Urged on by a batch of encouraging emails received off-List, I spe nt some time today ransacking my office in the hunt for the wheel testing d ata produced for CORIMA..and eventually Chris Boardman. Luckliy the page fu ll of statistics noted down by Pierre Martin the President of CORIMA was qu ickly found.
The research was headed "Puissance Consommee d'une Rue" - "the Power con sumed by a Wheel"
The two wheels tested dynamically were on the one hand a 700c/28"p rofiled aluminium rim ( think MAVIC Open Pro or similar) with 28 spokes and on the other a CORIMA 4-spoke carbon wheel of similar diameter.
The tests showed that at a speed of 30kms/hr, the standard alloy racing wheel consumed 12.6 watts, whereas the CORIMA only used 6 watts.
At 40 kms/hr the standard wheel used 30 watts, and the CORIMA only 14.3 watts.
At 50 kms/hr the standard wheel used 58.5 watts and the CORIMA, less tha n half that at 27.5 watts.
The power output of Boardman had been measured at around 470 watts..ther efore the idea was to equip his bike with wheels that would expend as littl e as possible of that output, in order to help him stay the full course of the Hour Record at a calculated speed of 52 kms.hr.
The added bonus is that the carbon wheel is stiffer than the standard al loy one and is therefore able to transmit the drive through the back wheel more efficiently
I have quite a collection of photos, tests, drawings, autographs linked with Chris' World Record ride...and they are all just stored away in a cardboard container. seems a shame somehow.
Norris Lockley, Settle UK..on the verge of drowning in nostalgia.
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