Madfiber wheels in the house!!!

[CharlesM]

Gum the weight is pretty well ballanced... Climbing on these and change of pace seems to be on par with wheels with a total weight similar to this, rather than a wheel that's ballanced a lot more to the rim (relatively speaking about light wheels).

The climbing concern (steep pitch, fairly slow pace is the place where rim weight matters most) would be if too much of the weight shifted to the rim. I don't think MF wouldnt keep the total package stiffness if they did that.

this is a lot of surface area between the flange(star pattern facing inside) and the spoke. done right i wouldn't question its integrity.

the spokes are at least .070" thick and at ~ .5" width they can take a lot.

what i dont get is how they are attached at the rim. does it penetrate the rim?

From my understanding in discussing with MF guys prior to purchase, the spokes penetrate the sidewall at the interior diameter of the wheel and are then bonded to the inside of the sidewall all the way to the rim. This would result in a bond appromately 50 mm long and 10 mm wide...pretty beefy...

That's similar to lightweight...

[ScienceIsCool]

These wheels look cool and are light, but I have the following concerns:

- How much experience with carbon does this company really have? Is this their first carbon product? How could it be that they can make lighter (i.e., use less carbon) than most every experienced manufacturer?

- By inserting the spoke through the rim, is the hole moulded into the rim or is it cut? If it's cut, what does that do to the integrity of the rim? Has this been modelled? Tested? This is not the same as a spoke hole in any way - it is a narrow aspect ratio cut through the sidewall.

- What is the resulting tension on each spoke? Do they become unloaded at all during use? How does differ safety-wise from an R-Sys spoke? Does a spoke failure lead to catastrophic structural failure?

- Performance wise, are they all that aero? The rim is wedge shaped and the spokes are big, flat blades. Hard earned knowledge in the industry says both these things are bad for performance. Is there any independent wind tunnel testing?

John Swanson

[prendrefeu]

That's really deep...but since they are so light, would they be good climbing wheels or would I be better off with something lower profile at a similar weight?

Climbing. Flats. Both.

They'll only be 'eh' for the climbing at this point if they don't handle sidewinds very well. That is a matter of debate: some people claim that a deep rim does perfectly fine against canyon/mountain winds, whereas other people may have issue with that - particularly lighter people.

I can speak for myself here in that I haven't been too comfortable with rims deeper than 40 when climbing in the local hills and mountain ranges. After a long day of riding, the mountain passes and canyons generate extremely strong gusts of wind that can throw a lighter person off their line quite easily.

[gumgardner]

Any chance we'll see a version of these in something around 40mm soon?

[jmilliron]

Any more thoughts on these?

[Illuminate]

Any more thoughts on these?

I wonder if they're ultra-clydesdale proof?
(probably the wrong forum to ask such a question)

[gumgardner]

Anymore ride reports?

[11.4]

Lots of people trialling them. They've been in Portland OR (River City and somewhere else), Los Angeles (at Helens and somewhere else), various places in Seattle, and so on. Haven't seen a rider who's ridden them who has a serious negative comment about them. You have to get used to riding such light wheels because they are so responsive and react to wind, sprinting, whatever, more than regular heavy wheels. But they aren't a handful in the wind (no more than a comparable ZIpp or Lightweight) and they are amazingly stiff. That's about it.

[JohnnySea]

Im surprised that these wheels and this discussion hasn't attracted more interest.

I love the look of these wheels and by all accounts they are a genuine LW competitor.

I'm waiting for more detailed reviews but at this stage I'm pretty confident I'll pick myself up a pair for my new bike.

[gumgardner]

I'm less concerned with spokes and rims as I am with their choice of hubs. WI are ok but a wheel like this deserves something better. That being said, they are High on my list of wheels to get.

[ergott]

Alchemy internals would have been real nice!

-Eric

[musket]

Seriously? WI have a fantastic reputation for durability and quality.

[gumgardner]

Yah they are ok but it's a strange hub to put on a rim/spoke buildup with this much technology. It's just a little odd. These wheels could have been under 1000g with a different hub. That's all I'm saying

[11.4]

Im surprised that these wheels and this discussion hasn't attracted more interest.

I love the look of these wheels and by all accounts they are a genuine LW competitor.

I'm waiting for more detailed reviews but at this stage I'm pretty confident I'll pick myself up a pair for my new bike.

I think people are just waiting to see them out in reviews and to see more riders on them. There's been quite a bunch of discussion and I think most people realized they were critiquing the wheels without facts, or those who had actually tried the wheels had had their say and weren't going to prolong an irrelevant debate.

Wheels are shipping, the company is doing demos around the West Coast at least, and several major stores are picking them up. When more people are riding them we'll see more comment.

On the issue in a previous post about the White Industries hubs, I'd actually point out that if you talk to Ligero, Ergott, or other top wheelbuilders here, the White hubs are often their top choice. There are some uber-bling hubs around, but Tune has had recurring problems with pawls on their rear hubs, DT has had a recurring bearing problem on their front hubs, and so on. Whites offer some of the best geometry for wheels, they are extremely light and reliable, and they happened to work well with this wheel design. No one should feel that using White hub components was a cheapening decision -- it's probably the best hub assembly possible. Lightweight uses Tune because both are German companies and they've worked together for years, and because at the time Lightweight started Tune was a very light hubset. Remember, a pair of Madfiber wheels including skewers weighed out in my hands at 1061 grams with White hub components. Reliable, adjustable, lightweight, smooth, and a good geometry for the wheel design. I have no reason to ask for any different choice of components.

[Mario Jr.]

Im surprised that these wheels and this discussion hasn't attracted more interest.

I love the look of these wheels and by all accounts they are a genuine LW competitor.

I'm waiting for more detailed reviews but at this stage I'm pretty confident I'll pick myself up a pair for my new bike.

I think people are just waiting to see them out in reviews and to see more riders on them. There's been quite a bunch of discussion and I think most people realized they were critiquing the wheels without facts, or those who had actually tried the wheels had had their say and weren't going to prolong an irrelevant debate.

Wheels are shipping, the company is doing demos around the West Coast at least, and several major stores are picking them up. When more people are riding them we'll see more comment.

On the issue in a previous post about the White Industries hubs, I'd actually point out that if you talk to Ligero, Ergott, or other top wheelbuilders here, the White hubs are often their top choice. There are some uber-bling hubs around, but Tune has had recurring problems with pawls on their rear hubs, DT has had a recurring bearing problem on their front hubs, and so on. Whites offer some of the best geometry for wheels, they are extremely light and reliable, and they happened to work well with this wheel design. No one should feel that using White hub components was a cheapening decision -- it's probably the best hub assembly possible. Lightweight uses Tune because both are German companies and they've worked together for years, and because at the time Lightweight started Tune was a very light hubset. Remember, a pair of Madfiber wheels including skewers weighed out in my hands at 1061 grams with White hub components. Reliable, adjustable, lightweight, smooth, and a good geometry for the wheel design. I have no reason to ask for any different choice of components.

Lightweight uses DT in all wheels.