Are Expensive Carbon Bike Wheels Actually Worth It?
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00:00These wheels are £1,050 and these wheels are £3,200.
00:05That's a whopping difference of £2,150.
00:09So, we've devised two tests to see if we can find
00:12a difference between the two different wheel sets,
00:14which, for that amount of money, you'd hope you could.
00:17So I've been joined by Stefan today
00:18and he's gonna be our guinea pig.
00:19Stefan, what's the first test that we're gonna do?
00:22So, first of all, we're gonna be looking at
00:24the aero performance of these wheels,
00:25and so we're gonna be riding around a flat TT lap
00:29devised by Simon Smythe.
00:30What's the second test we're gonna be doing?
00:32So, the second test is gonna be a hill climb.
00:33We're gonna be going up Leaf Hill
00:35and putting in the effort with the two different wheel sets
00:38and seeing what the time is at the air top.
00:40So, Stefan, what do you think we could expect to see
00:42from this test?
00:44So, the idea here is that we have some things,
00:47like a TT helmet or a skin suit,
00:49which the aero performance and the difference between them
00:52is pretty tiny.
00:54It's not something that you're going to really notice
00:56so much on a ride.
00:57It needs to be verified in really controlled conditions,
00:59a velodrome or a wind tunnel.
01:01There are some differences between components,
01:03such as between a Dutch bike sit-up and bag
01:06and a drop bar road bike,
01:07where you're going to see those differences.
01:09Like, obviously, out on the road,
01:10you'll feel it instantly.
01:11You're gonna see that in the timings.
01:13And so the question with these wheels is,
01:15is it going to be like the Dutch bike,
01:16but is the difference going to be that palpable,
01:18or is the difference marginal?
01:20Are we going to see a significant time gap
01:22between these two wheels of a similar depth
01:24but very different price point?
01:26Absolutely.
01:27Right then, I think we should get the first set of wheels
01:28fitted and do the first run.
01:30In a test like this,
01:40there are plenty of variables we need to keep a lid on.
01:42So we've used the same ties, sealant, cassettes,
01:45and rotors across both wheel sets.
01:47There are obviously some variables
01:48that we can't have any control of,
01:50those being the wind, the traffic,
01:51and how Stefan paces his effort.
01:53So this is very much a rough-around-the-edges,
01:55real-world test.
01:56So, a little more information about those wheels.
01:59The set that cost £1,050 are the Zipp 303 S's,
02:02and the ones coming at £3,200 are the Zipp 353 NSWs.
02:07The difference in weight is significantly closer
02:09than that of the price differential,
02:10with just 236 grammes separating the two wheel sets.
02:14The actual weights with tape coming at 1,308 grammes
02:17for the 353s, and 1,544 grammes for the 303 S's.
02:22The rim profiles are incredibly different
02:24between the two wheel sets.
02:26Although both are optimised around 28mm tyres,
02:28the NSWs come with an internal rim width of 25mm
02:31compared to 23mm on the 303 S's.
02:34These are both on the wide side for road wheels,
02:36but the NSWs are significantly so.
02:38Together, with the external rim width of 30mm,
02:41the tyres make a notably smoother and straighter transition
02:44to the rims of the NSWs.
02:46This has been proved to be more aero in the wind tunnel.
02:49That narrower internal width on the 303 S's
02:52gives the tyres more of a mushroom profile.
02:54Another distinctive element of the 353 NSWs
02:57can be seen along the sides of the rims.
02:59Small dimples are moulded in similar to that of a golf ball,
03:01which is supposed to aid efficiency.
03:03The fact that a number of them are partially filled
03:05by the stick-on logos may mitigate their effectiveness.
03:08Also, the distinctive undulation of the 353 NSW wheels
03:12has been done largely to improve the stability
03:14in crosswinds.
03:19Okay, so that's the TT done.
03:21How did they feel?
03:22So, it didn't feel like there's a massive difference
03:25between the wheels,
03:26and so it wasn't like the difference between
03:27going from a shallow section to a deep section
03:30kind of thing,
03:31but there's still some differences
03:32in the sensation between them.
03:34I think that with the 353 NSWs,
03:36it was mainly flat, but there were some rises,
03:38and on those rises,
03:39it did feel like that a little bit more responsive,
03:42sort of when pressing on the pedals.
03:44And when it came to ticking along the flat,
03:46I mean, like, this isn't a double-blind trial,
03:50and so I knew exactly what wheels I was riding,
03:53so there is a certain amount of cognitive bias
03:55coming in there,
03:55but they felt nice going along the flat.
03:57They felt fast, it felt really good ticking over,
04:00and so, yeah, the feeling of the 353 NSWs
04:03was really quite good,
04:04but then the 303s weren't bad at all either.
04:07I guess it's that thing of,
04:08okay, well, do they feel 2,000 pounds better?
04:11And that's a trickier question to answer.
04:13So then, in power numbers,
04:14were you able to match a normalised power?
04:17Well, in terms of the normalised power,
04:19I managed to keep things pretty much perfectly the same
04:23between the tests, which was quite good,
04:24but in terms of the times that have turned in,
04:27there's a bit of a surprise,
04:28bit of a turn-up for the books there
04:30with the 353 NSWs coming in slightly slower
04:33than the 303s,
04:35and I can tell you the reason.
04:37The traffic between the runs,
04:39it was quite different and unfavourably
04:41in terms of the 353 NSWs,
04:44and so I think that's what definitely caused
04:47the difference there
04:48and meant that they ended up turning in at a slower time.
04:50Okay, so really, we're dealing with fine margins
04:52because it's not to say that the 303s are slow wheels.
04:56It's just that, actually, the difference between them
04:59wasn't great enough to overcome the variable,
05:01the uncontrollable variable of traffic.
05:04Yeah, exactly, pretty much.
05:05Okay, so I think we need to now put them up a hill climb
05:07and see how they perform there.
05:09So that's the hill climb done.
05:34I imagine that probably wasn't too pleasant for you.
05:36So how did you find them?
05:37Did you notice a difference between the weight
05:39because, obviously, these are 275 grams lighter.
05:42Did you feel that?
05:43So they're both pretty good wheels.
05:46I mean, it's not like the 303s
05:48were feeling particularly heavy.
05:49They're still around about that 1,500-gram mark,
05:52which is a pretty nice weight for a wheel set.
05:54The 353 NSWs are that little bit lighter,
05:57and yeah, on the steepest gradients,
06:00you do feel that little bit more responsive,
06:01like you get that sensation through the pedals
06:03as you're pressing the cranks.
06:05And then, were there any other kind of benefits
06:07of those wheels that you felt?
06:10No, I mean, it wasn't particularly a fast run up the hill.
06:14The speeds were a little bit low
06:16because of the gradients,
06:17and so I don't think that the aerodynamics
06:20would have really came into it.
06:21I didn't have that ticking over sensation at all
06:24like you do on the flat.
06:25And so, yeah, really, it's mostly the weight differences
06:29that I hear about making the differences.
06:30Okay, so put me out of my misery.
06:32What was the difference
06:33between the two wheel sets up the climb?
06:35So over about a six-and-a-half-minute climb,
06:37the difference came down to about three to four seconds,
06:40so really quite close.
06:41And that was with the 303S, the heavier wheel set,
06:45turning in that faster time.
06:47It was the 353 NSW, which was just a little bit slower.
06:50And that is purely down to knowing how to pace the effort
06:53and knowing where to put the power down, wasn't it?
06:55So again, actually, really,
06:56we've come down to fine margins once again.
06:58Even though there's a large difference in weight,
07:00which is obviously something
07:01that would get affected on a climb,
07:02we've essentially landed in the same space
07:04where it's, again, very marginal.
07:06But not a marginal price difference.
07:08Yeah, definitely.
07:09I mean, when you think about the total system weight,
07:10so I'm 68 kilos, the bike is under 10 kilos.
07:14What's 200 grams in that complex, in that whole matrix?
07:18When it comes to the sensation,
07:19you do feel the difference of maybe 700 to 200 grams,
07:22but when it comes to the actual performance,
07:23the times that you're putting in,
07:25it is a very, very small difference.
07:27I mean, it's almost about the same
07:28as just taking a phone out of your pocket
07:30and throwing it to the side.
07:32And so, yeah, when it's back-to-back
07:34and you're testing between the wheels,
07:36the difference is something that you can feel,
07:37but in terms of just how much higher
07:39up the Strava leaderboard you're gonna go,
07:41it's not so much, is it?
07:43Yeah, absolutely.
07:44Okay, so putting the numbers to one side for a moment,
07:47because it can be very easy to get bogged down
07:48in power numbers and times,
07:50subjectively, do these feel 2,000 pounds better?
07:54Well, I think that comes down
07:56to how much 2,000 pounds really means to you.
07:58I mean, this wasn't a blind test at all,
08:00but I did feel a difference with the lighter wheel set.
08:03I mean, that 200 grams difference,
08:04yeah, it's still, it's the kind of difference
08:06that you do notice,
08:07even if it doesn't turn around much faster time.
08:10And so, I think that, yeah,
08:12there's kind of two reasons to be going
08:14for the 353 NSWs.
08:16One is, you're racing at the very pinnacle,
08:18and those milliseconds are exactly what counts,
08:21and you're not gonna sacrifice anything anywhere.
08:23And second is, if you have that money to spare
08:26and you do want that feeling,
08:28and you think that feeling is worth,
08:29yeah, 2,000 pounds to you,
08:31then, yeah, by all means, go ahead.
08:33For me, personally, I think that
08:34when it comes to choosing between the wheels,
08:36I'd go for the 303 Ss.
08:38The difference isn't so great,
08:39and I feel like it just makes
08:41that bit more monetary sense, doesn't it?
08:43It does, indeed.
08:44So, there we have it.
08:45That's our car park test wrapped up,
08:47and really, these tests were devised
08:49so that we could really see
08:50how they would perform in the real world.
08:52And I think between these two,
08:53it's very clear to see that it's very fine margins,
08:56and when the variables aren't in your favor,
08:59clearly, a wheel set which is a lot more expensive
09:01may not perform as you might want it to.
09:03So, let us know your thoughts down in the comments.
09:06Let us know which ones you would go for.
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09:10and we will see you again very soon.