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#1
04-01-2018, 06:33 PM
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First set of carbon wheels
 Rode on my very first pair of carbon wheels this morning. It's a set of Lew/Velomax Tubular Carbon 40mm. Thanks glepore pal! Also the lightest wheelset I had so far (1200g). And the deepest profile. (40mm) Yeah, a lot of firsts for me The reason it took me so long to get here is mainly because of cost $. Still is. For someone like me who is slow, doesn't race, builds my own wheels and who knows that I was 20 pounds overweight, the return on investment for a carbon wheelset was just never there to justify getting one. And I am not about to plunk down $$ just for the looks. glepore's generous offer got it to within striking distance of what I was willing to pay, so, I thought why not. And I did just lost 20+ pounds and reached my optimal weight so any weight loss going forward would have to come off the bike. I am not building a weight wennie but I am willing to make "improvements" in areas that could potentially make the most impact. The wheelset is one of those areas, other than the frame itself. Now, over to the ride impressions. First, the braking. Yeah...interesting. I have got the appropriate brake pads for the carbon rims and I have only tried it in dry conditions. It stops no problem but I was also trying to be cautious. I haven't tried in long descent with prolonged braking. That's still a question mark. The deeper profile. It wasn't as bad as I thought in the cross winds. It does seem to roll faster and hit speed up to 25 mph quicker and kept it there longer. The wind-up, accelerating is slightly better with the lighter weight. Not like earth-shattering but okay, I can feel it. The other interesting aspect is this came only in a tubular format. And my personal experience with tubulars were quite dated. The last time I rode on tubs were like 20+ years ago. I did built up a set of tubular wheels a year ago and put on some Vittoria Corsa Elite 25mm to try out but I only rode it one time and for a very short distance, so it doesn't really qualify as a test. I tore it off from the old wheelset, re-glued it on the new carbon set and rode for about 20 miles. The tire pressure at around 95 was a bit higher than what I am used to when I am using my clinchers but surprisingly it doesn't make the ride harsh. Overall, I would say the test today went okay. I would like to bring it to a longer group ride and test it further. At this point, I am still not completely convinced that the benefits outweigh the cost for a recreational rider like myself. Granted, this set of carbon wheels is at least 20 years old and considered dinosaurs by today's standards. So, I do factor that in. For me, the most important aspect of a wheelset is durability/reliability, performance in bad conditions, and repairability. The fact of the matter is alloy clinchers have come a long way. They are not too heavy, quite aero, the tire quality/choices have improved dramatically. I created this thread a while back and it's always interesting to read what others have experienced as far as the biggest "aha" moment they got out of a wheel/tire combination. I will continue to keep an open mind and a willingness to try different things.
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Last edited by weisan; 04-01-2018 at 06:39 PM. 
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#2
04-01-2018, 06:46 PM
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just dont put them on that sweet Riv of yours
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#5
04-02-2018, 04:21 AM
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Lower the pressure, you don't need 95 PSI. Try 75 front/80 rear and adjust as necessary.
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Sonder MTB, Planet X Ti Gravel, Seven Ti, Lynskey Ti
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#6
04-02-2018, 05:46 AM
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Quote:
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#8
04-02-2018, 09:58 AM
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Yeah I agree the pressure is highish. And yes alloy wheels have cone a long wsy - see Al33- but a good set is still 300 g of rotating weight heavier and pricey. Wide alloys with a supple vittoria and latex tubes get you maybe 80% of the feel of carbon but its worth the diminishing returns.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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#9
04-02-2018, 10:44 AM
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Quote:
 
__________________
It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that certain je ne sais quoi. --Peter Schickele
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#10
04-02-2018, 11:25 AM
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From my testing the best carbon braking can be had with ......
Reynolds Cryo-Blue Power Pads http://aerogeeks.com/2014/04/29/reyn...r-pads-review/
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#13
04-02-2018, 04:17 PM
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my first set of carbons were really eye opening.
i went from 32h handbuilts to the ubiquitous ksyriums to eurus. that jump from middling mavics to eurus was transformative but the ridiculous repair costs turned me back to handbuilts. then i tried a set of enve 3.4 after a lot of waffling about price/performance and that was a revelation. spun up fast, held speed forever, and braking was actually pretty good. i'll add that the noisy enve brake tracks have since pushed me to zipps with smooth tracks so i gave up some braking to quiet the ride, but i don't feel i gave up much relative to aluminum
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#14
04-02-2018, 06:26 PM
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Quote:
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#15
04-02-2018, 06:59 PM
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Nice wheels. Congrats on hitting your optimal weight, that -20lbs will be far more transformative than the lighter wheels, imo.
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