BTLOS 30mm wheels for pure climbing?

[shinomaster]

I noticed they have free shipping and the weight of these is pretty crazy. I'v come to realize I mostly climb (it's very hilly in PDX) and don't do any fast pacelines any more and at 50 years old I am not getting any faster. What I do enjoy is having a light bike and climbing. I weigh around 155 depending on the years. I should weigh 144 and am hoping to bet back down to that soon when I switch from solid foods to lettuce and Soilent (JK). Has anyone been using the 30mm premium wheels for just a climbing bike? Are they any less durable than 35 or 40mm? Thanks!

Also these are rim brake as I have become an old retro grouch evidently.

[nmrt]

funny you ask whether 30 mm are good for climbing/durability. whenever i buy/build my climbing wheels, i do not go above 30 mm. :-).

in my experience they have been very reliable. but reliability does not depend on the rim depth. and as a matter of fact, i find shallower depth (less than 30 mm) wheels feel much more fun while climbing and descending compared to my 45-50 mm depth wheelsets.

Originally Posted by shinomaster

I noticed they have free shipping and the weight of these is pretty crazy. I'v come to realize I mostly climb (it's very hilly in PDX) and don't do any fast pacelines any more and at 50 years old I am not getting any faster. What I do enjoy is having a light bike and climbing. I weigh around 155 depending on the years. I should weigh 144 and am hoping to bet back down to that soon when I switch from solid foods to lettuce and Soilent (JK). Has anyone been using the 30mm premium wheels for just a climbing bike? Are they any less durable than 35 or 40mm? Thanks!

Also these are rim brake as I have become an old retro grouch evidently.

[shinomaster]

Originally Posted by nmrt

funny you ask whether 30 mm are good for climbing/durability. whenever i buy/build my climbing wheels, i do not go above 30 mm. :-).

in my experience they have been very reliable. but reliability does not depend on the rim depth. and as a matter of fact, i find shallower depth (less than 30 mm) wheels feel much more fun while climbing and descending compared to my 45-50 mm depth wheelsets.

Thanks! I rarely break anything, one revolution spoke maybe in 34 years as a cyclist.. I'm currently using Shamal's and Ksyrium ES wheels which have been bombproof.

[Jdm]

My rides are always 1k feet of climbing for every 10 miles. I've found 45-50mm wheels to be slightly faster overall on hills than shallow wheels despite the slightly lower weight of shallow wheels. I don't know why, though. Maybe it's the higher downhill speed because of better aero?

You can get 45mm rim brake wheels down to about 1400g depending on the hub and nipples.

[Baron Blubba]

I don’t believe in climbing wheels. I believe in descending wheels. Shallower wheels give me more confidence and therefore I brake less when descending mountains on even mildly windy days, compared to riding uber-lights 45+mm wheels. On calm days, the overall speed difference is negligible anyway. Existent, but negligible.

[mcteague]

I have a pair of BTLOS 40mm wheels. They are great wheels but, when descending steep hills, large vehicles passing me can cause the front wheel to feel a bit vague for a couple of seconds. It can be quite un-nerving. If I had it to do over I’d go with 30mm.

Tim

[Waldo62]

Are you contemplating rim or disc brakes. I have tried a couple of light wheel sets for rim brakes and the noise the brakes make and seemingly uncertain braking performance (I have tried a number of different types of brake pads) have led me to go back to alloy rims. Since you plan to be climbing a lot, you'll be descending just as much.

[bigbill]

I have 45mm wavy BTLOS wheels on Bitex hubs. I'm not a climber and when I raced, the only thing that kept me near the front on hilly courses was my descending ability. All that said, and this is totally non-related, but when BTLOS offers free shipping, jump on it. You'll save several hundred dollars.