Open mold wide profile carbon wheels

[andrewspearns]

Thanks for the update Tharmor.

[tharmor]

thanks for the price list. those prices look very competitive.

did you discuss rim-only options or alternate drillings (outside of the standard 20/24) with Kathy?

I haven't had that conversation with her, since I'm going to want the rim built as a wheelset. Kathy has been super prompt with her responses. I can't remember if I provided her email earlier in this thread, so I'll go ahead and provide it just in case ::

dengfusports@163.com

The last request I had for her was to provide me with some shots of the 86mm aero wheel since none of the vendors have made it available as of yet. As I mentioned earlier, it seems as if the deeper rim required more attention/testing to get it right - which is both great news, and scary news. I certainly hope they get it right before selling them.

Nevertheless, she did provide me with two pictures of the 86mm wheel, but she stressed that they were only "sample wheels", and not the finished product. What that means exactly is up for interpretation.

[mentok]

quoted USD252/pair for 56mm tubulars + usd60 for shipping.

20h and 24h only, no 28h at this stage which i think is a deal breaker for me. I want these for racing in the summer (southern hemisphere) so i'm happy to wait a little while to see if the 28h becomes available or to see if i can actually hit my dream race-weight in the mid-80s.

great pricing though.

[rainerhq]

Nevertheless, this is the most recent email from Kathy @DengFu. It shows hub and spoke options for all the various depths of these rims ::
1) The wheelset Novatec Come With 494 F271SB & F372SB spoke + CN nipple, 7g/pc (+ 1pc spoke nipple)
40mm tubular wheels is $ 320.00/set
56mm tubular wheels is $ 337.00/set
Either way, DengFu is offering choices with these rims, which is nice. Most others are not.

Very hard to belive these prices are for wheelset, but lets hope it is true.

[hansonator69]

Apparently that wheel is going to use the EPS moulding system, maybe for strength at the depth (?) - does anyone know what this method is? I know helmets are made of EPS foam, but I'm not sure that's the same thing here.

From my interpretation, this could mean that they use a similar technique to the Mavic Cosmic Carbone C40.



Either that, or they use a foam core instead of a plastic bladder inside the layers of carbon to push up against the mould. This EPS foam core will be melted out using acetone.

[tharmor]

I asked Mark from HonorBikes to elaborate on the EPS Moulding process, and this is his response ::

"As to the EPS system, the carbon fiber of one layer is one complete piece, which can enhance the strength of the rim. In addition, the special stuff material is put inside of the rim. When the rim is heated in the rim mold, the stuff is melt into a small piece and is removed out of the rim. So the rim inside is very smooth. The technique can also make sure that the carbon fiber is not folded but straight, therefore each carbon fiber will bear the strength. As a result, the rim is stronger. There are some other points of new technique as well. This EPS system is the most advanced technique in making carbon rims in China, so our rim workshop is kept secret and outsiders are not allowed to go into it if not permitted."

[tharmor]

we have 56mm in depth and 27.5mm in width rims of both tubular and clinchers. Full carbon. The carbon fiber is Mitsubishi T800.


Hello Tharmor, it's so surprising for me to read you are talking me and my company. This is my first time to visit this site, although I have been in the carbon bike frame industry since 2007.

Can I post some pictures of EPS foam production technique here?
my email: mark6920@163.com

@mark6920 - posting any and all pictures is welcome here. These wheels have been worthy of at least 22 pages on this thread in this forum thus far, so go ahead. If you have trouble posting the pictures using the HTML code via a hosting site, I can post them for you if you want to email them to me. (I can post as many as you have).

[ferrarista]

I've been talking with Nancy Yu from light-bicycle.com.

they have a 50x23mm and 45x24.5mm rims. They are not posted on their website yet.

here are the drawings she sent me.

23mm is 165$ each and 24.5mm is 170$ each. shipping is like 50$.

[tharmor]

Another shot of the 40mm aero wheel ::

[StradaJon]

Hello, this is Jonathan from Strada mentioned by Josh above - I can confirm we will have a demo set set of the Rail here shortly for demo rides. They will be built onto Chris King R45s with Sapim CX Rays. They will be also raced over the season on the Surrey League and over in Wales too on a multi day stage race too. Keep an eye on our FaceBook page for updates.

[Imaking20]

These rims (sans Rail) look a lot like my HED Stingers. These are actually looking very tempting as a comparison.

[Zigmeister]

Ok, recieved the HongFu 40mm Clincher Wide/Aero in UD finish today.

These are being sent off to Fairwheel to have Alchemy UL Rear and Elf Hubs with CXRays built up.

I don't have a scale, so I will have them weigh each rim, then the wheels/wheelset once built for me and will post up that info when I got it and completed build.

At this point, I'm very impressed with the quality of the rims. I have a set of Stradalli 50mm Clinchers which I sanded the fugly logos off of, and also had some Boyd tubulars in the past. The quality of these is on par with those, and nearly my Zipp 303 FC. My Zipps are tubulars and obviously the weight/aero quality of those are above and beyond almost anybody else's rims in the industry. But the for money it will cost to build these, I think it will be a win-win. If these turn out nice, I will likely get another set in tubular, maybe deeper depth, when HongFu has them and have them built the same, then just sell my 303FCs.

Here are some photos:

[RobJ]

Zigmeister - thanks for posting. I've been trying to follow this thread. So are these the UAM AR40 rims from the e-hongfu site? Did you order direct off the site or direct with a contact? I'm interested, but in the tubulars at least for the model I mention they have them in stock.

[Zigmeister]

sales04@hongfu-bikes.cn

Directly with Nancy at HongFu.

[ace0fclub5]

@ Zigmeister,
Thanks for posting the pictures, cant wait to see it built.

I just emailed Nancy this morning, I'm really interested in getting the 40s in tubular, but I'm a little torn as the hubs/spokes aren't as good as those offered by Farsports. The weight/hubs of Farsport's 38s is still really tempting, but those are the old shape, and even their 50mm tubulars are only 23mm wide.
Has anyone bought just EdHubs alone from Farsports? I cant really find any other hubs that match the price/weight with ceramics.