Do Deep Section Wheels Climb Faster?

- These are the brand new wheels from Shimano.
They're gonna become available a little bit later this year.
And we're gonna use them for a little experiment.
Now, this one here is the C40, and this one is the C60,
and both are completely new to Shimano's wheel lineup.
This one, the C40 has been designed as an all-around wheel.
Super-light, just 1,355g but yet, also aerodynamic.
Shimano tell us in fact that it is two watts faster
than their previous aerodynamic wheel, the C50.
And they've achieved that
partly through a new rim profile, and partly, they say,
because they've made it much, much wider,
so it sits much better with modern wider tyres,
so it's actually 28 millimetres wide, so wide in fact,
that they've produced their own slimline brake pads for it.
This one, the C60, however,
is the out-and-out aerodynamic wheel.
If this one creates two watts less drag compared to the C50,
this one creates 16 watts less drag,
so that is significantly faster,
although Shimano haven't actually told us exactly
how they have tested those wheels, but what I want to know,
and what I've always wanted to know, is just to see how much
difference there is between shallow wheels and deeper wheels
when climbing.
We're told that this is a climbing wheel.
But yet this one is just 125g more,
and creates 14 watts less drag at higher speeds.
So, we're gonna find out exactly what happens
when we put the two head-to-head.
Our climb of choice today is the Coll de Rates,
which is in Alicante in Spain.
It's 6.5 kilometres long, and 5.6% average gradient,
so it should be reasonably quick.
Any guesses?
Run number one, it's the C40s.
(exhilarating music)
(exhaling)
You ready?
Run number two, C60s.
All right.
(stimulating music)
(exhaling)
With two runs of the Coll de Rate under my belt now,
it is time for some results.
I've not seen these yet, so I'm just gonna click
into the lap function.
Right, here we go.
So the C40s were
16 minutes, 52 seconds,
and the C60s,
16 minutes and 55 seconds,
so actually, two and a half seconds between them.
I can't quite believe that.
That's unbelievable.
An average power for each one
was 326 watts.
Now that's not guaranteeing that those watts were laid down
in a completely even manner,
so there could be a bit of discrepancy in there,
but that is uncanny that they're almost exactly
the same speed at that climb.
I suppose you could extrapolate that
and say that if the climb is any steeper than this one,
which is 5.5%, then the C40s are gonna get progressively
faster and faster compared to these,
but you can bet your bottom dollar
that these C60s are now gonna be a heck of a lot faster
down the other side.
Which one matters to you, I suppose ultimately,
is a decision for you.
But, I can't believe that.
That's almost slightly weird, isn't it?
Right, well.
If you have enjoyed this little dip into science,
then make first of all that you subscribe to GCN.
We regularly try and tackle some of your burning questions
about cycling and cycling equipment with the help
of helpful brands like Shimano that lend us
this amazing stuff.
And then, once you subscribe, back here on the globe,
why not check out a couple other GCN Does Science videos,
where firstly, we test out how much of an effect
bike weight has on climbing speed.
That's just up there.
Or, Matt and Dan put on fat rucksacks to find out
how much body weight affects climbing speed,
and that one is just down there.

Do Deep Section Wheels Climb Faster? | GCN Does Science

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