ive got 500 pounds to blow on wheels

[Andrew G]

Getting quite lively this topic isn't it , see what you've started Stu
[quote="Paul H"]Dont listen to the anti-training go slow lobby (Andrew) - Powertaps are a valuable tool for a racer but is probably out of your price range though.

I would go for a light pair of wheels on ebay like my Bontrager which are great for acceleration and getting away from the bunch.

[Paul H]

[quote]and a lot of what I say is fairly tongue-in-cheek

[Jon H]

Coincidentally, I've just received a bonus from work. However, I've got a powertap, a turbo trainer and plenty of wheels, so Sean, what do you recommend?

[quote="huw williams"][quote="Stu Merckx Man"]worryingly seans idea has joint eqaul yes's as adams !

i have had another idea- a turbo trainer that tells you the power output. thoughts anyone?

ill aslo have about ₤250 left over then which could get me a wheel upgrade if i chip in some more money i guess.

[Sylv]

How about this? Interesting concept (not a joke). Maybe one for the testers.

[quote]One of the things I touched on last week was the Active Spoke from Tarryan Technologies, which is a spring-loaded weight sliding on a wheel’s spoke. I find the idea to be quite fascinating.

As the wheel’s rotational velocity increases, the weights are thrown to the outside of the wheel, effectively concentrating more mass out at the rim. And as the wheel slows down, the springs retract the weights back toward the center, effectively decreasing the rim mass. Inventor Russell Kalil originally came up with the idea while riding an interval workout on a stationary bicycle with a heavy flywheel.

He first utilized long, hollow fishing weights connected to rubber bands on his spokes. Now, the system is quite elegant, incorporating thread-together modular weights with a slot in them so that adjacent segments causes the slots to be offset and lock the weights onto the spoke.

I got a set to try, and the amazing thing is how strong the springs are. Two spring rates are available; there are springs for normal folk and then there are “professional” springs, which are much stiffer. The wheel must be spinning much faster for the same mass to move out to the rim with the stiffer spring, and you can tune the system to your preference not only with stiffer or less stiff springs, but also with different stacks of masses, as they thread together.

Eight Active Spokes on a wheel The angular momentum of each mass about the hub increases 16 fold as the radius to the mass increases from 3 inches to 12 inches. The idea is similar to what Ondrej Sosenka was thinking when he set the world hour record on a 10-pound rear wheel – the wheel’s high angular momentum maintains speed better, except that Active Spokes are not as hard to accelerate once you slow down, since the masses are concentrated near the hub. Active Spokes aid you in going downhill faster and carrying your momentum up the next hill.

Pro rider Dirk Friel has tested them a lot and has set his personal best in the Wednesday Boulder time trial series with them. He correlates his frequent 5-mile test runs north of town with data on wind speed, direction, and barometric pressure from a nearby weather station and says that, once he has corrected for the wind, he is consistently faster on a rolling course with Active Spokes.

“This technology is fast, and I can't help but imagine if the Active-Spoke were available within disc
wheels during the 2007 Tour de France that a few results would have been different in Paris given the
100kms of time trialing“ - Dirk Friel - Pro Rider

[quote="Paul H"][quote]and a lot of what I say is fairly tongue-in-cheek

[Ivor]

[quote="Sylv"]How about this? Interesting concept (not a joke). Maybe one for the testers.

[Elliot M]

I'll stick my neck out here and say that those wheels are absolute voodoo science (sorry Sylv!)

You might notice a bit of a boost when you reach the bottom of the hill, you slow down and the weights retract towards the hub, but this would be cancelled out by the braking effect as you start descending and the weights moved towards the rim.

Thing is you don't get something for nothing. You're still carrying all the weights up the hill.

Imagine if you started a ride with a pair of 1kg Lightweights, went up to the top of Box Hill, then swapped them for a pair of old faithful 2kg Mavics at the top to ride down.. Great. But not if you had to also carry the Mavics on your back on the way up the hill and the Lightweights on the way down.

[Jon H]

I think you're fairly safe sticking your neck out on that one Elliot. If it existed, the perpetual motion machine would have been integrated into the bicycle a long time ago. Then the UCI would have banned it of course.

[Snoop Doug]

[quote="Elliot M"]I'll stick my neck out here and say that those wheels are absolute voodoo science.

[Andrew G]

Apart from not working (I believe the science bods Elliot & Jon) they are damn ugly, so as well as the weight of the metal you'd have to carry a whole lump of shame around with you.

I had a similar set up with plastic bits that clipped on the spokes of my Raleigh Boxer, but they only advertised them as general noise makers (in a similar way to the cigarette cards in the spokes). Not as good as folding in the end of the mudguards so they vibrated against the tyre and let you pretend you were on a motorbike though .

[Elliot M]

Ah yes, i forgot to add that with the moving gubbins the wheels are going to be heavier than a wheel without, all of the time.

But say you thought heavy wheels to be an advantage on a particular course -- you'd go for a wheel that used that weight in order to be more aerodynamic - eg a deeper rim, rather than one with added weights and springs, and aero drag.

[quote="Sylv"]How about this? Interesting concept (not a joke). Maybe one for the testers.

[quote]One of the things I touched on last week was the Active Spoke from Tarryan Technologies, which is a spring-loaded weight sliding on a wheel’s spoke. I find the idea to be quite fascinating.

As the wheel’s rotational velocity increases, the weights are thrown to the outside of the wheel, effectively concentrating more mass out at the rim. And as the wheel slows down, the springs retract the weights back toward the center, effectively decreasing the rim mass. Inventor Russell Kalil originally came up with the idea while riding an interval workout on a stationary bicycle with a heavy flywheel.

He first utilized long, hollow fishing weights connected to rubber bands on his spokes. Now, the system is quite elegant, incorporating thread-together modular weights with a slot in them so that adjacent segments causes the slots to be offset and lock the weights onto the spoke.

I got a set to try, and the amazing thing is how strong the springs are. Two spring rates are available; there are springs for normal folk and then there are “professional” springs, which are much stiffer. The wheel must be spinning much faster for the same mass to move out to the rim with the stiffer spring, and you can tune the system to your preference not only with stiffer or less stiff springs, but also with different stacks of masses, as they thread together.

Eight Active Spokes on a wheel The angular momentum of each mass about the hub increases 16 fold as the radius to the mass increases from 3 inches to 12 inches. The idea is similar to what Ondrej Sosenka was thinking when he set the world hour record on a 10-pound rear wheel – the wheel’s high angular momentum maintains speed better, except that Active Spokes are not as hard to accelerate once you slow down, since the masses are concentrated near the hub. Active Spokes aid you in going downhill faster and carrying your momentum up the next hill.

Pro rider Dirk Friel has tested them a lot and has set his personal best in the Wednesday Boulder time trial series with them. He correlates his frequent 5-mile test runs north of town with data on wind speed, direction, and barometric pressure from a nearby weather station and says that, once he has corrected for the wind, he is consistently faster on a rolling course with Active Spokes.

“This technology is fast, and I can't help but imagine if the Active-Spoke were available within disc
wheels during the 2007 Tour de France that a few results would have been different in Paris given the
100kms of time trialing“ - Dirk Friel - Pro Rider

[Ivor]

Might as well just fit a battery and motor?

[-Adam-]

I'm fitting a special turbine in my bottom bracket, and compressed air in my down tube. So that in the last kilometre, all I have to do is let the air go and wham... and instant 500w boost to my power output. See ya!