Lightweight meilenstein. 16/20 or 20/20?

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TurboTommy
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Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2016 12:32 pm

by TurboTommy

I'm 79 kg and just shy of 6'4. It'll be the tubular version. On the lightweight website they say the max system weight for the 16/20 combo is 100kg so I'm inside that. I'm just wondering if anyone is around my weight and has real world experience of this wheelset.

sungod
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by sungod

having gained a couple of kg, i'm just over 80kg at the moment :oops:

i ride 16/20 obermayers, system weight limit on those is 90kg, they are strong: speed bumps at 50+ kph, bad road surface even faster, once when inattentive i hit a pothole hard and thought that surely must have cracked the rim, no problem at all, except the impact was so hard my back muscles spasmed painfully for the next hour

i'm amazed how tough they are, there must be good safety margin in the specification

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TurboTommy
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Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2016 12:32 pm

by TurboTommy

Thanks sungod that's good to know. Do you run 25mm tyres? If so which are your preference? I'm pretty sure it's been covered before, but I can't find pictures online of how 25mm look on the relatively narrow Lightweight rims.

sungod
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by sungod

i have done, they fit ok on the rim bed (veloflex arenberg, glued), but aerodynamically i feel they are not as good with the tyre 'bulge' on the end of the narrow profile of the rim

i switched to 22mm front 23mm rear (veloflex sprinter and criterium), in crosswind the handling is better (less prone to snatching as yaw angle changes), and i am seeing consistently higher speed by a few km on coasting descents, as nothing else changed it seems reasonable to link it to the better match between tyre width and rim width

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alexneumuller
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by alexneumuller

I m currently 90kg, usually 82kg but three years of injury have taken its toll. I run 20/20 and am quite happy with it.

In regards to the tires. I have run GP 4000 II 25mm on them, but did not like the feel of it, almost like the narrow rims were not designed for 25mm. I went back to 23mm and that feels much better.

But I do run 25mm tires on some other wheels that are wider and they ride fantastic.

TurboTommy wrote:Thanks sungod that's good to know. Do you run 25mm tyres? If so which are your preference? I'm pretty sure it's been covered before, but I can't find pictures online of how 25mm look on the relatively narrow Lightweight rims.
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kgt
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by kgt

According to the tests and reviews Meilenstein 16/20 is considerably less stiff than 20/20, and less stiff than the Gipfelsturm as well. I would go for the 20/20 if I were you because the exceptional torsional stiffness is one of the main reasons one would buy LW Meilensteins.

TurboTommy
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Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2016 12:32 pm

by TurboTommy

Thanks for your responses guys.

Sungod I had a feeling that they're much better suited to 22/23mm. I've just got very used to running 25mm on my zipps and the 'feel' of that.

KGT I agree that one of things the attracts and intrigues me about lightweights is how stiff they are. Is it possible though that 20/20 with 23mm tyres will feel too harsh?

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kgt
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by kgt

I don't think so. But why not using 25mm tires? I have a 25mm Continental sprinter rear on my Ventoux and I cannot see but advantages.

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