by wheelsONfire on Fri Aug 05, 2016 1:00 pm
Stream 38 is lighter than CCU and still it feels more stabile and calmer.
But part from that, Stream 38 should not be compared to Lightweight, CCU and maybe Corimas carbon spoked wheels.
I guess those wheels will ride differently in ride feel. It seems there is risk reading what others prefer or think talking wheels.
Some have a preference towards another sort of ride feel.
For instance, i really like No tubes Avion Pro. But i also looked at Bike Ahead Biturbo.
I think Bike Ahead just as CCU aso, will ride much more stiff.
No tubes set out to create a rim that actually can deflect if you hit a pothole, rot or stone.
While the other stiffer wheels would not.
This is not to say Avion is flexing sideways!
It does not.
For stiffness more spokes will help. I wonder, when you have few spokes in the rear wheel, don't we lose power from chain to hub to spokes to rims?
It seems the hub, spokes and rims would fare better if we use more spokes?
If we rewind a bit to rims width and wider tires, there is a difference.
A wider rim and a 23mm or 25mm tire will feel different than a narrow rim with same tires.
Eastons Aero is very wide and feels very stabile even with Veloflex Carbon (23mm tires).
These set i have (Veloflex Carbon i have measured at 100-115psi and they are just below 23mm in width)
What happens is that i feel a confidence with these wheels which is clearly higher than with CCU.
CCU feels quick and nimble. But they also are harder to ride even with wider tires.
It would be really interesting to test 2015 CCU and the forthcoming wider CCU with same tires on same bike.
That would sort out what the wider rim is doing.
A nimble and quick sense/ feel, can also be true if the wheel is more nervous.
It's just same with a frame/ bike.
Lesser stability will generate a sense of higher speed. A super stabile bike will feel slower just as a motorcyce.
If you ride a motorcycle which is nervous, you will "feel" as if speed is truely high.
If you ride a motorcycle that is much more stabile, you will increase speed since the feel you had of the more unstable motorcycle
will make the more stabile feel slower. I think it's same with bikes.
It's a bit complicated to just recommend a wheelset because it comes back to what you really look for.
Sometimes a certain behaviour and feel looks cool and sounds attractive reading about it. But question is, what do you really like best when you actually ride.
If i ride my bike with No tubes Avion wheels and change tires from Schwalbe S-One 30mm to any of my wider tire there is an immediate thing i notice.
The 30mm S-One feels like they accelerate and set speed much better than the larger tires i have.
This is true for tarmac only. However, when i get into the gravel roads, the S-One is more nervous and that is noted as the bike have harder to keep track and grip.
So here a wider tire with lower pressure is actually giving me more speed.
If i would buy any super stiff wheel today or even look at one, i would seriously look at Bike Ahead Biturbo Road.
It is very expensive and also for disc brakes.
I would discard the narrow rim options du to my preference. The wider rims, rides better in ride feel and stability.
Bikes:
Ax Lightness Vial EVO Race (2019.01.03)
Open *UP* (2016.04.14)
Paduano Racing Fidia (kind of shelved)
Ex bike; Vial EVO D, Vial EVO Ultra, Scott Foil, Paduano ti bike.