As is Lightest Road WheelTheDarkInstall wrote:Well, 'race ready' is an entirely subjective concept, isn't it...
I did try to reduce the subjectivity in my original post:"(50+ profile, 25mm wide, 25mm tyre, glue, skewers, freewheel)"
Maybe implied/maybe not but I would want any "Lightest Road Wheel" to be able to be approved for / pass inspection for UCI Road Races and be safe and relatively "good" enough to really race on.
A bit more blabbering on...the concept of the whole system being judged is something I find more valuable than looking at components that require compensation someplace else. Specific example with these Mercury M5s/25mm rims: A few teammates were saying the M5s were too fragile and they were breaking/denting them. I asked what tyres they were using and all were using something smaller than a 25mm. At least for RR a tyre should be as wide as the rim.
I remember Hi-E in the late 70's http://www.classicrendezvous.com/USA/Hi_E.htm had a sub 200g alloy rim we were debating building and determined none of us would be willing to use it. So we hung it on the wall. It was very cool. Lightest alloy rim I know of to date. But unlike the SRT24s it needed more spokes, so it would not have built the lightest wheels. Hi-E had some 80g front hubs at the time that were 36 hole.