Weight Weenies

One reason for the weight savings is that farsports use lighter hubs(280grams) and cx-ray spokes as opposed to most of the other manufacturers like reynolds etc.

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andyindo wrote:One reason for the weight savings is that farsports use lighter hubs(280grams) and cx-ray spokes as opposed to most of the other manufacturers like reynolds etc.

280g? wow...i want to know which hubs they use?

They'll build wheels on Bitex (same as BHS sells) and Hubsmith hubs. The Bitex are 280g, the Hubsmith are 260g. I have no idea who makes the Hubsmiths.

The rims I have are the new ones with the basalt brake tracks. I have tested them on some moderate length steep twisty descents and have had no problem. Braking is a little better than my 2007 Reynolds carbon clinchers. The wheels I built (on White Ind H1 hubs, 300g) came in at 1320g, which is not that much more than many similar depth tubulars. I do some long races that allow little/no support. I don't want to deal with changing a tubular if I flat.

It's amusing to read statements about the quality of the resin when none of us know what they're using. The finish and build quality is not up to Reynolds/Enve/etc standards. But is it good enough? There's only one way to find out....

You can go much lighter with Chinese deep rims.
X-bike 49mm 310g, hubs as above 280 or 260g Dati, spokes 44 mac424, using cx-rey few gram less.
My set came to 1112g with heavier hubs and mac424.

1415chris wrote:You can go much lighter with Chinese deep rims.
X-bike 49mm 310g, hubs as above 280 or 260g Dati, spokes 44 mac424, using cx-rey few gram less.
My set came to 1112g with heavier hubs and mac424.

how about quality

Briefly took them out for the first time. Yes finally.

The first impression is very nice. In the hot and dry conditions (30C) the braking with swiss yellows is very good, at least as good as red koolstops on the AC420, a bit more bite even. Brakes are KCNC C7s, so not the most brute out there.

Will take them to some descents on the weekend.

I had a pair of the Yishuin 60mm tubulars. They were ok, but I got knocked around a little in serious crosswinds (and I weight around 100kg). The braking surface was my biggest worry so I upgraded to a pair of 2009 Zipp 404s. Worth the extra for the second-hand zipps.

xuelan wrote:

1415chris wrote:You can go much lighter with Chinese deep rims.
X-bike 49mm 310g, hubs as above 280 or 260g Dati, spokes 44 mac424, using cx-rey few gram less.
My set came to 1112g with heavier hubs and mac424.

how about quality

There is nothing wrong with hubs, perform very well. Weigh/price Mack424 spokes, something like cx ray but slighty heavier. Rims, well, you get what you pay for.
Front rim: during the building, noticed very small inequality of the breaking surface on the one side, which causes small vibration during the breaking. Apart this, they were ok, till this happened:
https://picasaweb.google.com/1016755715 ... directlink" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"
Got the puncture, which I couldn't seal with vittoria pitstop, so decided to ride with my body hanging over the handlebar for about 2-3 miles. Results you can see on the pics. I am curious how the brand rims would behave in the similar circumstances...?

I'm no carbon fiber expert but that looks STUFFED

Nah, it'll buff right out

1415chris wrote:

xuelan wrote: how about quality

There is nothing wrong with hubs, perform very well. Weigh/price Mack424 spokes, something like cx ray but slighty heavier. Rims, well, you get what you pay for.
Front rim: during the building, noticed very small inequality of the breaking surface on the one side, which causes small vibration during the breaking. Apart this, they were ok, till this happened:
https://picasaweb.google.com/1016755715 ... directlink" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"
Got the puncture, which I couldn't seal with vittoria pitstop, so decided to ride with my body hanging over the handlebar for about 2-3 miles. Results you can see on the pics. I am curious how the brand rims would behave in the similar circumstances...?

Just curious, but why did you even try riding the rear with a flat? It seems (to me at least) that this would be a horrible idea (though I have seen a Pro or two flat in a race and keep riding the last couple miles and the rims held up)...did you just have a lot of confidence in the rims or maybe you were just out of other options?

Also, was this a race or training ride and how fast were you going? What kind of road was it? When you were riding did you rock the bike back and forth (how the frame tilts side to side when out of the saddle)?

I'm just curious what the conditions were for this to happen...perhaps the super light rims just don't hold up to this sort of abusive riding (which wouldn't be surprising to me) but it would certainly be helpful to know all of this.

Took them to one of the most testing descents around -- over 12% average for 10km with the steepest section north of 22%. They handled it flawlessly in the hot and dry conditions (over 30°C) and I was once more impressed how well the yellow swisses work on the basalt track. Stopped half way down to check and the rims were quite hot, also braking was faily noisy, but function was flawless. The road is narrow with lots of turns and switchbacks, and there was quite some traffic, so some "riding the brakes" was needed.

1415chris wrote:

xuelan wrote:

1415chris wrote:You can go much lighter with Chinese deep rims.
X-bike 49mm 310g, hubs as above 280 or 260g Dati, spokes 44 mac424, using cx-rey few gram less.
My set came to 1112g with heavier hubs and mac424.

how about quality

There is nothing wrong with hubs, perform very well. Weigh/price Mack424 spokes, something like cx ray but slighty heavier. Rims, well, you get what you pay for.
Front rim: during the building, noticed very small inequality of the breaking surface on the one side, which causes small vibration during the breaking. Apart this, they were ok, till this happened:
https://picasaweb.google.com/1016755715 ... directlink" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"
Got the puncture, which I couldn't seal with vittoria pitstop, so decided to ride with my body hanging over the handlebar for about 2-3 miles. Results you can see on the pics. I am curious how the brand rims would behave in the similar circumstances...?

I can't tell if you are being critical of the rims or not? Regardless, I think posting the pictures is pretty redundant - did you expect them to survive? It's a moot point what condition more expensive rims would be in.

Yes, indeed I expected them to survive 2-3km very slow and careful ride, hard to even call it a ride, on descent road. I kept the weigh off the rear wheel as much as I could. As mentioned above, I couldn't seal the puncture, so decided to have a try. Decision was't hard considering the value of the wheels
I'm not complaining as you may have noticed, just sharing what happened with the rim in certain circumstances.
I've also heart that branded rims hold the rides on the flat for much longer distance, with no issue.
On the positive side, I was quite happy with them for almost a year.
But there were obvious issues as well: uneven braking surface on the front wheel, carbon fibres peeled off with the old glue.
This time I'll try something branded out, at least will be able to compare the quality both worlds.

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Am I the only person who thinks you guys are crazy for riding deep dish rando brand carbon rims down crazy steep mountains? I've probably read half a dozen posts of stuff like this. If you're going uphill 12% all day, what's wrong with a lightweight shallow aluminum wheelset? Weight wise you'll come close and who really gives a shit about aero going uphill or hitting 45 mph downhill instead of 40mph? I'd take braking confidence and stability against wind gusts any day over aero on a descent. Just seems like the wrong tool for the job.