Aero Bike Wheel Buyers Guide | By an Engineer 

Any feedback on this type of video is gratefully received!

I just wanted to say that you influenced both my decision which bike to buy and also my decision to get my bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. So far both decisions have worked well. I am already looking forward to becoming 5.

I enjoy this content much more than the reaming stuff. The latter can be funny from time to time, but gets old quite quickly and feels a little forced. This flexing of your in depth knowledge is much more interesting for me.

Hey Hambini! Love your hair, you’ll have to introduce me to your hairdresser. Let me challenge your presentation, if I might. You start by pointing to the futility of using air tunnels to evaluate wheel (and bike & rider) drag. Something with which I agree. But you then go on to make recommendations based on general aero concepts/rule of thumb and even make some watt estimates of savings (3 watts for hidden nipples, for example). Without some established mathematical basis, these general rules can’t really lead to good recommendations and you’ve offered no alternative basis to replace the wind tunnel estimates. As far as I know, the general body of aero knowledge has established that small low-speed profiles have different aero characteristics as compared to larger profiles at higher speeds. Most of the research related to this body of knowledge appears to come from work done with small windmills (think personal electricity generation) and model planes. But there is plenty of published work available in this realm. From spokes to frames, the profiles related to cycling are small and operate in a low-speed environment. So aerodynamics that apply to automobiles and jet planes don’t simply translate to cycling. And many of the profiles that marketing wankers push have the added complexity of dynamically changing as they are presented to airflow even when that airflow is stable. There is also the difficulty of keeping profiles properly pointed to the wind (in sailer speak) when the bicycle is traveling in a straight line and the wind direction is steady. Finally, there is the whole cumulative impact of small gains concept which argues from the assumption that there really are many small gains to be had, and that each can be built in independently of each other so they truly add up like 1 + 1 = 2. Instead let me suggest that each of these gains is sensitive to a variety of different factors (assuming that they can be realized at all). So each factor need to be adjusted by this and that sub-factor and probability of same. This leads to the assumed additive model being fragile in practice. Statistics is a relentless bitch. Given these considerations, general aerodynamic rules of thumb (apart from frontal area) can’t easily be applied to cycling. Let me offer a few examples related to wheels: 1) I believe that effective drag reduction with small low-speed airfoils require a profile with an aspect ratio of at least 10:1, not 4:1. 2) The top of the wheel (which is moving into the wind faster, due to rotation, than any other portion of the wheel) produces the majority of wheel drag. The profile the top presents to the wind is quite unlike any pictured cross-section profile used to describe a wheel/rim combo. All the discussion/analysis of bike wheel profiles ignore that only a brief band of the frontal area conforms to the conventional cross section diagram. Hence discussions of shape, aspect ratio, trips and stalling affect based on this limited area of the wheel are not a good proxy for what occurs over the rest of the wheel. 3) Wheels (especially the front) are rarely pointed into the wind. First, cyclists move around on he road and both the movement and the turning & leaning related to same alter the wind direction. Second the wind can and does at various times come from all points of the compass. While there are prevailing weather and geographic factors that can make prevailing winds less than random in direction, the addition of route choices should make sure that, overall, wind direction is random. Depending on wind strength, this can dramatically impact apparent wind direction and speed on bicycle components, and thereby further dynamically alter the profile presented to the air. 4) The leading edge of a profile is by far the most aerodynamically important. For our wheels, that means he tires, not the rim. Some years ago, Reynolds offered aero down-tubes to frame builders. An American builder, preparing to build a frame to attack some track TT records had contacts in the Sandia National Labs for wind tunnel testing and computed flow analysis (Sandia being a place with powerful compute capabilities). It turned out that the tube didn’t reduce drag unless it was turned around backwards. The front edge was round leading to flow separation which the rear tapered edge couldn’t recapture. Because the down tube slopes, it actually presented a modestly parabolic shape to the airflow. While parabolic leading edge are generally preferred for drag reduction, this tube, even at its angle, didn’t have enough parabolic taper to reduce drag. Our tires don’t present parabolicly either. And I suspect riders wouldn’t really like their handling characteristics if they did. Perhaps one day a tire manufacturer will build a parabolic tire and we can find out. But with the limited control we have over tire shape, it’s not clear to me that rim design is the answer to our aero-prayers. I could go on, but I not trying to dump on you or troll. But I am curious about whether you’ve done much study into small low-speed aero profiles? I’m no engineer, so you know many things that I don’t. And if they relate to my analysis above, I’d love to learn from you. Best regards,

Bit of a throwback to some of your earlier videos with less opinions and jokes (which are massively entertaining) but loads of really useful information explained well. As a sidenote, yourself @Hambini and @Peaktorque inspired me to start studying at age 31 to become a mechatronic engineer and your videos do bring some real life applications to the learning materials I'm studying, and also highlight the challenges of manufacturing / Lazy building techniques and sloppy standards in the bike industry. So thanks for that, and keep it up. Videos like yours will hopefully one day bring about change in the standards held in an industry with exponentially increasing prices.

Being an engineer - applied mathematics - and an avid cyclist I find this video extremely well made and very informative. Thank you.

Excellent video really informative and no shit-show commercial advertising BS . It’s great to have factual engineering guidance on such critical & expensive bike parts 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Five has become seventeen now, pen is working like a charm. What a satisfying mature video this is!

You have just proven my suspicion that big brand names doesn’t always equate to better quality. Thanks and keep the videos coming!

One of the most clear and easy speaking video about this topic. a big thanks!

I’m sure I’m going to have to watch this a few times. I’m a physics geek but this had extremely high technical information density even for me. It was very helpful and matter of fact too. The Hambini in my head completed your sign off catchphrase for you btw 😜

Commenting to boost the numbers. I’m a fat f**k so it’s still cheaper for me to skip the Big Mac but I do appreciate helping me see through the marketing crap. Thank you.

Thanks!. This is a VERY clear guide and greatly appreciated, coming from a qualified engineer and devoid of all the marketing BS. I'm saving this vid and will return to it again and again

If you are riding in windy conditions hold on to your handlebars if you are on high profile wheels. Can be really dangerous if you don´t pay attention. I was starting riding with carbon high profile 60mm this spring and it took me with surprise.

Why aren't there more engineers like you in the world. We need more like you!

Good vid Hambini. I’m halfway through my own video like this, was worried you would cover it all, but there is still lots to add from a mechanics perspective. Durability, spoke tensions, spoke types, nipples, hub (lack of) quality! Agree with you that online reviews are copy and paste waste of space.

The geekier the better... love the video. Would like to see more videos along these lines. Thanks!

Thank you Hambini for sharing your wisdom. I might add, Zipp engineers, the engineers who take all new Zipp ideas to the wind tunnel and test, say "Anything more than 60 mm you're needlessly spinning more material than one needs to." Testing Roval wheels, they said their 65mm have less resistance than 80+.

Superb video, for us no techies a list of specs that you'd recommend would be useful ie: this internal rim width, with this rim depth/profile, this bearing size, these manufacturers

This is a great format, and very informative, as you explain general considerations for engineering and manufacturing. Great idea. Good thing the pen is working

Love your expertise and lack of BS.

Lovely lecture. Everyday is a school day.

Common sense should have told me that the wind tunnel videos were completely unrealistic. Your the only one who informed people of the wind tunnel being a perfect scenario. Commercials always show how air would hit perfectly head on. When I have ridden with sidewinds, rain, sandstorms and all kinds of horrible conditions. I don't care how aero it is the real world will destroy the bike and rider.

Excellent video. No foul language, no childish criticisms, just good information. 👍

Thanks for making this! Love how your buyers guide is what to look for, and not which specific thing to buy.

I would love some examples of well build wheels with good value for money in each category. I mean, from budget to high-end recommendations. Said that I have learned a lot in this video. Very good indeed.

Excellent video/guide with good evidence-based argumentation. Thanks!

rather very helpfull for a non tech guy like me - THANKS and keep them coming 🤟

Ridiculously informative, thanks for putting this together

Very, very, good video as usual! Manufacturers sells dreams. How many of us has been drooling over manufacturers catalogues, trusting their info, before making a decision to buy a certain wheelset. They are in the business of selling dreams to idiots with lot's of money like us recreational riders.

Great video! The only thing I have trouble with is actually applying all the information into picking a wheelset. I understand that it might be difficult to give recommendations, but if you could give a few options based on everything in this video, I think that would be super helpful. This could of course also apply to frame sets and whatever else.

Absolutely brilliant video, thank you so much 👍 this educational format to kill the marketing bs of cycling companies is definitely a winner 👏👏👏

Dear Hambini! You didn’t talk about the most important feature of any wheelset: the freehub sound.

Great. Now I just need you to tell me which are the best bang for my buck wheels. 😂 I race 70-100 mile events with 5k-10,000’ of climbing and my bike is decked out with 105.

100’s of people had a collective melt down when Hambini touched the brake disc with his finger

Your reaming has turned fairly subtle. I guess you're turning 6 soon.

So glad to hear 'The pen is working!' Keep up the good work! (and good luck with your hairdresser!)

Outstanding. Again, you cut through the b.s. The only negative thoughts were there was no princess table cloth and hairdresser ending. Maturity of a 5+ year old maybe, as you offer a safety moment... street furniture and head impacts

Great video! Thanks so much! Looking forward for more of this kind of background info 👍🏼🙏🏼 btw, I have a math background and I‘m a triathlete 😁 so maybe a special audience 🤔 currently looking for a new wheelset 😅

Enjoyed this video as usual. I would like to see a video on alloy wheels as I am not in the market for a carbon wheel price range. Thanks and keep up the informative videos.

All or most of this applies to the riders that are more in the upper category/level but for average joe you would not experience or reach the load/forces/speeds that often. But great video!

yes yes yes!!!!!! this is what i want 👍 top 10 race, top 10 day to day would be good too. thanks mate!!!!

many thanks Hambini. Very helpful,, indeed. 👍

Might be bying a neew wheelset soon, so these types of videos are very good and informative! Have the 62mm reynolds for my 2015 canyon Aeroad atm. Another great video Hambini, cheers!

Long time subscriber here and I need to say I love this style of video. Great job! Often, I found your traditional style of videos funny, but this style may have far better reach in wider audience. And more ppl understand that reviews on cycling websites and channels are just dishonest ads, the better. Good job!

My experience is that once a tubeless tire has been seated to the rim, a compressor is no longer required to reseat after a flat.

Hambini totally rocks!

Um, if you have a problem with a tubeless wheel, you just put a tube in. Towing a compressor along would create a lot of handling instability, among other things, but continue...

ima old man from America, iv watch a few of your videos, love your dry smartass humor. i don't even ride a bike. last time i bought a bike it was in the 80s and it cost me 460 bucks and 8 months of saving working at 7-11 u have a new sub now and it's not only that your funny, i believe you're really trying to help people. plus, u also break down design flaws, homemade frames that the geometry isn't right nor the fit and finish for the cost. your humor is the bonus. again, thank u for your time.

More of these types of videos!

So basically discs are slower, less aerodynamic, heavier and more expensive. 😂

Great points ! Have you ever run across any wheels from "Superteam"? I have two sets of tubeless ready Superteam wheels that have treated me very well; a 45mm set I put 32c gravelking SS tires on for a lot of tarmac and light gravel - and 38mm (with a 24mm internal width) for 40c medium knobby tires for more heavy gravel rides. If you added the cost of both sets I have spent less than $1,200 US and they came with a 3 year warranty.

Hello HAMBINI👍💪 I hope you'll get more into MTB someday :)

Very informative. Please make more video like this 😬

I'm mostly interested in wheels that look cool because considering my abilities to pedal this is the only factor that really matters! Interesting vid nonetheless!

Good video…thank you. One thing not mentioned regarding the added weight of disc brakes is the fact that weight is saved compared to rim brake wheels in the area to protect where rim brakes add wear and heat. I don’t have but it does bear mentioning.

Great vid. I glanced over at my trusty old C50s as I watched. Shallow alpha critical angle, clean transition, bladed spokes, hidden nipples - all check. I’m now basking in the warm glow of a 5 year old's validation. 😊

Amazing video. So educational. Wish you'd have made it earlier. :) More of these please!

When will your review of new hyper 2023 will come out (and of course the comparison to the old ones)?

Hi Hambini. Did you mention in another video that Swiss Side are a good brand that you would recommend? Thank you for all your educational videos.

Excellent video. The only comment I would add is that with Shimano hubs, you will get water ingress and the bearing surfaces will rust, ruining the hub. I now use hubs with cartridge bearings after 4 Shimano hubs were all ruined from water ingress. And no, I do not jet wash my bike.

on point as always. Btw I am having 4k km on my Hyper 50mm since February. awesome so far

The only plausible carbon spoke construction I've seen is the wire-rope socket style per the Wang et al. patent. I believe Farsports use these, however the nipples do not allow any truing adjustment externally; these faux-nipples are there to prevent wind-up as the actual internal hex nipple is adjusted through the rim-bed.

Didn't quite understand the disc pumping action, has that got something to do with Hairdresser's? 🤔🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣.

No bullshlt on this channel. Awesome. Big thumbs up!

Love this type of format. Highly informative. Thanks so much.

2 thoughts, it seems that making a « sensible very good wheel» is not complicated from the technical aspect ( not talking about manufacturing and QC) - so the r&d cost should be pretty limited, so why wheels are still fairly expensive for what they are ( even HYPER). Second is what about developing your own wheel and component, the product line could be called NBS= no b…s, I think there is a place for very good product that just need to work and do the job, and there is a place for shiny object ( Porsche vs Ferrari type of thing) Well made video

Perhaps a frameset buying guide for low - mid - high budgets that pass the Hambini 'this isn't a complete pile of wet dog turd' test.

Awesome video! Thanks Hambibi!

That's a lot of precious informations!

Should have six figure subscribers. But then I guess there a lot of cyclists who don’t like the truth. Worst period ever for quality control and rip off prices for shite products. What absolute bs. Keep up the good work Hambini 👍👍👍.

At 02:50 Hambini says the main reason for disc brakes is marketing rather than engineering. With carbon rims, I consider disc brakes essential because carbon can't dissipate heat from rim caliper brakes, as well as metal rims can. Braking strips on carbon rims are a kludge.

You can replace the bearing cups on all the Campagnolo hubs, in fact they have been using the same parts in there hubs for many years. They do use sealed units in a couple of the cheap range

Awsome guide mate!!! And what about the hookless design? From engineering point of view it seems to be a superior design, but I wonder what is your take on this. Thank you for all your contents! So much to learn from ;-)

Excellent vid! This may have been asked elsewhere but it would be very interesting to hear your thoughts on MadFiber wheels (specifically the tubular ones). The wheel industry has moved on since they were manufactured but those wheels seemed to tick alot of boxes.

This video made me think - I'd love to hear your thoughts on spoke tensioning. As an MTB rider my approach to spoke tensioning is generally "Well, it doesn't seem completely fucked, so I guess I'll leave it alone" and I'm pretty sure that's sub-optimal.

Bedankt

Great video and very informative - what's your view of the classic specialised/HED trispoke? I'm a great fan of the elegant design & it seems to me that nothing better has come onto the market (except discs) - the spokes and rim profile seem to be close to tear drop and there are no straight edges, the transitions are very smooth. The only challenge is that they have narrow rims so I guess need narrow tyres to avoid the lightbulb effect you mention. How 'bad' is fitting a 23mm tyre to a 19mm rim? I have two pairs, one for road and one for track!

Super video, learned a lot. Any estimate of how much speed you lose with the Shimano ICE slits in the rotors while coasting? My disc brake bike is consistently 5% slower than my rim brake bike, even though the disc brake bike is more aero and I’m in a more aero position, when riding / costing down a short, steep downhill segment. I’ve always been puzzled by this, same tires and intensity.

Wish I had seen this before buying my new Hope fortus 30s.............. :)

Don't know, there are obvious things that are not explained. Wheel rim travels at the speed of the bike. Relative velocity and path length of air particle crossing leading edge of the wheel is root two times speed, and depth. Should adjust 4:1 ratio accordingly. And. Even a symmetrical aerofoil generates lift given an angle of attack, lift implies drag. Even a weak cross wind generates an angle of attack. The lift ~ ie side force, is reacted by the road, the deflected air flow generates drag. If you have to lean a bit into the wind because of the deep rims then there is drag.

just had a chance to try a pair of hyper 45s , ceramic bearing's and spokes for a couple of days, with continental 5000, 25mm clinchers with tubes, while i found the hyper wheels responsive and was able to get up to speed quickly at 35km plus they really performed well, cornering as well as they kept their speed and when climbing , side wind did not seem to bother the wheels as much as my regular wheels i found them to be good ,they are light weight, The down side i found was they transmitted a lot of road noise meaning if you have a road that is worn down ,cracks , it is not confortable, they are stiff and ride hard ,but are fast, Maybe with tublees tires the ride noise would be less ? i normally run a pair of Bontrager Aerolus 5 wheel set 50mm , just had the bearings changed after 18000km , the difference is night and day although my bonts are a little slower , However they are much more confortable, transmitt a lot less road noise to the hands , and if i wanted to go faster i would them fitted with ceramic bearings

I've watched some and find them interesting and informative and contains good fitting practice. Language is as we would have used in ships engine rooms. I would say he is an expert in his subjects.

God I wish the engineers I work with were this cool 🤦‍♂️

Hambini what’s your opinion on scott endurance bikes,your opinion is highly appreciated,Thanks Ram From Brooklyn

Any opinion on the current trispoke offerings from Princeton, Aerocoach, Vision, etc? How they would compare in real world to more traditional deep rim wheels?

Can you do a bike buyers guide. Also a frame buyers guide in terms of ranking.

When I worked in a wheel place we sent or wheels Road CC. They always gave them a through review. There was never a single site that did anything but an honest review although Bikeradar didn’t seem like actually reviewed them properly.

Good information. While my own interests are more geared towards reliability and ease of service vs optimal efficiency I appreciate you highlighting the gains and losses. That being said, I also enjoy a bit of the old shite and sarcasm. While maybe there's no need for it in more educational vids, you seem to be having less fun. Either way, more solid content from a well informed source.

Fianlly - a wheel guy who understands that for crit racing, wheels being lighter is more important than rim depth

...heating and eating or a new set of wheels 🤔

Any chance you ever publish the chart at 8:00 mark with all the dots labeled? :) Pretty please?

Great Video! Would you avoid carbon spokes for general purpose riding? I would love the aero benefits but is the benefit worth the problem risk in your opinion? Thanks.

I run 55m at rear, 45mm at front. Seems to give decent balance of aero vs stability. Any views on mixed wheel depths front and rear?

The full guide with additional data is available here www.hambini.com/bicycle-wheel-buyers-guide/

I purchase some Yoeleo 60/80mm with dt swiss hubs ive been down potholes at speed thrashed them to bits,and use S works cotton turbo tyres on them....never once have they ever broke buckled or what ever,im 85 kilo so no lightweight,and believe me they are very fast wheels,i have done Time trials on them chain gangs and they by far exceed any other wheel i have ever used.And they are so reasonably priced its a joke...I bought them because of Hambinis review on them,had i not seen this review i would have bought zipps who are not bad but absolutely never as good as Yoeleo,s

I didn't see any pen, did you make sure it is working?

Thanks a lot for the video! Could you quantify the aerodynamic penalty on disc brakes compared to rim brakes?

Every time you touched that rotor, I had a heart attack.

those dura ace rotors were replaced with the xtr mtb version in the current iteration. Those dura ace ones were too flimsy at the long curved aluminum spider arms.