- You're in the market for a new set of wheels,
and although there are lots of different types available,
you're probably wondering, should I get
some deep section aero wheels,
or some lightweight climbing ones?
But, although deeps look really cool,
I mean they look mint, don't they,
people often wonder, will they be okay on the climbs?
- Hm, I wonder if deep section wheels can climb?
- So in this video, we're going to find out
if deep section wheels can climb.
- Ollie, Ollie, sorry mate.
Can I just interject?
We do know that deep wheels can climb.
I mean, I showed you all on the Angliru.
- Yeah, to be fair, you did.
But you did use them as an excuse
as to not going faster.
- Well, yeah, that's true.
But we want to find out if there's a big difference,
and how much that difference is.
So, we've come to GCN's test mountain.
- Mountain?
- [James] Yeah.
At 261 meters high, 1.91 kilometers long,
with an average gradient of whopping 11%.
- [Ollie] It is pretty steep, to be fair.
- Yeah, so the test is, Ollie is going to do two runs,
one on the shallow wheels,
one on the deep section rims.
Winner takes all.
- Winner takes all?
- Yeah it's a competition.
- There's only me doing it,
so I'm going to win whatever I do.
What are you talking about?
That's a rubbish test.
What we're actually going to do, right, is ride up twice.
I'll ride up on the deeps,
and then whatever power I do on the deeps-
- [James] Wins.
- [Ollie] I'll do that power on the shallow climbing wheels,
and then we'll see how much the time difference is.
So I'm going to keep the power the same with the Quark.
- [James] Yeah, we'll find out which one wins.
- Bit more scientific that way.
- Yeah.
- For our lightweight climbing wheels,
we've gone for a seriously bling pair
of Zipp 202 NSWs.
These are said to be
the fastest accelerating carbon clincher
Zipp has ever made, and for good reason too.
They weigh just 1,375 grams a pair,
but they're still 33 millimeters deep,
so little bit of aero.
For our deep section wheels,
we've gone very aero indeed.
A pair of Vision Metron 81s.
These are 81 millimeters deep, as the name suggests.
They're carbon clinchers as well, like the Zipps,
and they've got aero bladed spokes,
they're hand built, and they weight 1,770 grams,
so they're about 400 grams heavier
than our lightweight climbing pair.
It'd be interesting to see if this makes any difference,
and if the added aero offsets it.
(light music)
Manon, how come you're not doing this either?
- Ah, I can't climb very well Ollie,
so I think you're probably best for this.
- Well that's a lie.
Anyway, you going to time me down?
- Yeah. - Give me the beeps,
the GCN beeps?
- Beep, beep, beep, beep.
(upbeat music)
- Now the goal here is not for me to flog myself.
I'm going to try and repeat the power
that I do this time, when I'm on the lighter wheels,
so that even at these speeds, which is slow,
aerodynamics does make a difference.
So I'm also making a mental note
of how I ride the climb,
and where I get out the saddle.
Some bits I have to get out the saddle on this climb.
And then, I'll repeat that as well.
So this steeper section up here.
I'm going to be out the saddle on that bit.
(upbeat music)
- [James] Go deep, deep rims, Ollie.
- You see, it's not a race, Hank.
I've got to, whatever I do this time,
I've got to do it again.
- This the finish line, boff.
Oh, good run, that.
How'd that feel?
- It was all right, yeah.
So run one done.
Average 310 watts, and did the climb in nine minutes
and 12 seconds.
They felt all right.
You know, they don't, I didn't feel like
at a disadvantage, so, we'll get...
You run along, you get the Zipps.
- Oh, that's my cue, is it? - Yeah.
- All right, I'll see you in a minute.
- And we'll try and repeat that again.
(upbeat music)
Oh, you sure you don't want a go, Manon?
- No, no, you're fine Ollie, no.
How you feeling for this one?
- Well I'm all right.
Ah, I'll get it done.
Anyway, give me the beeps, yeah.
- Beep, beep, beep, beep.
Ah.
That's going to hurt second time round.
(unintelligible scream)
Go Ollie!
(upbeat music)
- Instantly, as soon as I did the start,
and accelerated with the lighter rims,
definitely feel less sluggish.
I mean, I don't think there's much in it,
but you can feel it.
It's weird.
So we're headed up to the killer super steep section now,
so it'll be interesting to see
how they feel on that.
Ooh.
That should be where there is most a difference,
because it's where you're going slowest.
(upbeat music)
- [James] Come on Ollie, dig in.
Dig in, this is for sha- - So, it's not a race.
I'm trying to do the same power for both.
- All right.
Looked good though.
(upbeat music)
- I've got the results on the Wahoo, right?
So, just a quick recap.
First one, 310 watts.
I repeated that.
I did 310 watts again.
Quite proud of myself.
- Yeah, that's a good effort,
but what we really want to know is the times.
- Yeah, so in the first run, nine minutes 12 for the deeps.
- [James] Yeah.
- [Ollie] These, right?
- [James] Go on.
- [Ollie] Nine minutes, six.
- [James] Ooh, so
much tighter than I thought. - It's nothing.
It's nothing, is it? - Yeah.
- Very little.
I mean it's almost within the realms, I'd say,
of experimental error, but I'm pretty confident
that that is about right.
- Yeah, interesting.
- Yeah, but one thing definitely
is when you accelerate off the line,
I reckon one of those seconds was on that bit,
when I, just on the start.
- Yeah, those are much quicker
out the gate, aren't they? - They just feel like
they do spin up quicker.
You can feel it.
And on the really steep section,
because I held momentum both times,
I don't think there was much in it,
but I think if I had suddenly lost momentum,
and had to accelerate at any point,
again, I probably would have pulled out a bit of time
with the shallower ones.
So, on the whole for me, the deeps win.
- Yeah. - Well they look the best,
right, but, I mean,
unless you're just doing a pure hill climb event,
where every second matters on a climb like this,
you're going to more than get that back
on the downhill and on the flat with the deeps,
because the aerodynamics is just far superior.
- Now the big question we ask then,
is why don't all the pros use deep section wheels
like these ones?
And there's a reason for that.
A lot of the pros find them quite stressful to use.
Not only do they catch that wind
that little bit easier if you're in a crosswind,
but also if you're trying to get food
out your pocket, then you're going to
have to take your hands off the bars,
meaning these are open to get caught by the wind,
and you don't want to end up in a hedge, do we Ollie?
- No.
I think the answer is to go with a mid depth wheel.
Something like a 40 or a 50,
like we ride with most of the time.
- Yeah, best of both worlds. - Yeah, best of both,
but I mean, come on.
They do look amazing.
- I mean they sound amazing too.
You know that sound.
(hums)
- Dubstep?
- Yeah, or a didgeridoo.
- Anyway, good day today.
I reckon we should go home. - Good science.
- Go to the pub.
What do you reckon? - Yeah.
- Yeah? - I'll walk, with these.
- All right.
Let's go home. - It's a good walkthrough.
- I'll go with you.
- Cheers mate, you going to walk at my pace?
- I wonder if they're coming back for me?
It's getting cold.