265 gram wheel

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edesigner
Posts: 110
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2011 5:02 pm

by edesigner

Please, please be careful with ultralight wheels.

This was a long time ago in the early 90s but I had an ultralight set of tubulars for hillclimbs and was prepping for a road race that had a 20mi climb with a hilltop finish. I went for a warm up ride with the wheels on before I was to drive to the start. On a mild descent my front wheel collapsed putting me in the ER and permanently scarring my chin area.

Two funny things.. it's amazing how long you can slide on a hardshell helmet upside down and I basically came to a stop less than 100 yards from the ER driveway. They still put me in an Ambulance though for the ride.. has to be a record there somewhere. Fortunately the damage was only cosmetic :)

dereksmalls
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by dereksmalls

edesigner - don't worry - Donald knows what he is doing.

Donald - is it a carbon rim or magnesium? Any photos of the additional mods you have done?

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carbon2329
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by carbon2329

:thumbup: Well done and very impressive.

Thank you for sharing. :D

Keep us updated.

bm0p700f
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by bm0p700f

It must be a magnesium rim. Am classic do those. Wouldn't mind getting my hand on one of those.

I wonder how many miles a wheel like that is good for though before the spokes will fatigue. I would want to be riding it if ones goes.

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drhule23
Posts: 31
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2005 1:01 am
Location: Delaware, OH

by drhule23

I agree with the previous response - I'd be too afraid to spend too much time on this wheel.
I prefer a reasonable weight, but with durability.
I know, no guts, no glory.
Call me a wuss.
The more you suffer, the closer you get to transcendence.
It's not the mountain you're climbing, it's yourself. If you don't want to know, stay at the bottom.

wally318
Posts: 403
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 1:00 am

by wally318

A very excellent example of pushing the weight envelope to the very limits!
But would I ride that? Donald must have balls of steel.
Some problems I see. When Edge/Enve came out with their 25mm rims they
were 190 grams a rim and have moved to 225 then 250+ grams and that with
co-moulding the holes into the rim for better strength/better spoke tensions.
So to add another 13 drilled hole to an ultralight rim? And cutting spoke count down from
20 to 16, extra tension spots on light rim. Extra tension on a very small hub flange
in light of recent posts of M5 failures, salt corosion being one of the contributing
factors, higher spoke tension won't help there either.
Also very small 6mm ID 13mm OD bearings, very short bearing life and under load
won't be as smooth(more resistance). Would be a good HC time trial only wheel I think.
AEROLITUS-defender of the faith

Causidicus
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Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2012 11:20 am

by Causidicus

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Last edited by Causidicus on Tue Jun 17, 2014 10:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Guyeclipse
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Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2012 10:20 am

by Guyeclipse

Wow that is some work there! I cannot believe that! I do however admire your bravery, I would be very cautious riding such a wheel. Piece of advice, just frame it or something! I hope you run those track tires at low pressure, I wouldn't like to go over a bump in anything over 100psi though.

Seriously good work, keep it up.

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djconnel
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by djconnel

Nice!!

Donald does amazing work. Minimal glue isn't good for rolling resistance but the point here is light, not fast. Very cool.

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donald
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Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2005 11:32 pm
Location: san francisco ca. usa

by donald

i appreciate everything you all have to say. I have been using ultralight wheels on my bikes for many, many years, although not this light. It is possible this wheel could fail in some way. I don't want to crash ever again, I have had many, many crashes in over 40 years of riding, but never due to some part failing. This is not an every day wheel, and hitting a bigger pot hole at speed would not be good. But overall this wheel is strong enough for my 140 lbs. With all of my 16 and 18 spoke wheels I always carry an extra spoke with me because when a spoke does fail, even after adjusting the wheel, a 16 spoke wheel is still somewhat out of true and round. This M5 hub is not the most durable but I have used it for years, though not a lot of miles on it, I don't for see any problems with it causing a crash. The carbon rim, even at 186 grams, I really don't forsee a problem that would cause a crash. The Pillar Ti spokes are not the strongest but I have even spoke tension and even with only 16 spokes I don't need high tension. This is weight weenies, I'm a weight weenie, and even when my wife says I'm crazy, I just have a real "feel" for what I can do. Again, this is not an everyday wheel.

austke
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Location: Queensland Australia

by austke

Once again, :thumbup: Donald. :)
Yes this is Weight Weenies, And while I love some of the Flash gear on here, I really love the WEIGHT Weenie part to this site.I am heavier and therefore can't compete with ridable weights to some of the lighter weight members here, But I definitely have a huge appreciation for what they are capable of, and can see that these are not inexperienced members just slapping something together and hoping for the best. I can see that Donald has a tremendous feel for his craftmanship. He has already stated that he wont be racing every day on this wheelset, which shows that he has an understanding for the limits of himself and his equipment. :beerchug:
And I LOVE it!!!

Keep up the awesome work.
2013 Giant TCR Advanced SL 0, 6.92kg
2013 Giant Defy Composite 2 M, 8.5kg - Wife's
Azzurro Torino 8.55g
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Miele Lupa Triple Tandem 38,89kg

edesigner
Posts: 110
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2011 5:02 pm

by edesigner

donald wrote:i appreciate everything you all have to say. I have been using ultralight wheels on my bikes for many, many years, although not this light. It is possible this wheel could fail in some way. I don't want to crash ever again, I have had many, many crashes in over 40 years of riding, but never due to some part failing. This is not an every day wheel, and hitting a bigger pot hole at speed would not be good. But overall this wheel is strong enough for my 140 lbs. With all of my 16 and 18 spoke wheels I always carry an extra spoke with me because when a spoke does fail, even after adjusting the wheel, a 16 spoke wheel is still somewhat out of true and round. This M5 hub is not the most durable but I have used it for years, though not a lot of miles on it, I don't for see any problems with it causing a crash. The carbon rim, even at 186 grams, I really don't forsee a problem that would cause a crash. The Pillar Ti spokes are not the strongest but I have even spoke tension and even with only 16 spokes I don't need high tension. This is weight weenies, I'm a weight weenie, and even when my wife says I'm crazy, I just have a real "feel" for what I can do. Again, this is not an everyday wheel.


Mine failed at the seam. I was 130-135 at the time.. but the rim wasn't carbon so you have that going for you. It started out with a funny sound.. thinking the tire was going flat I gently hopped the back then the front to feel if there as a pressure loss. It failed when I checked the front.

Just keep checking em and good luck! Will look forward to seeing the total bike weight.

bm0p700f
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by bm0p700f

What rim is this then being carbon at 186g? I suppose my fear is from having never been light enough to able to use such a light weight wheel and therefore I have never had the oppertunity to build trust in them.

I also suppose you avoid the big holes in the road.

Fatbiker
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Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 1:41 pm

by Fatbiker

bm0p700f wrote:What rim is this then being carbon at 186g?
: "after some work I got the rim down to 186 grams" That is how :wink:

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kavitator
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by kavitator

magic tool for weight loss
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