Bora One Tubs - 35 or 50

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Seedster
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by Seedster

I believe they are made in Romania

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sawyer
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Joined: Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:45 pm
Location: Natovi Landing

by sawyer

I've had a pair of new 35mm Bora One tubulars for a few weeks now, and thought I'd give some impressions. First off, I am frankly no stranger to high-end carbon tubular wheelsets and have older Boras, Zipps, FFWDs currently, and have had various others over the years from pretty much all the big manufacturers. I ride tubs probably 3/4 of the time and currently ride 150km-200km per week (would be more, but for kids) ... I'm 76kg and not particularly hard on equipment, 300Wish FTP (on a good day)

Anyway, on to the damn wheels. In short these are best carbon tubular wheels I've ridden. Out of the box the weight was a commendable 1190g for the pair (under claimed weight - in line with many others on this forum), and the finish is step up from the previous Boras - in particular the water transfer graphics are much tidier than the old stickers, though it remains to be seen how well they will hold up, and obviously it removes any easy options for customization - not my thing, but worth bearing in mind if it is.

I've mounted a 23mm Vittoria Corsa front and a 24mm Vittoria SR rear (the tyres match other than the very small SR/Corsa designation, so it looks fine) ... no problems with installation and if anything the slightly deeper channel in the middle of the new tub rim helps with centering.

The new wide rim makes for a very smooth rim>tubular transition with a 23mm tub as above, and pretty good also with 24mm. In fact the transition is pretty much as smooth as the old Bora rim with a 21mm tyre - so obviously a benefit there.

So out of the on the road the main characteristics of the wheels:

Stiffness: unmeasured of course but feels a bit better than the old Boras, which were decent. These are stiff wheels and react to hard digs up punch climbs with no slushiness. Not the best I've ridden in this department, but very good. I've deliberately run the rear pads close a few times while booting it up short inclines and didn't get any brake pad rub. Impressive.

Road feel: wider rim benefits are obviously much greater for clinchers, but all the same there is I think some small benefit for tubs, and the feel of these wheels is really special. They feel supremely planted and reassuringly solid at all times. In fact "reassuringly solid" sums up their performance generally very well.

Handling: As good in crosswinds as Zipp 202s and better than traditional rim shapes. Not a whole lot more to say. Wider rims and 35mm profile works a treat here. Was in the Channel Islands last week getting blown around by 30mph winds along the coast and no issues with handling. No more torque steer than say a pair of Zondas or Shimano shallow clinchers.

Braking: The one area I'm a bit disappointed with. Hopefully they will improve as they bed in, but we'll see. I'm running with Campag red carbon pads. The braking is fine in the dry but so-so in the wet, and noticeably inferior to the previous generation Bora rims for example. Not sure what's happened here. It's not unnerving but I was expecting more.

Holding speed: Fine. Not as good as the 50mm Boras with 21mm front tyre, but then you wouldn't expect it to be. For 35mm they seem to do just fine.

Hubs: As you'd expect, first rate. Strangely for Campag the rear is near silent, but that makes a nice change, and reminds one to keep up the drivetrain maintenance routine ;-)

All up then, for about £1k inc VAT these are exceptionally good wheels; across the piece a bit better than any other carbon wheelset I've ridden and excellent VFM in the context of spending disturbing sums of money on bicycle wheels. Campag need to get out their Fulcrum version to fully exploit the value here.
Last edited by sawyer on Wed Jul 22, 2015 9:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Timujin
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Joined: Sun Sep 15, 2013 5:43 pm

by Timujin

+1 for the write up Sawyer

..my (ultra 35) rear is not as silent, compared to my nuetrons which are completely silent... this is when im freewheeling... some suggest a little oil in pawls but not ventured down that route just yet

nibby
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by nibby

Great report sawyer [THUMBS UP SIGN]

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strobbekoen
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Joined: Wed May 18, 2005 6:24 pm
Location: BELGIUM

by strobbekoen

As Calnago, I've had the older bora's 50 and now the 2015 50's which I ride with 25mm competitions (these measure like 26.7mm on my 2015 bora's!) - they are indeed much better in windy conditions than the old ones. Ridden them in pretty strong winds here at the seaside and didn't notice as many issues. I think the difference between the 35's and 50's would be negligible in that regard, as in weight. Been thinking of a lower profile wheelset, fancy the Corima's S+ in 32mm for that as they are lighter.

sawyer
Posts: 4485
Joined: Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:45 pm
Location: Natovi Landing

by sawyer

@strobbkoen - Corimas are 1130g claimed I think for tubs, so 60g or so real world difference at a guess. Not huge tbh.
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strobbekoen
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Location: BELGIUM

by strobbekoen

was referring between the corima's and the bora one's as they are the same price here.
for a shallower wheel, the corima's seem more appealing :)

sawyer
Posts: 4485
Joined: Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:45 pm
Location: Natovi Landing

by sawyer

strobbekoen wrote:was referring between the corima's and the bora one's as they are the same price here.
for a shallower wheel, the corima's seem more appealing :)


Same here ... my Bora One 35s are exactly 1190g, and others are finding their Boras anorexic :wink:

Dare I suggest the marketing is for once high-balling the weight of Ones vs Ultras to create a point of difference ?

For the money the One 35s are a very hard to beat reasonably weight weenie mountain/all terrain tubular IMO
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strobbekoen
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by strobbekoen

or.. the one's have been introduced to increase sales :)
which worked considering how many people buy them.

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