superdex

Yeah, it's even in the email thread where Nancy (who is really nice) said the invoice included it. I sent them an email making sure. I agree, it's not a big deal and I'm excited to get these all suited up.

superdex

You're right -- I did ask them about DT 350s with the Campy driver, and it was just too far outta my budget (another $100 just for the Campy driver); I was really trying to stay away from the $1k mark (I got out the door for $632 shipped and talked them into brake pads for free). I thought about Bitex, but after a few minutes doing the "Bitex vs Novatec" shuffle on the Google, I think the Novatecs will be just fine. I have a winter/bad weather bike, so these wheels will see 90%+ dry conditions (except for the odd Colorado afternoon thunderstorm). I think I'm all set

I was surprised the US warehouse doesn't stock any Campy builds, but oh well. Now I'm just waiting on the Amazon for some odds and ends, and the birthday build is ON!

Sy Reene

Enjoy them. I wonder if they'd do a mix n'match wheelset (eg. 35/45mm front/rear)?.. hmmm

MinnMan

I'm sure they would - they are very accommodating - just email them.

But I'm curious as to your reasoning? It seems to me that the deep profiles provide greater advantage in the front than in the back. Their purpose is to reduce drag owing to turbulence, but there is so much turbulence around the rear wheel anyway (owing to wakes from the front wheel, your legs and pedals, etc.) that the effectiveness of the rim profile, I would think, would be diminished. Were I to go the path you are considering, I'd have a deeper profile in the front.

But I'm open to hearing a contrary opinion.

Sy Reene

I think it goes the prototypical TT setup... more depth in the front is more trouble in crosswinds with steering I imagine also.
Oh yeah.. and I've seen this idea before from other sellers, eg.

https://www.huntbikewheels.cc/collec...eep-27wide-979

noodle soup

It's a big deal on TT bikes because there's less steering control when riding with your hands on the aerobars. On a road bike with drop bars, you have far better steering control.

Rides4Beer

Steering is def twitchier with a TT setup. I recently put some clip on aero bars on my road bike to do some TTing, takes a little getting used to, but it's not too bad with the 46mm LB wheels. Eventually I'll get some 88's and prob a disc for the rear, but one step at a time for now. lol

Testing out TT tires and latex tubes this evening for a TT on Thurs.

Sy Reene

So, really any reason to not go 35/45 F/R over 35/35 or 45/45? I guess it saves a tiny bit of weight vs full 45s, maybe a little easier to handle winds, and a tiny bit more aero than 35/35 (kinda the middle ground compromise solution)?

smashndash

Even that TT bike seems to have a 50mm front wheel. There’s a substantial difference between a front disc and a 45mm wheel. I think the asymmetry is only common when running something absurd like a disc or 80-90mm wheel in the rear.

noodle soup

If you live in an extremely windy area(gusting crosswinds), I understand your concern. If not, you should be fine with 45/46mm hoops.

I would chose the 46mm hoops because they are very slightly lighter and much wider, but your bike might not have the room.

Sy Reene

Apparently, it used to be more in vogue in the past. Aside from the Hunt wheelset link I posted previously, seen in the wild:



Crosswinds not a major concern, but I'm more thinking along the lines of heck, why not. The 46s would be too wide. I don't plan (nor can likely fit) to ride anything more than 25s on the current bike. Mind you, I'd also be coming from 15c rims (20.5 external).. so 25mm rim width for me would be large leap as it is.

deepakvrao

What do you guys consider as windy? I have had about a week of riding the 56s, and while in my regular conditions, winds are 10-15kmph, and I did fine, the one day it was up to 25kmph, I was blown around a bit. Got used to it by the end of the ride, but I can't see myself handling much more.

noodle soup

10-15mph is what I call breezy. Not my favorite conditions, but no big deal. When it’s over 15mph, I’d call it a windy day.

When the wind gusts from 15 to 20+ mph, I start really hating the wind.

superdex

15kph is a wisp.

Windy is more like 30kph and up.

MinnMan

We get lots of 20-25 kph, and that's annoying but not enough to be a buzzkill. Above that and I would probably make a note of it in my ride log.

MinnMan

I'm now at 3 weeks since ordering and according to the "order processing status" link, the rims are being sanded, still. So people should take the 12 day delivery promise as an ideal estimate. The way things are going, it looks like it will be more like 4 weeks from ordering to shipping.

Of course, neither Light Bicycle nor I knew that the tariff war would be renewed before my wheels would be shipped (sigh).

noodle soup

I have't seen anyone in the US get hit with the tariff yet, but I'm glad I ordered a few months ago.

Shipping to the US isn't too bad. About 5 days to get to SF, and 1 day from there.

Seattle Forrest

Everything you just said is also a reason to go with a deeper rear wheel. Because of all the reasons you gave, the rear wheel needs to be deeper if it's to have an effect on aerodynamic. And it can get away with being deeper because it doesn't affect steering.

But mostly I think it's about looks.

MinnMan

I'm not sure that this is right. An aerodynamic profile can maintain laminar flow and inhibit initiation of turbulent flow. But once the flow is turbulent, the game is up. I haven't seen any data to suggest that an aerodynamic profile can actually take turbulent flow and force it to become laminar. If there are any aeronautical engineers peering at this thread, maybe they could clarify?

noodle soup

If you are right about using a deeper front wheel than rear wheel, every manufacturer has it wrong. I doubt that's the case.

Seattle Forrest

Why do triathletes who can afford to universally do it, then? Why do companies like Enve stand Rolf make wheelsets like this? Why do disc wheels exist?

That said, to my knowledge LB wheels haven't spent a lot of time in a wind tunnel. That's part of why they cost so much less than Zipp. We're all making assumptions based on all else being equal, but small changes can have big impacts.

MinnMan

I know just enough to know what I don't know. And that includes not depending on manufacturers and marketers for technical expertise. For the rear wheel/front wheel question, I do understand that rear discs are used rather than front discs because front discs impair steering. But the relative effects of rear wheel and front wheel profile on overall drag is not something I've seen discussed by independent experts (and I don't count cycling journalists as independent experts. I prefer reading what the engineers have to say, preferably publishing in the peer-reviewed literature). If somebody has a pointer to something pertinent, I'd appreciate it.

On a tangential subject, the tendency to wider tires that marketers are selling ignores the importance of having a narrow tire in the front where the width of the bluff body matters. Most of the advantages of a better ride from a wider tire comes from the rear. Thus, quoting Hambini "From an aerodynamic perspective, the width of the rear tyre has little effect but the width of the front tyre has much more impact and therefore a 23mm front tyre is recommended irrespective of whether the wheel was designed for 25mm tyres. At speeds above 30km/h, it is more beneficial to have 23mm tyres than 25mm front tyres for aerodynamic benefit."

Abe_Froman

And from an aerodynamic perspective, a 1mm tire will be aerodynamically faster than a 23mm tire, even at speeds lower than 5mph.

The question is what provides the best combination of speed/comfort/cornering, etc. And I would argue that combination is what is driving the push towards larger width.

Though I do agree there would seem to be logic behind running a smaller tire in front relative to the rear.

MinnMan

Yup, reductio ad absurdum. As in how well does a tire corner when it is 1 meter wide?

There's a sweet spot in there and we already know that it's between, say, 23 and 28 mm. But if we are going to fuss about carbon rims for their aerodynamic properties, we shouldn't forget that the profile of the nose (to use an analogy from aircraft) plays a big role and for a bike, the nose is the front tire.

Further quoting Hambini (same page as linked above) "It is vitally important to install tyres that are slightly narrower or inline with the brake track of the wheel rim. A ballooning tyre will impact the drag significantly."

superdex

just wanted to throw a pic in here. no crosswind, no worries.