I’m sure Rene Herse is the only company that doesn’t use testing data to sell products.
Arney0408 on
Interestingly the founder/one of the founders of Rene Herse wrote a book in which he explained how they did a ton of testing and basically came to the conclusion, that wider tires arent neccesserely slower than smaller ones and almost everybody should ride as wide as they can.
This was in 2021 and the industry seems to only catch up since like last year or maybe even this year where the Pros really start to advocate this.
dogsbikesandbeers on
But they look fucking cool and I’m all for it.
joelav on
I mean, my round tube classic geometry steel bike isn’t aero at all. But I still have deep carbon wheels on it because they are light and look awesome. Don’t need any more reason than that.
PossibleHero on
“Doing the math” and actually testing these things in a wind tunnel are very different things. One is making a calculated assumption based on principles. Another is testing for those.
We’ve seen countless tests now from Dylan Johnson, GCN, wheel manufactures…ect that show there’s a whole lot more going on and unknowns to consider when testing how a tire interfaces with a certain wheel diameter, its overall shape, and of course depth.
US__Grant on
super lame title tbh, not at all what is stated in the article
OUEngineer17 on
They may need to be even deeper to get to the optimal ratio of length to width depending on the tire size. But you still see measurable gains with aero wheels, even tho they are minimal.
FWIW, I’m a bit of an aero geek, but I don’t run aero wheels or frame on my gravel setup. I’m much more focused on weight (for fun factor), rolling resistance and drivetrain efficiency. I can wear aero helmet and clothing if I’m racing, and when I do race, my position always seems lower/narrower than the people I’m riding with. Giving up a few watts from frame and wheels is worth the trade-off for a fun, responsive ride that feels incredible up all the steep climbs.
bananajunior3000 on
I don’t care about racing or aero in my gravel riding at all, but I do enjoy an article making strong claims about the aero considerations of wheels, fairings, and handlebar height/width while showing me a rider using the most rectangular handlebar bag possible
mike_stifle on
You can pry my 303s from my cold dead hands!
Adventureadverts on
I use their slicks still and love them. Everything they said about them was true to real world experience.
The opposite is true for the knobbies. They are just pretty slow as they have too much knob for my use. It’s bizarre to go from slicks to maximal knobs. I think they missed the boat on semislicks and essentially didn’t improve on soma cazedero which is similar construction.
Aero wheels are probably overly sought after but even amateurs will likely appreciate them in headwinds.
alteamatthew on
Id rather spend money on wheels than Jans overpriced rubber
DragonSlayingUnicorn on
“Cite your sources.”
RH/Jan Heine has the confidence of a inebriated frat boy. Sometimes he’s right. Other times what he’s saying makes no sense.
Wider tires are faster to a point. It depends a lot on the surface. For road in dry conditions, the optimal tire size seems to be around 30mm with around a 50-60mm deep aero rim behind it. That’s what almost every pro rider is using even when they have access to wider tires and deeper rims.
For gravel, wider rims make sense to ease the transiton between rim and tire. That’s why the new 303 XPLR is as wide as it is. SRAM put a lot of thought behind that wheel and it shows.
And for the record, I like RH slick Extralight tires because for certain applications like fast, dry gravel riding they are very quick and forgiving.
noladutch on
Yep it would be unsafe to ride wheels deep enough to make a dent in the hole that big rubber pushes thru the air.
This is just logical people.
The amazing thing is the carbon wheels have to be more aero to sell in the market rather than building around xc MTB rims that probably are more aero.
Wild-Region9817 on
Retrogrouch company makes retrogrouch comments. Footage at 5.
Seriously “these look like fenders but they’re not and they make you aero, as does our big fat handlebar bag” is the most Rene Herse awesomeness and worth highlighting rather than the predictable bagging on aero wheels. Sheldon Brown would be proud.
NxPat on
Run what ya got… don’t let manufacturers say otherwise, because they’re only trying to sell you something else.
Low-Stomach7514 on
Amateur speed range up to 45km/h they are useless – if you go 50-60 then it gives you some advantage but in gravel speed well is useless.
Light wheels give you more than aero
willy_quixote on
TIL that Rene Herse don’t sell aero wheels.
tadamhicks on
Is he talking to all the people who buy aero gravel bikes because they race or the ones who buy them because they like to dream about racing? Either way I don’t think it’s worth the breath to let facts get in the way of anyone’s good time.
18 Comments
I’m sure Rene Herse is the only company that doesn’t use testing data to sell products.
Interestingly the founder/one of the founders of Rene Herse wrote a book in which he explained how they did a ton of testing and basically came to the conclusion, that wider tires arent neccesserely slower than smaller ones and almost everybody should ride as wide as they can.
This was in 2021 and the industry seems to only catch up since like last year or maybe even this year where the Pros really start to advocate this.
But they look fucking cool and I’m all for it.
I mean, my round tube classic geometry steel bike isn’t aero at all. But I still have deep carbon wheels on it because they are light and look awesome. Don’t need any more reason than that.
“Doing the math” and actually testing these things in a wind tunnel are very different things. One is making a calculated assumption based on principles. Another is testing for those.
We’ve seen countless tests now from Dylan Johnson, GCN, wheel manufactures…ect that show there’s a whole lot more going on and unknowns to consider when testing how a tire interfaces with a certain wheel diameter, its overall shape, and of course depth.
super lame title tbh, not at all what is stated in the article
They may need to be even deeper to get to the optimal ratio of length to width depending on the tire size. But you still see measurable gains with aero wheels, even tho they are minimal.
FWIW, I’m a bit of an aero geek, but I don’t run aero wheels or frame on my gravel setup. I’m much more focused on weight (for fun factor), rolling resistance and drivetrain efficiency. I can wear aero helmet and clothing if I’m racing, and when I do race, my position always seems lower/narrower than the people I’m riding with. Giving up a few watts from frame and wheels is worth the trade-off for a fun, responsive ride that feels incredible up all the steep climbs.
I don’t care about racing or aero in my gravel riding at all, but I do enjoy an article making strong claims about the aero considerations of wheels, fairings, and handlebar height/width while showing me a rider using the most rectangular handlebar bag possible
You can pry my 303s from my cold dead hands!
I use their slicks still and love them. Everything they said about them was true to real world experience.
The opposite is true for the knobbies. They are just pretty slow as they have too much knob for my use. It’s bizarre to go from slicks to maximal knobs. I think they missed the boat on semislicks and essentially didn’t improve on soma cazedero which is similar construction.
Aero wheels are probably overly sought after but even amateurs will likely appreciate them in headwinds.
Id rather spend money on wheels than Jans overpriced rubber
“Cite your sources.”
RH/Jan Heine has the confidence of a inebriated frat boy. Sometimes he’s right. Other times what he’s saying makes no sense.
Wider tires are faster to a point. It depends a lot on the surface. For road in dry conditions, the optimal tire size seems to be around 30mm with around a 50-60mm deep aero rim behind it. That’s what almost every pro rider is using even when they have access to wider tires and deeper rims.
For gravel, wider rims make sense to ease the transiton between rim and tire. That’s why the new 303 XPLR is as wide as it is. SRAM put a lot of thought behind that wheel and it shows.
And for the record, I like RH slick Extralight tires because for certain applications like fast, dry gravel riding they are very quick and forgiving.
Yep it would be unsafe to ride wheels deep enough to make a dent in the hole that big rubber pushes thru the air.
This is just logical people.
The amazing thing is the carbon wheels have to be more aero to sell in the market rather than building around xc MTB rims that probably are more aero.
Retrogrouch company makes retrogrouch comments. Footage at 5.
Seriously “these look like fenders but they’re not and they make you aero, as does our big fat handlebar bag” is the most Rene Herse awesomeness and worth highlighting rather than the predictable bagging on aero wheels. Sheldon Brown would be proud.
Run what ya got… don’t let manufacturers say otherwise, because they’re only trying to sell you something else.
Amateur speed range up to 45km/h they are useless – if you go 50-60 then it gives you some advantage but in gravel speed well is useless.
Light wheels give you more than aero
TIL that Rene Herse don’t sell aero wheels.
Is he talking to all the people who buy aero gravel bikes because they race or the ones who buy them because they like to dream about racing? Either way I don’t think it’s worth the breath to let facts get in the way of anyone’s good time.