My 50mm clinchers from farsports/cx ray/hubsmith hubs came out to 1330 grams

The weather forcast was good, and we only rode up the final climb of today's Tour of Austria mountain top finish, so it seemed like a good opportunity, as the car was not all too far away. About braking confidence, that's the biggest surprise, they brake better than my alu AC420s.

There were several hundred other cyclists on the mountain, and I rode past about three dozen who had punctured their alu clinchers on the way down. (Also came along two NetApp pros who also punctured rolling down from the finish to the hotel, by the way. They were lucky to have a neutral service car near, which was also driving down after the mountain-top finish.)

That's not to say one is better than the other, but on a steep technical descent with traffic every wheel/tyre/tube will be stressed.

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Bikes: Raceur, Beateur

Tried blue Reynolds pads today, because the squealing with Swiss yellows was quite wild once the rims warmed up. Have to say I'm not impressed, the bite was slightly worse in todays damp conditions, and the squealing only a bit less loud.

Pads are toed in, I'm starting to wonder whether the brake calipers might have anyting to do with it -- KCNC C7s.

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Bikes: Raceur, Beateur

I have about 500km on them now, time for an update. They are my daily drivers now, and I also used them in the rain, including grinding down an 800m vertical technical descent in the pouring rain. Other abuse they have to take regularly is grinding back down during my 3x3min hill repeats. I've been using yellow Swissstops first, and how blue Reynolds -- the brake track is still pristine. The wheels are also true still.

Amazingly the stiffness is also good enough for my ~90kg system weight (including tools and water ). No brake rub during intervals, or when taking a short hill out of the saddle. I'll still have the spoke tension checked and crossings tied and soldered, because I sometimes get a clicking noise.

Braking in the dry is great but loud (despite toe-in), in the rain is not so good, but you'll survive even in the mountains. (I didn't race them in the rain yet).

Edit: I had another mountain descent in the heat yesterday, interestingly the squealing is pretty much gone now that the Reynolds pads are broken in.

Verdict so far: worth the price.

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Bikes: Raceur, Beateur

This is exactly the thread I was looking for. Unfortunately it looks a bit old - hoping the original poster will come along and report more findings about their chinese carbon wheels.

About 3000k on them now, alpine descents, rain, gravel, you name it. They are still going strong, but I'll have them trued as they've been starting to creak a bit when climbing, and the rear being ever so slightly out of true. Brake track still good, that basalt really seems to be something. Will add photos when I get to it.

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Bikes: Raceur, Beateur