Carbon Clinchers in the Alps

robbo2011

paul2718 wrote:

It would be good to have proper measurements of this. It is all speculation and one off personal experience.

I remember last summer sitting in a café on one of the Alpe d'Huez hairpins, a couple arrived from the up side, leaned their bikes against a wall and started to walk away. Followed by an explosive bang as a tube exploded. Alloy clincher....

Perhaps tyres get pumped up to quite hard in a cool morning and then in the heat of the day after excessive braking something pops.

Could well be Paul. it was quite chilly on the morning of the event. The only other time I saw a wheel incident was in the Maratona when someones carbon wheel failed spectacularly on the Campolongo descent, presumably due to rim overheating.

Anyway I certainly don't count these personal observations as evidence, but it would make me cautious if I owned this design of wheel.

one day, we will all have discs rendering the discussion moot.

dinyull

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Dinyull wrote:

onemoresolo wrote:

I've got a semi-tarty set of carbon tubular wheels but took a set of Khamsins to the Alps for my last trip and it made precisely zero difference to how much I enjoyed myself.

That bad eh?

Some serious photo opportunities missed though

That's why you take the spare bike clad with tubeless Borg 50's from Malcom at TCC for gratuitous bike above head shots at the top of Ventoux. And don't forget the serious moment of reflection/offering of bidon at Simpson's memorial.

drlodge

Dinyull wrote:

That's why you take the spare bike clad with tubeless Borg 50's from Malcom at TCC for gratuitous bike above head shots at the top of Ventoux. And don't forget the serious moment of reflection/offering of bidon at Simpson's memorial.

I shall be taking my Massive Attack clad with tubeless Borg 50s when I head to Mont Ventoux next summer But the Rourke with RR440 rims will be for the climbing really.

twist83

For Mallorca & the Alps this year I went with Alloy. As I am a huge girl (No offence to girls!) and probably brake more than I should and have a fear my Carbon wheels will explode into a trillion pieces. Plus if it rained it would ruin my day or kill me.

For me peace of mind take Alloy ones unless you are a demon descender who doesn't do braking. Difference in performance will be negligible as well.

Alloy for go and Carbon for show ;0)

paul2718

Last year I bought a pair of ridiculously cheap Chinese tubulars. carbon rims, Novatec hubs. £258 delivered IIRC. Rim depth one inch. These are letter of the UCI legal for racing, and cheap enough that if they get wrecked in the process it's not a big deal.

I took them to the Alps for a week last summer, including the Etape. I lived to tell the tale. There was quite a lot of braking involved, including descending from the finish in stop-start traffic.

They're still my race wheels.

Paul

sloppyschleckonds

twist83 wrote:

For Mallorca & the Alps this year I went with Alloy.)

I thought Mallorca was about pouncing about in cafes and taking photos at tops of CAT 4 climbs?

bernithebiker

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

twist83 wrote:

For Mallorca & the Alps this year I went with Alloy.)

I thought Mallorca was about pouncing about in cafes and taking photos at tops of CAT 4 climbs?

Now, now! It's about poncing about in cafes and taking photos at the top of CAT 1 climbs!

Anonymous

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

twist83 wrote:

For Mallorca & the Alps this year I went with Alloy.)

I thought Mallorca was about pouncing about in cafes and taking photos at tops of CAT 4 climbs?

Cat and mouse style?

twist83

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

twist83 wrote:

For Mallorca & the Alps this year I went with Alloy.)

I thought Mallorca was about pouncing about in cafes and taking photos at tops of CAT 4 climbs?

Haha refer back to Big girl comment!

Where is the fish on a hook emoji?