Light Bicycle wheel rims?

Wheels, Tires, Tubes, Tubeless, Tubs, Spokes, Hookless, Hubs, and more!

Moderator: robbosmans

Forum rules
The spirit of this board is to compile and organize wheels and tires related discussions.

If a new wheel tech is released, (say for example, TPU tubes, a brand new tire, or a new rim standard), feel free to start the discussion in the popular "Road". Your topic will eventually be moved here!
Mep
Posts: 516
Joined: Fri May 28, 2004 4:11 pm

by Mep

Thanks, that's a valuable review. Look forward to hearing how they fare on that race and longer term. I'm with you on getting them as your backup wheelset, in fact that's exactly what I'm contemplating. I'd be looking at their tubular rims though, but what I've seen so far seems to suggest well for their manufacturing standards. The customization options are pretty impressive as well.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



ericoschmitt
Posts: 186
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2017 7:47 pm

by ericoschmitt

Mep wrote:
Fri Feb 15, 2019 7:36 am
Thanks, that's a valuable review. Look forward to hearing how they fare on that race and longer term. I'm with you on getting them as your backup wheelset, in fact that's exactly what I'm contemplating. I'd be looking at their tubular rims though, but what I've seen so far seems to suggest well for their manufacturing standards. The customization options are pretty impressive as well.
You might have misunderstood that I got them as backup wheels. Actually as main wheels, I'm selling my Zipps now.
But I'd consider getting another set from them so I have spare just in case, instead of having an alloy set as a backup. My alloy wheels have fancy record hubs and dt-swiss rims so I could sell them for a decent price and convert that into another LB set :)

That would save me swapping tires for racing and training too.

Mep
Posts: 516
Joined: Fri May 28, 2004 4:11 pm

by Mep

No misunderstanding, I realize you have them on now and are considering getting them as backup wheels, which is what I'm considering. If you sell the Zipps it would be a ringing endorsement for LB. You should contact them to see if they'll subsidize your next purchase for a cover story :)

Jugi
Posts: 678
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2018 8:10 am

by Jugi

ericoschmitt wrote:
Tue Feb 05, 2019 8:41 pm
Part 3, bike and first ride.
In a picture you have the front wheel installed in a direction which makes the brake track’s groove opposite to rear wheel. Is that on purpose? I thought about this for a while when building mine, and decided to lace as your rear wheel (brake pad contacts the grooved U from the ”outside” rather than the ”inside”). As Light Bicycle has built the rear wheel like that, I guess that is how they are supposed to be used. Although they don’t explicitly advertise it either way.

Have you tried your front wheel either way? I’m guessing most likely there is no real difference in braking feel depending on the groove’s direction?

I have been so impressed with my RR56C02 (disc) and RRU45T02 (rim) rims, I have been contemplating about recycling my old Easton EC90 SL wheelset’s hubs by getting a pair of RRU55T02s and building around those Easton R4 SL hubs. Apart from that rear hub’s tendency to eat freehub bearings for dinner, that combination could be a serious Zipp 404 killer.

bikesrdangerousmmk
Posts: 249
Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2015 3:54 am

by bikesrdangerousmmk

Has anyone installed a 25mm Schwalbe Pro one or 25mm Conti 5000 on these rims to get an idea of actual width? I’m worried the tires would be nearly 30mm+ with that 23mm internal width

ericoschmitt
Posts: 186
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2017 7:47 pm

by ericoschmitt

bikesrdangerousmmk wrote:
Fri Feb 15, 2019 10:39 pm
Has anyone installed a 25mm Schwalbe Pro one or 25mm Conti 5000 on these rims to get an idea of actual width? I’m worried the tires would be nearly 30mm+ with that 23mm internal width
The schwalbe g one 25mm measures 29. Go to bicyclerollingresistance and see if the other tires measure the same as the g-one in a 17c rim, if so they will measure 29 too.

ericoschmitt
Posts: 186
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2017 7:47 pm

by ericoschmitt

Mep wrote:
Fri Feb 15, 2019 4:54 pm
No misunderstanding, I realize you have them on now and are considering getting them as backup wheels, which is what I'm considering. If you sell the Zipps it would be a ringing endorsement for LB. You should contact them to see if they'll subsidize your next purchase for a cover story :)
They are hanging in the local bike shop for sale already, and some people got an eye on it already. But its not as impactful (is that a word?) as they are older zipp c 60 wheel (same as older 404 pre firecrest), but still zipps. I wouldnt ride firecrests anyway, would rather sell and get some 4 LB sets for the price!

ericoschmitt
Posts: 186
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2017 7:47 pm

by ericoschmitt

Jugi wrote:
Fri Feb 15, 2019 5:32 pm
ericoschmitt wrote:
Tue Feb 05, 2019 8:41 pm
Part 3, bike and first ride.
In a picture you have the front wheel installed in a direction which makes the brake track’s groove opposite to rear wheel. Is that on purpose? I thought about this for a while when building mine, and decided to lace as your rear wheel (brake pad contacts the grooved U from the ”outside” rather than the ”inside”). As Light Bicycle has built the rear wheel like that, I guess that is how they are supposed to be used. Although they don’t explicitly advertise it either way.

Have you tried your front wheel either way? I’m guessing most likely there is no real difference in braking feel depending on the groove’s direction?

I have been so impressed with my RR56C02 (disc) and RRU45T02 (rim) rims, I have been contemplating about recycling my old Easton EC90 SL wheelset’s hubs by getting a pair of RRU55T02s and building around those Easton R4 SL hubs. Apart from that rear hub’s tendency to eat freehub bearings for dinner, that combination could be a serious Zipp 404 killer.
I hadn't noticed the groove direction, will try the other way around. Maybe its easier to keep dirt out of the groves?

You could recycle those worn rims too.. with disc hubs. Unless there are too few spoke holes on it.

TXkestrel
Posts: 14
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2010 10:07 pm

by TXkestrel

ericoschmitt wrote:
Tue Feb 05, 2019 8:41 pm
Part 3, bike and first ride.

TBH i couldn't ride much on first day. I was tired and it was an easy ride, so can't say anything about speed. Also can't really compare comfort because I pumped higher pressure, as newly installed tubeless tires leak some air before fully sealing.

Braking is great, if I brake hard front wheel only I can fly over the bars, so thats plenty braking power. Modulation is better than alloy.

Forgot to write about fitting tires. The 23mm are very hard to fit, and on alloy wheels I had to use two levers and brute force. On these it was hard but I did it with my hands only.
The rear tire, 25mm, was easier to fit, but harder to seal, I had to manually pop 80% of the beads in place and use a compressor pump and pop the last 20% of the bead.

Front tire on the other hand, I just pumped it.

Today I'll do some uphill sprinting, and tomorrow I'll climb the local murder hill, so I can really test braking and stiffness. And theres a chance it will rain.

Flatland speed will wait until sat and sun.

Thats it I guess, with time I'll post an update on durability and other stuff.
How secure do you feel the 23c on a 23c rim is? any reservations about riding it in something like a crit?

ericoschmitt
Posts: 186
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2017 7:47 pm

by ericoschmitt

[quote=TXkestrel post_id=1463809 f.
[/quote]

How secure do you feel the 23c on a 23c rim is? any reservations about riding it in something like a crit?
[/quote]

Looks fine, I don't think its going to blow out or anything. But there's that 1,5mm of exposed rim on each side so when I went over hexagonal pavement with too much room between the stones I was fearing droping the wheel between two stones and hitting the rim on the ground. Other than that, this specific tire has the same thread for both sizes: 23mm of rubber so the 25 just has more (exposed) sidewall. If the asphalt is too cracked this tire isnt a good option anyway, but the 23 size itself doesn't look like a problem.

bikesrdangerousmmk
Posts: 249
Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2015 3:54 am

by bikesrdangerousmmk

ericoschmitt wrote:
Sat Feb 16, 2019 1:39 am
bikesrdangerousmmk wrote:
Fri Feb 15, 2019 10:39 pm
Has anyone installed a 25mm Schwalbe Pro one or 25mm Conti 5000 on these rims to get an idea of actual width? I’m worried the tires would be nearly 30mm+ with that 23mm internal width
The schwalbe g one 25mm measures 29. Go to bicyclerollingresistance and see if the other tires measure the same as the g-one in a 17c rim, if so they will measure 29 too.
A further thought regarding running 25mm nominal road tires on these wheels. Is anyone concerned about riding on the sidewalls of a tire during turns with that 23mm internal measurement. Believe Enve states that 25mm road tires on their 4.5ar will have you on the sidewall for a turn, and these LB rims are only 2mm narrower inside.

RideSki
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2019 3:27 am

by RideSki

Hi all :waving: WW newbie here, has been intresting reading this thread and all the others RE Chinese/Taiwan rims. As I'm on a budget I think this is the way forward for me, although I'm thinking of investing some of that saving in higher end hubs (i.e better than DT Swiss 350).

After some thought I have decided the WR46 from LB would be a better choice for me over the WR56. I currently have the stock Reynolds AR58 with tyres 25R/23F, they have 19mm internal width and there appears to be plenty of space to go wider/higher front and back. This is for an Aeroad.

My reservation atm is whether a 25mm Conti 5kTL would come up much wider than the external rim width of the WR46 28mm. BRR website measured the 5kTL in 25 as 27mm, and that's on only a 17mm internal rim.

Has anyone got/had a 25mm conti on a 21mm internal rim - be that Light Bicycles or otherwise? The closest mainstream wheel I know of is Roval CL/CLX with their 20.7mm internal. If it did end up 28 or 29mm is there that much penalty by not hitting the 105% rule? Such a shame Conti arent making the GP5kTL in 23mm like they are with the clincher version :noidea:

ericoschmitt
Posts: 186
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2017 7:47 pm

by ericoschmitt

Have you read the new post by BRR from 2 days ago? GP5000 23 vs 25 vs 28 vs 32. You will probably have your answer there.

As for the width, the rule of thumb is that for every 2mm of extra rim width, the tire opens 1mm. Also any tire that measures 26 on 17c will measure about 29 on 23c really, theres no magic, they will have the same bead-to-bead distance when measured flat on a table and inflate to about the same casing shape. You can predict based on that. If it measures 27 already it will probably measure 29 or 28.5mm on 21c. How much that affects aero is out of my knowledge. But some say you give away most of the benefits...

You could run 23mm with latex front and 25mm tubeless back. Most flats are in the back wheel anyway.

As for the hubs I see no need for "better" ones. Bitex are light, cheap, spin smooth, and I believe they will last a long time. Have read many good reviews on them before choosing...

ericoschmitt
Posts: 186
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2017 7:47 pm

by ericoschmitt

bikesrdangerousmmk wrote:
Mon Feb 18, 2019 11:46 pm


A further thought regarding running 25mm nominal road tires on these wheels. Is anyone concerned about riding on the sidewalls of a tire during turns with that 23mm internal measurement. Believe Enve states that 25mm road tires on their 4.5ar will have you on the sidewall for a turn, and these LB rims are only 2mm narrower inside.
I dont worry about that even though I'm riding 23mm nominal front. Both of them have a 23mm thread glued to the casing leaving sidewall exposed to the front, but I test at home how far I can lean before that actually touches the ground, and thats way beyound where I would risk cornering. Haven't yet seen any scrath on the sidewalls so that must mean they havent touched the road. And I'm running 60~65psi most of the time.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



RideSki
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2019 3:27 am

by RideSki

ericoschmitt wrote:
Thu Feb 21, 2019 3:48 pm
Have you read the new post by BRR from 2 days ago? GP5000 23 vs 25 vs 28 vs 32. You will probably have your answer there.

As for the width, the rule of thumb is that for every 2mm of extra rim width, the tire opens 1mm.
Ah, no - I hadnt see the latest BRR comparison, thanks. Useful, I think, provided the tubeless measurements are replicated by the TL version. BRR states the 25 clincher is measured at 26.3mm on 17 rim, so by the rule of thumb you mention I would end up with ~28.3mm on the WR46CO2. So I need to think carefully about maybe sticking with a 19 or 19.5mm internal rim, or accepting some losses from the 28rim with ~28.3 tyre.

These will be race wheels so the front/rear pucnture chance is fairly even, what with occassional burst out of the saddle or hard cornering, so I'd like to stick with tubeless on F & R. With only one neutral service car in most races you have to be either the first to flat, or get lucky that no one has done so in the last few mintues before you - otherwise the long wait for neutral means it's game over anyway. Whereas with tubeless even if you go down to say 30psi at least you can hang on the back of the bunch until the neutral car reappears. And of course when you're at higher chance of puncture (wet or poor roads) so is everyone else, so neutral is in more demand.

Post Reply