Wind, rider weight, & spokes

[MartianDestiny]

For a lightweight rider, I would not recommend having deep wheels as your only wheelset. I don't see a problem with having bladed spokes by themselves, however, but that might depend on the individual wheel. For example, some shallower wheels might handle poorly in crosswinds because of overall design, and bladed spokes don't help (I'm thinking higher end Ksyriums here). Some of that may be that not all bladed spokes are created equal.

Hey Aicabsolut,

It interests me that you specifically mention Mavics here. I've been noticing that my nice new carbon baby is a royal bear to handle in cross winds (which seem to be a constant issue in CO). I haven't ate it yet, but I've had some scary moments (I'm a wimp) especially descending or when very exposed.

I wrote this off a being to to a MUCH lighter, much more responsive frameset. I imagine that has something to do with it still, but I'm now wondering if the Mavics might be to blame (Krysium Equips).

Are these known to be worse than average in crosswinds? I admit I like the looks of bladed spokes, but the wheels were on my "to upgrade eventually" list anyway. I was planning on just going to a higher end Mavic; is there something better out there for 5' 130lbs (me plus bike) crowd? I love the look of the Zipps, but I'll be a one wheelset sort of girl (I'll keep the Mavics, but sounds like they aren't good crosswind wheels either) and I can't see running deep rims as an only wheelset with the Colorado crosswinds!

[aicabsolut]

Hey Aicabsolut,

It interests me that you specifically mention Mavics here. I've been noticing that my nice new carbon baby is a royal bear to handle in cross winds (which seem to be a constant issue in CO). I haven't ate it yet, but I've had some scary moments (I'm a wimp) especially descending or when very exposed.

I wrote this off a being to to a MUCH lighter, much more responsive frameset. I imagine that has something to do with it still, but I'm now wondering if the Mavics might be to blame (Krysium Equips).

Are these known to be worse than average in crosswinds? I admit I like the looks of bladed spokes, but the wheels were on my "to upgrade eventually" list anyway. I was planning on just going to a higher end Mavic; is there something better out there for 5' 130lbs (me plus bike) crowd? I love the look of the Zipps, but I'll be a one wheelset sort of girl (I'll keep the Mavics, but sounds like they aren't good crosswind wheels either) and I can't see running deep rims as an only wheelset with the Colorado crosswinds!

I can get a pretty good deal on Mavic wheels from my sponsor shop, so I asked around about them before I bought race wheels this year. The feedback I got (from guys, mostly) was that Ksyriums with bladed spokes suck in crosswinds. I did a test ride on an old set of Ksyrium SSC SL's, and they were great, but the wind was calm. I also tend to see a lot more old (at least 2 yrs old) Ksyriums out on the road than I do newer models. I wonder why.

Anyway, the general consensus was that Ksyriums with bladed spokes were annoyingly jerky in a crosswind, while deep dish wheels would just give a solid lateral push (that you can lean against).

I raced last weekend in gusts up to about 30mph (they were 50mph earlier in the day, but died down to probably 25-30 at the worst when I was on the road), and I decided to go with my Mavic Cosmic Carbone SLR's (with bladed carbon spokes). There was more real estate with headwind or tailwind on the course than crosswinds, and I needed the extra gear I had on that cassette over my backup for a significant climb. A couple of times, I had to really work to hold my line, and one sustained crosswind made me lean really hard to the left, but I survived. I don't think I would've been able to keep going full-tilt on my training wheels when a big gust came up, either. I'm very glad I had those rims on when I was fighting the headwind and needed to get up that climb.

My Carbones are approximately as deep as 404s. Sometimes, it would be nice to have a slightly shallower rim (like a 303) on the front. The front gets extra squirrely because it is ridiculously light.