Relevance of how long a wheel spins?

[Kbrook]

I’ve bought a fancy bike with very expensive carbon wheels. I’ve noticed that on the stand the front wheel spins for a very short time compare to all my other bikes. The brakes aren’t rubbing and the wheels are through axle. Ive had a quick peek at the bearing on the front wheel it’s a sealed bearing and packed with grease and certainly its not as loose as other bearings I’ve had. That said it’s new and completely smooth.
Is how long the wheels spins when not under load relevant does this translate to drag on the road when under load? Will the bearings loosen up over time, the bike has only done 60 miles so far?

 

[Smokin Joe]

They'll probably loosen up as the grease disperses. I doubt the extra resistance would make a jot of difference on the road unless the hub is actually binding.

 

[Ian H]

Very light rim = less inertia and less momentum. Plus, as SJ says above.

 

[numbnuts]

Light weight wheels accelerate faster than heavy ones, which helps when you’re taking off from a stop, but heavy wheels maintain more of their momentum than light wheels, which helps you keep your speed on rolling roads and trails.

 

[Chislenko]

@Kbrook

My expensive carbon wheels are exactly the same.

Nothing to worry about.

 

[Dogtrousers]

It's no good. Buy another one.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

It's no good. Buy another one.

Another great problem of the age solved. 😁

 

[Arrowfoot]

A balanced expensive new wheel should spin much faster and longer at least after 60 miles. Might want to check the wheel hub with an LBS.

 

[Kbrook]

Thanks all, something I forgot to mention is that it is a tubeless tyre with sealant inside and I wonder whether liquid inside the tyre doesn’t help the spinning of the wheel. Probably completely irrelevant how it spins in a stand anyway!

 

[presta]

Thanks all, something I forgot to mention is that it is a tubeless tyre with sealant inside and I wonder whether liquid inside the tyre doesn’t help the spinning of the wheel. Probably completely irrelevant how it spins in a stand anyway!

There's your answer. To see what I mean, try spinning a raw egg and a hard boiled one.

 

[Smokin Joe]

There's your answer. To see what I mean, try spinning a raw egg and a hard boiled one.

You bastard!

The missus went mad at me and it's taken ages to clean up the kitchen

 

[rogerzilla]

Some hubs are designed by people who don't understand the basics, and tightening the QR/bolts/nuts puts a shear force across the bearing, causing it to bind.

I have some very expensive UK-made track hubs that exhibit this fault.

It is easy for a small producer to CNC-machine a shell to take a couple of cartridge bearings, put it in a fancy box and to think that's it; but the shell, axle and fittings must be arranged so the bearings experience no axial load.

 

[slowmotion]

A long time ago, I was a keen roller-skater. You could buy different tolerance grades of wheel bearings, ranging from ABEC 1 to ABEC 9. The more expensive ABEC 9 ones didn't run as freely when unloaded as the cheaper grades but were reputed to work magically when the bearings were loaded up.
BTW, skaters can match cyclists when it comes to spouting utter hooey.

 

[ColinJ]

Some hubs are designed by people who don't understand the basics, and tightening the QR/bolts/nuts puts a shear force across the bearing, causing it to bind.

I have some very expensive UK-made track hubs that exhibit this fault.

It is easy for a small producer to CNC-machine a shell to take a couple of cartridge bearings, put it in a fancy box and to think that's it; but the shell, axle and fittings must be arranged so the bearings experience no axial load.

I had that with the Hope rear hub on my mountain bike. I did a very tiring ride before I discovered that I had done the QR up too tight for the bearings. (I had just put a massive rear knobbly tyre on so I thought it must have had crazily high rolling resistance! )

 

[wafter]

There's your answer. To see what I mean, try spinning a raw egg and a hard boiled one.

Having a viscous fluid sloshing around inside the wheel raises interesting questions about energy loss / efficiency; although I suspect that above modest speeds it just gets flung to the outside of the tyre and stays there..