset is 3.87 pounds..which seems like kind of a lot :p