Light Bicycle Wheels
#476
staring at the mountains
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It seems like people have mixed feelings about the "upgrade" to the grooved graphene braking surface. Do we know if anyone has tested the grooved graphene and/or the standard "high TG" or whatever in the rain to see if there's a significant difference? Basically, is there a consensus on which brake track is better?
#477
Senior Member
Thanks for the honest review! I guess the usual downsides that you find with carbon deep section wheels still apply here: less performant braking, and less desirable in crosswinds.
#478
staring at the mountains
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Seems like you skimmed. I said just the opposite on both points. I have better braking than my previous setups, and better handling in crosswinds than my previous setups.
#479
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#482
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#484
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Can I ask a basic, slightly OT question about Light Bicycle Wheels vs. the major brands?
I have a rim-brake CAAD12 and am just starting to look at replacing my wheels. Without getting into granular details of wheel specifics, I'm curious about the high-level tradeoffs between two very different ideas. 1) A new set of Light Bicycle Wheels, built to whatever specification is right for me. 2) A quality pair of used high-end wheels (Zipp or Enve) from a known retailer such as Pros Closet. Both options are close in price.
The used wheels are likely tubulars. I grew-up on sew-ups, so I understand and accept what this means. Assume also that these wheels, including the brake tracks, are in good mechanical condition and have modern, 11-speed hubs.
How do you decide between a new set of wheels made in China and a used set of wheels from a major brand such as Zipp or Enve if price is nearly the same?
I have a rim-brake CAAD12 and am just starting to look at replacing my wheels. Without getting into granular details of wheel specifics, I'm curious about the high-level tradeoffs between two very different ideas. 1) A new set of Light Bicycle Wheels, built to whatever specification is right for me. 2) A quality pair of used high-end wheels (Zipp or Enve) from a known retailer such as Pros Closet. Both options are close in price.
The used wheels are likely tubulars. I grew-up on sew-ups, so I understand and accept what this means. Assume also that these wheels, including the brake tracks, are in good mechanical condition and have modern, 11-speed hubs.
How do you decide between a new set of wheels made in China and a used set of wheels from a major brand such as Zipp or Enve if price is nearly the same?
#485
Kit doesn't match
For me, it would be the wheels from the major manufacturer, provided they are in great shape. The LB wheels seem like great value for money, but I can't imagine they were designed with the same degree of engineering nor the same degree of quality assurance. That's pure conjecture, of course, and no slight on LB -- they are what they are.
#486
staring at the mountains
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Can I ask a basic, slightly OT question about Light Bicycle Wheels vs. the major brands?
I have a rim-brake CAAD12 and am just starting to look at replacing my wheels. Without getting into granular details of wheel specifics, I'm curious about the high-level tradeoffs between two very different ideas. 1) A new set of Light Bicycle Wheels, built to whatever specification is right for me. 2) A quality pair of used high-end wheels (Zipp or Enve) from a known retailer such as Pros Closet. Both options are close in price.
I have a rim-brake CAAD12 and am just starting to look at replacing my wheels. Without getting into granular details of wheel specifics, I'm curious about the high-level tradeoffs between two very different ideas. 1) A new set of Light Bicycle Wheels, built to whatever specification is right for me. 2) A quality pair of used high-end wheels (Zipp or Enve) from a known retailer such as Pros Closet. Both options are close in price.
#487
Junior Member
Boost 29er LB build
I'm a newbie and can't post photos yet, but recent injuries have got me much more excited about wrenching.
Recently completed -
Carbon wheel build for a friend.
LightBicycle rims (ReconPro AM930) laced to I9 Hydra hubs with D-Light spokes.
photos.app.goo.gl/8hpMbDJvCgt2Ja3e7
I'm happy with how it turned out. Very true and even spoke tension. I'd love input on final tensioning. What do you do? My drive side tensions were perfect before mounting tires (130 kgf or 21 on Park tool meter). After mounting tires, however, they dropped to 16 on the TM-1! (roughly 80 kgf) I tightened them up to compensate, but wasn't quite sure if that's the right thing to do.
Recently completed -
Carbon wheel build for a friend.
LightBicycle rims (ReconPro AM930) laced to I9 Hydra hubs with D-Light spokes.
photos.app.goo.gl/8hpMbDJvCgt2Ja3e7
I'm happy with how it turned out. Very true and even spoke tension. I'd love input on final tensioning. What do you do? My drive side tensions were perfect before mounting tires (130 kgf or 21 on Park tool meter). After mounting tires, however, they dropped to 16 on the TM-1! (roughly 80 kgf) I tightened them up to compensate, but wasn't quite sure if that's the right thing to do.
#489
FLIR Kitten to 0.05C
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I'm a newbie and can't post photos yet, but recent injuries have got me much more excited about wrenching.
Recently completed -
Carbon wheel build for a friend.
LightBicycle rims (ReconPro AM930) laced to I9 Hydra hubs with D-Light spokes.
photos.app.goo.gl/8hpMbDJvCgt2Ja3e7
I'm happy with how it turned out. Very true and even spoke tension. I'd love input on final tensioning. What do you do? My drive side tensions were perfect before mounting tires (130 kgf or 21 on Park tool meter). After mounting tires, however, they dropped to 16 on the TM-1! (roughly 80 kgf) I tightened them up to compensate, but wasn't quite sure if that's the right thing to do.
Recently completed -
Carbon wheel build for a friend.
LightBicycle rims (ReconPro AM930) laced to I9 Hydra hubs with D-Light spokes.
photos.app.goo.gl/8hpMbDJvCgt2Ja3e7
I'm happy with how it turned out. Very true and even spoke tension. I'd love input on final tensioning. What do you do? My drive side tensions were perfect before mounting tires (130 kgf or 21 on Park tool meter). After mounting tires, however, they dropped to 16 on the TM-1! (roughly 80 kgf) I tightened them up to compensate, but wasn't quite sure if that's the right thing to do.
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#490
Advocatus Diaboli
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#492
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Just pulled the trigger on a set of RR56C02 wheels. A bit of a weirdo setup:
Grooved graphene brake track
Sapim inverted internal brass nipples
CX Ray spokes (black)
DT 350 Straight pull front 20H
Dura Ace 9000 J Bend rear 24H
Total cost for everything including some spares and tape: US$1033.xx. Quite steep. I'd love to have gotten something for closer to $800 out the door, but I went with some top end components here. And even disregarding cost, these wheels seem to be some of the best on the market, so I don't feel too terrible.
I'm thinking of requesting radial NDS rear lacing. I assume that's acceptable for someone who weighs under 65kg? I'm trying my best here to make the wheels look as clean as possible - even at the cost of durability. Future me can deal with those issues (if any).
Anyway, I expect that I'll be using the wheels by July or so, and I'll be putting them through some VERY technical descending (stage 3 of TOC this year is my backyard) that requires tons of braking. I hope to post some (positive?) impressions here soon.
UPDATE: Their supplier no longer stocks dura ace hubs so I saved $156 and swapped to a DT350 rear hub. I’ve heard mixed things about the DT hub, such as the freehub being soft and the bearings being meh... oh well. At least I no longer have the anxiety of possibly scoring the cups or cones and trashing the hub.
Grooved graphene brake track
Sapim inverted internal brass nipples
CX Ray spokes (black)
DT 350 Straight pull front 20H
Dura Ace 9000 J Bend rear 24H
Total cost for everything including some spares and tape: US$1033.xx. Quite steep. I'd love to have gotten something for closer to $800 out the door, but I went with some top end components here. And even disregarding cost, these wheels seem to be some of the best on the market, so I don't feel too terrible.
I'm thinking of requesting radial NDS rear lacing. I assume that's acceptable for someone who weighs under 65kg? I'm trying my best here to make the wheels look as clean as possible - even at the cost of durability. Future me can deal with those issues (if any).
Anyway, I expect that I'll be using the wheels by July or so, and I'll be putting them through some VERY technical descending (stage 3 of TOC this year is my backyard) that requires tons of braking. I hope to post some (positive?) impressions here soon.
UPDATE: Their supplier no longer stocks dura ace hubs so I saved $156 and swapped to a DT350 rear hub. I’ve heard mixed things about the DT hub, such as the freehub being soft and the bearings being meh... oh well. At least I no longer have the anxiety of possibly scoring the cups or cones and trashing the hub.
Last edited by smashndash; 06-14-19 at 01:11 AM.
#493
Junior Member
Spoke tension
Thanks trailangel and marcus...
I guess I would have thought the same thing from what I've read (going from mostly Musson and Sheldon Brown), but then LBS told me I should do final tension with a tire mounted. Looking around it also looks like November Dave may do the same thing?
Probably getting a little OT, I'll try to start a Mechanics thread soon.
I guess I would have thought the same thing from what I've read (going from mostly Musson and Sheldon Brown), but then LBS told me I should do final tension with a tire mounted. Looking around it also looks like November Dave may do the same thing?
Probably getting a little OT, I'll try to start a Mechanics thread soon.
#495
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For all of you that HAVE pulled the trigger...any follow up as to performance and reliability after a little more riding? I am gonna be selling two sets of Reynolds Assaults soon and want to put some of it into an LB set that is more future proof.
#497
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#498
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12 speed is right around the corner, so if you think you might want to go that way eventually, I'd go with DT hubs.
#499
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I've had mine for 2 weeks and have about 550 miles on them. Right now, I'm loving them. Haven't ridden them in the rain yet, but I quickly switched out the LB brake pads for Swisstop Black Prince and the dry braking is just fine. I've hit some potholes hard without a problem. It's my first pair of carbon wheels, and compared to more conventional alloy rims (I was riding HED Ardennes), the differences are very noticeable, especially above 25 mph. I'm not sure how much different the performance may be from your Reynolds.
#500
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Join Date: Sep 2012
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I've had mine for 2 weeks and have about 550 miles on them. Right now, I'm loving them. Haven't ridden them in the rain yet, but I quickly switched out the LB brake pads for Swisstop Black Prince and the dry braking is just fine. I've hit some potholes hard without a problem. It's my first pair of carbon wheels, and compared to more conventional alloy rims (I was riding HED Ardennes), the differences are very noticeable, especially above 25 mph. I'm not sure how much different the performance may be from your Reynolds.
Last edited by Robert A; 06-16-19 at 07:07 PM.