SethAZ 

I'm much heavier than you, and I have a very healthy mistrust of low spoke counts for that reason. I can't help but cringe inside when I see folks riding very low count wheels. Don't listen to any of my advice on spoke counts, because 10 lightweights will come out of the woodwork to tell me how they ride around on 16-spoke, radially laced front wheels all the time and they're just fine, etc. If I had any advice for you it would be to establish some kind of consensus on appropriate front/rear spoke counts, then add 4 for added durability. Just wait for the 10 lightweights to come out and say how useless this advice is now. I'll wait. :-)
Sapim CX-Ray spokes are the covetable, high-end but very, very expensive spokes that have been "cool" for quite a few years now. They're also mucho expensivo compared to regular spokes. I'm talking literally 4-5 times the cost of straight-guage spokes. They're very lightweight and have a flat, bladed profile for aerodynamics, so they are really good, but you gotta pay through the nose for them. Their actual value compared to, say, double-butted spokes is questionable: a few whole grams per wheel lower weight compared to 2.0/1.8/2.0 double-butted and maybe some theoretical aerodynamics that you may or may not notice in the real world. You will believe that you've bought the best, and if you believe that, it's real to you. You go with these if you want your wheels to feel cool as crap and money is no object. If you're treating yourself you might as well; it's up to you.


You wouldn't need the valve stem unless you were planning on running tubeless with these, and even if you were, it would probably be a good idea to get some name-brand stems like Stans or something and use your own, rather than take whatever random stems the company throws in. I'd approach the rim tape the same way, though in fairness I have no idea how good their stems or rim tape are. They might actually be good. The spoke holes make it easy to build the wheel (you can insert the nipples in from the outside of the rim, as folks have done for a hundred years now). Without spoke holes they have to put a steel screw into the nipple so they can use a magnet to drag the nipple through the rim from the valve stem hole, and I've read it's a PITA, though I haven't tried this before. The advantage of no spokes is if you run tubeless you don't need rim tape to seal the holes, though rim tape might possibly be needed in a given installation depending on how well sealed the bead is under the bead hook. This has been actively discussed right here recently. I've never tried no holes, so I have no experience to offer here. If you're not building the wheel this might be a no-brainer, though if you have to pay someone to fix the wheel later on they may be annoyed at how they have to do it with no spoke holes to work through. I'm probably going to order a LB rim in a day or two to build up a new variant of wheels I originally built 2 1/2 years ago, and I'll get spoke holes. I don't mind rim tape.

Quote:

I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel....

All this talk of LB rims has me really wanting to build another wheel. I'm probably going to end up doing it, not because I need it, but because I have some improvements I want to test out, and because this Covid thing has me spending money on projects I don't really need just to take my mind off what's going on in the world. If my subconscious is going to compel me to spend money on a project right now, it might as well be a new and improved bike wheel.

Sy Reene

Overall context is important also though.. basically LB offers Pillar aero spokes vs CXRays.. The cost difference is $35 for a 20/24 wheelset, which in turn is somewhere in the neighborhood of adding 5% to an overall wheelset price. Some of the language that these are only for those where money is no object or 4-5x the cost etc. is a bit strong IMO.

SethAZ 

Yeah, no doubt, if the CX-Rays are being compared to other premium aero spokes then the difference isn't as large. I was comparing CX-Rays with typical straight-gauge spokes at 4-5x the cost, or normal double-butted at like 2-3x the cost. Comparing a CX-Ray to, say, a 2.0/1.8/2.0 double-butted spoke, it's around 1 gram per spoke in weight, some ephemeral and hard-to-pin-down aero benefit, and around $2.50 difference per spoke. Worth it? I guess it depends on who's asking, and what they value.

smashndash

So there are two things to worry about with TL tires. 1) you want the tire to hold air by sealing against the rim. Tape increases the diameter of the rim, which allows for a tighter seal.

2) you don’t want the tire to fly off if you lose air. This applies to both the seating process and while on the bike. For example, you’ll seat the tire by using compressed air, but then you’ll remove the valve core to inject sealant. Without a bead retention ridge, the tire would unseat and you’d have to use compressed air again (and you’d have a mess). Also, if you flat, the bead retention ridge will allow you to come to a safe stop, just like tubulars. Tape reduces the effectiveness of the bead retention ridge BUT imo this is a good thing. If you go tapeless, I highly suggest getting plugs. Once the tire is on, it’s on.

My experience is with a holed wheelset. I initially used the narrow LB tape that only covers the holes (effectively a tapeless rim) and then moved to wide DT swiss tape. Tape is more slippery than carbon so I imagine it would be easier to clean but you’d want to make sure it doesn’t start peeling off.

I’ve said this before, but get the LB valves. Don’t mess around thinking you can get a better/cheaper set of valves elsewhere.

noodle soup

Get the valves, but don't use their tape. The tape is garbage.

Pirkaus

I went with the cxray, just because I've had excellent experience with them in the past. While I can't say money is no object, this expense is acceptable to me. Here is LB take on spokes.
https://www.lightbicycle.com/newslet...s--Spokes.html

SethAZ 

I'm on the verge of ordering another LB rim. I want to try out the newer WR50 rim, and also try a couple other changes. This will be an alternative front wheel for my AeroClyde wheelset. My original AeroClyde wheels are still awesome, but the itch to try this new rim is overcoming my good sense, so it's something I just want to do, not that I need to do it. Since I've already got a perfectly good tough-as-nails 36h front wheel, this one will be 28h, and I'll use CX-Rays on the non-rotor side in a pairing with the CX-Sprints on the rotor side. That should be a really good spoke pairing.

I spoke to the Light-Bicycle folks in China and they'll do a custom logo for me for a one-time $89 charge, and they said they'll keep it on file and use it at no additional charge for future rims if I request it. I'm going to design an AeroClyde logo and have them use it on this rim. For the Falcon Pro line that doesn't receive any sanding or clear-coating after it comes from the mold (new process of theirs, the final surface finish you get comes like that straight from the mold) they said they apply the decal before it enters the mold, so the decal is still under the surface finish of the rim. That ought to be interesting. I'll try to get this thing ordered this weekend.

balles3188

I hope that tomorrow I can place the order for my new wheels and it is true that during this quarantine period online shopping is increasing!

About the doubts I had,

Following your comments and previous posts, it seems that the no holes wheels are a good decision for tubes and I am buying the complete wheel-set.

About the valve stem, I learnt that for tubes I don’t need it, but, what if I get it anyway? Is there any downside?

Spokes, in my current wheels I have 28 so I will go for the same number of spokes front and rear. With my weight of 82kg. I guess it will work well.

About the finish I will choose matte without logos.

Did you place the order through the chat or did you place the order following the options of the website?

Thank you!!

Pirkaus

I bought mine through the options section. Pick what you want and pay 🤑

melikebikey35

Well, after staring at them in my cart (and driving myself crazy with indecisiveness) for the past month I finally hit the "Finish & Pay" button. I ordered a set of AR36's, 24h, CX-Rays, with DT 240 hubs from the NA warehouse...because I'm impatient.

I absolutely love my CLX50's, but wanted something shallower for those windy days. I'm hoping that these live up to the hype and don't leave me regretting not going with the CLX32's

noodle soup

I think you'll be happy with those wheels.

smashndash

I look forward to your impressions. I think for many people, LBs are an alternative to similarly priced alloy wheelsets. I personally don’t have any experience with mainstream, high end carbon wheels so I can’t speak intelligently about the differences.

The nice thing is that CLX 50s have 240 hubs with CX Ray spokes so you have an apples to apples comparison.

balles3188

For road setup, and having enough clearance, If you were planning to use 28mm tires, would you take the AR56 or WR45?
Apart from the difference in terms of deep, the AR56 would allow me to go narrower with 25mm tires and on the other hand the WR45 would be better with 32mm tires. What is your opinion?

noodle soup

I'd go with 30mm tires on AR56 hoops.

melikebikey35

This is what ultimately led to making the purchase...the LBs will have the same hubs and spokes, so that alone should make them pretty good. And they cost less than half the price of the CLX's.

I also have a set of C38's on my gravel bike (350 hubs and DT competition spokes) and am pleasantly surprised by them. So, even if the performance level of the LBs fall closer to the C38 than the CLX, I'll be happy.

melikebikey35

For road, I'd go with the AR56. A 28c tire would end up measuring 30+ mm, and anything wider than that feels very sluggish, to me at least. Then a 25c should measure ~28mm.

smashndash

I’ve made an earlier post on this, but wider rims aren’t all upsides. I have a 25mm tire on the 56 and I would not recommend that setup to anyone who isn’t racing quite seriously. 28 on the 56 is probably the bare minimum to be practical.

Also, to a certain extent, understand that a 45mm deep wheelset that’s 32mm wide is not gonna be as aero as a 45mm wheelset that’s 25mm wide. The ratio of cross section width to airfoil length matters. So if speed is the concern, I’d go with the 56 or perhaps even the older R stuff (with 23mm tires), depending on how light or competitive you are.

wirides

I haven't read everything here and am already overwhelmed by the options. Perhaps someone would be willing to help me narrow things down. I am looking for something lighter and more aero than stock Fulcrum 600db on my 2019 Synapse Ultegra. I'm thinking about 45ish deep (no deeper to avoid handling issues in wind) and plan to run either 30 Schwalbe Pro or 32 5000gp's, likely tubeless but want the option to go either way. I typically ride in small groups, speed varies but no racing. Ideas?

SethAZ 

The WR50 rims are 32mm wide, so would be a good width match for the tires you mentioned. They're 50mm, but you said 45ish, and that's pretty close. You're not going to notice another 5mm of depth in the wind.

Don23

To avoid starting a new thread, I'll ask here. I'm re-entering cycling after a long absence and I've read that the most significant improvement for most bikes are the wheels. Fulcrum 418 racing wheels came standard on my Oltre XR3 and I'm wondering how significant of an improvement I could expect by upgrading the wheels and what type of wheel would I upgrade to taking price out of the equation only to understand the differences not because it isn't a concern.

balles3188

Considering my weight as well, 28mm tire will be perfect for road. In case I want go wider, I will use my gravel wheelset with 40mm tires. So basically I dont want to have something "similar" to the gravel wheelset but something just for road.

With 28mm tire and to maybe have the option to put something like 25mm front and 28mm rear, I guess the best idea would be the AR46 or AR56. What would be the best?

WhyFi

If you're looking for significant improvement in terms of a stopwatch or average speed, I think that you're going to be disappointed. If you're looking for improvements in terms of comfort and handling, then there's something to be said about lighter wheels and newer rim profiles and how they mate with larger volume tires, etc (assuming that your frame can accommodate them).

Don23

Thank you for your response. Interesting topic. Since my bike is a 2019 and already running 28s I'm assuming that is the latest and different wheels would not make a big impact.

noodle soup

which bike and wheelset specifically do you have?

Don23

Fulcrum 418 racing wheels on my 2019 Bianchi Oltre XR3