Light Bicycle wheel rims?

[Velojonathan]

303 is not indestructible

Yeah, should have said "near indestructable", though that is a much smaller bump than I would have expected to break one. Might have been a carbon layup manufacturing defect. I've certainly put my pair through quite a bit. But I also bought them used and don't have that fantastic Zipp warranty. Considering I should be able to sell them for what I paid for them last year, it's very tempting to give the AR25 a try now. Just have to convince myself that the 1.8w at 30kph (or 7s over 40km) aero advantage can be made up with lower rolling resistance from better wheel compliance (or just by wearing my aero socks...). If they have the same Black Friday sale as last year, and shipping isn't completely outrageous, I might go for it.

Why not keep the 303's for road and get the AR25 for offroad?

I also have a crux (Comp) I will rebuild with some older dura ace, grx, xtr di2 stuff + some weight weenie parts & these ar25 wheels once they arrive. So I too am really curious about how they will perform. I'm a bit under 90kg and am a strong rider but I generally choose pretty smooth lines and have never broken a carbon rim despite having ridden them back in the late 90's and early 2000's before they became super durable. Where I ride (San Francisco / Marin Headlands) the gravel is all really steep with minimal flat connections so I made a conscious decision to eschew aero wheels and that made the AR25 really exciting.

I placed my order about a month ago for the AR 25d & was told recently that the wheels should be shipped sometime in early November. I ordered standard version so 310g +/- 15 grams (Hope to god its on the low side, but didn't ask for weight verification until after the rims were custom drilled so I won't know till I get the total weight) with Bitex 312 hubs with ceramic bearings (For fun) carbon fiber spokes (Only a tiny bit lighter than CX-Ray when used with the non LB hubs due to additional nipple thing at the hub but should be way more stiff) & I had the rear wheel set up with 28 spokes. I hope these will be close to or under 1100 grams but could be a bit over that & they ended up costing $1,236 shipped. I'll run these with the Rene Herse Lightweight 48c tires. I was torn on standard vs lightweight but I chose the standard just for stiffness reasons & that they will be used mostly offroad.

On monday this week I ordered a pair of the 'quick buy' LB AR465 with carbon spokes, flyweight rims, and LB Hubs. Those are now in the mail so hopefully I will have them by the middle of November. They ended up weighing 593g for the front and 688 for the rear. $1,100 dollars shipped for a 1280 gram wheelset with carbon spokes and 46mm rims!!!!! So slightly deeper & more advanced rim shape + 80 grams heavier than Partington but costs $4,400 less. So on paper comparable to Partington but a cost savings of greater than the cost of my entire Crux Comp at full retail! I'll be riding them on my crux with GP 5000 S TL in 32c exclusively for road rides.

I'm absolutely amazed at the level of technology and value Light Bicycle is providing. I will update here with my experience with both sets of wheels. I'm pretty optimistic based on my friends' experience with LB wheels and the specs / cost of the wheels I purchased.

[ziocomposite]

On monday this week I ordered a pair of the 'quick buy' LB AR465 with carbon spokes, flyweight rims, and LB Hubs. Those are now in the mail so hopefully I will have them by the middle of November. They ended up weighing 593g for the front and 688 for the rear. $1,100 dollars shipped for a 1280 gram wheelset with carbon spokes and 46mm rims!!!!! So slightly deeper & more advanced rim shape + 80 grams heavier than Partington but costs $4,400 less. So on paper comparable to Partington but a cost savings of greater than the cost of my entire Crux Comp at full retail! I'll be riding them on my crux with GP 5000 S TL in 32c exclusively for road rides.

I'm absolutely amazed at the level of technology and value Light Bicycle is providing. I will update here with my experience with both sets of wheels. I'm pretty optimistic based on my friends' experience with LB wheels and the specs / cost of the wheels I purchased.

Oh wow, looks like Christmas is coming early for you! Ordered an AR375 back in August and they came in early October. First time with any new wheels but LB customer service and experience has been amazing so far.

[Velojonathan]

Awesome looking wheels. Are those painted carbon spokes, or what?

[ziocomposite]

Awesome looking wheels. Are those painted carbon spokes, or what?

They are not, it's an option only with the bitex hubs at least what I saw in the Global full custom

[yinzerniner]

Awesome looking wheels. Are those painted carbon spokes, or what?

They are not, it's an option only with the bitex hubs at least what I saw in the Global full customScreenshot_20221022_232214.jpg

Is there any reason why those spokes are only for bitex hubs? Or can you custom order the spokes for use on other hubs via comment or special request? Hunt uses the same spokes on their sprint hubs

https://us.huntbikewheels.com/products/ ... 27wide-999

and I had a set of rim brake r90sl to tune hubs laces with those. Still the best set of rim brake wheels I've ever ridden, carbon included.

[ziocomposite]

Is there any reason why those spokes are only for bitex hubs? Or can you custom order the spokes for use on other hubs via comment or special request? Hunt uses the same spokes on their sprint hubs

https://us.huntbikewheels.com/products/ ... 27wide-999

and I had a set of rim brake r90sl to tune hubs laces with those. Still the best set of rim brake wheels I've ever ridden, carbon included.

No clue as to why the site says that. Best to ask them if it's possible with other hubs and they'll get back to you. LB seem to respond to requests within their capbilities.

[bratz]

Whats the consensus of a better aerodynamic rim? AR55(U shape) or AR56(UV shape?)

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[alanyu]

Whats the consensus of a better aerodynamic rim? AR55(U shape) or AR56(UV shape?)

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AR56 is better in aero & stability. It's not UV though. Curved-V shape in-between old XXX and Shimano D-A.

[TTRV]

Went out yesterday while it was really windy (40 km/h wind with 65 km/h gusts) and I couldn't believe how stable the AR56 are. I've had them for 6 months now and I was already impressed, but I never had the opportunity to test them in such windy conditions until now.

They were actually a lot more stable than my old alloy wheels with 20mm external width. The AR56 I've got are the 28mm external version fitted with tyres that blow up to 27mm.

[bratz]

Thanks alanyu and TTRV

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[ouengineer17]

303 is not indestructible

Yeah, should have said "near indestructable", though that is a much smaller bump than I would have expected to break one. Might have been a carbon layup manufacturing defect. I've certainly put my pair through quite a bit. But I also bought them used and don't have that fantastic Zipp warranty. Considering I should be able to sell them for what I paid for them last year, it's very tempting to give the AR25 a try now. Just have to convince myself that the 1.8w at 30kph (or 7s over 40km) aero advantage can be made up with lower rolling resistance from better wheel compliance (or just by wearing my aero socks...). If they have the same Black Friday sale as last year, and shipping isn't completely outrageous, I might go for it.

Why not keep the 303's for road and get the AR25 for offroad?

I also have a crux (Comp) I will rebuild with some older dura ace, grx, xtr di2 stuff + some weight weenie parts & these ar25 wheels once they arrive. So I too am really curious about how they will perform. I'm a bit under 90kg and am a strong rider but I generally choose pretty smooth lines and have never broken a carbon rim despite having ridden them back in the late 90's and early 2000's before they became super durable. Where I ride (San Francisco / Marin Headlands) the gravel is all really steep with minimal flat connections so I made a conscious decision to eschew aero wheels and that made the AR25 really exciting.

I placed my order about a month ago for the AR 25d & was told recently that the wheels should be shipped sometime in early November. I ordered standard version so 310g +/- 15 grams (Hope to god its on the low side, but didn't ask for weight verification until after the rims were custom drilled so I won't know till I get the total weight) with Bitex 312 hubs with ceramic bearings (For fun) carbon fiber spokes (Only a tiny bit lighter than CX-Ray when used with the non LB hubs due to additional nipple thing at the hub but should be way more stiff) & I had the rear wheel set up with 28 spokes. I hope these will be close to or under 1100 grams but could be a bit over that & they ended up costing $1,236 shipped. I'll run these with the Rene Herse Lightweight 48c tires. I was torn on standard vs lightweight but I chose the standard just for stiffness reasons & that they will be used mostly offroad.

On monday this week I ordered a pair of the 'quick buy' LB AR465 with carbon spokes, flyweight rims, and LB Hubs. Those are now in the mail so hopefully I will have them by the middle of November. They ended up weighing 593g for the front and 688 for the rear. $1,100 dollars shipped for a 1280 gram wheelset with carbon spokes and 46mm rims!!!!! So slightly deeper & more advanced rim shape + 80 grams heavier than Partington but costs $4,400 less. So on paper comparable to Partington but a cost savings of greater than the cost of my entire Crux Comp at full retail! I'll be riding them on my crux with GP 5000 S TL in 32c exclusively for road rides.

I'm absolutely amazed at the level of technology and value Light Bicycle is providing. I will update here with my experience with both sets of wheels. I'm pretty optimistic based on my friends' experience with LB wheels and the specs / cost of the wheels I purchased.

I really really wish I could keep the 303 FC as an all-road wheel with 30 or 32mm GP5k S TR. That's exactly what I would do if my wife would let me. As it is, I've spent too much money on bikes recently to get away with that. However, I should be able to just buy an LB WR45 next year if I still want an all-road setup.

Have also been considering that Rene Herse Hatcher Pass 48mm Ultralight tire. Flat protection looks poor, but that should be fine for the trails I would use it for. Doesn't seem to be anything faster for that size tho.

I didn't realize they had a standard version at 310g. That may be a perfect fallback/replacement if I break one of the 250g versions. I'm still a bit worried about a 250g rim, but I've never broken one before, so it seems that I'm not too hard on wheels. My total system weight with the bike will be around 82.5kg max (73kg rider weight, 8kg bike, 1.5kg water), so hopefully that will be low enough to not have problems.

Light Bicycle value is quite impressive. And unlike other Chinese wheels that advertise like crazy, I suspect their wheels may actually test fairly well for aerodynamics and crosswind performance.

[VvM]

I thought to post a few pics of some of the wheels I just got. My mechanic build the pair with the following:
- Rims: Falcon Pro AR35 Disc (21mm internal, 22mm external, 35mm deep) (standard weight); 3K weave, paintless
- Hubs: Carbon-Ti X-Hub
- Spoke: Sapim CX-ray with black alu nipples 24F and 24R

Didn't weight them yet and haven't taking them for a spin yet.

[rhs2z]

I am going to buy a new set of LB wheels: some rim brake R88s.

When I bought my last set of AR56s, I read a lot about the high-end hubs and went with carbon-ti. But for this set, I don't care too much about weight.

So what would people recommend for a more budget hub? i.e.: a good hub for a ~$500 wheelset).

The listed options on the wheelbuilder are:

DTS350: ~$270 per wheel
Novatec a291sb-sl: ~$208 per wheel
Novatec a165SBT: ~$228 per wheel

But I'm sure they could sub in something nicer if I requested. Is there any reason to go with something nicer than the above options, if weight is not a priority?

[soonerrebel]

I am going to buy a new set of LB wheels: some rim brake R88s.

When I bought my last set of AR56s, I read a lot about the high-end hubs and went with carbon-ti. But for this set, I don't care too much about weight.

So what would people recommend for a more budget hub? i.e.: a good hub for a ~$500 wheelset).

The listed options on the wheelbuilder are:

DTS350: ~$270 per wheel
Novatec a291sb-sl: ~$208 per wheel
Novatec a165SBT: ~$228 per wheel

But I'm sure they could sub in something nicer if I requested. Is there any reason to go with something nicer than the above options, if weight is not a priority?

DT Swiss 350

[PoorInRichfield]

My LBS told me yesterday to steer clear of the 240EXP.

Why? I've had 'em for two years and zero issues.