For my impressions of the Meilenstein clinchers, it could be tubular vs clincher. I haven't been on clinchers in a long long time, but my former pro friend rides clinchers and felt the Meilenstein felt sluggish compared to his normal wheels.Calnago wrote:
Is it the “Lightweight character” or the “tubular character” you’re referring to?
Regarding the tubular version vs other wheels. That is an interesting question because I admittedly have different tires on them than my other wheels and that certainly contributes to the ride impressions. I'm sure the 22mm tires improve the liveliness and general exciting feel of the LW. But, I haven't been on 22mm tires in awhile so my recollection of others is a bit hazy. Last set I had was on the CCU. My impression of the CCUs was that they had a lot of the snap and liveliness of the LW while being harsh and felt slow. They roll like they're lubed with peanut butter (my general impression of all mavic wheels I've ridden).
The Gipfelsturms have similar front stiffness to Bora 35s, so out of the saddle on steep climbs they don't flex/fold like most other shallow carbon rims, but even with 22mm tires, they're nearly as comfortable as Boras with 25s. They also feel like they roll very fast. That's a characteristic that eludes a lot of wheels, particularly with narrow tires. So, in combination of those traits, I feel that makes them special.
Lastly, regarding braking, mine are extremely smooth. They're close to Nemesis in the smoothness of braking category, just with a little less power. But, they're smoother than Boras, which are very good in their own regard.
