October 29, 2015

FLO Cycling - How to Pick Wheels for a Century

Posted by FLO Cycling at Thursday, October 29, 2015 Labels: , ,

It's no wonder completing a century is a common goal for a number of cyclists.  Riding 100 miles in one event is a big accomplishment.

 A good friend who is a century rider and seven time finisher of Lotoja, says that anything can happen over 100 miles, and he's absolutely right.  Being prepared for the day is very important.  Part of being prepared is making sure you pick the right wheels.  If you are a century competitor, and need help picking wheels for your big day, this article is for you.  

To make things easier, I like to select the front wheel and rear wheel individually.  First we'll take a quick detour to talk about aerodynamics, and then we'll talk about wheel selection.

A Quick Detour
Traditionally, many cyclists choose shallower wheels than your typical triathlete.  I believe this occurs for a few reasons.  First, it's a common belief that rotational weight matters for a road cyclist especially when sprinting in a crit.  While it's a factor, it is a very small factor when compared to aerodynamic drag.  Tom Anhalt, wrote a great article on this topic and I suggest that you read it if you have time.  In Tom's example, when comparing weight and aerodynamics in a sprint, aerodynamics is more important by a factor of 49 times.

The second reason many cyclists choose a shallower wheel has to do with drafting.  Many cyclists believe that when they are drafting aerodynamics are not important.  As a result they instead focus on the weight of their wheels.  The fact is, aerodynamics still matter even when drafting.  Specialized conducted a wind tunnel study showing the power savings of an athlete who was drafting vs. not drafting.  When the non-drafting athlete moved from the hoods to the drops, they experienced a power savings of 13%.  However, when the drafting athlete moved from the hoods to the drops, they experienced a power savings of 19%, showing that a more aerodynamic position had a greater effect on overall power when drafting.  

Finally, I think people think a road bike should look a certain way.  I myself am guilty of thinking that a road bike with a 45-60mm wheel looks great, but looks do not make up time.

Picking your Front Wheel for a Century
In a century you can find yourself riding in a group or heading down the open road solo.  Each situation presents a unique scenario.  Let's look at riding in a group first.

Riding in a Group
While aerodynamics are important for all riders in a group, those up front benefit most from a more aerodynamic bike and position.  Group riding normally takes one of two forms.  You are either in a pack of two or more riders in width, or a single file pace line.  In the pack you are normally shielded from crosswinds. In a single file pace line, you can still experience crosswind.  

Riding Solo
Riding solo in a century is essentially the same thing as riding up front in a group.  Aerodynamics becomes very important but you can be more vulnerable to crosswinds.

Taking the above into consideration, you can see that you can have a mix of riding scenarios in a century.  Aerodynamics is definitely important but so is maintaining stability.  Ultimately, you want the deepest wheel you can handle when riding in a century.  For most people, the front FLO 60 makes the best front wheel for a century.  The front FLO 60 is very aero and handles very well in crosswinds.  To date we have shipped 3,500 front FLO 60s, and no one has told us that they've felt uncomfortable riding one.  With the front FLO 60 you get a huge aero benefit while being able to confidently control your bike. 

The front FLO 90 is a great wheel, but for most people there are times when it can be too challenging to handle in high wind conditions.  If you were able to have two front wheels, then having a front FLO 90 for the right wind conditions makes a lot of sense.  


A front FLO 30 makes a great front wheel for light riders or people who hate any type of wind.  Female riders often choose a front FLO 60 but some prefer the front FLO 30 because of their size.  

Picking your Rear Wheel for a Century
In many ways, a century is similar to a triathlon.  Once you get up to speed you typically stay there.  You may meet up and work with groups along the way, but you still maintain a pretty constant speed.  For this reason, we feel you should pick the deepest rear wheel you can handle.  The biggest difference between the front and rear wheel is that the rear wheel does not have a steering axis.  Instead, the rear wheel is fixed in the rear triangle of the bike.  As a result, your rear wheel will not be affected by the wind like the front wheel.  Instead of a twist, you will experience more of a push feeling.  While any unplanned movement from wind can be unpleasant, a push is a lot friendlier than a twisting of the handle bars.  It's also known that having a deeper rear wheel in relation to your front wheel moves your center of pressure towards the rear end of your bike.  This shift in the center of pressure increases your stability in windy conditions and is the reason you'll almost never see a rider using a deeper front wheel than rear wheel.  In the end, you can choose a deep rear wheel without sacrificing stability.  Since deeper wheels are faster, this is a good thing.  

For someone competing in centuries, we feel the best wheel is the rear FLO 90.  It's an easy wheel to handle for most people and is the fastest non disc wheel we make.  


For lighter riders or female riders, the FLO 60 is a great option.  It is still a very fast wheel, and experiences a little less of a push in a cross wind than the rear FLO 90.  

The FLO 30 also makes a great choice for people competing in centuries.  It has a full toroidal profile which makes it very fast for a 30mm wheel, and it is our most budget friendly option.  If you rode a century on a set of FLO 30s, I wouldn't consider it a bad choice.  

If you have any questions about wheel selection please feel free to contact us in the link at the top of the page.  

Take care,

Jon
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October 15, 2015

FLO Cycling - How to Pick Wheels for a Time Trialist

Posted by FLO Cycling at Thursday, October 15, 2015 Labels: , ,

With so many options available, it's no wonder questions about wheel selection are common at FLO.  Picking the right wheels depends on a number of factors and one of the biggest factors is what you intend to use the wheels for.  Today, we will focus on how to pick wheels for a time trial event.    

I find breaking the selection process down, to look at each wheel separately, makes things easier.  Let's start with the front wheel and then make our way to the rear wheel.

Picking your Front Wheel as a Time Trialist
When picking a front wheel for most cycling disciplines, many athletes are focussed on find the fastest option.  When competing in a time trial, finding the fastest front wheel is very important.

 The best way to increase your overall speed is to reduce your CdA, thereby increasing your aerodynamic efficiency.  If you are interested in learning more about CdA, the intro of this article discusses it.  

 In sports like triathlon, we want the rider to be able to stay in the aero position as long as possible to make them faster.  Owing to the fact that the front wheel has a steering axis, high winds, and in particular cross winds, can make handling the bike a challenge with a deep front wheel. In a lot of cases, we recommend a front FLO 60 for triathletes because it's easier to handle than the front FLO 90 in windy conditions. The easier to handle front FLO 60  allows the athlete to stay in the aero position more easily, making them faster overall.

 Time trial wheel selection is a bit different.  The nature of the race is to get yourself as aero as possible and it assumes you can handle the bike at high speed with ease.  That's not to say you can but that is the ultimate goal.  Since our front FLO 90 is the fastest front wheel we make, during a time trial, we often recommend the front FLO 90.  That being said you should only pick the deepest front wheel that you can handle.  If a front FLO 90 is too much for you, be smart, play it safe, and size down to the front FLO 60 or front FLO 30.  As you improve your bike handling skills and your confidence goes up, you can add a deeper wheel to the front.  



Picking your Rear Wheel as a Time Trialist
The fastest wheel from A to B is the FLO DISC.  If you are a time trialist, the FLO DISC is the wheel for you.  The rear wheel on a bike does not having a steering axis like the front wheel does.  Since the wheel is fixed in the frame, we are not worried about cross winds like we are with the front wheel.  Having a deeper rear wheel in relation to your front wheel, moves your center of pressure towards the rear end of your bike.  This shift in the center of pressure increases your stability in windy conditions and is the reason you'll almost never see a rider using a deeper front wheel than rear wheel.

 The next best rear wheel option for a time trialist is the rear FLO 90.  If you are looking for a more versatile wheel that can be used for more than just time trialing, the rear FLO 90 is a great option.  Wheelbuilder.com makes a wheel cover, that converts your FLO 90 into disc wheel.  This means that for your TT race, you can add the cover, and when you are not racing, you can remove it and use the rear FLO 90.  


If you have any questions about wheel selection please feel free to contact us in the link at the top of the page.  

Take care,

Jon
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October 5, 2015

FLO Cycling - Picking a Wheel Build That's Right for You - Standard vs. Clydesdale, It’s Not All About Weight

Posted by FLO Cycling at Monday, October 05, 2015 Labels: ,

When buying a new bike, it's not common that the number of spokes in the wheels are discussed.  From your first bike as a kid, to your current road or triathlon bike, it’s assumed that the wheels that come with the bike, just work.  For this reason, it’s easy to understand why people have questions when a wheel manufacturer/builder has different build or spoke count options.
Chris and I on our first bikes.  Can you tell we're Canadian?
The Basics
Spoke count is important for a number of reasons.  Most importantly proper spoke count ensures the wheel does not fail prematurely.  Failing can mean a number of things.
  • Broken Spokes
  • Pulling Spokes Through the Rim
  • Pulling Spokes Through the Hub
You can also find yourself truing the wheel more often if your spoke count it too low.  This is not ideal.  

 For those of you who don't know what Clydesdale wheel is, it normally means that it is a wheel built for a heavier rider. 

Why You Don't Discuss Spoke Count When Buying a Bike 
Every year, bike companies release new models.  Each model has been specified with a list of components.  The components are ordered in mass quantities and sent to a build house for assembly.  

OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer.  This simply represents the company that originally manufactured the components specified for a bike build.  If FLO wheels were specified for a bike model, FLO would be the OEM.  

OEM products are built for the general public.  When you are building for the general public you try your best to limit the number of failures.  This means that wheels are often built with more spokes than most people need.  The reason for this is because more spokes, typically mean you can add more weight before you get a failure.  

In a lot of cases, OEM wheels are built with lower quality spokes, which also increases the need for more spokes to be used in the build.  It’s not uncommon to see OEM wheels with 36 spokes.  That's too many spokes for most people. 

Building the First FLO Wheel

FLO Wheel Builds
When you are building a custom wheel, you are less constrained.  Using high quality components is possible and you can build a wheel for a specific weight range.  At FLO we have two wheel builds.  

Standard Build
The standard build is rated for a rider weight up to 198lbs.  Using a high quality spoke like the Sapim CX-Ray, we are able to build with fewer spokes.  The standard build features the following.  

Front Wheel
20 spokes w/ a radial lacing pattern.

Rear Wheel
24 spokes with a two cross lacing pattern on both drive and non-drive side.

Clydesdale Build
The Clydesdale build is rated for a rider weight up to 242lbs.  The Clydesdale build features the following.

Front Wheel
20 spokes w/ a radial lacing pattern.

Rear Wheel
28 spokes with a three cross lacing pattern on both drive and non-drive side.


When Should You Choose a Clydesdale Build?

The standard recommendation for a Clydesdale build has to do with weight, but the riders strength and riding style should also be considered.  It’s not uncommon for us to recommend a Clydesdale build to a strong criterium rider that weighs 175lbs.  Criterium races have a number of sprints and if you are continually putting 1,000+ watts into the pedals, then you may want to consider a Clydesdale build.  Triathletes are much different since they typically maintain a much lower average power throughout a race without the maximum power efforts.  A strong 175lbs triathlete would most likely be fine with a standard build wheel.

But Aren’t the Clydesdale Wheels Much Heavier?
Most people who are contemplating the Clydesdale build, are worried about the weight penalty by sizing up to the Clydesdale build.  Since only the rear wheel changes with a clydesdale build, we only see a increase of 30-40 grams for the Clydesdale build.  The difference in weight will effectively make no difference.  If you're interested in learning more about how weight affects your riding time, you may like the following articles.

FLO Cycling - The Great Debate - Aero vs. Weight
FLO Cycling - Aero vs. Weight - Follow Up 

If you are in the Clydesdale category, the benefits of sizing up will greatly outshine the 30-40 gram weight difference.  Since the wheel is built for your weight/strength, power transfer is improved, cornering improves, compliance is balanced, and the service life is much better.  

Why Don’t I Just Get the Clydesdale Build?
If you’re wondering why you shouldn’t just get the Clydesdale build, you're not alone.  It’s a good question.  Just like a wheel can be built too lightly for a heavier rider, a wheel can also be built too heavily for a lighter rider.  While a stiff wheels is good, too stiff make for a less compliant ride and a wheel that "feels" like it’s too much.  If you are in the standard build range, it’s best to get the standard build.  

I’m 250lbs So I Should Be OK Right?
In theory, you could ride our Clydesdale build.  However, when I am asked this question, I tell people they should not buy our wheels.  While I’d love to sell the wheels, I’d hate to sell someone a product that wasn’t right for them.  We also do not warranty wheel when the rider is out of the weight range.

If you are a heavier rider, then I would recommend a custom wheel build from a professional wheel builder.  Two excellent builders, with lots of experience are listed below.  Either of them are qualified to build a wheel that will work for you.

Pro Wheel Builder
ProWheelBuilder.com

Wheel Builder 
WheelBuilder.com

It’s Not Always Cut and Dry

If you find yourself in the middle ground and aren’t quite sure, which wheel is best for you, feel free to contact us, and we can find the wheel build that’s right for you.  

Take care,

Jon
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