Finally the rim I've been waiting to talk about.Pacenti SL23

[madcow]

32 hole has been available for a while now. They are almost completely sold out, with less than 6 left in stock. For some reason they aren't listed on our site, but they are available through us.

[cfrankscid]

Just ordered a set and they are slightly delayed because of Pacenti's new decals being applied. Thought I would share a pic of the new decals with you guys, I think its pretty sweet, reminds me of a BMW M3 logo.

My build is 28/24 cx-ray laced to pewter chris king r45s. Should be nice.

[thebadger]

These rims are the jam. Better finish than the HED Belgiums they have replaced.

[Oswald]

I recently bought a set of wheels with Pacenti SL23 rims and am happy with them. I'll be comparing them to a set of Easton EA90 RT, since those are the only other set of wide rim wheels I have. Although I have had several wheels in the past, with mostly high spoke count box section rims.

front wheel:
Pacenti SL23
Hope Mono RS
Sapim CX Ray 20 radial

rear wheel
Pacenti SL23
Hope Mono RS
Sapim CX Ray 12 x2 nds
Sapim CX Sprint 12 x2 ds

Compared to the Easton EA90 RT, on my BMC GF01 with full Dura Ace group:

weight: They both weigh the same within a few grams, with (heavy) tubeless rimtape installed
aero: Pacenti has a slightly higher and slightly wider rim that is more rounded, the spokes are bladed. So the custom set should be slightly more aero. As expected this difference cannot be felt. On my first trip I took them on a ride I do every couple of weeks. At the same hearrate I had an increase of 0.4% in speed compared to my previous best time. So for me it seems they are equally fast
stiffness: The custom set feels a LOT stiffer then the Eastons. The bike corners a lot better now. I expected the rear to be stiffer because of the x2 lacing on both sides vs the radial lacing nds on the Eastons. But the front also feels stiffer. So I'm very happy with that. I always thought the geometry of the GF01 provided sloppy steering, but I'm starting to think part of this was due to the Easton wheels.
comfort: both wheelsets feel equally comfortable. Tires, inner tubes and pressure is the same on both sets. Both set of wheels feel more comfortable then my other high count box section wheels.
braking: The Eastons have excellent brake tracks. Both stopping power and modulation are top. But the stopping power is nothing compared to the Pacenti. First time I pulled the brake resulted in a skid. They require a bit more careful modulation compared to the Eastons.
mounting tires: I currently have 3 sets of tires: Conti GP 24mm, Conti GP 4 seasons 28mm and Schwalbe Durano 25mm. On my box section rims I can mount these without tire levers without even breaking a sweat. On the Eastons I can install the GP 24 mm and Durano 25 mm without tire levers but it does hurt my fingers. To get the stiffer 4 Seasons mounted on the Eastons, I need tire levers. On the Pacenti I need tire levers for GP 24mm and Durano 25mm. I haven't tried the stiffer 4 Seasons yet, but I can imagine it will take a lot of effort. All of these tires have some miles on them so they are stretched.

[Yamabushi]

Thank you for the review, Oswald!

Anyone run these tubeless with sealant yet? How is the finish on the inside of the rim? DA WH-7900-C24-TL's corrode easily when using Stan's. FWIW, I now use Caffe Latex. I'd ideally like to avoid any corrosion issues.

[rmerka]

Yep, using Orange Seal and they work fine. The finish on the rims is as good as you'll find on any Al rim, it's very nice. I have only one gripe about the rims. It's a real PITA to get new tires on them. Better when the tires stretch a little but new ones are tough. I'd build a wheel with them again for sure.

[Oswald]

Yep, using Orange Seal and they work fine. The finish on the rims is as good as you'll find on any Al rim, it's very nice. I have only one gripe about the rims. It's a real PITA to get new tires on them. Better when the tires stretch a little but new ones are tough. I'd build a wheel with them again for sure.

I added my experience in mounting to my little review.

I also struggle with mounting tires on the Pacenti SL23. And I worked in a bikeshop for several years, so I know how to mount a tire. Sometimes customers would complain about new tires not fitting their wheels, and would say that we sold them the wrong size, or the tires must have been Chinese knockoffs, because they had already mounted hundreds of tires, and had never snapped a tire lever, etc... I always used to get a kick out mounting them with my bare hands and then telling the customer something like: "Yeah, you might want to eat some more spinach..." Can't imagine doing that with Pacentis.

[Oswald]

Sadly, I have done 2 rides when it was heavily raining with the Pacenti SL23 and found that stopping power in wet weather is horrible
From over 50km/h to a full stop required me to pull the brakelevers as hard as I could, the bike hardly slowed down. In high speed descents in the wet, I wouldn't want to use this combination of pads and rim. I am using the standard brake pads that come with the DA 7900 group. I would compare the rims to my Ambrosio Excellence rims that also lack stopping power in wet.
On the same bike my Easton EA90 RT wheels and my Mavic Open Pro wheels offer good stopping power and modulation in wet conditions.
Ironically, my Easton wheels brake nicely in the wet, but have hubs that are said to have poor longevity in wet conditions (although I haven't notices any creaking or wear) and my Pacenti hubs brake like shit in the wet, but have Hope hubs that shine in wet conditions

Can anyone advise on some good pads for alu rims in all round (so including wet) weather, that don't chew up rims?

[WMW]

Koolstop Salmon are a good and reasonably priced option. You need to inspect and clean your pads periodically regardless.

[Oswald]

The Dura Ace pads are clean and almost new. I'll probably put them on my TCR bike that has worn out pads (winter bike) and put something else on the BMC.
I will check out the Koolstop salmon pads. Any opinions on the Swissstop FlashPro Green pads?

[mpulsiv]

Koolstop Salmon are a good and reasonably priced option. You need to inspect and clean your pads periodically regardless.

+1
Koolstop Salmon perform very well in wet. Also, they are softer than other pads. With these pads, rim brake track will last forever.
Koolstop Black perform marginally batter in dry and not as soft as salmon http://www.koolstop.com/english/dura_type.html
Dura-Ace/Ultegra pad is harsher with less flex and will wear out rim brake track much faster. Performance is great but not phenomenal.

[Svetty]

Another person who finds these are superb rims apart from the difficulty getting tyres on them. I'm afraid one day I'll puncture and be unable to remount the tyre after replacing the tube.

[hmai18]

They're tubeless-compatible rims, so they're going to be a bit tighter than average. Make sure you're running thin tape like the blue Pacenti stuff or Stan's yellow and make sure you're pulling the opposite bead into the centre channel as you try to mount the rest of the tire.

[maddog 2]

shame they don't offer non-machined sidewalls. No good for my disc builds.

[madcow]

maddog, they don't currently offer a non-machined sidewall, but there is a version that has a black anodizing over the machining so it looks to be non-machined.

Also there is a new version coming shortly which will be a bit wider and have no braking surface specifically built for disc brakes.