FLO launched 45mm, 60 and 90 carbon clincher

[Krackor]

What is the advantage over Farsports?

Fluent English speakers who can answer your technical questions and offer you a warranty that doesn't involve shipping a box across the Pacific Ocean.

[cobrakai]

What is the advantage over Farsports?

Read their blog posts for the development of these new wheels and I think that will become obvious...

I wish they had brought a 'known fast wheel' into the tunnel with them like a zipp 404 or something. Comparing against an open pro rim and their previous rims doesn't really give an idea about how it the rims fare against their competitors. The weights are competitive though. Anyone have comments on their vortex hubs?

[mariovalentim]

What is the advantage over Farsports?

Read their blog posts for the development of these new wheels and I think that will become obvious...

I wish they had brought a 'known fast wheel' into the tunnel with them like a zipp 404 or something. Comparing against an open pro rim and their previous rims doesn't really give an idea about how it the rims fare against their competitors. The weights are competitive though. Anyone have comments on their vortex hubs?

I echo your post, really odd to see a lack of comparison with the big boys, also all their aerodynamic testing was done considering only the rim (no tyre, spoke, hub or frame) which doesn't sound right, however I'm not an expert.

[duvivr6]

@mariovalentin, agree with your comment, but hey whatever the test is it states it's aero-er. Most important part for FLO it sells their wheels.
I feel they are still heavy and not much cheaper that the other offerings out there.

[cobrakai]

Their wind tunnel testing was done with full wheels, including hubs and tires according to the blog. They also said that they will be publishing the results of a 20 tire study they did in the wind tunnel and some kind of brake track evaluation. They tested with two different tires which were the ones they claim tested best in the tire evaluation: 23mm GP4000s ii and schwalbe ultremo zx. All that is great but it still doesn't give a direct comparison to their competitors. Hopefully a third party will include them in study at some point.

[Krackor]

I echo your post, really odd to see a lack of comparison with the big boys, also all their aerodynamic testing was done considering only the rim (no tyre, spoke, hub or frame) which doesn't sound right, however I'm not an expert.

They did their CFD simulations with a modeled GP4000S II tire profile attached. Lots of good info in the slowtwitch thread, I recommend you go read it.

[Krackor]

I feel they are still heavy and not much cheaper that the other offerings out there.

Please don't take this the wrong way, I honestly want to know if there are better options so I can buy those instead.

What other wheels are you comparing to? Are there any other clinchers at a similar weight, similar price, and also with wind tunnel testing to back up their shape? Here are the alternatives I can think of:

Enve SES 3.4
Depth - 35/45mm
Weight - 1400-1540g depending on hub
Price - $2600-$3500 depending on hub

Enve SES 4.5
Depth - 48/56mm
Weight - 1480-1600g depending on hub
Price - $2600-3500 depending on hub

Zipp 303 FC
Depth - 45mm
Weight - 1625g
Price - $2200

Specialized Roval CLX 40
Depth - 40mm
Weight - 1375g (not bad!)
Price - $2200

Bontrager Aeolus 5
Depth - 50mm
Weight - 1440g
Price - $2850

Flo 45
Depth - 45.5mm
Weight - 1459g
Price - $1150

Any other clinchers with a modern aero profile that should be included in this list? I know there are Boyd, Williams, November, Knight, and I'm sure other small companies that are producing low-price carbon clinchers, but I haven't kept up with which ones are doing tunnel testing and developing an aero rim shape instead of taking a copy of an open-mold design. All the options I know of either are >2x as expensive as Flo, or haven't done any independent aero development.

[53x12]

What is the advantage over Farsports?

Read their blog posts for the development of these new wheels and I think that will become obvious...

I wish they had brought a 'known fast wheel' into the tunnel with them like a zipp 404 or something. Comparing against an open pro rim and their previous rims doesn't really give an idea about how it the rims fare against their competitors. The weights are competitive though. Anyone have comments on their vortex hubs?

I echo your post, really odd to see a lack of comparison with the big boys, also all their aerodynamic testing was done considering only the rim (no tyre, spoke, hub or frame) which doesn't sound right, however I'm not an expert.

Previous Flo wheels (before carbon clincher) have tested well against the bigger name brands. Not to mention, bang for the buck, nothing comes close to these guys in terms of performance.

[cobrakai]

Any other clinchers with a modern aero profile that should be included in this list? I know there are Boyd, Williams, November, Knight, and I'm sure other small companies that are producing low-price carbon clinchers, but I haven't kept up with which ones are doing tunnel testing and developing an aero rim shape instead of taking a copy of an open-mold design. All the options I know of either are >2x as expensive as Flo, or haven't done any independent aero development.

November and Boyd at least have developed proprietary rim designs.

November Rail 52
Depth - 52mm
Weight - 1650g
Price - $1385

Boyd 44mm Clincher
Depth - 44mm
Weight - 1475g
Price - $1500

[Krackor]

Do you know if Boyd did any CFD or iterative wind tunnel testing when designing their rim? Or did they just show up at the tunnel with the finished product? Their aerodynamics page of their website embarassingly has a broken link to the results image.

[natefontaine]

http://www.boydcycling.com/the-total-package/ the image you're looking for does appear on another one of their pages.

[cobrakai]

According to the product page for the 44mm CC, "We are proud to introduce the 2016 model of our 44mm clincher. We have been working on the design for years, running CFD analysis, making physical prototypes, and putting in thousands of miles of on the road testing. With the new models we have wheeset that is more aero, lighter, better handling in crosswinds, and stronger than wheelsets costing twice as much."

The 60mm page says the same thing with the appropriate depth subbed in.

So the answer is yes, although they don't go into nearly as much detail as the Flo guys do.

[BmanX]

I will be following this for sure as I would like to get some new wheels and at this price these are tops on my list. I still love my EDGE 45's which are 1280g carbon clinchers but this was well before much better brake tracks and for the added weight I think the technology of such wheels has come a long way. I think the FLO 45's might be a good option and maybe my Catalyst wheel cover will fit on the FLO 45s as well which make for a very light set up for racing tris but sill good for the road bike with the cover removed.

[joepac]

The analysis on their website of the time spent at each yaw angle is pretty interesting... I wonder if it's only for tri riding or if it includes pack riding? And what speed or speeds it was done at? What wind conditions?

These seem to be pretty nice wheelsets, weights are extremely light (i.e. probably underestimates but even so still competitive). Lots of aero for the money. Looks to be the best deal along with the Rails from November (you get a better hub and tested against the 404 FC).

http://www.novemberbicycles.com/blog/20 ... rfscs.html

[Canadian]

Flo45 wheelset weighing in at 1459g. A big improvement compared to their previous alu+carbon models. This actually compares favorably to some other competitors. Boyd does their 44mm clincher set at 1475g, Zipp 303 is 1625g. Bora One 50mm is 1485g. If their aero claims are accurate, then this could be a lot of performance for a low price.

No mention of braking performance on the carbon brake track though.

We have a full brake testing report on the way. We'll get it published as soon as possible.