50mm Carbon Clinchers...500 mile review pg. 7

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MajorMantra
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Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2009 8:38 pm

by MajorMantra

Interesting. I'm impressed at the weight. When I was looking at carbon clinchers a few months ago virtually all the Chinese 50mm ones were north of 1500g.

blcknspo0ln
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by blcknspo0ln

MajorMantra wrote:Interesting. I'm impressed at the weight. When I was looking at carbon clinchers a few months ago virtually all the Chinese 50mm ones were north of 1500g.


Yes, that's what caught my eye about this thread. :thumbup:

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eric
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by eric

Far Sports have recently come out with a "basalt" brake track coating on some of their rims. It looks like it adds about 10g to the 50mm rim, to 430g, but if it makes braking safer it's worth it.

I just ordered a set of the rims (model FSL50-CM). I'll report back when I get them.

Dammit
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Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2011 8:16 pm

by Dammit

The ones that I pictured are the superlight 50mm's- 320g per rim.

They don't have the basalt treatment, but braking is great (EE brakes/Reynold blue pads).

I've not used them in the wet, mind.

UTmtnbiker
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Joined: Thu Aug 10, 2006 3:10 pm
Location: Salt Lake City, UT

by UTmtnbiker

In negotiations with FarSport right now on 2 sets of the basalt version. According to them the versions shown here, FSC50-CP, are discontinued and have been replaced with the FSC50-CM.

Specs according to them:
Weight is 1363g +/- 20g
Delivery is 10 to 15 days from receipt of order
Take Paypal (4% surcharge), bank transfer, Western Union

I've been riding some 38mm and 50mm tubuilars from Yishun Stefano for about a year, which weigh in at 1340 and 1460g respectively. Been very happy with them, nothing out of true. I've actually found them to be more durable than my Zipp 303's, which have had the front rim replaced from hitting a pot hole (of course, significantly lighter wheelset).

Thinking of swapping those out for these clinchers as I'm tired of dealing with the hassle (at least for me) of stretching, gluing, and mounting tubbies.

Rokkala
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Joined: Sat Dec 19, 2009 11:58 pm

by Rokkala

I've got a pair of these carbon clinchers I bought last year. Price was 780usd at the time.

Brake track just has a 'resin treatment' of some sort. Weighed in around 1340g. Very stiff, got no brake rub with these when sprinting or out of saddle climbing.

I did have a couple of issues though. First of all, one of the hubs was a bit poorly finished inside, meaning it was impossible to pass a skewer through. The other was that the diameter of the freehub was a mm or two too small to allow the campag lockring to screw in. Farsports did sort it out tho, was a qc issue with bitex.

I've used the wheels quite a lot, including for racing and then have been fine. There is an appreciable decrease in effort needed to keep the speed up on the flat compared to my shamals etc.

Crosswinds aren't a problem unless it's very gusty, obviously can still catch you out if your riding past a gate and so on.

The braking is alright, not on a par with aluminium rims. Didn't use the supplied pads as they only sent 2 to begin with. I did use the Zipp carbon/carbon pads which were very good for modulation, also worked well when wet but hardly lasted any time at all. Too expensive to be worth it. I'm now using the reynolds blue pads and they seem harder wearing, good stopping power too. Like the op, there is a little bit of grab if your braking down to very low speed.

Only other thing is that with the bike in the stand, there is a vertical oscillation when pedalling the rear wheel, but I've never felt it on the bike.

Imaking20
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by Imaking20

I just sent an inquiry to Farsports about a similar setup! :thumbup:

Rokkala
Posts: 98
Joined: Sat Dec 19, 2009 11:58 pm

by Rokkala

Oh, also forgot to mention that they seem to be surprisingly tough. I double pinch flatted when going down a new descent, the road turned into potholes and bumps all over and I smacked a big one at 20+mph and continued on over the bone shaking road for another 50m.

Fully expected them to be wrecked, but there were no cracks or gouges at all.

eric
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by eric

Rokkala wrote:Only other thing is that with the bike in the stand, there is a vertical oscillation when pedalling the rear wheel, but I've never felt it on the bike.


I get that with my wheels that have a Reynolds 46mm carbon rim. The heavy spot seems to be at the valve stem. I've never felt it while riding, even at over 50 mph.

andyindo
Posts: 367
Joined: Tue May 12, 2009 10:03 am

by andyindo

caseycycling wrote:Got these in last Saturday and have four rides in on them (3 solo, 1 group w/ one climb) about 150miles total. Have been impressed so far with the stiffness. I think they are stiffer than the Reynolds DV46T I had last year and maybe stiffer than my Mavic R-SYS premium I have been riding. The hubs roll very smooth and are not loud which I was gald about. Came with a blue set of brake pads and they were loud on first two rides (screechy) but have quited down. Stopping power feels good same as other carbon rims I have had, but I have not been in the rain or down a technical decent.

They are 20/24 spoke FSC50-CP model from Xiamen. For stiffness I would give them a solid 8/10, no flex up front and minimal in the rear when out of the saddle climbing. Looks wise they have a coat of matte black so they match my bike but I can not comment on the quailty of how the carbon looks. Tires mounted pretty easy, a little tight but could get them on by hand. No crazy claims of them adding 2mph to my normal avg speed, but they do roll very smooth and they "feel" fast :twisted: .

I plan on using these as my everyday wheels so I will update after I get more miles on them reguarding durability. Also would a 60mm valve be long enough? I put tubes with 80mm valves in just because I had stopped by my lbs and bought them before I got the wheels in and they look too long but I was not sure 60mm would give me enough to air up.

1313grams total: 580g front/ 733g rear
Image

I think they look alot better on the bike than my alloy clinchers, but thats just because I like the deeper profile
Image

On a side note alot of people asked about my open mold frame when I put it up and wanted to know if I recommened them. My experience has been good so far, other people have had bad experiences, so I just recommened doing some research and seeing if its for you.


Do these have the lowered braketrack like some of the other Carbon clinchers?

BmanX
Posts: 3841
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2005 5:31 pm

by BmanX

I have been talking to Smart from Farsport

They are quoting the Hubsmith hubs (253g/pair) instead of Bitex. They are also quoting the basalt version. The weight of this set up is about 1350g but I was informed by Smart that it is closer to 1320g but they just do not want to over promise. I guess on the heavy side they could be close to 1380g which is still pretty damn good.

$599 USD and $75 shipping to me. I am just waiting for a proforma invoice. Shipping I was told would be within 2-3 days.

At $675 this will save me $200+ over the Flo wheels I was going to buy but more importantly (for me) it will save 600g off the wheelset.
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Imaking20
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Joined: Fri Nov 18, 2011 5:19 am

by Imaking20

BmanX wrote:I have been talking to Smart from Farsport

They are quoting the Hubsmith hubs (253g/pair) instead of Bitex. They are also quoting the basalt version. The weight of this set up is about 1350g but I was informed by Smart that it is closer to 1320g but they just do not want to over promise. I guess on the heavy side they could be close to 1380g which is still pretty damn good.

$599 USD and $75 shipping to me. I am just waiting for a proforma invoice. Shipping I was told would be within 2-3 days.

At $675 this will save me $200+ over the Flo wheels I was going to buy but more importantly (for me) it will save 600g off the wheelset.


How did you get in touch with this "Smart" person? I sent an e-mail a couple days ago to the contact address listed on their website and have yet to hear a response.

Dammit
Posts: 437
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2011 8:16 pm

by Dammit

"info@farsports.cn" I think was the one I used, lady I dealt with was called Mae- always got back to me.

Imaking20
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Joined: Fri Nov 18, 2011 5:19 am

by Imaking20

Thanks for the reply. That's the address I e-mailed, guess I'll just wait and see! :popcorn:

UTmtnbiker
Posts: 25
Joined: Thu Aug 10, 2006 3:10 pm
Location: Salt Lake City, UT

by UTmtnbiker

I've been working with Johnson at sales3@farsports.cn

Very timely emails with responses within 24 hours.

Ordering 2 pairs with the Bitex hubs.

by Weenie


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