Just wanted to share my experience with Lightweight Standard 3C wheels and Carbonsports. Purchased the Standard 3C wheels from Carbonsports USA in 2011. Live in the mountains of Colorado and riding is mostly a combination of ascending and descending. No crits and no long flat roads. Descending consists mostly of long sweeping turns. Not many super steep hairpin turns as you would encounter in Europe. I would consider myself an experienced rider with decent descending skills. I am 6' tall and weigh 170 pounds. Usually run a tire pressure of 100-105 psi. Have ridden extensively in The Alpes, Dolomitis and Pyrenees though the years. Always used aluminum or alloy wheels. In 2013 decided for the first time to use my Lightweight Standard 3C wheels for a 10 day riding trip through the Pyrenees. Attached are 3 photos of the remains of my front wheel following a catastrophic delamination while descending in the rain. Luckily not injured.With me on the trip were several European riders and mechanics who related having seen too many similar issues with carbon clinchers. Back home in the States I utilized my "Service Up" agreement with Carbonsports USA, and to say it was an experience in frustration is an understatement. I do not understand how a great wheel maker like Carbonsports/Lightweight can have such poor Customer Service as Carbonsports USA. Finally after several months of hair pulling I contacted Carbonsports GmbH directly in Germany. In less than a few days, dealing with Andreas Schiwy and Oliver Kiesel, my issue was professionally and completely resolved. I now have the Meilenstein 2013 Clincher wheels. Oliver stated they have not seen any delamination issues with this model as of yet. Excellent customer service as you would expect with wheels of this caliber and cost. Having gone through this experience, and realizing this is not an uncommon event, I am wondering if carbon clinchers, when purchased, should come with a warning label regarding delamination when riding in environments that include long steep descents and frequent braking. At least the customer can then make an informed decision about when and where to ride the carbon clinchers.
.LW; Delamination # 1.JPG
LW; Delamination # 2.jpg
LW; Delamination # 3.JPG

to be fair, the lightweight clincher manual does have explicit warnings about braking on long descents, not sure when they introduced the current text but i think it's been a while, even the tubular manual warns about it

good that you were not injured, that must have been a nasty experience

Could you please post those pics again? I can't see them.

Carbon clinchers should come with warnings, as lots of people don't know: tubulars for tough mountain days.

I've had ONE set of carbon clinchers. Done. I have tubulars on everything now and some nice carbon rims but if I'm going to be riding in areas with a lot of long descents like the Alps I will be using alloy rims. As much for the superior braking as well as being much more stable than my deeper, lighter spoked carbon wheels.

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My Colnago C59
My Special Colnago EPQ

my enve 45 clinchers delaminated while descending in November 2012. Still waiting for the warranty replacement which was shipped a week ago.
Not bad considering i've had the wheels for 3yrs already.

i asked for tubular replacements

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2012 Scott Foil Premium

I understand my 3 pics did not load. I have them on my desktop. Kindly help me understand how I get them to show on my post...

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Thank You. Here are the three pics:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8248/8548 ... ae92_m.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8085/8548 ... ba10_m.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8092/8548 ... dd9c_m.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The pics are tiny.

Surprising to see foam core construction in $6000 wheels.

Gravlax- any chance you could post some bigger pics so we can actually see what's going on?

eric- they actually retail for $4000 (at least here in Europe anyway)

Here are larger pics. The foam construction blew me away too. Must be very rare and expensive foam.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8085/8548 ... 2fe9_h.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8092/8548 ... 576e_h.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8248/8548 ... 64a7_h.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

structural foam cores are used in aerospace and other high performance applications, composite helicopter rotor blades for instance

they can make structures stiffer without adding too much weight, it's great that the technology trickles down to help make light wheels

After destroying a pair of carbon clincher you get another one ? You are lucky not to get hurt. But when are you going to learn ?

carbon clincher is just a very bad idea.