preview: Al33 kickstarter launch (new 33mm deep toroidal shaped aluminum rims (465gram) + wheels)

[NoMütze]

Hi charlie,
without knowing how much miles you put on your wheels and with no idea which pads you did receive with your wheels,
i simply cannot imagine to burn through pads on flat roads too quickly on Aforce rims.
As far as i know crowd intelligence and testing (@novembercycles) recommend swiss stop BXP (blue) and those were not supplied in the beginning.
And i can confirm that! These pads provide really good performance an alumnium rims (standard or "ceramic")...their wear rate is a bit
higher than lets say standard shimano pads but for me and my ride characteristic provide superb performance (alpine climbs), wet or dry...
and you may experience a better wear rate after the first set...which i cannot confirm yet...still on 1st set...40% remaining...1000miles on them...180lbs rider...
hope that helps...

[charlieboy52000]

Hi charlie,
without knowing how much miles you put on your wheels and with no idea which pads you did receive with your wheels,
i simply cannot imagine to burn through pads on flat roads too quickly on Aforce rims.
As far as i know crowd intelligence and testing (@novembercycles) recommend swiss stop BXP (blue) and those were not supplied in the beginning.
And i can confirm that! These pads provide really good performance an alumnium rims (standard or "ceramic")...their wear rate is a bit
higher than lets say standard shimano pads but for me and my ride characteristic provide superb performance (alpine climbs), wet or dry...
and you may experience a better wear rate after the first set...which i cannot confirm yet...still on 1st set...40% remaining...1000miles on them...180lbs rider...
hope that helps...

The pads that came with the wheels are not branded. They were grey and no-brand on Them. Right now I have those same pads but I placed a used shimano on one of the shoes and still using the other original ones that came with the wheels.
The wear rate has decreased dramatically from the initial wear rate. I am maybe with 20-30% left of pads at this point.
I bought a set of bxp pads just in case. I can see that the shimano ones are wearing better than the original non branded ones.
I might just go shimano after these and save the bxp ones for later.
Thanks for the input. It's greatly appreciated.


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[charlieboy52000]

Hi charlie,
without knowing how much miles you put on your wheels ...

200-250 miles per week.


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[mpulsiv]

Hi charlie,
without knowing how much miles you put on your wheels and with no idea which pads you did receive with your wheels,
i simply cannot imagine to burn through pads on flat roads too quickly on Aforce rims.
As far as i know crowd intelligence and testing (@novembercycles) recommend swiss stop BXP (blue) and those were not supplied in the beginning.
And i can confirm that! These pads provide really good performance an alumnium rims (standard or "ceramic")...their wear rate is a bit
higher than lets say standard shimano pads but for me and my ride characteristic provide superb performance (alpine climbs), wet or dry...
and you may experience a better wear rate after the first set...which i cannot confirm yet...still on 1st set...40% remaining...1000miles on them...180lbs rider...
hope that helps...

The pads that came with the wheels are not branded. They were grey and no-brand on Them. Right now I have those same pads but I placed a used shimano on one of the shoes and still using the other original ones that came with the wheels.
The wear rate has decreased dramatically from the initial wear rate. I am maybe with 20-30% left of pads at this point.
I bought a set of bxp pads just in case. I can see that the shimano ones are wearing better than the original non branded ones.
I might just go shimano after these and save the bxp ones for later.
Thanks for the input. It's greatly appreciated.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, that' because Shimano's brake compound is hard. They win in longevity with trade off being harsh on your rim brake tracks.

[NoMütze]

Hi charlie,
without knowing how much miles you put on your wheels ...

200-250 miles per week.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

some decent miles in a week, awesome...
and yes, think the shimanos will last longer but as said above, they are harder and are less rim-friendly so to say...
i would fear they might eat through the "coating"...

time will tell, ...so far with only BXPs in use, i have no signs of wear concerning the brake surface!

ride on!

[Garrison]

My BXP pads after second ride.
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l100/ ... ifndgt.jpg

And the residue left on the calipers
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l100/ ... mclhmb.jpg

[TimmS]

Finally built my set of rims a couple of weeks ago with DT 240 hubs after receiving the rims this summer.
Really like the ride and the looks!

Only thing that is bothering me a little is that the "ceramic" brake track on the rear wheel showed signs of wear after the first ride already. I'm using the BXP brakepads and whilst I use the front brake the most, the braketrack on the front wheel is just fine.

Are there others with this experience?

[1415chris]

Expecting from thermal spray, commonly used technic for ceramic coating applied in this case as well, to last is a bit naive.
It will not last unless you stop braking
If it was PEO coating that would be a different story, but it would also push alredy quite high price up.

[jfl]

Hi all. First post here.

So, which is it? Thermal spray or PEO? I'm about to order my local wheelbuilder a set of wheels on Carbon-Ti hubs and I've narrowed down my choice of rims to the AL33 and the Boyd Altamont. Now, I've read Dave from November say the AL33 is PEO, while Boyd Cycling mentions on its website that it's thermal. If the latter, I won't buy the AL33.

[NoMütze]

Hi all. First post here.

So, which is it? Thermal spray or PEO? I'm about to order my local wheelbuilder a set of wheels on Carbon-Ti hubs and I've narrowed down my choice of rims to the AL33 and the Boyd Altamont. Now, I've read Dave from November say the AL33 is PEO, while Boyd Cycling mentions on its website that it's thermal. If the latter, I won't buy the AL33.

Hi,

i am not quite sure now technically what coating the Aforce refers to.
What i can say now, after around 1500miles (alpine, wet, dry) of riding these wheels, always with BXP pads (on 2nd set now):
i have NO signs of wear up until now!
What i also admit is, that the overall finish is not completely comparable to the Boyd.
what i read is that the whole Boyd rim is PEO finished, whereas the Aforce only is braketrack treated...
so its more a dark greyish finish on the side and black on the rest...

Maybe there are some variations in the quality of the Aforce treatment, or maybe some bad luck with gravel/sand between pad and brakesurface.

Then again, its not all about braketrack...

[jfl]

Then again, its not all about braketrack...

Agreed. But since I find the two rims rather similar the finish would be the deciding factor. That or which rim is easier to source from Belgium

[morganb]

Does anyone have an aero data and/or build experience with the Altamont? I have a set of AL33s and am happy with them but want to build another wheelset for a new bike. Might try to go lighter with the hubs and get <1500g.

[Birdman]

Al33 with DA9000 hubs on my Cervelo R3 MUD

[NoMütze]

well...

now after some 3000miles found spoke failure on DS rear wheel ...
not quite usual though...ripped off spoke head at the hub...
my wheels came as KS-campagne full set...and were built @DCR wheels UK i suppose...communication with Aforce is ... well ... more than difficult
so will talk to DCR...maybe they can send me replacement parts!

[Multebear]

Bumping this topic to know, if anyone has some longterm experience with these rims?