The beginners guide to chinese carbon wheels

Pseudonym

JoeyHalloran wrote:

Pseudonym wrote:

not a good idea for general road riding though..

Why not?

88mm deep section rim in a cross wind - you figure it out....

joeyhalloran

I have ridden a disk wheel in very strong cross winds with no ill effects, and that was on aero bars which are less stable. The rear wheel is planted...it is the front that causes problems in cross winds.

Pseudonym

JoeyHalloran wrote:

I have ridden a disk wheel in very strong cross winds with no ill effects, and that was on aero bars which are less stable. The rear wheel is planted...it is the front that causes problems in cross winds.

you're obviously more planted (heavier) than I am then. I won't even ride my 50s if the wind is much over 15mph.....

The rear wheel is subject to the same cross-wind force as the front - but the front is obviously more susceptible to movement. You make it sound as though the rear wheel is immune...

brettjmcc

For reference as I am currently talking to Echo:

a pair of 60mm front and 88mm rear clincher wheelsets,painted with matt black:$540+$50=$590
postage for the wheelsets:$55

daniel_b

brettjmcc wrote:

For reference as I am currently talking to Echo:

a pair of 60mm front and 88mm rear clincher wheelsets,painted with matt black:$540+$50=$590
postage for the wheelsets:$55

Thanks Brett, to add to your post above, they have come back with approximate weights for the complete wheelsets as below:

A pair of 50mm clincher wheelsets are about 1670+/-30g.
A pair of 60mm clincher wheelsets are about 1690+/-30g.
A pair of 88mm clincher wheelsets are about 1980+/-30g.

What is this painting option you are speaking about, I assumed they would come in a gloss carbon finish, so where does the paint go on the wheel, presumably they need to leave the braking area untouched...?

EDIT: I mailed Carbonzone to ask them about painting, and Echo came back with "I am sorry that we don't paint the carbon rims."

So I think I am getting confused, is the gloss finish standard, and the matt finish the $50 option?

I think the 88's will be too much for what I require (Aside from the obvious weight penalty), so I just need to work out whether to go 50/50, 50/60, or 60/60 - only a few dollars difference between all 3 it would seem.

Cheers

Dan

joeyhalloran

The back wheel does seem immune, I haven't been even close to being blown over or even of course at all with a solid disc, the difference between that and an 88mm rim will be huge. This was towards the end of last summer when i was 73 kg so not massive but agree, not the lightest whippet out there.

philhul

I've ridden my 60mm wheels in some fairly strong side winds and whilst I can feel them being pushed a bit it's not bad enough to stop me using them. Don't know if it makes much difference but I'm 11 and a half stone.

And for anyone still looking echo's email address is echoyangyan@hotmail.com

joeyhalloran

I am getting pretty close to pulling the trigger on some of these wheels, can anyone comment on the durability and longer term quality? Alot of the reviews say they are amazing out the box but no one seems to have written about them after some miles on them.

gaddster

Had mine for several hundred hard miles now, still as good as day one. NapD also had/has some and had years of use with no problems so he told me. I'm sure out of all the people here who have them you'd have heard by now if they were all going bang.

joeyhalloran

As another aside, what tubs are people running with these wheels?

daniel_b

So a 50mm pair are $490, and a 60mm pair are $500.

I'm tempted to go for the 60's, seems a minimal weight disadvantage.

Can anyone tell me why I should not choose the 60's over the 50's...?

I do want to do some time trial riding, but I also want to use them for normal road riding, hills and all.

Cheers

Dan

mroli

Just to give a quick update on my carbon wheels - did a 50 mile run today, heading out to Sussex from London. Wheels handled bad roads very well - though did get one very nasty snake bite when I hit a hole with my front wheel! Averaged 20mph riding solo - how much of that was down to the wheels and how much was down to the new bike I don't know! Wheels were good and stable into a mostly headwind today and I certainly felt able to keep up a higher pace on the flat. The other thing that I wasn't expecting was how good they feel going UP hill. Not the hilliest ride today, but rode it in the big ring (compact) all the way. Conti tubes, Ultremo tyres.

daniel_b

I'm about to place the order, can anyone please confirm that the Carbonzone paypal address is: jack2010you@163.com

And finally, can anyone tell me why I should not go for 60mm rims over 50mm rims?

I know there is a slight weight difference, but is there any other issues, ie problems with the length of valve extenders or anything like that?

Cheers

Dan

willy b

Daniel B wrote:

So a 50mm pair are $490, and a 60mm pair are $500.

I'm tempted to go for the 60's, seems a minimal weight disadvantage.

Can anyone tell me why I should not choose the 60's over the 50's...?

I do want to do some time trial riding, but I also want to use them for normal road riding, hills and all.

Cheers

Dan

Interesting on the price thanks. Who was that from?

So at today's exchange rate that comes in at £298 for a full build? I'm so tempted by either the 50mm clinchers, or the 38mm clinchers...

daniel_b

Hi Willy,

that was from Carbonzone - P&P is a further $55, so 60's come in at about £340, and a pair of 50's at around £334.

Can I ask why you would disregard the 60's please?
I'm guessing I am missing something fundamental, as as far as I can see, all of the talk seems to be around 50mm wheels.

I'm ready to send the money over, I'm just hesitating incase I have missed a fundmanetal reason not to get the 60's!
Can anyone enlighten me?

Many thanks

Dan

willy b

Daniel B wrote:

Hi Willy,

that was from Carbonzone - P&P is a further $55, so 60's come in at about £340, and a pair of 50's at around £334.

Can I ask why you would disregard the 60's please?
I'm guessing I am missing something fundamental, as as far as I can see, all of the talk seems to be around 50mm wheels.

I'm ready to send the money over, I'm just hesitating incase I have missed a fundmanetal reason not to get the 60's!
Can anyone enlighten me?

Many thanks

Dan

Thanks for that.

I wanted 50mm as the wheels are for general riding/racing, think 60mm may be too deep. Considering some 38mm, just not 100% sure on depth yet.

I just emailed Carbonzone off Ebay, and contacted Yishun direct via their website (can't see any prices on the website?) I'll see who comes back first then get some ordered.

Just a quick one. When people say ordered. I assume this means an email discussion, and then a paypal transfer? Do you get an invoice etc...?

philhul

jack2010you@163.com is indeed the Carbonzone paypal address.

daniel_b

Many thanks Phil,

well I have taken the plunge, and ordered a pair of 60mm wheels....

I will update when they arrive,

Dan

willy b

Daniel B wrote:

Many thanks Phil,

well I have taken the plunge, and ordered a pair of 60mm wheels....

I will update when they arrive,

Dan

Interesting. I've just purcahsed the 50mm clinchers. I'll also update when they arrive. Wonder who'll get them first!

Echo @ Carbonzone said once payment is cleared they will take 1/2 working days to arrive :shock: assume she meant weeks not days!

daniel_b

Very interesting!

I did find it a little traumatic just sending $555 to a mail address :?
I chose 'Goods' as th epayment option - is that what you went for?

My GBP bill worked out at a shade under £350.

When did you send your payment?
Just sent mine this morning, and just e-maield to ask her to confirm it's arrived.
EDIT: Confirmation just received.

Yes when I asked her, she seemed to think that they could probably get them despatched this week, and then they would take 1-2 weeks for delivery,

Cheers

Dan

willy b

£340 Think mine came to. Sent payment about 20 mins ago. I have an email saying payment received. I will email her now to ask for confromation it's been received.

I know what you mean about just sending the money, however with paypal at least you are protected (if you choose goods as I we did), and given the good feedback on here and ebay and the prompt replies i'd like to think everything will go ok.

Can't wait now

daniel_b

lets hope we do not end up with each others wheels!

What options did you go for?

I went for Black nipples, and hubs, with a Shimano freewheel.

As an aside, what do the previous purchasers use in the way of valve extenders, or do you buy actual long valve tubes.......?
I had a quick look online, and saw a huge variety of offerings and reviews.

is it as simple as swapping a standard valve in a tube for a 60mm one?

The reason I ask, is that I see a lot of deep rim wheels where the valve seems to be sticking out a good 30mm past the rim.

Many thanks

Dan

mroli

Guys - I know it seems a bit odd splashing that amount of money - but I can only say that I bought from Yishun and from Carbonzone and their service was excellent - I got one set of wheel within a week (carbonzone) and the other within 2 weeks - it won't be long before you can "track" the delivery too. Both sets came in proper wheel boxes too.

I've only done about 100 miles on my clinchers, there was an initial "settling down" period, but they are good as gold, look fantastic and the hassle of buying them wasn't much more than buying from any online retailer.

willy b

I went for all black carbon 50mm clinchers with the Shimano Freehub.

Funny thing I never even thought of long tubes or valve extenders! That would have been annoying if I got the wheels here and then had no tubes, better get some extenders.

joeyhalloran

i got a tubular 88/56 combo, think total came to about £335, need to get some extenders as well though! I got the red nipples and hubs and will put a pic up when I get them!

maxh5100

Hi,

I don't often add comments, but felt i had to on this thread!

I'd been wanting/planning to upgrade my wheels, and was considering Zonda's/Fulcrum 3's, until I read this.

After my usual dithering and pondering I've gone for a pair of 50mm clinchers from Carbonzone. (All black, campagnolo freehub.)
I've been dealing with Echo too, who's kept me posted throughout.
I paid roughly £340 through paypal last Thursday, and according to the tracking they are now at UK customs.
With a bit of luck they will be here in the next couple of days

If I can master it I'll get a picture sorted when they arrive

philhul

I use the topeak valve extenders that chain reaction sell amongst others. They seem to be a bit brittle as the seal blew on of my mine when I was disconnecting the pump but the other two have been fine so far.

If you get them and hear a rattling when you're riding it's not the wheel, it's the extender hitting against the rim. Stick a bit of tape on to secure it and it's fine. Took me a while to figure out what it was, thought my wheel was falling to bits!

daniel_b

I have just spotted these on Planet X:

http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/WSPXVE/planet-x-valve-extender


Most of them are £2.99 each, which is a fair saving, and they are aluminium as opposed to plastic.

Anyone used them?

They advise on 40mm extenders for 50mm rims, so would i be correct to assume that 50mm ones would do the job for 60mm rims?

And pardon my stupidity here, but how do they attach, do you remove the original valve and replace with this, or does this somehow sit on top........?
Or are there in fact different varieties of valve extenders, ones that replace the valve or ones that exend the valve?

I saw on tinternet that some tubes have removable valves, and some do not.....

Dan

cabbage1879

You unscrew the wee valve on your exsisting tube to let the air in, then screw the extenders on the oringinal one. :!:

daniel_b

cabbage1879 wrote:

You unscrew the wee valve on your exsisting tube to let the air in, then screw the extenders on the oringinal one. :!:

Ah ok, thanks Cabbage, so the valve is technically always open and ready to accept air...?

Is that the only type of extender, or can you indeed buy ones that replace the original valve altogether?

Any pro's and cons to either? (Assuming the other does exist)