ada 800 gram wheels

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

Moderator: robbosmans

dan

by dan

on the ada website they mention a new 800 gram wheel set is coming out soon. Anyone have any info regarding these wheels, actual weight, price, availability?

by Weenie


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

www.starbike.com



benz76
Posts: 152
Joined: Wed Jul 30, 2003 11:00 am
Location: Reggio Emilia, ITALY

by benz76

According to Italian television TDF presenter (former pro-rider) Davide Cassani, Jan Ullrich rode (on mountain stages) a pair of that 800gr ADA wheels.

But they're only for pro-riders: even Marco Pantani had to borrow a pair of them (standard 900gr) from Mario Cipollini to ride ADA wheels on Giro d'Italia 2003 mountain stages!!

And while Pantani was struggling to keep the climbers peloton's pace, Gilberto Simoni won all mountain stages on standard Ksyriiums.
Think...think...

Benz76.

User avatar
Florian
Site Admin
Posts: 886
Joined: Tue Jun 11, 2002 2:45 pm
Location: Germany
Contact:

by Florian

benz76 wrote:According to Italian television TDF presenter (former pro-rider) Davide Cassani, Jan Ullrich rode (on mountain stages) a pair of that 800gr ADA wheels.


I'm not sure if these were ADA, it's more likely that they were Lightweight.
And since ADA says that their 800 g wheels are still being tested, I don't think that Ullrich rode them.

The only noticable difference between ADA and Lightweight I could see is
that ADA has yellow spokes (Aramid fibers only?), while Lightweight has yellow/black spokes (Aramid + Carbon fibers)
Can somebody tell me if there's any other visible difference between ADA and Lightweight?
Attachments
ADA wheelset
ADA wheelset
Spokes on Lightweight wheels
Spokes on Lightweight wheels

Guest

by Guest

Italian presenters insisted on the fact that Ullrich's TDF wheels, as well as Cipollini and Pantani's Giro wheels, were handmade by "a Dutch manufacturer"... so I guess they were all ADA's.

And Cassani as well spoke of a claimed weight nerby 800 grams...

Apparently the outside is very similar between ADA & Lightweight.

During the last TDF (Galibier-Alpe d'Huez stage) I saw some riders on ADA wheels(?), but they got black spokes. I didn't see anyone with "yellow" spokes. (obviously this doesn't mean there weren't!!!)

Do you think they were Lightweight wheels?

BYE! Benz76.

Wolfie

by Wolfie

Hi,

spoke with a Bianchi intern at the Cyclassics in Hamburg where Jan finished in 3rd place. He used Lightweights on the TDF stages.
And I will get mine in February, YES !!!

I might add that the German cycling periodical "tour" tested a pair of ADA and they were quite disappointed with the stability and the performance. They even cost more than the Lightweights.

User avatar
Cyco
Posts: 1875
Joined: Sat Nov 30, 2002 4:49 am

by Cyco

If the ADA test is online, please post a lnk to it, if not can you post the numbers (if possible - with the numbers from the Lightweights)

User avatar
Florian
Site Admin
Posts: 886
Joined: Tue Jun 11, 2002 2:45 pm
Location: Germany
Contact:

by Florian

Wolfie wrote:spoke with a Bianchi intern at the Cyclassics in Hamburg where Jan finished in 3rd place. He used Lightweights on the TDF stages.


So, my eyes were not wrong. :wink:
It's always the same with those road race commentators, no matter from what TV station (same here in Germany), they all talk mostly rubbish. :x

@Wolfie: could you please contact me by email?
You can find my email address below.

dan

by dan

Jan has used adas in the past, he used them in the world championships in 97 I think. Go to the ADA website to see other riders who have ridden ADAs, including tyler hamilton last year (they caused his crash in the giro, but only because his team mechanics had taken out all but 3 pawls in the rear hub to decrease coasting resistance). ADAs are more expensive because they're lighter, and as for the german test, i'd like to read it as well, so if anyone knows anything about it Make a Post!

User avatar
Florian
Site Admin
Posts: 886
Joined: Tue Jun 11, 2002 2:45 pm
Location: Germany
Contact:

by Florian

dan wrote:Jan has used adas in the past, he used them in the world championships in 97 I think.


AFAIK this had something to do with Jan's TDF victory in 1997:

After he got the yellow jersey in Andorra-Arcalis, Team Telekom supplied him with a carbon wheelset from Lightweight. (Riis as leader already rode these wheels in the mountain stages before, see pic below)
Campagnolo got upset - non-Campa wheels!!! :x
After the TDF they forced Team Telekom to ride those wheels only with Campa stickers on them. Dierl & Obermayer refused this, as they don't wanted to let Campa take credits for their hard work.
ADA stepped gladly in: they accepted these conditions.
Attachments
Bjarne Riis (still captain) and Jan Ullrich (as his helper) during the Tour de France 1997.
Bjarne Riis (still captain) and Jan Ullrich (as his helper) during the Tour de France 1997.

wolfie

by wolfie

Ok ok, easy guys, i didn`t think that this would cause such an uproar :-)
The short test by "tour" is not online, but in the following i give u a translation, as best i can not being a native squeeker ;-)

tour 7/2003, page 98
"DECEIVINGLY SIMILAR"
Lightweight or Ada? Both High-Tech-Wheelsets made from Carbon and Kevlar look deceivingly alike and are often reason to arguments among experts: Which pro is on which wheels? A reason for the similarity may be that the dutch ada-owner Cees beers used to be sales partner of Munich manuafacturer lightweight. He copied the successful wheel for large parts, technically it is no match for the original. Stiffness is 38 N/mm for the rear and 56 N/mm for the front wheel. The Ada-Wheels also don`t score concerning aerodynamics. Compared to the carbon blades of the lightweight the bulky Kevlar spokes cause much more drag. But the Ada are lighter: wheelset is 1160 gramms, front 20-spoke 525 g and rear 20-spoke 635 g. This makes the Ada set about 100 g lighter than the Lightweights in the "tour" test 7/02. The weight advantage is credited mainly to the rear hub, an original construction and compatible with shimano as well as campagnolo. Two allen keys are enough to change casette and rotor. During the test ride the less stiffness of the rear wheel was noticable through rubbing on the brake pads when pedalling uphill standing up. Furthermore the rear hub made a noticable crack when starting to pedal after freewheeling. The manufacturer explained this with unprecisely manufactured ratchets in the freewheel of the tested wheel; totaly inacceptable when you look at the pricetag of 2950 Euros for one wheelset.
The wheelsets are only manufactured to order, they are available in 26 " and 28 " for road and track. The spoke number is variable depending on rider weight and use. Only available through direct order plus 70 Euros shipping (in europe). delivery time: at least 2 weeks.


now, I hope this helps you guys.

Cheers,

Wolfie

Wolfie

by Wolfie

Oh, by the way, this is their "official" site. In German, but you can just look at the pics though ;-)

http://mitglied.lycos.de/lightweight/testthebestG.htm


I had a lightweight front wheel for a test and the spokes are 2-colored copper and black. so if they turn the black "side" outward it is just harder to identify them as lightweights. I have a few pics of them, but they are not online. I Will send them to the admin though, so you can see for yourselves.

Wolfie

benz76
Posts: 152
Joined: Wed Jul 30, 2003 11:00 am
Location: Reggio Emilia, ITALY

by benz76

Recently I spoke to the Italian importer of AX-Lightness Saddles (and also Corima and Zipp wheels, Storck frames and parts, and many more): he spoke with Axel Schnura (owner of Ax-lightness, and close friend of Ullrich).
He told him that Ullrich had to ride on heavyer and stiffer wheels. They're claimed to be around 1250 gr or more.
According to Schnura, Jan likes very stiff bikes, probably one of the stiffest in the peloton.

It seems that the lightest wheels in TDF2003 were Hamilon's Zipp, that rode a pair of Z3 on mountain stages...

BYE, Benz76.

Nic principia

by Nic principia

:) Hamilton on ada's.
So true that ada's caused Hamiltons crash in the giro. he was actually riding the pair that Rolf Soerensen used to win his last classic( on a colnago weighing in at 6,4kgraceready). rolf had bee working together with the ada guy, and the ended up removing 2 off the 3 pawls in the rear wheel. it worked ok for a few years, but they crashed for hamilton.

Bjarne and Jan have both (allways) been riding lightweights's. This is confirmed from bjarne riis himself, and he also told that he introduced Ulrich to Dierl/Obermayer.
a good storie is that the first tie ulrich used lightweights in the tour, the telekom team didn't have any brake shoes for carbon rims, wich made ulrich go even slower than ordinary on the downhills. remember he doesn't like to ride downhill anyway.

from riding both lightweight and ADA i can only say that they are both making you 5-10% faster the minute you spec them to your bike. It is a extremly expensive upgrade, but it is the best I've everdone.
regards Nic. Principia R&D

SwimBikeRun
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Aug 12, 2003 10:35 pm
Location: Hamburg, Germany

by SwimBikeRun

Hey guys, it`s me, Wolfie. I registered and chose a fitting name. ;-)

Concerning the missing brake shoes for carbon wheels, i had heared that Telecom had seen other teams with the corima ones made of cork and hand-manufactured brake pads from raw cork for the pads.
I also guess that Jan was slower back then because he didn`t trust that construction to last.
I have to add that it is still quite expensive and complicated to get good carbon rim brake pads. I have read a test about them a year ago or so, and the corima stuff sucked (most of the corima stuff sucks anyway). The Campy Hyperon pads performed best I think. That are the ones I I am on also and they perform just like normal pads on normal rims, no difference in braking distance noticable in dry conditions. In wet weather though...
Well, looking forward to my Lightweight though, they are said to be good even in wet weather.
Pinarello Galileo 7,0 kg
Canyon Speedmax 3 8,0 kg (ok for a tri bike...)

Velocity
Posts: 81
Joined: Mon Sep 22, 2003 11:19 pm

by Velocity

admin wrote:
benz76 wrote:According to Italian television TDF presenter (former pro-rider) Davide Cassani, Jan Ullrich rode (on mountain stages) a pair of that 800gr ADA wheels.


I'm not sure if these were ADA, it's more likely that they were Lightweight.
And since ADA says that their 800 g wheels are still being tested, I don't think that Ullrich rode them.

The only noticable difference between ADA and Lightweight I could see is
that ADA has yellow spokes (Aramid fibers only?), while Lightweight has yellow/black spokes (Aramid + Carbon fibers)
Can somebody tell me if there's any other visible difference between ADA and Lightweight?


This is an closeup shot from ADA wheel :)
Hope to give some idea to you.
Attachments
kevlar
kevlar
yellow spoke
yellow spoke
Buy it, If you like it.
Your money.
Your decission.

by Weenie


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

www.starbike.com



Post Reply