High my name is Jason Howard and I am a physics student at University North Carolina Greensboro. I used to compete in triathlons and time trial bike races but have been injured for several years and may be not able to ride competitively again.
To the point, in 2010 I heard about Sosenkas 3.2 kilo wheel and about Mosers huge fly wheel which got me interested in the effects of wheel inertia on cycling performance. To test this I tested water inflation (which put the wheels at 5pounds) vrs air inflation. When I did a controlled study I time trialed a 9 mile return to start gently rolling course at 300watts once for each set up, the water actually came out about 15sec faster. I have personally constructed a 7 pound(the chunky churner) and 12pound(the air hammer) disk. Before I got injured I managed to race the 7 pound three times and claimed a age group time trial record at the Lowe's motor speedway and posted some good times at triathlon races. The most significant advantage I found from riding the heavier wheels was enhanced gyroscopic stability and being able to ride completely straight with more ease. Due to my injury, its been 2.5 years now an my groin just now doesn't ache all the time, I have been very limited in further testing.
So the question is whether anyone else out there has experimented with water inflation before on a return to start course(zero net elevation gain). If not would anybody be willing to conduct such a study using power to further investigate the effects of wheel inertia on cycling performance.
Also I've been told water should have a higher Crr because it is a incompressible fluid but have not been able to find any concrete evidence to back this up. My infield studies certainly did not find and such loss.
I'm currently writing a paper on this subject and would like as much IN FIELD information about this topic. I'm well aware this is a touchy subject and people have alot of opinions on it so I would like the info to come from personal experience in the field testing wheel inertias.
To the point, in 2010 I heard about Sosenkas 3.2 kilo wheel and about Mosers huge fly wheel which got me interested in the effects of wheel inertia on cycling performance. To test this I tested water inflation (which put the wheels at 5pounds) vrs air inflation. When I did a controlled study I time trialed a 9 mile return to start gently rolling course at 300watts once for each set up, the water actually came out about 15sec faster. I have personally constructed a 7 pound(the chunky churner) and 12pound(the air hammer) disk. Before I got injured I managed to race the 7 pound three times and claimed a age group time trial record at the Lowe's motor speedway and posted some good times at triathlon races. The most significant advantage I found from riding the heavier wheels was enhanced gyroscopic stability and being able to ride completely straight with more ease. Due to my injury, its been 2.5 years now an my groin just now doesn't ache all the time, I have been very limited in further testing.
So the question is whether anyone else out there has experimented with water inflation before on a return to start course(zero net elevation gain). If not would anybody be willing to conduct such a study using power to further investigate the effects of wheel inertia on cycling performance.
Also I've been told water should have a higher Crr because it is a incompressible fluid but have not been able to find any concrete evidence to back this up. My infield studies certainly did not find and such loss.
I'm currently writing a paper on this subject and would like as much IN FIELD information about this topic. I'm well aware this is a touchy subject and people have alot of opinions on it so I would like the info to come from personal experience in the field testing wheel inertias.