Ascent Polaris wheels

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

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mrlobber
Posts: 1928
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 9:36 am
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by mrlobber

Took the plunge and ordered the rims only with the raw finish. Should come out as the ultimate wheelset for not-so-good roads.
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Aero bike | GC bike | GC rim bike | Climbing bike | Climbing rim bike | Classics bike | Gravel bike | TT bike | Indoors bike

TobinHatesYou
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by TobinHatesYou

mrlobber wrote:
Thu Sep 29, 2022 9:26 am
Took the plunge and ordered the rims only with the raw finish. Should come out as the ultimate wheelset for not-so-good roads.

I haven't used anything else for training since. The wheels can handle most windy weather conditions here...and on days where it's too windy for the Polaris, it's honestly too windy to enjoy a bike ride at all. So really it comes down to using my shallower wheels like the Aeolus RSL 37s in a select few races while using the Polaris for nearly everything else. I'm still looking for something in between in the 50mm range for the sake of completion, but having both extremes already satisfies almost all race/ride conditions.

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Vuong05
Posts: 284
Joined: Wed Aug 11, 2010 7:52 am

by Vuong05

Seriously considering these for my main wheels. I mainly ride in a flat area, that has some light winds on most days. Currently on a set of Roval Rapide CLX wheels, and want something deeper for where I ride. How has the finish hold up for those that have used them?
Current Stable. Evo (Storm Trooper) : 5.39kg | Alchemy Eros : Heavy (7.25kg) I Specialized Allez Sprint 2022 : Heavy (7.62kg)

TobinHatesYou
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by TobinHatesYou

Vuong05 wrote:
Tue Oct 04, 2022 8:42 am
Seriously considering these for my main wheels. I mainly ride in a flat area, that has some light winds on most days. Currently on a set of Roval Rapide CLX wheels, and want something deeper for where I ride. How has the finish hold up for those that have used them?
I’ve only had the wheels for 3 weeks…they still look new. However I ride in fast groups on less than stellar road surfaces. Rocks/stones/debris are going to get kicked sideways into all that surface area eventually. Someone in a crit will no doubt cross his front wheel into my rear and leave some evidence. All of my equipment takes a beating…I just see it as proof that I ride hard/fast.

If you want to go tubeless, I’d definitely consider selling off the Rapide CLX and trying the Ascents.

romanmoser
Posts: 573
Joined: Sun May 06, 2018 8:30 pm

by romanmoser

Care to show us the frontal tire rim junction pls ?
These remind me of my previous light bicycle AR56 deep ( 23mm internal 30.5 external at the " brake track") , was a royal pain in the ass to put 25mm on it
and it did'nt make sense for the rear at all , front yeah , the tire gp5000 tl 25mm was around 28mm on these. Ended up with 28mm tires front and back

They were fast as *f##k* and very stable for my weight and belgium ( 65kg 1m88 tall)

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AscentBikes
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by AscentBikes

romanmoser wrote:
Tue Oct 04, 2022 3:35 pm
Care to show us the frontal tire rim junction pls ?
These remind me of my previous light bicycle AR56 deep ( 23mm internal 30.5 external at the " brake track") , was a royal pain in the ass to put 25mm on it
and it did'nt make sense for the rear at all , front yeah , the tire gp5000 tl 25mm was around 28mm on these. Ended up with 28mm tires front and back

They were fast as *f##k* and very stable for my weight and belgium ( 65kg 1m88 tall)
Hello!
This is QX, Founder of Ascent Bikes. Finally got the account approved!
Thanks for all the discussion here.

Here's a picture of the tire interface with a 28mm GP5000 tire mounted. Is this sufficient for your needs, or do you prefer a different picture?
I assure you that it is quite easy to mount a 25mm and 28mm tire - and equally easy to seat tubeless tires. We have not had any issues using just a floor pump to inflate. It was one of our design goals - after my first experience with tubeless tires ended with a lot of cursing and sealant on the bathroom floor.

Happy to answer your questions as best as I can.

Regards
Qing Xiang (QX) Yee
Founder
Ascent Bikes

Image

TobinHatesYou
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by TobinHatesYou

romanmoser wrote:
Tue Oct 04, 2022 3:35 pm
Care to show us the frontal tire rim junction pls ?
These remind me of my previous light bicycle AR56 deep ( 23mm internal 30.5 external at the " brake track") , was a royal pain in the ass to put 25mm on it
and it did'nt make sense for the rear at all , front yeah , the tire gp5000 tl 25mm was around 28mm on these. Ended up with 28mm tires front and back

They were fast as *f##k* and very stable for my weight and belgium ( 65kg 1m88 tall)

28mm GP5K S TR. QX said to stick with 28s over 25s and I agree. A lip was visible with 25mm GP5K TT TdFs, though Specialized seems to think that is OK with the Rapide front wheel. No idea...
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AscentBikes
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by AscentBikes

TobinHatesYou wrote:
Wed Oct 05, 2022 4:57 am
romanmoser wrote:
Tue Oct 04, 2022 3:35 pm
Care to show us the frontal tire rim junction pls ?
These remind me of my previous light bicycle AR56 deep ( 23mm internal 30.5 external at the " brake track") , was a royal pain in the ass to put 25mm on it
and it did'nt make sense for the rear at all , front yeah , the tire gp5000 tl 25mm was around 28mm on these. Ended up with 28mm tires front and back

They were fast as *f##k* and very stable for my weight and belgium ( 65kg 1m88 tall)

28mm GP5K S TR. QX said to stick with 28s over 25s and I agree. A lip was visible with 25mm GP5K TT TdFs, though Specialized seems to think that is OK with the Rapide front wheel. No idea...
A little lip is fine - it trips the airflow so that it attaches better to the rest of the rim, at the expense of a bit of drag. The 28mm actually becomes about 30.4mm, which means there's still a tiny bit of lip (~31mm) to help with airflow attachment. I tried running the CFD at a lower width, and while the drag was marginally lower, the flow detachment at higher yaw angles was not ideal.

QX

romanmoser
Posts: 573
Joined: Sun May 06, 2018 8:30 pm

by romanmoser

That's really clean indeed
And making running 28mm front and rear a no brainer choice, no aero penalties or nearly compared to most 25Mm optimised setup

yeah spec roval seems to be ok with 25mm upfront, except for cobbles , where I could see them being a problem with a 25mm tire upfront.

Belgians wallonian roads, potholes, ondulating, gravel everywhere, cracks etc have only gotten worse for the last 2 years.
Making me reconsidering tires widths, pressure, and rims choice too...

Don't have the light bicycle AR56 anymore
So it's between some FFWD RYOT 44, 55 ( 21 mm internal 30 external ) cheap here new or nearly , still compatible with 25mm , and mix match 25 front 28rear
Or some light bicycle AR56 again
Or ascent polaris wheels

Reserve 52/63 are intersting but don't think avalaible here alone
Bontrager Pro 51
Also

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AscentBikes
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by AscentBikes

romanmoser wrote:
Wed Oct 05, 2022 10:34 am
That's really clean indeed
And making running 28mm front and rear a no brainer choice, no aero penalties or nearly compared to most 25Mm optimised setup

yeah spec roval seems to be ok with 25mm upfront, except for cobbles , where I could see them being a problem with a 25mm tire upfront.

Belgians wallonian roads, potholes, ondulating, gravel everywhere, cracks etc have only gotten worse for the last 2 years.
Making me reconsidering tires widths, pressure, and rims choice too...

Don't have the light bicycle AR56 anymore
So it's between some FFWD RYOT 44, 55 ( 21 mm internal 30 external ) cheap here new or nearly , still compatible with 25mm , and mix match 25 front 28rear
Or some light bicycle AR56 again
Or ascent polaris wheels

Reserve 52/63 are intersting but don't think avalaible here alone
Bontrager Pro 51
Also
Haha hey, my hope is that you'll choose the Polaris 69!
Of course, if you want something shallower, yet with the same internal width, we have the 42mm version coming up. Very light, and I'm riding them personally now.

QX

apr46
Posts: 252
Joined: Thu Aug 26, 2021 1:46 pm

by apr46

Another angle of the tire to rim. Not sure if this is helpful, but you can sort of see the width of the rim vs. the tire (28mm GP5000 S TR)
Image

I have a couple thousand miles on mine since I bought them in the spring. They have seen some gravel, done some challenging elevation with this including the Maryland Gran Fondo, if anyone is familiar with that route (~97 miles, ~10,000ft of elevation, some fast descents, small bit of gravel). These wheels do pick up a lot of dirt; this is what they looked like after that event.
Image
There are no visible scratches or marring to the actual finish of the wheels. There is some wear on the decals, but its minor once they are cleaned up
Image

Overall, really happy with these wheels. Ive done riding in nasty winds and some decents at speed (50+mph); I trust these wheels a lot at this point and have never felt like they made me nervous. I do wish I had gone for a higher spec than the DT350 just because these are a lot heavier than my other wheels. I dont really feel that while riding, even climbing. I do feel it when picking up the bike though.

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AscentBikes
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by AscentBikes

apr46 wrote:
Wed Oct 05, 2022 5:15 pm
Another angle of the tire to rim. Not sure if this is helpful, but you can sort of see the width of the rim vs. the tire (28mm GP5000 S TR)
Overall, really happy with these wheels. Ive done riding in nasty winds and some decents at speed (50+mph); I trust these wheels a lot at this point and have never felt like they made me nervous. I do wish I had gone for a higher spec than the DT350 just because these are a lot heavier than my other wheels. I dont really feel that while riding, even climbing. I do feel it when picking up the bike though.
Apr46 - You gotta show the whole bike too, man!
What a stunning custom titanium frame.

Thanks for sharing :)

TobinHatesYou
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by TobinHatesYou

apr46 wrote:
Wed Oct 05, 2022 5:15 pm
Another angle of the tire to rim.

I like how we both have gravel dust on our tires/wheels.

romanmoser
Posts: 573
Joined: Sun May 06, 2018 8:30 pm

by romanmoser

The 42mm are also interesting
dont hesitate to post about them when you have them ready

Yeah dust dirt on road wheels tires is the norm here also most of the time
Ours gravels are mostly too mtbish, but our roads break more stuff than mtb :D

romanmoser
Posts: 573
Joined: Sun May 06, 2018 8:30 pm

by romanmoser

mrlobber wrote:
Thu Sep 29, 2022 9:26 am
Took the plunge and ordered the rims only with the raw finish. Should come out as the ultimate wheelset for not-so-good roads.
I don't see the rim option only on the website
Maybe I didn't looked that well
Or did you just asked by PM or mail ?

Keen to hear how it went process, orders, price shipping etc
You building them with something other than dt swiss straightpull hubs if rims only I guess ?

by Weenie


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