Lighter wheels,again!!!
mabbo
Posts: 117
I'm thinking of upgrading my wheels. Currently on Mavic CXP22's. No idea what they weigh, but not light. Good commutors though.
Anyway, I was looking at getting something handbuilt for about £350 - £400. But that would need to include tyres and rear casette as well. I was looking at some Hope hubs, combined with Mavic open pro's. They were coming in on price and hand built, about £300 for a pair. But not much weight advantage apparently.
Now.........my LBS has offered me a pair of handbuilt wheels,built up in the shop,all guareented, titanium rims, ceramic bearings, weigh in at 1650 grams. Brand name Zero.........German engineering apparently. Anyone heard of these, or anything like? He says they are bomb proof and light ????
Any knowledge or views?????
Anyway, I was looking at getting something handbuilt for about £350 - £400. But that would need to include tyres and rear casette as well. I was looking at some Hope hubs, combined with Mavic open pro's. They were coming in on price and hand built, about £300 for a pair. But not much weight advantage apparently.
Now.........my LBS has offered me a pair of handbuilt wheels,built up in the shop,all guareented, titanium rims, ceramic bearings, weigh in at 1650 grams. Brand name Zero.........German engineering apparently. Anyone heard of these, or anything like? He says they are bomb proof and light ????
Any knowledge or views?????
0
Posts
I am building a much more conventional set for a friend who is doing the Raid Pyrenees... Open PRO, Novatec light hubs... they tip the scale at 1650 grams and come built at £ 240... they could go down to 1580 grams with revolution spokes at the front
The CXP22 rims are bombproof if a little heavy. What hubs are running with them? I run them with 105 hubs, which I built up for the winter, but saved a chunk of weight going to RS80s for summer/fancy rides.
Wouldn't that go counter to the presumption that Ti frames tend to last forever? I would guess that what makes it good for frames could make it good for rims too though then you would wonder why there aren't more Ti rims out there......
Expensive, heavier than aluminium... Not sure about braking performance... There is a minimum thickness as the rim need to wear, therefore a titanium rim is bound to be heavier than an equivalent alloy one. In frames one can use smaller tubes and achieve strength and modulus at a lower weight
Titanium doesn't work harden, it's extremely resistant to fatigue.
I guess it's not used for rims due to cost. The raw material is expensive and it's also difficult and expensive to work with. Extruding Ti is costly as it's hard and abrasive, it wears out the dies very quickly.
In theory, I suppose if you ignore the cost, it could be a good rim material. As it's hard and abrasive, it should provide a good braking surface, it would chew through brake blocks ! Again, in theory, you could use a thinner wall as it won't wear out as quickly as an aluminium braking surface. That said, you can't make the walls too thin, as you still need stuctural strength.
Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved
I am really surprised, as it is a very expensive material and incredibly difficult to machine - particularly in the thin sections required for a wheel rim.
Just curious - thats all!
Gary.
Are you sure that your LBS didn't mean Titanium nitride coating (although why they'd use this on a rim I don't know), or titanium skewers, or hardware, or as I suspect, the name of the rim was 'Titanium' ?
Back in 2008, Campag did a version of their Shamal wheels, called the titanium. It was titanium in colour only, but there was a version available with ceramic bearings. Are you sure that you're not being fobbed off with these, so that the shop can clear their old stock ? If so, they might not be a bad buy anyway at £280, as they were about £750 back in 2008. (assuming that they are the Campag Shamal Ultra Titaniums !)
I found this which may be of interest: http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-488694.html
Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved
Compare that to completely unknown hubs and rims that may weigh 50g less and I'd take the Hope/Open Pro combo every time, especially given the possible problems of some 'experimental' engineering if the Ti rims aren't a misunderstanding.
I smell a wheelset that's been sat in the store room for too long.
ABCC Cycling Coach
Anyway, I am as sceptical as anyone when it comes to spending my money. So, I'll pop in on Saturday and see exactly what he's talking about.
Thanks to all for opinions and links.
Most titanium bike parts tend to carry a price premium simply because it's titanium. If the wheelbuilder 'Zero' is doing a bit of experimental machine work, his financial outlay will be huge to make these, so this will be reflected in the price of the wheels.
If they're they're 'new from Germany' I'm going to place money on the fact that they're just named Titanium. Expecially for £280 !
Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved
Maybe they'll have decals ?
Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved
Well Shimano RS80 C24's are about 1520g and for £299.99 from Planet-X. They are a very popular wheel and no apparent issues to date....... sounds like a better deal to me than an unknown make.
You can buy these pre built from hope for about £280 a set. They are closer to 1700grams a set. They are a good reliable set of wheels that are bombproof and fairly good for what they are.
http://www.hopetech.com/page.aspx?itemid=SPG92&tab=specification
CyclingInTheFlatlands
The wheels I am being offered are Xero lite XR200's. In a Titanium silver finish. Black spokes. Seem to be a lot sold in America, and they now seem to be getting good reviews here.
My LBS says these are the latest ones he can get, not old stock, and at £270 for the pair.
Any opinions?
Canyon Ultimate CF SLX Aero 09
Cervelo P5 EPS
www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40044&t=13038799