Riding Impressions

With the tires, tubes and a new rear cassette mounted on to the Yoeleo 88’s, I took them out for a 40 mile test ride. These things are fast! I’ll be using them strictly for time trial races, so I mounted an 11-23 rear cassette for a nice, tight transition between gears. It should allow me to fine tune my cadence and power output during races and I won’t feel forced to decide between a gear that’s slightly too easy or slightly too hard. On my first ride, I did a couple of 4-5 mile time trial like efforts and while I wasn’t going at 100%, I was still seeing speeds that were equivalent to my race speeds and that was without the aid of a skin suit or aero helmet. In terms of the weight, I can definitely feel the extra weight when I’m trying to accelerate from a stop, but once they get up to speed, they want to just keep moving. I didn’t feel like I was being blown around any more than usual, but it wasn’t especially windy, so it probably wasn’t a true test in that regard. One thing that I did notice was that the bike didn’t want to handle as well as usual. It was more difficult to initiate turn-in and I felt almost like I was trying to fight a little bit of gyroscope action. When these things get going in a straight line, they want to keep going in a straight line.
I’ve used them in 2 separate time trial events now, one 7.5 miles in length and one 15.5 miles in length and I’m seeing a bump of about 1 mph for the same level of effort. The 7.5 mile TT had some cross winds and I could definitely feel the bike wanting to move. It wasn’t anything I couldn’t control, but I weigh 165 pounds. If you’re lighter, cross-winds might play a more significant role.

Below are some detail shots of the 88’s.
In conclusion, I’m completely satisfied with the Yoeleo wheels that I’ve purchased and have no concerns with their durability and quality. I’ve put thousands of miles on both the 50mm and 60mm wheels in all sorts of weather and road conditions. New Jersey can get a fair bit of snow in the winter and it’s not uncommon to find potholes and poor road conditions in the early spring as snow thaws and re-freezes at night. These wheels have taken their fair share of hits and have remained true and strong. I’ve used the 50mm wheels in the Tour of the Batten kill Race, which is known for having quite a bit of gravel and dirt roads that can be rough on equipment. I also rode the 50mm wheels when I was out in Colorado and they had no problem dealing with the long descents.
*Disclosure* After purchasing the first 3 sets of Yoeleo’s and promoting them on various social media outlets, Yoeleo offered me an athlete sponsorship and sent me the 88’s in this article to use in my time trial events. They have not dictated or censored any of my review or comments.