Weight Weenies

Hi everyone: new here. this seems to be the Carbonsports/Lightweight headquarters on the interweb, so I figured I'd go here with a question.

I just bought a used set of Standard Gen II's, and I'm quite smitten of them to say the least. So much so that I want to buy a set of Gen III/Meilensteins. My question concerns the spokes. I can understand the 100% carbon spokes of the Gen 3 are going to be stiffer than the carbon/kevlar blend, but how do they compare as far as impact strength is concerned? I recently saw the manual for Reynolds RZR wheels (I know, different wheels), and it has a big warning "DON'T SQUEEZE THE SPOKES!!" The thought of pure carbon spokes does not bother me, and I don't make a habit of sitting around squeezing spokes, but I thought that warning was a bit eye opening. Shouldn't a carbon spoke be able withstand a squeeze without turning to dust?

thanks very much. I hope to be able to contribute something to the forum.

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

www.starbike.com

The spokes are durable, but it is strongly recommended that you do not attach a clamp magnet to the carbon spokes. I know that the wheel already has a magnet, but sometimes it might not line up with were you want the magnet. Glue a magnet to a carbon spoke.

I have seen the result of a magnet clamped down on a carbon spoke. It did not ruin the spoke but it did leave a small mark. It is possible that it could ruin the spoke if it is overtightened.

Hi snappypants!

You like those Gen 2 lightweights huh?
Thinking of getting Gen 3?

Stop worrying about the spokes.
They are the same only a little bit stiffer. and a bit more impact resistance. Upgrading from Gen 2->3 doesnt make real sense, it is a evolutionary upgrade, not revolutionary.

So be realistic,
Ride your Gen 2's until they are worn out - maybe 5 years if you are tough, strong and ride a ton, then upgrade to Gen 4's (which are just being released now)


unless you need wheels for a different bike, then by all means get some LW, but go for the Gen 4.

snappypants wrote:[...]I can understand the 100% carbon spokes of the Gen 3 are going to be stiffer than the carbon/kevlar blend, but how do they compare as far as impact strength is concerned?[...] Shouldn't a carbon spoke be able withstand a squeeze without turning to dust?

Welcome!
Squeezing the spokes won't turn them into dust! The only thing they really don't like is hitting them hard, e.g. when you get contact to your front mans' derailleur during a race.
If you want to attach a magnet to a spoke just be careful not to screw directly on the spoke - but, as told before, you can use glue or put something between srew and spoke, so the pressure is scattered to a wider area.

Thanks guys for the responses. I figured the spokes were plenty strong, but I figured I'd ask just in case to see if there were any limitations. The wheels are really an amazing product; they are so light yet feel as solid as a disk. I'd put off trying them for a a long time, but now I'm hooked!

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but I tried searching for the answer to my question, but couldn't find anything so I thought I would ask it here.

I just picked up a pair of used Lightweight Standard Gen 2/II recently and was confused about something concerning the spokes. I thought LW Standard Gen II wheels came with carbon/Kevlar (two tone) spokes? Mine came with full carbon (all black) spokes. Did CarbonSports offer full carbon spokes on Gen 2 wheels at the end of their production cycle when Gen 3 wheels were starting to be produced? Or are my spokes simply painted/colored black?

The other question that I wanted to ask was, where can I get the dark/black Lightweight logos from. I saw a pair of Gen 3 with the dark logos and simply fell in love with them. Is this something you can order from CarbonSports and put on yourself? Or are the logos painted on and must be done at CarbonSports in Germany?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

Vuong05 wrote:Don't mean to hijack the thread, but I tried searching for the answer to my question, but couldn't find anything so I thought I would ask it here.

I just picked up a pair of used Lightweight Standard Gen 2/II recently and was confused about something concerning the spokes. I thought LW Standard Gen II wheels came with carbon/Kevlar (two tone) spokes? Mine came with full carbon (all black) spokes. Did CarbonSports offer full carbon spokes on Gen 2 wheels at the end of their production cycle when Gen 3 wheels were starting to be produced? Or are my spokes simply painted/colored black?

The other question that I wanted to ask was, where can I get the dark/black Lightweight logos from. I saw a pair of Gen 3 with the dark logos and simply fell in love with them. Is this something you can order from CarbonSports and put on yourself? Or are the logos painted on and must be done at CarbonSports in Germany?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

1) there are no Gn.II wheels with full carbon spokes. If you are sure to have Gen.II wheels and the spokes are black, then they are painted - you can easily find this out in the hub area ( no one can paint this area 100% perfect!)
2) the 4 logos on Gen.II / Gen.III are printed. Removal of white logos and printing black ones is not easy and you always will have a "shadow" of the white logos that remains on the rim...

I had Gen II's and had them painted, including the spokes. Unfortunately they got stolen. Maybe Vuong picked up my set.

My Lightweight Standard Gen 2 are coming from the States, Portland, Oregon to be exact. I had my brother picked them up from a local guy their so I haven't seen the wheels in person. He is bringing them up to my place in 2 weeks time. I will try to get more info from him in the meantime.

This is what I know of the wheels, or what I was told from the second owner.

First owner put on less than 250 miles before upgrading to Gen III Obermayor's, these were purchased in 2009.
The second owner put on another 500 miles before switching to Lightweight Standard clinchers.
I'am the third owner of the wheelset.

They are 16/20 spoke variation of Lightweight Standard Gen II. They come with a Campagnolo freehub and have white "Lightweight" logos on them. There is a sticker for the magnet on the front rim only, the rear does not have this sticker. They are mounted with new Continental Competition tires front and rear. My brother has looked at the wheels again tonight and said he noticed no signs of the spokes being painted on in any way. I will ask him to look at the hub area like CarbonSports suggested and see what he says.

KB: Post some pictures of your wheel and I'll see what mine compares to your stolen set. Sorry to hear about that.



On the subject of the dark logos and it being very difficult to do. Has anyone even tried this on their own? Does CarbonSports even offer a service to change the white logos to black? If it is not worth it, I will just ride the wheels as is, but I do really like the stealth look as my bike is all black.

Thanks guys.

Edit: Just heard back from my brother, who spoke to the 2nd owner, and here is some update. The wheels are indeed Gen III/3, not Gen II/2 like he had told me. The owner had made a mistake in the description as he had two different Lightweight Standard Tubular wheelsets for sale (one gen II, the other were gen III). My brother also confirmed that the spokes are full carbon and that the area near the hub has not been painted in any way. I also mentioned what CarbonSports had said about the hub area to the owner and he said nothing has been painted.

How difficult is it to remove the logos? My local shop has some Gen III they want to shift but they have "TestRider" on them.

Vuong05 wrote:[...]Does CarbonSports even offer a service to change the white logos to black? If it is not worth it, I will just ride the wheels as is, but I do really like the stealth look as my bike is all black.

Thanks guys.

Edit: Just heard back from my brother, who spoke to the 2nd owner, and here is some update. The wheels are indeed Gen III/3, not Gen II/2 like he had told me. The owner had made a mistake in the description as he had two different Lightweight Standard Tubular wheelsets for sale (one gen II, the other were gen III). My brother also confirmed that the spokes are full carbon and that the area near the hub has not been painted in any way. I also mentioned what CarbonSports had said about the hub area to the owner and he said nothing has been painted.

1) we don't offer a service like that, as it is almost impossible to completely match the old white logo when printing black ones over them. Best solution - if you really want to have the logos black - is to go to an airbrusher and let him do the work!
2) Gen.II: hybrid spokes (aramide + carbon) <=> Gen.III: full carbon spokes, black

KB wrote:I had Gen II's and had them painted, including the spokes. Unfortunately they got stolen. Maybe Vuong picked up my set.

That's one reason why we urgently recommend to register the wheels! If they got stolen one day you simply have to inform us and we can mark the wheels as stolen in our database. Once they show up e.g. in our service department, we get an alarm. Or, if a third owner is unsure where the wheels come from, he can give us the numbers (if necessary we can provide a RFID device, so he can read the codes) and we can check if the wheels are "clean".

Maximilian wrote:How difficult is it to remove the logos? My local shop has some Gen III they want to shift but they have "TestRider" on them.

=>

CarbonSportsGmbH wrote:2) the [...] logos [...] are printed. Removal of white logos [...] is not easy and you always will have a "shadow" of the white logos that remains on the rim...

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

www.starbike.com