Carbon clinchers & depth

stueys

Wheels again! Sorry... :oops:

So I'm looking to get some 'best' wheels made up. I'm only going to use these for etape, sportive, type events and switch them out when I train or just ride. So willing to trade durability for performance, to an extent, and I want something light and stiff. I'm 77kg.

After some web education I've reached the dangerous point where I've gone from knowing nada to knowing a tiny bit. Think I want a carbon clincher with extralite hubs, probably 20/24, sapim CX-ray spokes. I'm looking at the gigantex rims which seem to get good write ups for the cost.

Two questions I wanted people's advice on;
1) what width rim, I guessing that wider seems to be more aero so 23mm?
2) what depth is better for climbing performance with some aero advantage? I'm homing in on something like a 38 depth but keep seeing people say a 50 has minimal weight penalty, better aero and is stiffer. Being honest i average 18 on my solo rides so aero would probably make a fairly small difference.

Thoughts or ideas more than welcome.

ugo.santalucia

38 is better

Froomes Edgar

You're not racing. Get whichever ones you think look best, because you won't notice any tiny difference in performance.

smidsy

At 77kg would it not be advisable to go for a non Gigantex rim that offers more spokes?

ugo.santalucia

smidsy wrote:

At 77kg would it not be advisable to go for a non Gigantex rim that offers more spokes?

Not really... Besides, they screw the aesthetics... 8)

BikeSwan

I had this very same dilemma a few months ago. I ended up emailing Fairwheel Bikes to ask for their opinion. I was also interested in the Extralite hubs, but after talking to the guys at Fairwheel I decided they were too fragile for what I wanted them for. I'm 6'4" and 80kg and they said unless you want to spend your entire downtime truing wheels and servicing hubs, the Extralite's were a bad idea.

I've ended up settling on a very usable but still exotic build. My dream wheel set build would be Enve SES 3.4 clincher rims, with Spaim CX-Ray spokes, a Tune Mag170 rear hub, and a Tune Mig70 front hub. This would end up being a roughly 1350g wheel set which is still pretty light, and because of the SES design they are very aero.

I have given up on truly lightweight builds because they just aren't stiff enough for my 80kg. As great as a lightweight wheel set would be, it's all useless if they fell like jello to ride.

ugo.santalucia

BikeSwan wrote:

I had this very same dilemma a few months ago. I ended up emailing Fairwheel Bikes to ask for their opinion. I was also interested in the Extralite hubs, but after talking to the guys at Fairwheel I decided they were too fragile for what I wanted them for. I'm 6'4" and 80kg and they said unless you want to spend your entire downtime truing wheels and servicing hubs, the Extralite's were a bad idea.

I've ended up settling on a very usable but still exotic build. My dream wheel set build would be Enve SES 3.4 clincher rims, with Spaim CX-Ray spokes, a Tune Mag170 rear hub, and a Tune Mig70 front hub. This would end up being a roughly 1350g wheel set which is still pretty light, and because of the SES design they are very aero.

I have given up on truly lightweight builds because they just aren't stiff enough for my 80kg. As great as a lightweight wheel set would be, it's all useless if they fell like jello to ride.

The problem is not stiffness, maybe durability, but 38 mm rims with 24 spokes are stiff like hell

stueys

Love this forum, thanks for that.

Ok, so rims look settled on 38. On hubs the reviews all seemed to say that the extralites are light but need more mainteance. Didn't pick up on any issues re stiffness. I wasn't worried about mainteance too much as I figure about 1k miles per annum on the wheels. Any other hubs I should look at?

Other than getting divorced and buying Enve (would make for a pricey pothole....) should I look at any other rim options than Gigantex?

ugo.santalucia

Stueys wrote:

Love this forum, thanks for that.

Ok, so rims look settled on 38. On hubs the reviews all seemed to say that the extralites are light but need more mainteance. Didn't pick up on any issues re stiffness. I wasn't worried about mainteance too much as I figure about 1k miles per annum on the wheels. Any other hubs I should look at?

Other than getting divorced and buying Enve (would make for a pricey pothole....) should I look at any other rim options than Gigantex?

DT Swiss 240 is where my money would go. Problem is the not many builders who sell carbon will use Gigantex or the Enve/Corima.
BLB sell their own Notorious rims, a bit more engineered for folks who like to jump down pavements... 28 holes instead of 20/24... They are for a different crowd though... Great for disc brake wheels and fixed wheels bikes

stueys

ugo.santalucia wrote:

DT Swiss 240 is where my money would go. Problem is the not many builders who sell carbon will use Gigantex or the Enve/Corima.
BLB sell their own Notorious rims, a bit more engineered for folks who like to jump down pavements... 28 holes instead of 20/24... They are for a different crowd though... Great for disc brake wheels and fixed wheels bikes

Thanks for that. Looked at the DT Swiss, they seem to be on the heavier side. What do you think on Tune Mag 170 or 150? Seem a nice blend of robustness and weight.

ugo.santalucia

Stueys wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

DT Swiss 240 is where my money would go. Problem is the not many builders who sell carbon will use Gigantex or the Enve/Corima.
BLB sell their own Notorious rims, a bit more engineered for folks who like to jump down pavements... 28 holes instead of 20/24... They are for a different crowd though... Great for disc brake wheels and fixed wheels bikes

Thanks for that. Looked at the DT Swiss, they seem to be on the heavier side. What do you think on Tune Mag 170 or 150? Seem a nice blend of robustness and weight.

Heavy? :shock:

No direct experience with Tune, sorry, I draw a line at 300 pounds...