Lightweight owners: which other wheelset do you ride?

Back by popular demand, the general all-things Road forum!

Moderator: robbosmans

3Pio
Posts: 1581
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2016 7:13 pm

by 3Pio

poppiholla wrote:I think that tubes ride fantastic, if you mount some good tires. I can recommend Veloflex or Vittoria. Clinchers are easier when having a flat. I would not recommend using tubes all the time. When the weather is bad, the risks on having a flat tire are bigger so clinchers are more convenient then. When I ride tubes I always bring a spare tube with me. A can of latex doesn't always work.
My shamals are clinchers so I cannot say anything about shamal tube wheels. Both Shamal's and Bora's ride very very good.



Yes, i im interested in that comparation (because i have Shamal Clinchers my self, and thinking should i upgrade to tubs or not...). Is there a big difference between Shamal Clinchers u have , and Bora Tubulars, or it's just a little difference?

WHere do u feel most that difference and how?

Sorry to ask, but could not find many direct comparation Shamal Clincher vs Bora 35 tubs

poppiholla
Posts: 597
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 1:18 pm

by poppiholla

Shamal = very bombproof wheelset. Very convenient and easy to handle in windy conditions.
Bora's = stiff and faster. A beautiful ride when using the best tubes. More special and I love the sound of the high carbon rims through the wind. The Bora's 50 look stunning on your bike
Specialized Tarmac S-works SL7 (Satin carbon spectraflair tint)
Specialized Tarmac S-works SL6 (Green Cameleon)
Specialized Tarmac Pro SL6 Disc (Blue/Teal Sram Force AXS)
Specialized Epic Elite 29
Greetings from the Netherlands

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



3Pio
Posts: 1581
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2016 7:13 pm

by 3Pio

poppiholla wrote:Shamal = very bombproof wheelset. Very convenient and easy to handle in windy conditions.
Bora's = stiff and faster. A beautiful ride when using the best tubes. More special and I love the sound of the high carbon rims through the wind. The Bora's 50 look stunning on your bike


Thanks :) (Now i realized that u actually have Bora 50 not 35 as i thought before)

Since im a more climber then flat riding guy :), im more interested in Bora 35 then 50 (maybe im wrong).

As u have One's and not Ultra.. U think it's not worth Ultra vs One? (Yes, i allready know the answer :) ), but still want to share experience from someone more experienced then me :) )

User avatar
maverick_1
Posts: 742
Joined: Tue Sep 11, 2007 4:20 pm
Location: Tokyo

by maverick_1

Either LW or previous gen Bora Ultra Two...
Bora rolls a lot smother, has better bearings, although it's not a stiff as the LW.
My personal fav is still the venerable Gen3 tubulars though :D

User avatar
wheelsONfire
Posts: 6283
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2014 8:15 am
Location: NorthEU

by wheelsONfire

alexneumuller wrote:Have not heard of them! How Do they compare to Enve 3.4disc for example?

wheelsONfire wrote:Just a question for all of you guys,... none of you even slightly curious of Bike Ahead wheels?
Sure, i know they're for disc brakes.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Probably very much stiffer and lighter than Enve.
I don't own Bike Ahead wheels myself.
But you can check the spec at Bike Ahead and you'll see how stiff they are.
If you consider a set, i would would mail them and ask whatever comes to mind.
They're nice guys!
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.

anquetil
Posts: 307
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 5:53 am
Location: Slovenia

by anquetil

TonyM wrote:Hi,

I start with me:

On my main/ summer bike (I now have only one summer bike, a C60, and a winter/ rain bike, a Colnago Dream) I have a set of Lightweight Meilenstein clincher Schwarz (CeramicSpeed bearings).


Actually I planed -but eventually discard it - to buy a set of Campagnolo Bora Ultra 50 (or 35) in the bright label version because of the look of the bright labels of Campagnolo but I figured out that the performance would not be as good as with the Lightweight.


Only for the mountains and for safety reasons I use a different wheelset, a Fulcrum aluminum Racing Zero Nite.

What about you guys?
Do you use only your Lightweight wheelset or do you use also other wheelsets?
And why?


Boras One or Ultra are much better than LW Gen3 or Milenstein(speed, braking), only(but important) is look of the bike and + 100 g weight.

User avatar
kgt
Posts: 8749
Joined: Sun Jun 18, 2006 10:29 am
Location: Athens, Greece

by kgt

Campagnolo Bora are amazing wheels but still LWs are stiffer (fact) and lighter (fact). Their braking is fine and they are as fast as their rider is.

Steve_W
Posts: 272
Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:40 pm
Location: England

by Steve_W

Ultegra 6700 box section rims, (winter bike) during the 4 month of winter, melienstein 20/20 tubs for the other 8 month.

User avatar
Calnago
In Memoriam
Posts: 8612
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2010 9:14 pm

by Calnago

Ha, @KGT... we really should have coffee sometime.
Lightweights Gen 3, are in fact stiffer, but so what. I tested them out thoroughly back to back once by setting my brake pads closer to the rim than I normally would then riding the hell out of them to see where I needed the pads set before no brake rub was evident. Before someone chimes in with a definition of what "wheel stiffness" really is, for purposes of my test lets just say I wanted to see which wheels produced brake rub easier. When I found that spot, I put the Boras on (the pre 2015 Boras), with the pads still adjusted for the Lightweights. I had to relax the brake pad spacing further in order for the Boras not to rub. Ok, I thought, so what... because after all my comparison testing I preferred the overall feel of the Boras, and I'm a bigger guy. I haven't done a similar test with the new 2015+ Boras, but it doesn't really matter, as I'm sure the new Boras would fare even better, so I'm talking worse case scenario here regarding the Boras against the Lightweights.

Speaking of stability, the Lightweights are positively horrible in crosswinds on a descent. If someone says they're not, then they haven't experienced much in the way of crosswinds. My friend who actually owns them, asked me why I didn't tell him about that before he bought them. I might have had I known him as well as I do now, but at the time I wasn't about to contradict what he was being told by the "bike shop", not worth the hassle. So I just said, "What good would it have done", the guys at the bike shop were telling him they were the best wheels money can buy and, because my friend was equating price with "best", he bought them only to find out for himself how terrible they were on descents. Which is really the best way to find out in the end, albeit expensive.

As for weight, no argument there, but I've found, with wheels especially, you can get too light to the point they get sketchy. To Lightweight's credit, they do not seem to suffer from that kind of stability loss I'm talking about here, but more than make up for it with terrible crosswind stability.

What I really dislike about Lightweights, and this goes directly to braking performance is their inability to produce a consistently perfectly true rim, especially when compared to something like a Bora rim. On a rim braked bike, modulation is very closely related to 1) how smooth your whole braking system operates (no cable friction, smooth operating calipers, smooth lever operation), and 2) how true the rim is. However, it doesn't matter how smooth your braking system is if when you're feathering the brakes so that they're barely touching the rim, that out of true spot rubs harder on every revolution thus creating a pulsing effect, and that's exactly what it does. It is incredibly annoying, especially if it's wet out, because that high spot will shed the water first and then "grab" in that one spot before the rest of the rim, creating that "grabby" braking feeling. And if your brakes are grabby at all, then your ability to modulate them is really not there either. The fact they can't produce a consistently true rim is a consequence of their manufacturing process... I'm sure it is very difficult to do since they have to "get it exactly right" at the time they're bonding the spokes to insides of the flat rim surface. There's no chance to fine tune them afterwards or in the field.

And don't forget about having to send the wheel back for even a simple bearing replacement (at least the front). And because they are cartridge bearings, you can't "adjust" them, they need to be replaced. Ugh!

Lightweights are probably the narrowest wheelset out there these days, with the flattest rim profile as well. They need that flat profile to bond the spokes to, and also as straight a line to the hub as possible, hence it helps if they're very narrow. They must be scratching their heads wondering what to do now with all these "shaped" rim profiles since Lightweight's design does not really lend itself easily to working with anything but a flat narrow profile, unless they come up with a different way to bond the spokes securely, not to mention adding weight. If they did that, they may have to change their name from Lightweight, to NotSoLightweight.

Bottom line is that Lightweights best days in their current incarnation are behind them. Do they care, I don't know...

It's almost neither here nor there at this point. But they did look good on my C59 when I had them... actually, now that I look at this pic again, I never did like the convoluted spoke pattern or the thickness of the side profile of the spokes, which also contributes not insignificantly to the crosswind problem.
Image

Sorry to rain on your Sunday @KGT... perhaps if we meet for coffee we should stick to discussing the aero benefits of nothing. We'd probably agree a lot more readily then. :beerchug:
Colnago C64 - The Naked Build; Colnago C60 - PR99; Trek Koppenberg - Where Emonda and Domane Meet;
Unlinked Builds (searchable): Colnago C59 - 5 Years Later; Trek Emonda SL Campagnolo SR; Special Colnago EPQ

User avatar
kgt
Posts: 8749
Joined: Sun Jun 18, 2006 10:29 am
Location: Athens, Greece

by kgt

Calnago we all know you are the Lightweight hater :) No problem at all.
Me, other forum members, as well as many many riders (including pro riders), just love them. I hope that's ok for you as well. 8)

Steve_W
Posts: 272
Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:40 pm
Location: England

by Steve_W

The current meleinstein are far better in crosswinds then the Older Generation. I'll agree the pulsing brake surface has improved but still a slight issue.
However, I stand firm in saying....customer aftercare is 5 star. And looks, for me stand far proud of anything else available.

Steve

User avatar
mrgray
Posts: 775
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2015 1:56 am

by mrgray

i have ridden the LW std3 and meils. for some reason i like the std 3 better but i don't know if i could say why. might just be because i bought them 2nd hand so i can relax a bit and just ride them hard as i can.

side wind gusts on LW make me very sad. descending on LW's in blustery conditions and going from sheltered to exposed areas? i would not wish that on anyone.

but i'd say that for most deeper wheels (less so though).

i have bora 50 ultra, bora 80 and LW. i can't stop using the LW for crit racing. they just feel so perky. no issues with braking (and this set are very true).

wheels are a very exciting element of bike riding and lw's for me remain the wheels i want to use the most, even if they aren't 100% versatile. but when it gets windy i leave the LW's (and thankfully the brown underwear) at home.
Bobo S&S Steel Bike - 7.5 kg
Oltre XR2- 6.6 kg
Look 585 - 6.8 kg
Look 695 SR :D

KCookie
Posts: 1963
Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2015 9:40 am
Location: Pom living in Australia

by KCookie

I must admit when I spin my front wheel one particular part of the rim rubs against the left pad, so even though the Obies are new they are running a little out of true.
Couldn't agree more regarding the side winds especially from sheltered to exposed areas, there's a particular hill like that, that I come down to home where I hold on for dear life as there's always a strong side wind. I do love my LW clinchers and Obies, but to be honest what else would you dress your Urgstalt with. Probably should have got the Gifs instead of the Obies for windy days, but this is WW after all and the Gifs are heavier. !!!

nismosr
Posts: 1317
Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 5:15 pm

by nismosr

do you guys use any other brake pads on your LW
2020 Colnago C64 Mapei-SR12 EPS-WTO 60
2021 Basso Diamante SV-SR12 Disc EPS-WTO 60
2023 Colnago G3X-SRAM AXS Force-Levante

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



KCookie
Posts: 1963
Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2015 9:40 am
Location: Pom living in Australia

by KCookie

No I don't, just lightweight pads as recommended.

Post Reply