Cervelo R5Ca / Di2 / AX Lightness 5.32kg

Who are you (no off-topic talk please)

Moderators: MrCurrieinahurry, maxim809, Moderator Team

964Cup
Posts: 195
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 1:31 am

by 964Cup

Poured with rain today, so took the Ti bike. Verdict on the wheels (& rings) will have to wait.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



nobuseri
Posts: 257
Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2015 12:20 am

by nobuseri

Clean bikes all around. Props!

Nice build. Enjoy the ride :thumbup:
Cicli Barco XCr Road
Moots VaMoots
Parlee Z1
SuperX Hi-Mod Disc

kleenexboutique
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2016 4:18 pm

by kleenexboutique

Super light! Amazing builds!

964Cup
Posts: 195
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 1:31 am

by 964Cup

Ride report on AX Lightness Ultra 24T wheelset:

So, 116k today, 29.5kph average, 1120m of climbing.

Rode with Veloflex Record tubs and a SRAM XG1190 11-28 cassette (not the Recon 12-27 in the pics, which is basically "show only"). First surprise was that the tubs didn't puncture in the first 5km, or indeed at all. For 190g tubulars on Hertfordshire's crap road surfaces the day after a downpour, that's pretty good. I had added 20ml of sealant (Caffe Lattex) to each one beforehand, but see no signs of sealed punctures either. Rode at 130R, 125F PSI (I was 78kg this morning). The wheels themselves are extremely stiff - I couldn't get any brake rub even with big (900W) out-of-the-saddle efforts; that's better than my Zipp 808s, for example. Ride quality is OK, but obviously the stiffness, and relatively high tyre pressures, does let more chatter come through; the R5Ca is also a fairly absorbent frame, but not on a par with Ti. Had one interesting moment when the rear lost traction while leant over in a corner (wonder if that was the prominent Veloflex logo, now somewhat worn away, or just new tub syndrome) but stayed upright and it didn't repeat. They're pretty narrow (nominally a 23c, but come up more like a Conti Competition 22c).

The upsides - they're very light (duh!) so climbing felt subjectively easier - of course this is mostly placebo, but I had a strong day with a lot of climbing PRs. I didn't feel any real aero disadvantage compared to my Enve 45s, even with some blustery headwind at times. They handle well - stiff and accurate, with no sense of skittishness. I had no issues pushing them on fast descents (for Herts hills, so 70kph max); 100kph+ stuff in the Alps may be a different story. The Extralite hubs roll well, certainly not discernibly worse than CK45 or Mavic SSL. The freehub's pretty quiet, if you care about these things.

The downsides - low (sub 10kph) braking is very grabby and hard to control - it's easy to lock up the rear. Makes stopping at junctions from speed need a little more finesse. Actual outright braking performance (in the dry - I don't plan to ride these in the wet if it can be avoided) is very strong. I'm using a set of gen 1 SwissStop Black Prince pads in eeBrake mk3s - it's conceivable (through unlikely, I think) that the gen2 AXL-branded Black Prince pads that ship with the wheels might improve this. On a separate note, the freehub design is unhelpful. In an attempt to save the last possible gram, there's only one large spline - all the others are narrow. This means that when using an XG1190 cassette, where the main body is monobloc but the 11 is a separate cog, it's hard to ensure that the 11 is correctly oriented relative to the rest of the cassette. If you get this wrong, you won't be able to shift to the 11. Because the XG1190 only has teeth at the very back of the cassette, you can't see where the small spline position is once the cassette is on - this wouldn't be a problem with a Shimano or Campag cassette, or with a full monobloc like Edco or Recon. The answer is probably to sharpie one of the narrow splines and use that as the reference spline. Once you get it right, there's no problem with shifting performance.

All in all, I'm very happy with the wheels. A 400g saving, mostly at the rim, over my already-light Enve 45s; stiffer than expected - was worried they'd be a bit wet noodle, but nothing of the sort - and solid braking performance apart from the low-speed grabbiness. Worth the money? Good question. If I was only buying one set of wheels, I suspect I'd go for the R-SYS SLR (I have a set of those as well, and they are my go-to wheel for inclement weather). Stiff as anything, stop like discs, weigh <1200g. But not made in tubular any more, and not 785g a set either. As part of a "quiver" of wheels, along with a couple of different aero depths and something for rainy days, these definitely give you a mental edge when the terrain heads upwards. I'll be in the Alps for a few days in a couple of weeks, and these will be on the bike if the sun shines on us.

junchen
Posts: 348
Joined: Fri Jun 12, 2015 6:21 pm

by junchen

Nice ride report. What's the last yr that the r sys are available in tubs?

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

kgibbo1868
Posts: 425
Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2012 6:36 pm

by kgibbo1868

Great review! I would suggest you could drop your tyre pressure by 20-25 psi and see if you feel differently regarding the harshness of he wheels.
2019 Baum Ristretto
Pain is my friend!

sawyer
Posts: 4485
Joined: Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:45 pm
Location: Natovi Landing

by sawyer

Nice report

Re the pressure ... have to agree ... for super smooth dry roads your pressure (at your weight) is fine, but for crappy British roads I'd drop to 110F / 115 R ish
----------------------------------------
Stiff, Light, Aero - Pick Three!! :thumbup:

964Cup
Posts: 195
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 1:31 am

by 964Cup

kgibbo1868 wrote:Great review! I would suggest you could drop your tyre pressure by 20-25 psi and see if you feel differently regarding the harshness of he wheels.

You're right, but my experience has been that lower pressures substantially increase rolling resistance and also lead to more punctures. The comparison I make is with Enve 1.45s on Conti Competition 22c at the same pressures. Obviously a 25c tub at 110psi is much more compliant, but would also weigh far more (Schwalbe Ones, for instance, are over 300g) - I use these on R-SYS SLRs on my Ti bike and it's a magic carpet.

964Cup
Posts: 195
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 1:31 am

by 964Cup

junchen wrote:Nice ride report. What's the last yr that the r sys are available in tubs?

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

Last year, before they introduced the full-carbon Ksyrium and changed the ISM milling on the R-SYS rim. I think it's a bad mistake - they no longer do a properly lightweight tubular shallow rim wheel with an Exalith braking surface.

964Cup
Posts: 195
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 1:31 am

by 964Cup

Here's an interesting thing. I went to Vittoria's app to calculate the recommended pressures for me:

Corespun 320tpi tubular (Corsa Evo CX III, I have several)
75-85kg total system weight
Mixed road surfaces

The answer: 120psi front, 125psi rear.

Ain't that interesting?

I have to say I find riding below 100psi (even in a 25c) horrible - squidgy handling and a constant conviction that one has a flat. It's alright in cross, when squidgy is par for the course and you might be down in the 30-40psi range, but on the road? Blech.

User avatar
dadoflam08
Posts: 951
Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2008 11:25 am
Location: Southern Great Southern Land

by dadoflam08

R5Ca's are definitely not my thing but nice to see one that actually looks like it fits the owner - well done
The Zullo on the other hand - I'll take that!
BTW the Athena alloy crankset was originally released in Ultra Torque and with a bit of patience you should be able to find one on EBay or one of the disposal sites. It has the advantage over the more recent version in that the decals/graphics are not under clear coat and can be readily removed
http://www.velomine.com/index.php?main_ ... g1erqoki57
'83 De Rosa+'11 Baum Corretto+'08 BMC Pro Machine >6kg+'86 Pinarello Team +'72 Cinelli SC +'58 Bianchi+'71 Cinelli SC+'78 Masi GC+'83 La Redoute Motobecane+'94 Banesto Pegoretti+'88 Bianchi X4 +'48 Super Elliott+'99 Look Kg281+'18 Pegoretti

Denavelo
Posts: 437
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2009 8:01 pm

by Denavelo

125psi on tubular tires!!! I'm 170-173 and I run nothing higher than 100psi.
I found the exact opposite results. Running Veloflex roubaix tires at 110-120psi I got punctures all the time.
I'm on a set of arenbergs and I've ridden these things everywhere, even dirt rides at 90-100psi.
I find when the tire is super inflated it doesn't give much, which isn't a good thing when rolling over sharp rocks.

Your build is amazing! Lighter cranks and stem and you'd be dropping in the 4kg area.
Rob English "Mudfoot" 29er | Focus Izalco Max | Firefly #194 Stainless XCR | Firefly #277 | Neilpryde Bura SL 11.9 | Crust Evasion Lite

dudemanppl
Posts: 1262
Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2013 5:09 am

by dudemanppl

Uh... I'm 59kg and I run 65/70 psi on 25mm tires. I used to run 60/65 on 27mm and I never flatted and I still don't.

964Cup
Posts: 195
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 1:31 am

by 964Cup

Well, each to his own. I seem to flat far more often at lower pressures. And the whole point of tubs is that they allow very high pressures. Some of my Tufos will run up to 220psi. I've not tried, and I can't imagine it would be comfortable, but you would have very low rolling resistance.

Denavelo
Posts: 437
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2009 8:01 pm

by Denavelo

It's been proven that you lose rolling resistance with higher pressures. Running a tire at 200psi will deflect more.
Tires are meant to stick to the ground, not bounce off of it.
All of my buddies ride tubulars and they were like me in the beginning, 120psi. Always getting flats and blowouts. I kept telling them to run their tires below 100psi, and since then they're no longer getting punctures or blowouts.
I have a Veloflex roubaix explode on a descent when I went over a patch of new pavement (Tiny gravel rocks). I recall I was running 120psi in my tires.
Friends don't let friends ride Tufo tires! Water hoses.. I have one rolled up as a spare, and that's it!
Rob English "Mudfoot" 29er | Focus Izalco Max | Firefly #194 Stainless XCR | Firefly #277 | Neilpryde Bura SL 11.9 | Crust Evasion Lite

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



Post Reply