I often see comments praising the stiffness and strength of Lightweight and Reynolds wheels, but are these comparisons against other carbon wheels or quality aluminum wheels?

If you have ridden LW/ Reynolds wheels please give me your impressions of them compared to a high quality conventional aluminum wheel, 32 (?) spokes, in terms of strength and stiffness.

I am trying to determine if a LW/ Reynolds wheel is stronger than any conventional wheels. I know the LW/ Reynolds wheels are lighter and aero but I am only interested in absolute strength and stiffness.

If you had to ride a rough course and you weighed 190 lbs, what wheels would you use?

Thanks

Wheels used (on same Colnago C-50 bike, same Veloflex Pave tires, same setup ALL CLINCHERS, same 185 lb fat ass rider),: (1)Campy record 32 spoke, Mavic CXP33 rims, radial front, rear radial non-drive, two cross drive side, (2) Campy Euros 2003 (3) Campy Neurton 2003 (4) Reynolds Stratus 2004 with new Rynolds hub

Reynolds are far and away the best -- stiffer for cornering, ultra light rims for great spin-up off every corner, very confidence-inspiring on descents, braking (with supplied KoolStop pads) is excellent, although a little grabbier than aluminum rims.

I thought the Euros were good, but the Reynolds are better.

Tried a set of Lightweights (tubies, of course) and aside from the weight savings of the tubie rims, the Reynolds were just as good......

A friend on the US Postal Masters Team runs Reynolds as well, and loves them He like the Cirrus for a crit, but runs the Stratus most of the time, and he's a big guy too -- not as heavy as I, but MUCH more powerful

I'm 210 lbs and I use the tubular version of the Reynolds Stratus DV's for racing. In comparison to my Ksyriums they seem every bit as stiff. There is absolutely no flex that I can detect when I'm out of the saddle. I close the brakes very close to the rim and they never rub. The Reynolds are extremely fast wheels. I also have a set of 2003 Zipp 404's. While riding them out of the saddle I do notice a bit of flex in the rear wheel of the 404.

As far as comparing them to my Mavic CXP-22 with 36 spokes or my Velocity Spartacus wheels, well there really is no comparison. The Reynolds are far and away superior to these heavier and less aero wheels.

Last week I raced a extremely rough course that included a 40+ MPH decent on cobbles and I chose to ride my Ksyriums. I have no doubt that the Reynolds would have worked fine since I did see a rider using Zipp 303s and another on 404's. I just felt it was wiser to save my $1500 wheels. As it ends up it was a good choice since there was a crash and I was forced off the road into a ditch. Plus, with the Ksyrium being clinchers I was able to set up my wheels with Michelin Axial Carbons, heavy tubes and Slime tire liners. Therefore I didn't have to subject my Continental Comps to all of the gravel and crap that was on the road.

Excel sports claims that the Reynolds Stratus are the strongest wheels they have ever tested. I know that part of the strength comes from the extremely high spoke tension used. Reynolds uses the highest tension of any wheel built. They can do this because the spoke nipple is embedded in the carbon rim and because the White Ind hubs which are reported to be the only hubs that have flanges capable of withstanding the tension. They also use Sapim spokes which makes for a damn strong wheel.

Check out the new "Reynolds" branded hubs on the 2004 wheels (I have them on my Stratus clinchers) -- even stronger looking hubs, bigger bearing and freehub spline surface, but lighter .......

I have both wheels - a Lightweight 20 spoke set, and a Reynolds Stratus clincher.

In terms of ride quality: the LWs seem to be able to accelerate faster, and nicer climbing. On the flat - in a TT type situation, I can hardly find a difference between the 2. I must say they both feel better than a Bora G3 I tried (stiffer, easier to maintain momentum, less noise).

The braking surface seems more consistent on the Reynolds, it's got the nice unidirectional fiber layup (same as that on heli rotors) consistent throught the rim direction(unlike Zipps which use UD discontinously). The LWs I have have slight surface pinholes in the resin which don't really bother me.

The Reynolds I ride every day - accidently through some potholes, stones pinging against the spokes (something which would make me nervous with the LW carbon spokes), etc., and they still remain straight (or could be trued in the case of some other owners I know). I would say Reynolds are good enough for everyday use while I consider the LWs a 'special event' wheel. BTW, the latest Reynolds wheels don't use a White Industries hub anymore.

Against a 'conventional' wheel - Tune hubs, CX-Rays (32H 3X, 'high' tension), Mavic open pro cds - the deep section wheels above are stiffer though they may not be as 'comfortable'. I still use this conventional wheel for long rides through unknown routes.

I don't ride my old all alu Shamals anymore - very stiff, but hard to acccelerate - and feel ponderous by comparison.

i postd an excerpt of a stiffness test from german magazine "tune" earlier, you might find it using the search function.
bottom line was: the only wheels that could match LWs in stiffness was a very ordinary wheelset with 3x crossed 32 round spokes and a CXP33 rim.
(it is slightly heavier, though )
all the other fancy stuff with 28 bladed spokes etc. were *way* weaker.

Unfortunately the Reynolds were not around then and were not part of that test.

Martin

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Snowman and Strong Walker
Scott Sc
my old stuff
my new stuff

Thank you for the replies, that was exactly the kind of information I was looking for.

Martin,
I found your post with the stiffness data for 4 wheels. Do you still have the entire article? I am very interested in the data for all the wheels they tested. Please email me if you have the data.

Thanks

Ride Mag Aust has an article on the Lightweights this month and suggested the $A price will be around $5500

Are the Reynolds cheaper?

I've got some saving to do.

Brian

Carbonsport sells them directly worldwide. A set is around 2.150 €/3600 A$.
Can you please scan the article and post it here?

Will do when I return from the weekend.

Their web site makes interesting reading
http://www.carbonsports.de/English/index.html

Brian

Thanks!

Yes, I also think that this website is one of the best of all the cycling manufacturers. I looks like these guys really love what they are doing

I took a photo of the article, from the article I think the reveiwer liked the product

Brian

then he should've done his homework. As far as i remember, Ullrich was using Zipp Olympic Golds in Sydney (hence the name...)

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Snowman and Strong Walker
Scott Sc
my old stuff
my new stuff

And he didn't win the road race, a small breakaway took the win when the bunch forgot about them. Was anyone else there?

What price should Ausies be paying? I know a few riders who may be interested.

Brian

no, he won the road race. see:
http://www.grahamwatson.com/2000/other/menroad11.html
Could it be you mix that up with some WC? maybe Verona, when Freire slipped the leading group by cornering very narrowly and tiptoeing away from the group on the other side of the cars?

No LWs in sight:
http://www.grahamwatson.com/2000/other/menroad6.html

bonus question: what frame is Ullrich using? it is a different one than Klödens. Downtube is much thinner. Some Ti frame???

_________________
Snowman and Strong Walker
Scott Sc
my old stuff
my new stuff