In the process of building up a Camino and I’m tempted by some carbon light bicycle rims to build up for it. I’m just wondering if anyone had any recent good or bad experiences with them? How were delivery build times etc..

I’m looking at either AR36 or AR46 rims. I would have gone for the WR wider versions but the lead time is 12-13 weeks longer.

The bike is going to be more on the road end of gravel. Linking green lanes and fire roads with tarmac more than sending mtb trails on it.

Do we still have to bump posts?

Couple of years since my last set from them but would happily use again. They’ve never been part of the EU so the whole Brexit debacle isn’t going to change anything.

I always order my rims with UST rim bed and drain holes in the sidewall. A service they offer at no additional cost.

I bought some 29+ rims at the end of last year. Excellent things, and as a company they seem pretty spot on. Not full wheels, my LBS then built them onto existing hubs.

A friend of mine builds wheels with rims from a company called fastop. There are loads kicking around the NE now. Road, gravel and a couple of MTB sets. Some big lads too. They look to be decent quality. They have a website which isn’t all that good. Look on Facebook for more info and a contact. Think the guy’s name is Tony Chow.

https://www.facebook.com/hancychow

Ordered AR56 on 240 EXP mid-November, they shipped about 4 weeks later and arrived after a further 4…expected and quite happy with that given Christmas etc.

Really happy with the wheels, seem well built and absolutely no complaints.

Only issue I had was with the rear hub which suffered a known fault (engagement problem), not LB’s fault though and they helped get me sorted through DT.

I’d buy from them again no problem, so long as I don’t need them quickly.

Ordered AR56 on 240 EXP mid-November, they shipped about 4 weeks later and arrived after a further 4…expected and quite happy with that given Christmas etc.

Really happy with the wheels, seem well built and absolutely no complaints.

Only issue I had was with the rear hub which suffered a known fault (engagement problem), not LB’s fault though and they helped get me sorted through DT.

I’d buy from them again no problem, so long as I don’t need them quickly.

@haze any pictures??

I’m going rim only so hopefully that might speed it up ever so slightly….

Hope these work!

UD in satin finish (had to ask for it), I didn’t want matte and the gloss finish looked too much for me.

@haze Nice!! How do you think they’d stand up to gravel? I know light bicycle says they will but do they seem robust enough.

Have had two sets of rims, some for an enduro bike and more recently a set for my fatbike

Always been very happy with their service, delivery speed and the performance of the rims

Fully recommended!

They’re pretty wide, 23mm internal…I’ve got 28mm tyres which seem a nice fit…could easily go bigger for gravel if that’s what’s needed but I’d be pushing it for clearance in those forks.

They seem solid to me so I’d have no hesitation in trying…they may look a bit beaten up over time though with rock strikes?

I’ve run a pair of gloss UD AR46s on my road bike since September – in all weathers and on some very rough roads. They ride so so nicely, which hints they woudl be pretty decent on gravel! Really pleased with them. Look great, nice tyre profile (28s Pro Ones swell to 29mm). Easy to set up tubess and have stayed beautifully true (build was DT240s and 24 pillar spokes each end).

Just taken delviery of some rim brake R55/R65 for my fixed gear road bike – in bling gloss 12k. I had these built locally and they have been great so far. They are a touch narrower and not gravel compatible, but are beautifully made and have built up nicely.

I’ve run a pair of gloss UD AR46s on my road bike since September – in all weathers and on some very rough roads. They ride so so nicely, which hints they woudl be pretty decent on gravel! Really pleased with them. Look great, nice tyre profile (28s Pro Ones swell to 29mm). Easy to set up tubess and have stayed beautifully true (build was DT240s and 24 pillar spokes each end).

Just taken delviery of some rim brake R55/R65 for my fixed gear road bike – in bling gloss 12k. I had these built locally and they have been great so far. They are a touch narrower and not gravel compatible, but are beautifully made and have built up nicely.

@wooderson how long did they take from start to finish to arrive? also, any pics?

Think I might go for the A36 given they are going on a Camino.

12months ago, they look about 6 weeks to arive

AR46s on the Lightbicycle gallery

Bought 30 internal 29er rims. Took about 6-8 weeks about this time last year I think. Built up fine, weight was bang on, or actually marginally under that stated.

Stiff. Very stiff indeed. On a hardtail you know if you’ve hit something a bit hard but strikes on these were making me wince even more than I would normally as I have ‘some’ mechanical sympathy. Finally cracked the rear on a misjudged hop – I did hit it hard, and tbh wasn’t all that sorry about it. Replaced with xm481 but not ridden it yet. They’re not for me. YMMV.

I had some fat rims from them towards the end of last year, manufacturing time was pretty quick, postage was slow – took 4weeks to get on a plane iirc, but that was a Covid / lack of flights thing. Not had any issues with the rims. Built into a light weight, for a fat bike, 1800g wheel set.

Not bought from them for about 5 years, but if I recall, the longest wait was once they were at the UK parcel force customs clearance Centre.
You can speed things up a little bit at that point by calling parcel force and paying the import fees rather than waiting for them to send you a letter.

They would ship with all duties paid when I ordered of that’s how you wanted it done and weren’t trying to dodge the fees.

But you might still get hit with parcel force handling fee which can cause the hold up once they are in the UK.

To be fair I’ve read a few different experiences, but mine arrived on my doorstep (by Parcelforce) within a day or two of them landing in the UK…according to the tracker anyway.

No extra charges, maybe I got lucky 🤷‍♂️

I have bought a few pairs of wheels from LB over the years.
All of them have been built well, strong and taken all the abuse I could give them.
I have a pair of 29er Lb rims on dt 240exp hubs on my sirius s5. They ride really well.
The 27.5 rims on my soul were harsher than the xm481 that I replaced them with but fine on my remedy.

I have a pair of ar47 rims waiting to be built up for my emonda.
I would recommend them to anyone looking for a good quality rim without the ridiculous price of big named brands.

Are LB imports affected by the anti dumping import duties? Judging by reports above, I guess not.

Just dropped mine off at Mint Cycle Works and they seemed to be impressed, Dave there has been building my wheels for 25 years so that’s recommendation enough for me.

Thanks for all the info guys. I feel pretty confident buying the rims from them now.

Any input on going between the AR36 and AR46 for a mix of road an gravel? or should that be are there any disadvantages with going for the slightly deeper set of rims?

Just dropped mine off at Mint Cycle Works and they seemed to be impressed, Dave there has been building my wheels for 25 years so that’s recommendation enough for me.

Yeh my LBS who are known as good wheel builders commented they are nice wheels when they were doing some work for me. I’ve been very happy with the wheels.
My only complaint is new tyres are a bit difficult to fit! Very tight. But mine are an older model MTB rim that they don’t make any more so YMMV.