I am currently running a Trek Domane road bike as my gravel grinder. I set it up with a moderately upright position, but it is overall quite racy for a gravel setup. I have been able to fit a set of knobby 30 tires into the frame. I am able to fit a 32 on the front and maybe even a 35 if I am lucky, we shall see. I intend to get the added volume on the front to help dampen and give added control.
The topic for discussion here is carbon rims. I intend to build a set of wheels with 50mm deep aero dish carbon rims. The intent is to put some carbon between the road and the spokes to help dampen the rough stuff. Any experience and input is appreciated here.
THat's why carbon is so magical. It is stiffer, but more carbon would also create more damping, I believe. The same way a rigid carbon fork maintains stiffness for control, yet lighter weight and vibration damping vs. a rigid steel fork. Frames and seatposts as well.
anthonyeric1357@yahoo.com wrote:THat's why carbon is so magical. It is stiffer, but more carbon would also create more damping, I believe. The same way a rigid carbon fork maintains stiffness for control, yet lighter weight and vibration damping vs. a rigid steel fork. Frames and seatposts as well.
I'm confused... you're saying that carbon's damping properties are cumulative?
Swapping an alloy component with a carbon component may have that effect, but I seriously doubt that a 50-60mm deep carbon rim will be more comfortable than a lower-profile rim simply because the former has more carbon.
Carbon would be have to be extra magical for that to happen. Lets say your box section rim is 12.5mm tall and 25mm wide. Going to a deep section 50mm tall rim would double the amount of material and magical damping. But quadrupling the height makes the rim 64 times stiffer. To compensate carbon would have to have magical damping powers that work at over the fourth power!
Now I am confused. You say swapping an alloy component with a carbon component will have a damping effect, but then you say otherwise in this situation.
I think that you are confusing stiffness as directly correlated to vibration. With alloys that is basically the case, with carbon this is not true. Links to science articles follow.
The fibers and the epoxy in carbon are what do the damping. The material is able to be very stiff, yet dampen vibration.
There are some variables though, that may not be resolved by using carbon rims. It may be a factor of what frequencies are actually dampened and what frequencies are giving me discomfort.
anthonyeric1357@yahoo.com wrote:You say swapping an alloy component with a carbon component will have a damping effect, but then you say otherwise in this situation.
No, I'm saying that the damping qualities might be completely masked by the stiffer cross section.
When you switched to a carbon bar, you didn't switch to something that had a 50mm+ center section diameter.
it's a moot concern... run some good tires and you won't care one bit either way.
I ran a full disc for a while this fall, the extra 'fatigue' from the crazy harsh ride didn't seem to slow me down much. It's silly how a lot of people want to think that if you can get the ride smooth enough you won't get tired. Getting the ride over with faster on lighter/faster equipment is far more advantageous to that end.
Were you planning on no name rims? clinchers or tubular?
