- This topic has 32 replies, 15 voices, and was last updated 8 years ago by plus-one.
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£450 Chinese carbon road wheels or £650 heavily discounted factory carbon wheel set ?
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onandonFree MemberPosted 8 years ago
I’ve spoken with lightbike and their 45mm rims on bitex hubs come in at 450 posted.
I’ve also just seen some factory carbon wheels which are less than half price at 650 but come with two year guarantee etc.
The factory wheels are 1600 grams vs 1450 for the light bike wheels so really don’t know what to do.I have question marks over the litebike rims. Have they even seen a wind tunnel or are they just built to copy enve, zip etc or they actually aero.
I dunno, I need STW to help me spend my money.
dirtyriderFree MemberPosted 8 years agohave the factory wheels seen a tunnel?
would you be able to tell otherwise?
njee20Free MemberPosted 8 years agoWhat are the factory wheels? Not any of the really big brands at £1300.
FFWD (among others) use identical rims to the Chinese ones if that helps your decision at all.
moomanFree MemberPosted 8 years agoI think you can get Chinese carbon wheels off ebay for around £300.
Bit lighter than weight you have mentioned too.onandonFree MemberPosted 8 years agoSome good points.
The wheels are the USE 4.5. They’ve clearly used off the shelf rims to keep the cost down.
But is like to think the wheels will at least have been though some decent qc.I don’t want inconsistent braking caused by poor consistency in rim width.
Could I tell if they’ve been in a wind tunnel. No. id just like to assume if I buy an item to do a job it has been tested to do it.
shedbrewedFree MemberPosted 8 years agoI’ve used two lots of Chinese carbon wheels for CX racing and never had any problems; no issues in brake track/rim width, no issues with stiffness, no issues with cracking. Mine both came in at ca. £320 with all charges and postage. One are narrow 38mm depth and one are wide U-shaped 38mm depth. I’ve also used Hope RS5.0SP wheels and would say they are a nicer wheel to behold, but I didn’t notice any difference when racing on them.
The wind tunnel aspects are subjective as the wind rarely is truly head on. It’s how the wheel profile responds to winds at other angles that matters.onandonFree MemberPosted 8 years agoWho did you buy yours from?
Oh, also just had an email from lightbike saying they will do the 45mm u rims on dt Swiss 240s for 650 posted.
shedbrewedFree MemberPosted 8 years agoCarbonwheels2011 on ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/carbonwheels2011
mrblobbyFree MemberPosted 8 years agoThat’s what you’re paying the money for with Zipp, HED, Reynolds, etc. that confidence in the aero performance of the wheels. If for racing I’d not mess about and just go for something like Zipps.
If you’re not really bothered about that then I’d probably go for the light bike ones, mostly for the hubs. Don’t know much about the Use ones. I’d assume the light bike rims are just copies and won’t have had any serious aero testing. And I’ve read about cases where well designed shallow rims have tested better than poorly designed deep rims.
I’d have no reservations about light bike for mtb or CX where you don’t care about aero and it’s an easy to measure weight thing. But for road performance wheels I’d just pay the money for something I had confidence in.
damascusFree MemberPosted 8 years agoAt least you have (some) come back if you buy the wheels from a company based in the UK. Is it worth £200? It is to me but it all depends on your budget.
Why not just buy the rims you want and get the wheels built up at your lbs using the spokes and hubs you want? At least then you know they have been built correctly.
crashtestmonkeyFree MemberPosted 8 years agoI’ve got some superlight LB wheels and very happy with them. Turn around time was longer than they estimated (seems normal from other posts), nearer to 2 months by time I’d got my hands on them (they rejected a rim at QC stage which delayed things but is reassuring). Even with their low value estimates on the invoice and stealth packaging (they blank out logos on own branded boxes presumably to deter googling) taxes are high and make sure you’ve accurately reflected all the extra costs. Shipping, Paypal, tax and handling fees added substantially more than 100 quid to my 300+something quid wheels.
V V happy with them. Wouldn’t touch any of the £300 free post wheels from generic factories on eBay.
If you want the wheels to use this summer, get the USE, if you’re happy to wait and have done your sums properly, LB have earned their good rep.
650 posted – Does that include LBs Paypal fees, and you need to factor in VAT even if they under estimate value is likely to be 100 quid.
DT78Free MemberPosted 8 years agoAs above don’t forget to budget for customs and handling, been very happy with my LB mtb rims.
Surely the ‘aeroness’ of something like a zipp is in the shape of the rim, so should be pretty easy to copy – you buy one and make a mould from it? The difficult comes in things like making sure it is strong enough / light enough and has a decent brake track.
For me, it is either budget Chinese, or keep saving for zipp. That said I use my cosmic carbones that came with the bike, they are reliable, strong, and I believe reasonably aero – alloy brake track too. Bit heavy and can be a handful in the wind. They are noticeably faster than my winter set (rs21s). I imagine if zipps are as good as people say my bike might literally take off…
pebblebeachFree MemberPosted 8 years agoShipping, Paypal, tax and handling fees added substantially more than 100 quid to my 300+something quid wheels.
I’ve been looking at light bicycle wheels for a wee while now. I’d be interested what you mean by ‘substantially more’.
Is shipping not about $50, what paypal costs did you incur and what were the tax and handling fees?
crashtestmonkeyFree MemberPosted 8 years agoWheel cost
Shipping cost
Pay with PayPal- LB pass their PP fees on for the full price you’ve paid (ie. Wheel + shipping).VAT at 20% of whatever LB quote the value.
Important tax also charged at same time as the VAT bill (3%?).
Handling charge from UK courier (can’t remember what I paid but it was more than the 8 quid often quoted).
Can’t remember exactly what LB quote for the 1300g 24mm wheels (£320?), all in I paid closer to £450.
crashtestmonkeyFree MemberPosted 8 years agoThe one they list as being 1300g (not being facetious). Their 24mm deep standard rim (so not noo school wide, no fancy basalt rim treatment), pillar spokes (not sure if alloy nips), novatec hubs (all standard option stuff). Weighed Em at 1295g the pair without skewers (which is how all the wheel manufacturers list em).
snownrockFull MemberPosted 8 years agoGlad you’re happy with the wheels CTM, were these your first carbon/ultralight wheels or do you have any points of comparison?
Its a heck of a weight for the price. Any concerns with strength? I would be worried about the frequent pothole/drain dodging I have to do when on the roads around Leeds. I’m not hugely heavy at 75kg but they may take a hammering.
crashtestmonkeyFree MemberPosted 8 years agoFirst carbon/superlights so nothing to compare to. I DO notice difference, in terms of handling, out of saddle climbing, swerving, its like having no rotating mass or gyro effect.
Plenty stiff enough but I’m 66kg so way below their limit. Used to how carbon brakes and alloy rim braking now feels odd and weak.
After clouting a fresh pothole at the bottom of a regular descent (42mph according to Garmin) I’ve got over riding on egg shells (I always try to avoid potholes, but no longer nervous).
Using Wiggle lifeline carbon specific pads which appear identical to Deda and Reynolds at fraction of price. Got some Swisstop Black Prince to try when they’re worn out.
snownrockFull MemberPosted 8 years agoWhat sort of wear life should be expected of carbon braking surfaces? I’m assuming using Carbon specific pads helps this?
sq225917Free MemberPosted 8 years agoOne decent wet road ride picking up bits of grit in your blocks is usually enough to trash any carbon rim. Worth bearing in mnd.
njee20Free MemberPosted 8 years agoBollocks is it. A friend of mine used to use Corimas on his winter bike, he got 2-3 seasons out of rims and found them more durable than alloy.
At least you have (some) come back if you buy the wheels from a company based in the UK. Is it worth £200? It is to me but it all depends on your budget.
Why would you not have comeback to a China based seller?
A lot of misinformation on these still!
What sort of wear life should be expected of carbon braking surfaces? I’m assuming using Carbon specific pads helps this?
Bit of a moot point, the carbon pads aren’t optional, you won’t really stop with conventional rubber pads, at least not without a lot of squealing.
bob_summersFull MemberPosted 8 years agoTo my shame, used my Corimas most of the winter and communting 5 days a week on hilly backroads, no sign of trashage though.
However, they do not stop in the wet, even with their own cork pads. In really bad weather, a couple of times had the levers back to the bars and got that sinking feeling of just going down the hill faster. My chinese 24mm rims stop far better.
onandonFree MemberPosted 8 years agoAfter receiving a 10% off offer I purchased the USE wheelset for £620.
Buyers remorse has kicked in so today I’m trying to cancel it as I think I’d rather spend the extra on some Reynolds.dirtyriderFree MemberPosted 8 years agoOne decent wet road ride picking up bits of grit in your blocks is usually enough to trash any carbon rim. Worth bearing in mnd.
are you serious? 😆
pebblebeachFree MemberPosted 8 years agoOne decent wet road ride picking up bits of grit in your blocks is usually enough to trash any carbon rim. Worth bearing in mnd.
This is complete and utter nonsense. You clearly don’t have any experience of carbon wheels.
pebblebeachFree MemberPosted 8 years agohe works for Planet-X
Clearly not in the wheel department 🙂
njee20Free MemberPosted 8 years agoJust think of all those exploding carbon rims you see at the end of a long, wet mountain stage of the TdF 😆
crashtestmonkeyFree MemberPosted 8 years agoAfter receiving a 10% off offer
is this a one-off or can it be shared?
plus-oneFull MemberPosted 8 years agoI’ve put around 2 years into my far sports carbon clinchers and thousands of miles .. I’ve replaced the rear bearings twice £12 total and that’s it they’ve been excellent …
I did read the so called issues with heat build up/exploding rims etc .. I’m now thinking all the stories on Chinese carbon products are manufactured by the big names to discredit them 🙁
I have wheels/frame/seatpost/bars/fork across various bikes and it’s all been faultless 🙂
http://www.wheelsfar.com/road-wheels/clincher/24cm-23mm-width/38mm-x-20-5mm-clincher-wheelset.html
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