BTLOS 30mm wheels for pure climbing?

[texbike]

Originally Posted by fogrider

I just took delivery of a second set of BTLOS wheels. The first set are 35mm deep and came in around 1255 grams. The set I just got are 40mm front and 45mm rear, came in at 1296 grams. In general with lightweight wheels, a bike just feels quick and snappy. BTLOS wheels feel solid, I've gone through a fair number of carbon wheels over the years, and it feels like the industry has really got carbon figured out. I got these wheels for rim brake bikes and use their carbon brake pads. I haven't ridden in the rain on these (and don't intend to) but on dry conditions, these are as good as it gets.

Originally Posted by CAAD

Been looking at a set of their 40mm extralight wheels with carbon spokes as a do it all wheel set. Claimed weight is 1228g. Would be saving almost half a pound just in the wheels, currently running 55 deep wheels but they can a handful descending.

Originally Posted by sokyroadie

My BTLOS WRC-35 extralight, 20/24, Bitex, Pillar weigh 1200g and have been great.

Just out of curiosity, what are the price points for these builds? I'm kind of curious...

Like Shino, I'm running aluminum rim-brake clinchers (Shamals, Eurus, Zondas, Ksyrium SSC/Elites) that are all falling in the 1400-1500 gram range across my primary, newer-esque bikes. Is there really that much of a difference between the BTLOS (or other carbon clinchers) and a nice set of aluminum wheels like the Zondas, Shamals, or Eurus?

Cheers,

Texbike

[Dave]

https://btlos.com/road-bike/r-carbon...ad-bike-wheels

All you have to do is spend a couple of minutes on the BTLOS website and select the build you want. The weights listed by some posters here are much lighter than the values listed at the BTLOS website. My extra light 29mm profile disc brake wheels weigh around 1350 which is what I get with a WRC-35 extra light build with bitex hubs for $717 with a free freight code. I suppose that rim brake hubs are lighter.

[deluz]

I have BTLOS 30mm rim brake and they have been great.
They are on my steel bike which is non aero and I was looking to save weight.

[Clean39T]

I'm going to have some contrarian opinions here.. but maybe they matter some since I've spent a lot of time climbing all the climbs in Portland for plenty of years.

Here's what matters most to me for wheels when climbing in Portland:

Stiffness - most of the climbs are "power" climbs, not sit and spin for an hour on a 3% grade, and stiffness feels great when you are in and out of the saddle, muscling up 20% kickers, etc. - the wheels I've most hated were light and flexy .. frankly felt like crap and worse than 1600g alloy hand-builts despite being 1250g and $2500 MSRP.

Robustness - there are very few climbs here that are smooth pavement and if you're thinking about whether your wheels can handle the broken pavement and are subtly moving your weight around to avoid sharp ledges, you're both not having fun because of the anxiety and not going fast because that energy isn't moving you forward.

Braking - because every good climb here is followed by a technical, crusty, artisinal-pavement, off-camber descent.. you simply can't ignore how the wheels feel going back down after you get up.

So what does that all add up to?

Well - disc brakes .. but if not that, alloy pre-builts - like Shamals or Fulcrum Racing Zeros.

Platonic ideal:

[CAAD]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

I'm going to have some contrarian opinions here.. but maybe they matter some since I've spent a lot of time climbing all the climbs in Portland for plenty of years.

Here's what matters most to me for wheels when climbing in Portland:

Stiffness - most of the climbs are "power" climbs, not sit and spin for an hour on a 3% grade, and stiffness feels great when you are in and out of the saddle, muscling up 20% kickers, etc. - the wheels I've most hated were light and flexy .. frankly felt like crap and worse than 1600g alloy hand-builts despite being 1250g and $2500 MSRP.

Robustness - there are very few climbs here that are smooth pavement and if you're thinking about whether your wheels can handle the broken pavement and are subtly moving your weight around to avoid sharp ledges, you're both not having fun because of the anxiety and not going fast because that energy isn't moving you forward.

Braking - because every good climb here is followed by a technical, crusty, artisinal-pavement, off-camber descent.. you simply can't ignore how the wheels feel going back down after you get up.

So what does that all add up to?

Well - disc brakes .. but if not that, alloy pre-builts - like Shamals or Fulcrum Racing Zeros.

Platonic ideal:

I'll take my 1300g carbon wheels any day over any alloy wheels.

[shinomaster]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

I'm going to have some contrarian opinions here.. but maybe they matter some since I've spent a lot of time climbing all the climbs in Portland for plenty of years.

Here's what matters most to me for wheels when climbing in Portland:

Stiffness - most of the climbs are "power" climbs, not sit and spin for an hour on a 3% grade, and stiffness feels great when you are in and out of the saddle, muscling up 20% kickers, etc. - the wheels I've most hated were light and flexy .. frankly felt like crap and worse than 1600g alloy hand-builts despite being 1250g and $2500 MSRP.

Robustness - there are very few climbs here that are smooth pavement and if you're thinking about whether your wheels can handle the broken pavement and are subtly moving your weight around to avoid sharp ledges, you're both not having fun because of the anxiety and not going fast because that energy isn't moving you forward.

Braking - because every good climb here is followed by a technical, crusty, artisinal-pavement, off-camber descent.. you simply can't ignore how the wheels feel going back down after you get up.

So what does that all add up to?

Well - disc brakes .. but if not that, alloy pre-builts - like Shamals or Fulcrum Racing Zeros.

Platonic ideal:

Most wheels I've used have been stiff enough and I tend to sit and spin at pretty fast cadence vs mashing, although this year with all the squats I've done I can power up climbs out of the saddle for a longer period of time. I'm feeling pretty decent again, I just need to lose 10 lbs. I am currently loving some really fat vittoria corsa's on my old Ksyrium's which just barely fit through my SR calipers. My bike is pretty light at around 16.5 lbs and climbs well- even with the fat tires, or especially with them up horrid roads like Mitchell. I am curious to try these BTLOS wheels and the price if good so I won't feel too terrible if I nail a pot hole. I understand what you mean though, our roads have gotten to be pretty horrible, where does all the Tax revenue go?

[shinomaster]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Well, 'no such thing as a free lunch'...deeper rims weigh more so all things being equal, heavier=more reliable...

BUT, built a lot of BTLOS rims and they are very reliable rims and wheels. If you have them build them, just make sure you don't do the three strikes and you are out...too few spokes, too thin spokes, and too light rim(Extralight)...

Well the set I was looking at had 20/24 CX ray spoke, brass Nipples, and xtra light rims and were about 1250 grams.. I am pretty pathetic and weak so is this enough spokes?

[bigbill]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

I'm going to have some contrarian opinions here.. but maybe they matter some since I've spent a lot of time climbing all the climbs in Portland for plenty of years.

Here's what matters most to me for wheels when climbing in Portland:

Stiffness - most of the climbs are "power" climbs, not sit and spin for an hour on a 3% grade, and stiffness feels great when you are in and out of the saddle, muscling up 20% kickers, etc. - the wheels I've most hated were light and flexy .. frankly felt like crap and worse than 1600g alloy hand-builts despite being 1250g and $2500 MSRP.

Robustness - there are very few climbs here that are smooth pavement and if you're thinking about whether your wheels can handle the broken pavement and are subtly moving your weight around to avoid sharp ledges, you're both not having fun because of the anxiety and not going fast because that energy isn't moving you forward.

Braking - because every good climb here is followed by a technical, crusty, artisinal-pavement, off-camber descent.. you simply can't ignore how the wheels feel going back down after you get up.

So what does that all add up to?

Well - disc brakes .. but if not that, alloy pre-builts - like Shamals or Fulcrum Racing Zeros.

Platonic ideal:

I have a Lynskey Helix with rim brakes and Fulcrum Zero wheels. When I ride the loop at Saguaro East near Tucson, I ride it like an eight mile pump track, sprinting down hills to build speed to sprint up the next. The bike is stiff and the wheels are responsive. Maybe after I get the powermeter crank on it, I'll do a comparison between the Lynskey and the Open with it's light BTLOS wheels and lighter frame. I have low expectations.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by CAAD

I'll take my 1300g carbon wheels any day over any alloy wheels.

Originally Posted by shinomaster

Most wheels I've used have been stiff enough and I tend to sit and spin at pretty fast cadence vs mashing, although this year with all the squats I've done I can power up climbs out of the saddle for a longer period of time. I'm feeling pretty decent again, I just need to lose 10 lbs. I am currently loving some really fat vittoria corsa's on my old Ksyrium's which just barely fit through my SR calipers. My bike is pretty light at around 16.5 lbs and climbs well- even with the fat tires, or especially with them up horrid roads like Mitchell. I am curious to try these BTLOS wheels and the price if good so I won't feel too terrible if I nail a pot hole. I understand what you mean though, our roads have gotten to be pretty horrible, where does all the Tax revenue go?

Well.. I did say it was a contrarian view

As for the tax revenue - you got me - though I rather like the bespoke bitumen ..keeps the cars from going too fast.

[fogrider]

Originally Posted by texbike

Just out of curiosity, what are the price points for these builds? I'm kind of curious...

Like Shino, I'm running aluminum rim-brake clinchers (Shamals, Eurus, Zondas, Ksyrium SSC/Elites) that are all falling in the 1400-1500 gram range across my primary, newer-esque bikes. Is there really that much of a difference between the BTLOS (or other carbon clinchers) and a nice set of aluminum wheels like the Zondas, Shamals, or Eurus?

Cheers,

Texbike

Tex, I've been to Texas...it's mostly flat, you certainly don't need climbing wheels! But lightweight wheels do make a bike feel quick! A 1250 gram wheel compared to aluminum wheels might be like 2mph on a climb. So, if on Alum wheels, you might be climbing at 10 mph, but on carbon, with the same power, you might be doing 12 or 13 mph.

Note that modern rims are wider, BTLOS rims come in right around 26mm measured at the outside at the brake track. I had to remove washers from my brake pads to get a good fit. On my RockLobster, with Conti 26mm tires, it barely fit between the chainstays.

I just checked the BTLOS website, 30mm wheels are coming showing up at 1228 grams for $686. There's other offerings, Farsports, 9Velo, and Yoeleo to name a few, but I'm pretty sure their price starts a bit higher.

Lets be clear, modern carbon wheels are stronger than aluminum wheels. I've ridden over 10,000 miles on carbon wheels and I've trashed many aluminum wheels. And modern carbon brake pads work just fine in the dry. So if you're in Portland, keep that in mind.

[shinomaster]

Originally Posted by fogrider

Tex, I've been to Texas...it's mostly flat, you certainly don't need climbing wheels! But lightweight wheels do make a bike feel quick! A 1250 gram wheel compared to aluminum wheels might be like 2mph on a climb. So, if on Alum wheels, you might be climbing at 10 mph, but on carbon, with the same power, you might be doing 12 or 13 mph.

Note that modern rims are wider, BTLOS rims come in right around 26mm measured at the outside at the brake track. I had to remove washers from my brake pads to get a good fit. On my RockLobster, with Conti 26mm tires, it barely fit between the chainstays.

I just checked the BTLOS website, 30mm wheels are coming showing up at 1228 grams for $686. There's other offerings, Farsports, 9Velo, and Yoeleo to name a few, but I'm pretty sure their price starts a bit higher.

Lets be clear, modern carbon wheels are stronger than aluminum wheels. I've ridden over 10,000 miles on carbon wheels and I've trashed many aluminum wheels. And modern carbon brake pads work just fine in the dry. So if you're in Portland, keep that in mind.

What configuration are you using to get that weight and price?

[mass_biker]

Been trying out an older set of Mavic Ksyrium Carbon SLC carbon clinchers on some of our local rides - which like another poster noted, aren’t the “sit and spin for 45 minute at 5%” variety but more like “1/2 mile at 10% straight up, then straight down” variety - i.e. ~ 100 feet/mile of climbing. So it’s very punchy terrain here. You can do a 100 mile ride with 10K feet of climbing and not surpass more than 900 feet of elevation (above sea level) - so lots of up and down. I’m no watt monster (145lbs), and my riding style tends to be much more in/out of the saddle to cope with the various grade changes. It seems to work for me.

I have found the lighter rim weight makes a difference on these rides. I’d say they ride “as well as” my fairly lightweight HED RA Black which clock in at ~ 1450gm; think the Mavics are in the low 1400gm range? Time will tell how these do for durability etc., but so far so good. I am experimenting with different brake pads for these (trying the Swisstop Black Prince for carbon rims as well as the Campy Reds). I’ve not had a chance to try these in the rain (yet).

MB

[mcteague]

Originally Posted by fogrider

Tex, I've been to Texas...it's mostly flat, you certainly don't need climbing wheels! But lightweight wheels do make a bike feel quick! A 1250 gram wheel compared to aluminum wheels might be like 2mph on a climb. So, if on Alum wheels, you might be climbing at 10 mph, but on carbon, with the same power, you might be doing 12 or 13 mph.
.

2-3 mph increase in speed for about 200 grams saved? So, figure a 17lb bike and a rider weight of 140-170 lbs and you think 200g saved will increase the speed of an object weighing around 170ish pounds? I'll need actual data.

Tim

[chrisroph]

John, are your boras rolling yet? Dan, John is flyweight compared to you.

[sevencyclist]

I had a campy BTLOS WRC 30 wheelset built up. Extralight rims with ARC graphene surface built up with their carbon hubs.

The weight estimate from BTLOS was 1138 grams.

It actually came in at 1100 grams!

2022-12-29 13.32.32 by sevencyclist, on Flickr

2022-12-29 13.34.30 by sevencyclist, on Flickr

Has been flawless for me over the past two years. I started out weighing 175 lbs, and now riding 155 lbs.

Wheelset was good enough for me to actually buy another wheelset from them, WRC-40 to get more aero. Tried the arrow pattern graphene but I now prefer the ARC pattern.

Good luck with your decision.