On Tue, May 2, 2017 at 10:32 AM, panog <panogiannio...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Actually 3 questions, if we add the "where to stop adding more suppleness > to an already supple tire?". > True. > > [...] To me and my cycling exposure, the need for the extralight casings > is just noise; I do use open tubular type clinchers with supple walls and > there I draw the line for a number of reasons. When and if I need lower > rolling resistance then I use latex tubes. > I've used many less-than top quality road tires because my principal road bikes have had 26" wheels, and top quality tires haven't been readily available for the 559 and 571 sizes. So when Jan put the Elk Pass on the market, I was thrilled. Frankly, I've not ridden "standard casing" Compass tires, so I can't really say if, or by how much, the ELs reduce rolling resistance (the Elk Pass comes only in the EL casing). But the improvement over the already very decent 1.35" Kojaks was so noticeable that I spent almost $1K in stocking up. (I had swapped 622 35 mm Kojaks on my erstwhile Ram for original issue Challenge Parigi Roubaix -- as delicate a tire, I may add, as any I've used -- and, while the difference was quite noticeable, it wasn't as noticeable as between the 559 X 1.35 Ks and the Elk Passes. > Another consideration on wheel performance, when taken to the nth degree > via extralight casings etc, is the effect of aerodynamic drag on the > fendered, high spoke, box rimed, bulbous profile wheel which makes one > bring into prospective where to draw the line on dialing the rubber rolling > resistance. > > Very true. I think Jan discounts tire air drag as negligible, but I certainly feel something when I'm pushing 29", 2"+ wide tires against one of our Spring headwinds! Even more so if the tire has fat, tall knobs (that is to say, the resistance of the knobs to rolling on pavement is very noticeably less than when a headwind is added). I also think fenders, or at least Velo Orange flaps, catch wind; at least, my 2003 Riv with Elk Passes and a 70" gear doesn't seem as easy to pedal as my identical, as to position and tires '99 gofast, sans fenders and with a 76" gear. Jan did say that, from his wind tunnel tests, the fenders on the bike or bikes he tested didn't add to drag. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
