lightweight gipfelsturm

[markgm]

Hi, I am moving to Annecy France this Fall and am looking for a new wheelset to ride in the mountains. I am strongly considering the Lightweight Gipfelsturm but am concerned about wheel flex at higher wattages. I am a 75kg rider. My question is: at what wattage levels will I begin to get wheel flex? Should I consider the Meilensteins instead (I am concerned about cross winds on descents and am opting for a lower profile wheel with the Gipfelsturms)?

Also, which wheels are better at dissipating brake heat: the Gipfelsturms or the Meilensteins? Should I be concerned about long mountain descents and brake heat affecting the Gipfelsturm rims?

Also, are the Obermayers as stiff as the Meilenstein Standard? Or is some stiffness lost with the different construction method and carbon savings?

Any and all thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.

[dcaspira]

You should find most answers in lloyds posts, he is good with emails too for your specific power questions - http://windinmyface.com/Lightweight-Ventoux.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I share your concerns re: winds on descents and prefer the lower section on lightweight front wheel

Not sure about the comparative heat dissipation. As I understand most the work went into improving the clincher layup of the Meilensteins, a good thread here - viewtopic.php?f=3&t=100549" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I am aware though from CS that the gipfelsturms use the same rims and front wheel construction the 240 ventoux - (except the rear hub has been updated to a 190 shell / build).

Hope this helps & have fun on your trip

[HammerTime2]

http://windinmyface.com/Lightweight-Ventoux.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; seems like a pretty good review. But I found the following to be hilarious

I expected the Obermayers to be stiffer than the Ventoux 240 (indeed they are) and less forgiving— yet the Obermayers are more comfortable to ride.

Perhaps a combination of the rim/spoke build and the ceramic rear bearings could be involved.

He did say "perhaps", but the ceramic rear bearings being responsible for greater comfort - puhleaaaase? So I guess ceramic bearings are laterally stiff while being vertically compliant. or something?

Does the GIPFELSTURM use the same hub which Ventoux 190 used, combined with a DT Swiss 190 rear hub (which was used in Ventoux 190)? If I recall correctly, the Ventoux 190 not only used a different rear hub than Ventoux 240 (DT Swiss 190 vs. DT Swiss 240), but a different model of CarbonSports' own front hub as well - is that correct? And is there no GIPFELSTURM (or whatever name) which has a DT Swiss 240 rear hub?

Edit: I meant to write "Does the GIPFELSTURM use the same hub which Ventoux 240 used ...". Per dcaspira, the answer is yes.

[dcaspira]

@HammerTime2

Email I received from CS (Andreas) about the Gipflesturm

Front wheel: technically identical to Ventoux 240
Rear wheel: new construction – a mixture of Ventoux 240 and Ventoux 190. Rim 240, hub 190 but steel bearings instead of ceramic

I believe CS uses the 190 body to reduce weight, but don't use ceramic bearing as they believe steel are more robust for bike wheel applications & ceramic are harder to accurate seat with carbon tolerances - I recall reading this directly from CS in this forum somewhere...

[sedluk]

I weigh about the same as you. I find that the Std Lightweights have virtually no flex. Then the Obermayers with just a tiny amount. Then the Ventoux which have noticeably more flex but less than most popular wheels.

I ride the Ventoux wheels on very windy days and they do help with not getting blown around.

[kgt]

I ride the Ventoux and I don't find them "flexy" for my 82kg. I like their comfort a lot. They also react really well on cross winds and sudden gusts.

[wasabi1]

Slightly off topic...

Have Lightweight stopped the crash replacement warranty cover?

[AmontourChris]

The ServiceUp policy is available on all wheels still. PM me if you have any questions.

[ticou]

I've done the Semnoz dozens of times, so can advise on that; be sure to give us a full reportage with oodles of pics on the Mavic factory.

[CarbonSportsGmbH]

@HammerTime2
[...]I believe CS uses the 190 body to reduce weight, but don't use ceramic bearing as they believe steel are more robust for bike wheel applications & ceramic are harder to accurate seat with carbon tolerances - I recall reading this directly from CS in this forum somewhere...

Correct. Two reasons to use steel instead of ceramic:

• robustness combined with almost no disadvantage in weight (a complete steel vs. ceramic setup in the rar hub (4 bearings) differs less than 3g!)
• price

Slightly off topic...
Have Lightweight stopped the crash replacement warranty cover?

No! How comes you ask?
There still are two different types of "warranty":

• crash replacement => just register your wheels via the online form on our website; no time limit anymore to do that!
• ServiceUp => apply for ServiceUp within 5 days after buying the wheels via the online form; registration is included automatically

[EliasF]

Hi couple of questions for Andreas,

The Gipfelsturm (ventoux) 2012 240 hub free wheel is it the same to be changed from shimano to a campi as any DTS 240 or needs some LW special components

Any problem on Gipfelsturm running a campi 11 /27 or 29 cassettes

Is the warranty transferable in case of a used item ?

[sedluk]

Andreas should feel free to correct me.

The Lightweight wheels do not really use a true DT Swiss 240 or 190 hub. If you buy a hub from DT Swiss a lot of the weight is in the hub shell which is metal and holds the metal spokes. If you look at a Lightweight wheel you will see that hub shell is carbon fiber. What we are talking about is the internals. They have DT Swiss internals inside.

If you look at the DT Swiss documents you will see that the primary difference between the 190 and 240 is the hub shell. The 190 does have one bearing (non-drive side) that is a little smaller. So the non-drive side bearing is different and the hub body is different. Interestingly, they only make the super light version of the hub body for Shimano (it also has smaller bearings). If you have a Campy model then you have the 240 hub body because they do not make a 190 version. I know they have talked about a drilled out Campy 190 hub body, maybe they now have one but I have not seen one.

So I would not be too concerned about the differences between the 190 and the 240 hubs used in the Lightweight wheel.

[Lafolie]

stunning looking wheels!

[Lafolie]

Anyone know how the new gipfelsturm compare against the old Ventoux?

[williamsf1]

anyone know if LW have fixed the really bad braking surface with these new wheels?

I HAD 3 sets of LW all tubs and all have had the pulsing and very poor retardation 72kg rider and 52kg rider

I sold 2 sets and now only have one - but hate them in the wet and are marginal in the dry compared to my 4 sets of ENVE