lightweights

[T.J.]

I did a search but searching the word "lightweight" brings up a lot of stuff Anywho, I have a chance to pick up a set of Gen III Lighweights. Anybody here have much time on them?

PS : I know they are way more wheel than I need but hell, how many of us ride bikes that are way more than we need?

[Lionel]

Go for it ! Tried them and they are nice.

[cfox]

I have had a season on a set on Gen 3. They are freaky wheels; they are so light but so stiff. I know I sound like James Huang (bike reviewer guy??), but I don't know how else to describe it. I think the stiff feeling comes from them being essentially a one piece wheel. The spokes are molded under massive tension and set pretty wide, too. Braking is fine, on par with other carbon wheels. They behave very well in side winds, too, which surprised me as their profile is nothing cutting edge. In think around 50mm for deep wheels is about perfect. (Enve 65's blew me around a lot).

edit: possible downsides depending on the user: clackety DT240 hub internals (but easy to service), and front hubs that need to go to Germany for bearing replacement (someone in the US would probably do it, though).

[laupsi]

there's so much opinion out there on wheels that it's difficult to lend opinion w/out skepticism on the receiving end. but you're asking so I'm telling.

been racing/riding for over 20 years, own 2 pair of LW Gen III, tubular wheel sets. have ridden in all conditions. not the best braking surface in wet conditions. they are however, overall, the best performing wheels I've ever ridden and would choose them time and again over anything I've ridden up to this point. caveat; I have not tried every wheel set out there.

[T.J.]

Just tryin to wrap my head around riding wheels that are that pricey

[mktng]

ive been living under a rock. checked up prices... didn't know they were THAT expensive. .. wow.

[laupsi]

Originally Posted by T.J.

Just tryin to wrap my head around riding wheels that are that pricey

fully understood. if your riding profile consists of riding hard, including descending (not to go back to that thread from yesterday) and racing then you will notice a significant advantage riding on a pair of LWs. do not purchase them or any wheel set for that matter for "looks". yes, they're very pricey. again, you need to look beyond price to get performance that LWs or other high end wheels provide. in this case the cost does mean better performance and more so than on a marginal level.

[54ny77]

while it's not exactly what you're asking for.....a pal of mine rides/races on rzr's. he just raced a big regional race on some borrowed new lw clinchers. liked 'em a lot, from what he told me. that said, for whatever it's worth, he could race on a pair of 36 hole heavy duty open pro's and still do very well.

in other words, top shelf wheels are all pretty good.

[T.J.]

I do race (cat2). Locally it's mainly crits but travel quite a bit to do mountain road races. That's what has me considering these.

[laupsi]

don't know what you're currently racing on but if you try a pair of the lighter, deep profile carbons rimmed wheels, such as LW, in a crit, you may suffer, but you'll be smiling underneath!

[T.J.]

Originally Posted by 54ny77

while it's not exactly what you're asking for.....a pal of mine rides/races on rzr's. he just raced a big regional race on some borrowed new lw clinchers. liked 'em a lot, from what he told me. that said, for whatever it's worth, he could race on a pair of 36 hole heavy duty open pro's and still do very well.

in other words, top shelf wheels are all pretty good.

I have read several reviews talking about them being a noticeable difference even over Zipps etc. I think I might a little scared I will get hooked on them

[T.J.]

Originally Posted by laupsi

don't know what you're currently racing on but if you try a pair of the lighter, deep profile carbons rimmed wheels, such as LW, in a crit, you may suffer, but you'll be smiling underneath!

Ha! Just did a crit this past Saturday that was pretty straight forward / non technical and avg'd 28mph for an hour. If these would have made me smile, so worth it

[54ny77]

$5k +/- for wheels is insane no matter what brand!

(but that's a different hair-splitting topic not really worth discussing.)

if you can afford to own 'em, go for it.

i know a cat 1 who flew into a curb on his gen iii's at speed (bizarre crit crash), and they survived with zero damage. pretty amazing. body & bike condition, however, not so good....

Originally Posted by T.J.

I have read several reviews talking about them being a noticeable difference even over Zipps etc. I think I might a little scared I will get hooked on them

[Jack Brunk]

T.J,
I've owned a half dozen set over the years. Fantastic wheel set for sure but compared to a really well built of Enve's, there's no way I'd ever buy another set of LW's. Reasons being one their way too expensive compared to the Enve's and two, I always found it almost near to impossible to deal with LW in Germany with a couple of warranty issues I had.

Jack

[redir]

Originally Posted by T.J.

I do race (cat2). Locally it's mainly crits but travel quite a bit to do mountain road races. That's what has me considering these.

Do you want to get to cat 1? Well? Do ya?