[peterk]

A bought her a pair of Blackset Race from BWW. I am noticing that she is rolling much faster than in the past. She actually is catching me on the downhills. Do bearings make that much of a difference?

 

[terbennett]

Yes, they do. A buddy of mine had a pair of Neuvation M28s and his wheels spun better than my Ksyrium SLs. You might want to have yours checked out. Many times, manufacturers supposedly tighten their wheels for shipping reasons. You get them and the hubs need to be loosened. Shimano is notorious for slightly over-tightening their hubs for shipping from what I've been told by a few people. They claim that it prevents damage during shipping. I don't know how true that is but I wouldn't discredit the claim yet.

 

[Kerry Irons]

Possilbe issues

A bought her a pair of Blackset Race from BWW. I am noticing that she is rolling much faster than in the past. She actually is catching me on the downhills. Do bearings make that much of a difference?

Assuming you are heavier than your wife, then it is either tires, aerodynamic position, or tight/crappy bearings on your wheels (hub or freehub). It's pretty easy to figure out which. If you remove your wheels from the frame and take out the quick release skewers, you can feel the bearing situation by turning the hub axles with a light touch. If your freehub has extra drag, you should be able to see the chain drooping as you coast. You can swap tires to see if rolling resistance is your issue.

 

[blr33439]

What tire pressure do you run?

 

[Fogdweller]

I say, 80 lbs in her tires, 110 in yours. Problem solved.

 

[ziscwg]

I say, 80 lbs in her tires, 110 in yours. Problem solved.

Anything he gained by this would be negated by the fact that he would have to go back up where his wife got a pinch flat and change her tube out.

 

[XR4Ti]

Anything he gained by this would be negated by the fact that he would have to go back up where his wife got a pinch flat and change her tube out.

If there's one thing I learned from the TdF this year, it was to attack on a mechanical.

 

[Tommy Walker]

Face it your wife got great legs.

 

[cmg]

has to do with rotating weight. she has lighter tires/tube/rim tape/rims and better bearings than you. The BWW wheelset has a 380+gram rim. just look up/add up the weights and see the difference.

 

[den bakker]

Anything he gained by this would be negated by the fact that he would have to go back up where his wife got a pinch flat and change her tube out.

you calling her fat?

 

[Snowonder]

So my wife and I are on essentially the same bike, just different sizes and with different tires. She is on Conti Ultra Gatorskins and I am on Panaracer Stradius. I would like her to go a little faster on the flats so we both get a good workout where now I hold back a little. She is not much slower, maybe 1 to 1.5 mph. We have Mavic Ksyrium Equipe WS. Would she be faster on some ROLs or Neuvation training (i.e. non-race) wheel set? She has actually closed the gap over the last year, but a little more would be better for both of us. Any other suggestions?

Thanks

 

[Kerry Irons]

Backwards

has to do with rotating weight. she has lighter tires/tube/rim tape/rims and better bearings than you. The BWW wheelset has a 380+gram rim. just look up/add up the weights and see the difference.

But when coasting down a hill, MORE weight is an advantage. You have it backwards.

 

[wim]

Aerodynamics.

A bought her a pair of Blackset Race from BWW. I am noticing that she is rolling much faster than in the past. She actually is catching me on the downhills.

You're not saying, but if she's in your draft, she will always roll faster than you. On a decent downhill, a rider drafting very closely will actually have to apply some brake (or slide out into the wind) to keep from making contact with the rider in front. Experienced riders will use this to their advantage by establishing a constantly rotating paceline with extremely short pulls.

 

[rruff]

A bought her a pair of Blackset Race from BWW. I am noticing that she is rolling much faster than in the past. She actually is catching me on the downhills. Do bearings make that much of a difference?

Usually much less than the placebo effect.

Does she beat you in a downhill if you ride side by side? If so, try swapping wheels and see what happens.

 

[rruff]

Would she be faster on some ROLs or Neuvation training (i.e. non-race) wheel set? She has actually closed the gap over the last year, but a little more would be better for both of us. Any other suggestions?

Put some beefy slow tires and tubes on your bike and put some really nice tires and latex tubes on hers. Good tires would be Vittoria Corsa (and clones), Conti Supersonic, Challenge Criterium, etc.

 

[ergott]

Rider position on the bike is the biggest factor in coasting speeds. Nothing else is even a close second.

-Eric

 

[frdfandc]

Just face it. Its not the equipment. She's is a much stronger rider than before. And it puts a dent in your ego.