I have a 2011 Specialized Tarmac SL3 Pro. My original wheelset were Easton EC90 SL which are lightweight tubular (1250 grams) racing wheels specifically for sprints and climbing. Last week, I bought Zipp Speed Weapontry 404s clinchers (1658 grams). I have noticed two obvious differences between the two and am trying to understand it better.
1) Climbing between the two is noticeable. On group rides averaging ~21-23 MPH+ for 25+ miles, I could pull away from everyone like they were standing still when we got to any descent (with the Eastons). I was literally men among boys. I love climbing (if that is even possible) and usually took my turn at the front because I thought we were going to slow. Moving over to the Zipps, I can now hang with the pack on climbs. I have lost that advantage on ascents where I could just pull away from the pack. I notice that loss of advantage when the climb gets to 2-3% and it becomes more noticeable as the grade increases.
2) Obviously my flat rides have improved with the Zipps (as well as descents). On my first day with them, I beat my best solo average by 1 MPH (18.2 MPH) on a neighborhood course I do during the week (lots of traffic near where I live, but I am faced with a lot of stop signs and lights). Yesterday on a 25 mile ride, my third time on the wheelset, in a much more open, rural area, I added another 2.3 MPH advantage (averaging 20.5 MPH). The major thing I am noticing is it is faster on the flats as the wheels carry so much inertia so I use less effort maintaining the same speed as I did with the Eastons. Of course, this allows me to gain about 20% more speed to my average with the same or maybe slightly more effort. Of note is in the headwinds. I still feel it on my 195 lb body but with the Zipps, I no longer feel that resistance on the bike. In other words, with the Eastons, I felt the resistance on the bike as well in a headwind, but with the Zipps, only feel it on the body and not the bike so much. Do the wheels really make that much of a blantantly noticeable difference?
Of course the thing that stands out is that my bike has gone from 14.1 lbs to 15.5 lbs moving to the heavier wheelset and going from tubular to clinchers. While 1.4 lbs is a lot, I can easily lose 4 lbs on a long ride (or vary 4 lbs during the week) and am in the process of losing weight (want to get down to 187 lbs for a Colorado Rockies ride this August).
Has anyone noticed such a significant difference moving from a lightweight wheelset to an aero wheelset or vica versa? Does the aero of the Zipps really have such a huge impact on wind resistance that I don't notice 15 MPH headwinds like I did even a week ago? Obviously I love that my average has gone up so much but I truly hate that I can't pull away blindly on the climbs anymore. It is a catch-22 because I have to sacrafice one aspect of cycling for another but I really love climbing and I feel I have been made mortal by the Zipps at the expense of a better average speed (which I know most people would prefer that sacrafice, but watching the Tour de France for 26 staight years, I never dreamed of yellow, but polka dot).
1) Climbing between the two is noticeable. On group rides averaging ~21-23 MPH+ for 25+ miles, I could pull away from everyone like they were standing still when we got to any descent (with the Eastons). I was literally men among boys. I love climbing (if that is even possible) and usually took my turn at the front because I thought we were going to slow. Moving over to the Zipps, I can now hang with the pack on climbs. I have lost that advantage on ascents where I could just pull away from the pack. I notice that loss of advantage when the climb gets to 2-3% and it becomes more noticeable as the grade increases.
2) Obviously my flat rides have improved with the Zipps (as well as descents). On my first day with them, I beat my best solo average by 1 MPH (18.2 MPH) on a neighborhood course I do during the week (lots of traffic near where I live, but I am faced with a lot of stop signs and lights). Yesterday on a 25 mile ride, my third time on the wheelset, in a much more open, rural area, I added another 2.3 MPH advantage (averaging 20.5 MPH). The major thing I am noticing is it is faster on the flats as the wheels carry so much inertia so I use less effort maintaining the same speed as I did with the Eastons. Of course, this allows me to gain about 20% more speed to my average with the same or maybe slightly more effort. Of note is in the headwinds. I still feel it on my 195 lb body but with the Zipps, I no longer feel that resistance on the bike. In other words, with the Eastons, I felt the resistance on the bike as well in a headwind, but with the Zipps, only feel it on the body and not the bike so much. Do the wheels really make that much of a blantantly noticeable difference?
Of course the thing that stands out is that my bike has gone from 14.1 lbs to 15.5 lbs moving to the heavier wheelset and going from tubular to clinchers. While 1.4 lbs is a lot, I can easily lose 4 lbs on a long ride (or vary 4 lbs during the week) and am in the process of losing weight (want to get down to 187 lbs for a Colorado Rockies ride this August).
Has anyone noticed such a significant difference moving from a lightweight wheelset to an aero wheelset or vica versa? Does the aero of the Zipps really have such a huge impact on wind resistance that I don't notice 15 MPH headwinds like I did even a week ago? Obviously I love that my average has gone up so much but I truly hate that I can't pull away blindly on the climbs anymore. It is a catch-22 because I have to sacrafice one aspect of cycling for another but I really love climbing and I feel I have been made mortal by the Zipps at the expense of a better average speed (which I know most people would prefer that sacrafice, but watching the Tour de France for 26 staight years, I never dreamed of yellow, but polka dot).