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

[lennyk]

I cursed them initially also, but was actually able to get a tire one easily which gave a lot of trouble before.

The trick is to keep both beads in the centre of the rim, so after you get to the point of getting ready to start prying the bead over,
start at the opposite section of the wheel and pinch the tire so both beads sit on the rim tape and not on the sides, go around doing this and it should free up space to g et over easier.

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.

[the jackel]

My post is not meant to be a moaning post, more a chance to share some info that I have come across a little too late in the life of my rear Pacenti wheel.

I have had a set of these rims for several months and love them however I ran into a major problem the other day while out riding. I had a nipple pull through the rear rim while climbing. The wheel was built by a very reputable builder in the UK and consisted of 24 rear spokes, laser NDS and D light DS. They are laced 2 cross both sides with alloy nipples and to a little known french hub. The rim failed while I was climbing (seated) up a 14% incline. I had not experienced any previous problems with the wheel and not hit anything on the ride. For the record I weigh 70kg.

The point of my post - the builder says it is a "known" problem with 24h Pacenti rear wheels and that he has been advised that they should be built with washers and that spoke tension should be reduced. His initial advice when he first started building was no washers and a tension around 130. He is now looking at builds with tension no greater than 125.

I don't know much about wheel building so the drop in tension may not be significant however I find it interesting that he phrased it as a known issue with 24h rims. Just some info that you guys may or may not find helpful.

[rmerka]

That's interesting. I built mine without washers but I didn't tension them that high. I don't remember the exact tension that I built them too without an inflated tire on them, I think around 120-125 kgf but I ended up with 110 kgf with the tire on and inflated. The tension drop was quite a bit from the inflation. My rims are 24 front 28 back on CK R45 hubs. So far they've been outstanding wheels.

[maddog 2]

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.

cheers, that sounds interesting.

[Svetty]

Strange that the information about spokes pulling through is said to be specific to 24h rims - I would have thought that the same issues would arise for any spoke count - assuming a constant tension of course.

[steventran]

Just adding a data point.

I have a set of 20/24 Pacentis (PowerTap G3 hubs, CX-Rays, radial front, 2x rear, alloy nipples, no nipple washers, ~120kgf rear). I weigh 75kg =( and I've ridden them up the Mortirolo, Gavia, Monte Grappa, etc., some with sections of 18%, while seated as well as out of the saddle. I've done some poorly executed bunny hops, too. No issues yet.

My only gripe is that I have to carry a Kool Stop tire jack in my jersey pocket if I want to be able to remount a tire on the road. I'm curious if this would still be the case if the rim was not tubeless-compatible.

[rmerka]

I've found a couple of Pedro's levers to be sufficient in mounting the tire, three makes it a breeze. I've broken every other lever I've used but Pedro's are holding firm!

[bm0p700f]

Maddog I have a pair of 24H rim with the black anodising going to lace them to some D711/D712 hubs for a lighter build at some point when I get the time. U.K availability has dried up though of these rims.

[fignonsbarber]

[quote="the jackel"] I had a nipple pull through the rear rim while climbing. The wheel was built by a very reputable builder in the UK and consisted of 24 rear spokes, laser NDS and D light DS. They are laced 2 cross both sides with alloy nipples and to a little known french hub. The rim failed while I was climbing (seated) up a 14% incline. I had not experienced any previous problems with the wheel and not hit anything on the ride. For the record I weigh 70kg.


Same experience here. My 24h rear pacenti sl23 had 4 ds spokes pull through after 3 months of use (white T11 hubs,cxray spokes). I weigh 165 pounds. Luckily, I noticed the cracks and nipples while washing the bike, so no catastrophic failure on the road. I called Pacenti and was told that I was too heavy for 24 spoke rear wheel, and there were only a couple of these failures since coming to market. About 2 weeks later, I came across a thread started on another forum, and at least 4 of us had similar failures. From a service standpoint, Pacenti was prompt in sending a free replacement. I had the wheel rebuilt, and sold them.
For the record, I am very easy on wheels, especially for someone who races. I can remember only truing 2 wheels since I started in 1988! Personally, I do not have trust in these rims to use them again. Your mileage may vary.

[illnacord]

Any one care to update on the all black Pacenti SL23 and it's durability to brake pads ... I'd like to compare with my 28h HED Belgium Black's in term of durability. 6,000+ miles with majority of climbing, severe grade and pitches, mashin' out of saddle by a 200 lb gorilla, no issues, brake tracks appear like new in rear, with front just a single 1mm line starting to peek through around the circumference.

[G60]

I was able to install GP4000s tires with tubes on my SL23's by hand. As some have mentioned, it helps to get both beads in the center channel as much as possible. It seemed like it would be very difficult at first until i pinched the two beads together opposite the part of the tire I was beginning to have difficulty with, and "nestled" the beads and tube into the rim's center channel. I kept pinching the beads together and was able to seat the remainder of the tire without using levers.

[mpulsiv]

I had a nipple pull through the rear rim while climbing. The wheel was built by a very reputable builder in the UK and consisted of 24 rear spokes, laser NDS and D light DS. They are laced 2 cross both sides with alloy nipples and to a little known french hub. The rim failed while I was climbing (seated) up a 14% incline. I had not experienced any previous problems with the wheel and not hit anything on the ride. For the record I weigh 70kg.


Same experience here. My 24h rear pacenti sl23 had 4 ds spokes pull through after 3 months of use (white T11 hubs,cxray spokes). I weigh 165 pounds. Luckily, I noticed the cracks and nipples while washing the bike, so no catastrophic failure on the road. I called Pacenti and was told that I was too heavy for 24 spoke rear wheel, and there were only a couple of these failures since coming to market. About 2 weeks later, I came across a thread started on another forum, and at least 4 of us had similar failures. From a service standpoint, Pacenti was prompt in sending a free replacement. I had the wheel rebuilt, and sold them.
For the record, I am very easy on wheels, especially for someone who races. I can remember only truing 2 wheels since I started in 1988! Personally, I do not have trust in these rims to use them again. Your mileage may vary.

That's disturbing to hear from Pacenti that 24 spokes it too heavy for 165 lbs rider. There are slew of rims out there with 20 spokes that support up to 200 lbs rider.

[mattythemod]

My post is not meant to be a moaning post, more a chance to share some info that I have come across a little too late in the life of my rear Pacenti wheel.

I have had a set of these rims for several months and love them however I ran into a major problem the other day while out riding. I had a nipple pull through the rear rim while climbing. The wheel was built by a very reputable builder in the UK and consisted of 24 rear spokes, laser NDS and D light DS. They are laced 2 cross both sides with alloy nipples and to a little known french hub. The rim failed while I was climbing (seated) up a 14% incline. I had not experienced any previous problems with the wheel and not hit anything on the ride. For the record I weigh 70kg.

The point of my post - the builder says it is a "known" problem with 24h Pacenti rear wheels and that he has been advised that they should be built with washers and that spoke tension should be reduced. His initial advice when he first started building was no washers and a tension around 130. He is now looking at builds with tension no greater than 125.

I don't know much about wheel building so the drop in tension may not be significant however I find it interesting that he phrased it as a known issue with 24h rims. Just some info that you guys may or may not find helpful.

Same thing happened to me but mine are 32 hole ....noticed a ticking noise and a slight wobble whilst riding and upon close inspection noticed multiple cracks around the eyelets on the rear drive side , Just Riding Along in the UK were pretty good and replaced the rim and rebuilt it ....some reports onlie say overtension caused it and other have claimed there was a QC issue with eariler batches ....

[Curious George]

Checked my rear today after reading this thread... and 10 of the 14 rear drive side spoke holes have cracks in them.
Have contacted the builder to work through the issue.
Not sure if its over tensioning or a faulty rim, the builder is a member on here and does a lot of building with this particular rim so it will be interesting to see the response.

[Oswald]

Just checked my rims and no signs of cracking. But I've only done 600km with them.