FarEast factories finally trying to replicate LW wheels?

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ak47
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by ak47

Wookski wrote:
Sat Jan 20, 2018 11:46 pm
Dear god who would want to be a crash test dummy to save a couple of $
Same thing could be said about early 90s professionals using Lightweight wheels which back then were made in kitchen oven with a use of expired epoxy. Still the wheels performed amazingly well back then.

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kavitator
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by kavitator

Problem with MADE IN CHINA is their qulity control - the ymake ecellent and very very very bad products

If these wheels are made in same factory as carbon fiber spoons and cups for tea i wont thrust them. What hubs are they using? What are spokes made of and what shape is? Spokes are fat and dont look aero. Wheelsets from DengFu is heavy for LW design

Are they stiff and comfort?

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ak47
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by ak47

Give chinese some time. In 10 years they will own probably most of the well established european sporting good companies and will have a know how. Chinese already own few big automotive companies - Volvo, Lotus, Pirelli and others. With these wheels I like it that are trying to innovate and match copetitors from europe and while the product might not be good, it's just not good YET.

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dgasmd
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by dgasmd

Well, these are certainly far more of a copy of Mad Fibre than they are of LW. A much more refined looking copy of MF at that. Too heavy to justify them or be tempted even without knowing the price. If they are to compete not only with LW but all other manufacturers of wheel, they better have an edge: Cost, weight, or aerodynamic properties. These don't seem to even compete with most current off the shelf wheel sets, much less LW.

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Kayrehn
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by Kayrehn

I think we all agree that these are nowhere near to lightweight specs, and I seriously don't think they are trying to replicate LW. Trying their hand at a full carbon wheelset don't justify calling them being called LW copycats.

They look rad to me (I used to own madfibers), someone might get them regardless of the specs so to each their own. For those of you who thinks it's gonna fall apart right away, I echoed the previous post which mentioned that many people once took the plunge to try Lightweights/carbon frames/carbon clinchers...

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853guy
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by 853guy

ak47 wrote:
Sun Jan 21, 2018 2:30 pm
Same thing could be said about early 90s professionals using Lightweight wheels which back then were made in kitchen oven with a use of expired epoxy. Still the wheels performed amazingly well back then.
Fair enough.

Nevertheless, the real-world data points generated by pros adopting the LWs, racing them, and winning on them are significant in a way a bunch of images on a website can never be. Should a bunch of late-2010's pros start adopting, racing and winning on DengFus, then we'll have a more legitimate point of comparison.

dgasmd wrote:Well, these are certainly far more of a copy of Mad Fibre than they are of LW. A much more refined looking copy of MF at that. Too heavy to justify them or be tempted even without knowing the price. If they are to compete not only with LW but all other manufacturers of wheel, they better have an edge: Cost, weight, or aerodynamic properties. These don't seem to even compete with most current off the shelf wheel sets, much less LW.
Not to mention, real-world reliability, durability, or customer service.

Best,

853guy

glepore
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by glepore

Three thoughts-
1) these wheels are not "new"-there was a thread earlier, and they've been available from an ebay seller for about a year, although not easy to find in a search
2) they're heavy, compared to lw's but only a little more than ccu's
3)the rim profile looks less susceptible to crosswinds than either

If we leave xenophobia aside, I don't disagree that these are untested in the marketplace. I'd probably buy used ccu's rather than a new set of these at this price point. However, the rim profile might actually hold some advantages under certain conditions. I'm a recent convert to LW's,and I can't really discern if its the stiffness or light weight or both that contribute to the feel, and if these were equivalent in stiffness, more versatile in crosswinds and reasonably reliable they'd be an interesting alternative. As they sit, I'd likely buy used LW's or Mavics, but I wouldn't ridicule them.

Edit-it appears that this rim profile is "new". The year old wheels are the 50mm full carbon with the narrower, more lw type profile.
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jrccomponents
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by jrccomponents

Wasnt aware, couldnt find past threads when scrolling through dengfu stuff so thought id start it. Just thought itd be a good idea to get some varied opinions and let people know theres a cheaper one piece option if they do want to try i guess.

As for those commenting on the price ive stated in OP that theyre $1250 on aliexpress you can find them easily.

As goes the weight i think its only fair to compare like with like. For an extra $200/300~ the weight could drop by 150 grams by using 240s hubs same as standards still use to the best of my knowledge but these arent necessarily going for the top paying customers it seems

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by glepore

Didn't mean the "not new" comment as negative, just that they were not something completely untested.

Yes, the LW's still use dt internals in the rear, the front hub is unique. Suspect that a fair amount of the weight gain here is in the rim profile and layup-LW's are extraordinarily thin, not that that's necessarily a good thing from a durability standpoint.

The more I think about these, the more intrigued I'm getting. Tubular though-I've pretty much sworn off carbon clinchers.
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by jrccomponents

glepore wrote:
Sun Jan 21, 2018 4:00 pm
Didn't mean the "not new" comment as negative, just that they were not something completely untested.

The more I think about these, the more intrigued I'm getting. Tubular though-I've pretty much sworn off carbon clinchers.
Gotcha, was interested about reviews and did check but will have to dig a bit deeper later today.

+1 for tubulars.

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Lelandjt
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by Lelandjt

Considering the weight I bet they aren't as delicate as some posters suggest. On the contrary they could be overbuilt. I'll be interested in the second gen product that offers a significant weight and stiffness advantage to my 1350g Farsports that require the rear brake set a little loose to avoid rubbing.
Talking clinchers.

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bura
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by bura

And jcccomponents...I only disagreed on your posts title because whenever a "new" product from China shows up, comments labeling them as replicas to some established brands products aren't far away.
I mean did you read any replication comments about Reynolds when they came up with their RZR wheels?
It is very common that established "western" companies copy other manufacturers products without that they get blamed for.
Beside the title.....thanks for the post.
Should be fair enough to mention that the title has a question mark :beerchug:
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jrccomponents
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by jrccomponents

bura wrote:
Sun Jan 21, 2018 6:54 pm
And jcccomponents...I only disagreed on your posts title because whenever a "new" product from China shows up, comments labeling them as replicas to some established brands products aren't far away.
I mean did you read any replication comments about Reynolds when they came up with their RZR wheels?
It is very common that established "western" companies copy other manufacturers products without that they get blamed for.
Beside the title.....thanks for the post.
Should be fair enough to mention that the title has a question mark :beerchug:
Yep, can see your point for sure but just to clear the air, it wasnt meant in that way, it was meant from a technological advancement standpoint rather than a copycat accusation considering its a first.

More fixated now on the company in question on page 1 having the same wheels for 3 times the selling price. They seem to have plenty of people buying them going by their Instagram tagged posts :noidea: Would love to hear some feedback on this if anyone has any dealings with this company as to what came 1st..I'm not convinced off the bat given the rebranded edelhelfer bottle cages (which must not have copyright im guessing) or the saevid saddles listed with a 50% higher price..both on their website.

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853guy
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by 853guy

Just to be clear, the origin of the wheels is irrelevant to me. Their provenance - i.e. their quality relative to their origin - is.

For $1250, there are many, many carbon-rimmed wheelsets I'd be happy to ride. For $1250 (1), there are very, very few full carbon wheelsets I'd consider riding - especially when real-world data points are virtually non-existent - irrespective of which country they came from.

Best,

853guy

(1) For those that are interested, I'd be keen to know... Of the following, which do you think the manufacturers of a full carbon wheelset has compromised to reach a $1250 price point: robustness, ride quality, quality control, customer support or warranty?

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bura
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by bura

853guy wrote:
Sun Jan 21, 2018 9:54 pm
Just to be clear, the origin of the wheels is irrelevant to me. Their provenance - i.e. their quality relative to their origin - is.

For $1250, there are many, many carbon-rimmed wheelsets I'd be happy to ride. For $1250 (1), there are very, very few full carbon wheelsets I'd consider riding - especially when real-world data points are virtually non-existent - irrespective of which country they came from.

Best,

853guy

(1) For those that are interested, I'd be keen to know... Of the following, which do you think the manufacturers of a full carbon wheelset has compromised to reach a $1250 price point: robustness, ride quality, quality control, customer support or warranty?
I am ok with that 853guy.
We all know that Chinese carbon wheels are available for a price around 800-900USD with 240DT Swiss hubs.
What we don't know are competitive price comparisons for full carbon wheels from China.
We also know that we have to pay "a lot more" when buying a full carbon wheels from LW,Corima,Reynolds.Or somehow Equinox,too.
I also know that Deng-Fu and Hong-Fu are both companies ,who stand behind their products. Know about one warranty case with Deng-Fu.
And these guys have their testing methods and can't be compared with a random no name Chinese manufacturer on Alibaba.

We should think things over and ask ourselves as a consumer what or who is raising components costs all over the world? A 80 gram full carbon saddle costs around 40usd in China...still going strong after 5 years.
Similar saddle from some European manufacturers with may be 5 or 10 gr less costs ten times more .
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