Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn: Dialing in those new wheels – VeloNews.
I need to say something about this:
I have ridden them several times and I have noticed a significant pulsation whenever I coast at 20-28 mph. I don’t notice it when I am pedaling although it is probably there.
The pulsation can very well be caused by a few other factors other than what Lennard has propositioned (an unbalanced wheel)
1) The valve stem might not be pushed far enough into the wheel. While tubulars will show a 2-3mm jump where the valve is, a 1-2mm drop on the other side (far side of the valve) can exacerbate this feeling of pulsation. When I mount tubulars, I push very hard while at the top of the wheel so that I have enough “slack” at the bottom to easily pop the tire onto the other side. This helps considerably for pulsation.
2) Not coating the tire and the rim evenly and thoroughly will cause tacking, which can lead to pulsation. Make sure both are covered well.
3) Timing of the application can effect the feel. If you are waiting too long or not long enough and you end up with your thumbs all over the tire and glue, it will affect the adherence of between the two. This variation can (slightly) cause pulsation at high speeds because the tire is not completely bonded to the rim at speed.
Having glued a number of tubulars every season and experimenting with the best techniques for getting a proper “edge to edge” gluing, these are a few tricks that have caused pulsation in wheels with us.