Re: Best track rim profile
Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2018 1:16 pm
Ok, thanks for the precision.
I experienced about the same thing as you here, most of it at the (all new and covered) national velodrome.
**I must add the closest velodrome (outside) is a 5 hours drive from my place, the national velodrome more than 15 hours.
So as much as I would like to practice track more, we are reduced to a few events in the year. Probably a camp is on next year's agenda.
Lots of high end material users there. For wheels, obviously, Mavic and Campagnolo wheels are everywhere.
And Look frames also, since they've been sponsors of the national team for a long time, lots of them end up in local racers's hands.
(FYI we are starting with some used alloy Felt bikes I got for a few hundred dollars.)
Interestingly, a local wheel company, Blade Carbon wheels, is sponsoring the national team ( road ). They sell online lots of track wheels. I heard from a national team coach that quality was not very good. And they cost as much as the FFWD wheels so....
https://bladecarbonwheels.com/product-c ... ck-wheels/
Among the few ( around 65-70) wheel sets I built in the past, I must say the two FFWD rim sets ( one F6R and one F4R) were very nice ! Supposedly made by Gigantex. But they're not cheap !!
I also built lots of weels with Flybike sports rims. I must agree the finish is not as perfect as the high end rims, but they are not that fragile. 4 years and more than 15K km's on them. Last fall, my daughter experienced a downhill crash with another rider equipped with Enve Smart 3.4 wheels. They both cracked their helmets from the crash ( she was fine, a little headache and neck sore for a few days after, but that's it). My wheels (40 mm tubular) were fine as the Enve front was destroyed (clincher). Maybe luck, but I was happy the wheels held the crash fine.
I saw a used Easton TKO wheelset ( 20/28H) for cheap, but don't know if they're good quality.... Takes the fun and pride of having a personal wheelset out though .
One thing I wish I would understand, is why build a track wheelset with more tiny spokes ( like most of the brands do, like 24 or 28 CX-Ray spokes), but definitely not 20 or 24 straight gauge 2mm spokes.
I would like to see the real wheel rigidity difference in those different setups...
Elliptical spokes, even if smaller than bigger round spokes, is supposed to have more elongation resistance, therefore the upper part of the wheel would resist better to the centrifugal force in track bankings ... ?
(?? Sapim call it "strenght on middle section": their smaller butted spokes have more strenght than their straight gauge Besides the Super spoke, aren't the higher end Laser, CX and CX-Ray made of the same steel ? Why does the smaller, round, Laser spoke have more "strenght" than the CX ?? )
Louis
I experienced about the same thing as you here, most of it at the (all new and covered) national velodrome.
**I must add the closest velodrome (outside) is a 5 hours drive from my place, the national velodrome more than 15 hours.
So as much as I would like to practice track more, we are reduced to a few events in the year. Probably a camp is on next year's agenda.
Lots of high end material users there. For wheels, obviously, Mavic and Campagnolo wheels are everywhere.
And Look frames also, since they've been sponsors of the national team for a long time, lots of them end up in local racers's hands.
(FYI we are starting with some used alloy Felt bikes I got for a few hundred dollars.)
Interestingly, a local wheel company, Blade Carbon wheels, is sponsoring the national team ( road ). They sell online lots of track wheels. I heard from a national team coach that quality was not very good. And they cost as much as the FFWD wheels so....
https://bladecarbonwheels.com/product-c ... ck-wheels/
Among the few ( around 65-70) wheel sets I built in the past, I must say the two FFWD rim sets ( one F6R and one F4R) were very nice ! Supposedly made by Gigantex. But they're not cheap !!
I also built lots of weels with Flybike sports rims. I must agree the finish is not as perfect as the high end rims, but they are not that fragile. 4 years and more than 15K km's on them. Last fall, my daughter experienced a downhill crash with another rider equipped with Enve Smart 3.4 wheels. They both cracked their helmets from the crash ( she was fine, a little headache and neck sore for a few days after, but that's it). My wheels (40 mm tubular) were fine as the Enve front was destroyed (clincher). Maybe luck, but I was happy the wheels held the crash fine.
I saw a used Easton TKO wheelset ( 20/28H) for cheap, but don't know if they're good quality.... Takes the fun and pride of having a personal wheelset out though .
One thing I wish I would understand, is why build a track wheelset with more tiny spokes ( like most of the brands do, like 24 or 28 CX-Ray spokes), but definitely not 20 or 24 straight gauge 2mm spokes.
I would like to see the real wheel rigidity difference in those different setups...
Elliptical spokes, even if smaller than bigger round spokes, is supposed to have more elongation resistance, therefore the upper part of the wheel would resist better to the centrifugal force in track bankings ... ?
(?? Sapim call it "strenght on middle section": their smaller butted spokes have more strenght than their straight gauge Besides the Super spoke, aren't the higher end Laser, CX and CX-Ray made of the same steel ? Why does the smaller, round, Laser spoke have more "strenght" than the CX ?? )
Louis