Light Bicycle wheel rims?

Wheels, Tires, Tubes, Tubeless, Tubs, Spokes, Hookless, Hubs, and more!

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The spirit of this board is to compile and organize wheels and tires related discussions.

If a new wheel tech is released, (say for example, TPU tubes, a brand new tire, or a new rim standard), feel free to start the discussion in the popular "Road". Your topic will eventually be moved here!
TobinHatesYou
Posts: 12456
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

My AR25s ended up being about 65g over claimed weight.

mrlobber
Posts: 1928
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 9:36 am
Location: Where the permanent autumn is

by mrlobber

The (hopefully) final update on my LB Sunflower Disc saga is that I've finally received the replacement disc, which +/- seems to be true.
First TT on it coming up already this Saturday, we'll see how it feels then.
Minimum bike categories required in the stable:
Aero bike | GC bike | GC rim bike | Climbing bike | Climbing rim bike | Classics bike | Gravel bike | TT bike | Indoors bike

by Weenie


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kode54
Posts: 3749
Joined: Tue May 23, 2006 9:39 pm

by kode54

TobinHatesYou wrote:
Tue Apr 11, 2023 6:03 am
My AR25s ended up being about 65g over claimed weight.
My AR25 with Carbon-Ti hubs, tubeless tape installed, no valves came in at 1060g.
- Factor Ostro VAM Disc
- Factor LS Disc
- Specialized Aethos Disc
- Sturdy Ti Allroad Disc
- Guru Praemio R Disc

TobinHatesYou
Posts: 12456
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

kode54 wrote:
Tue Apr 11, 2023 3:03 pm
TobinHatesYou wrote:
Tue Apr 11, 2023 6:03 am
My AR25s ended up being about 65g over claimed weight.
My AR25 with Carbon-Ti hubs, tubeless tape installed, no valves came in at 1060g.

AR25, Carbon-Ti hubs, raw finish, carbon spokes, no tape, no valves = 1044g.

Erwin
Posts: 249
Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2016 11:13 am
Location: Bavaria

by Erwin

@mrlobber: Finally, I wish you a good ride and hope you are happy with it (now)!

@all: Someone rides the AR25 with 28mm tires? I think GP5000 S TR 28mm will be about 30,5mm on a 24mm inner rim. I want a AR25 wheelset for my O2 for climbing in the alps. Is is stiff enough with CX-Ray/CX-Sprint or should I choose 48x CX-Sprint (or perhaps carbon spokes, which I don't prefer)? My weight is about 68kg +/- 1kg. Thanks for your thoughts!

aecky01
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2010 9:12 pm

by aecky01

I have to say I am totally blown away by Light bicycle. I've been looking at wheels for a long time and kicked around the usual options (winspace, hunt, scribe, zipp303s) I had a max budget right around $1600 and wanted a light allrounder wheelset.

First the communication from Light Bicycle is as good as everyone says. Emails were always answered within 12 hours and most in only a few hours. Also the tracker for seeing your wheelset progress through each step is awesome (think dominos pizza tracker). I went with AR465 flyweight in the front, standard in the rear. DT Swiss 240 hubs, Sapim CXray spokes. They came in at 1398grams and helped me shed 500grams off my old wheelset while also moving to tubeless. The wheels looks incredible, run super smooth as you would expect from DT Swiss hubs and I couldn't find any imperfections on the rim surface. Also shout out to UPS for delivering from Hongkong to my door in the US in less than 24 hours. Total cost with shipping and handling was $1513. So inline with the other options I explored when you consider tax and shipping, but with much better hubs and metallic spokes rather than carbon spokes which still make me a bit squimish.

If you're on the fence about going with Light Bicycle I think its worth a shot, I was really impressed. Thanks to this forum otherwise I never would have run across them.
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txg
Posts: 41
Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2021 9:12 pm

by txg

txg wrote:
Tue Mar 14, 2023 1:17 pm
My UFO disc wheel is finally finished after more than three and half months (ordered end of November). LB sent me the pictures and asked me if they should ship it, which they have never done on my previous orders.

So this made me wonder if there is something wrong and when looking at the pictures i can see various defects in the layup. I'm not sure, maybe i am too picky and the problems are exaggerated by the studio lighting? Also I've been waiting for so long and the TT season is starting soon. On the other hand this is a wheel that cost more than 1000USD and took them so long to build, so it should be as perfect as my other much cheaper LB wheelsets. What do you think?
As a follow up to this: LB resolved this issue to my full satisfaction. After giving it some thought i decided that i can't accept a wheel with so many imperfections, even if they are just an optical problem. I suggested to change my order to a R88 rear wheel which they agreed on without any further discussion, and then refunded me the difference in price. Some days ago i received the wheel and everything is perfectly fine as with my other LB wheelsets. Went on a short TT test ride yesterday, 42.5kph average at 235w which is pretty good compared to my numbers from last year. So overall very happy with my purchase, even if the whole process took nearly five months.
speedmax_r88.jpeg

Freakish
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2023 7:18 pm

by Freakish

Hi,

After reading all the useful information in this thread, I ordered the AR46 for my new Canyon Ultimate. Which will arrive end of May.
My wheels are now in the rim detailing phase at LB since yesterday.

What are your experiences about the amount of days the production process takes? And how long does the shipping take to Europe?

Hope the wheels arrive in time for when my new bike arrives.


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otnemem
Posts: 398
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2019 7:55 am

by otnemem

Recently completed a 100+Km sportive with my AR55 wheelset. VERY wind. Got slapped around by the wind from all sorts of angles, including descending at 60+Km/h. Other than some well controlled steering input on exposed areas, I've got nothing but good things to say. Very happy with these.

milanv
Posts: 611
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2021 9:03 am

by milanv

Freakish wrote:
Sun Apr 23, 2023 12:54 pm
Hi,

After reading all the useful information in this thread, I ordered the AR46 for my new Canyon Ultimate. Which will arrive end of May.
My wheels are now in the rim detailing phase at LB since yesterday.

What are your experiences about the amount of days the production process takes? And how long does the shipping take to Europe?

Hope the wheels arrive in time for when my new bike arrives.


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You can check the production process online. There is information about how long every part lasts.

User avatar
Packs
Posts: 123
Joined: Wed Dec 19, 2007 10:28 am
Location: Cheltenham

by Packs

What's the thought on nipple access holes? Is it a pain to build a wheel without them? Thanks in advance.

TobinHatesYou
Posts: 12456
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

Packs wrote:
Mon Apr 24, 2023 7:33 pm
What's the thought on nipple access holes? Is it a pain to build a wheel without them? Thanks in advance.

I don't know too many people who are constantly rebuilding wheels. The lack of nipple access holes is a one-time inconvenience with major benefits in that I never need to worry about rim tape.

aeroisnteverything
Posts: 893
Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2018 4:43 pm

by aeroisnteverything

Packs wrote:
Mon Apr 24, 2023 7:33 pm
What's the thought on nipple access holes? Is it a pain to build a wheel without them? Thanks in advance.
I ordered Falcon Pros that way and regret it. Not because I had to fix/true the wheels. However, what I found is that the rim bed of LB offers too loose a fit for tubeless tyres to seat properly without tape. So you end up needing to wrap 2-3 layers of tape in order to install tyres properly regardless of whether you have access holes or not. And if you need tape anyway, may as well have access holes.

Maybe others have different experience but this was mine. In fact, tyres are loose enough, epecially after stretching with use, that I have had trouble re-seating them without a compressor to a point of utter frustration. The bead lock is also very weak - so if the tyre unseats, there is no chance you will get it re-seated with a small roadside repair pump; only a CO2 cartridge will do.

I emailed LB about it, they said it's all normal. After a bit of an argument, I agreed to ship the wheels back to them for re-inspection at my own expense - but they found it all normal. They said that my valves were a bit clogged so there was not enough air flow to budge the tyre into the lock (which was fair - new valves did better) - but also fully admitted to the fact that tubeless tape was necessary in order to get tyres seated, at least used tyres.

I kinda wish everyone would just take Roval's rim bed and copied it. That one has an absolutely perfect size/shape for a pain-free tubeless installation experience.

spud
Posts: 1266
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 5:52 am

by spud

^ what tires are you using? I've mounted Conti GP5000 TL on both Falcon and Falcon Pros, both were built with no holes in rim bed, and the tires were TIGHT. Have never had to remount on those rims, though I did wreck a rear rim and rebuilt with a standard Falcon rim and used one wrap of tape, not problems at all getting a tight seal and bead retention.

by Weenie


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garbageman
Posts: 216
Joined: Thu Nov 19, 2020 6:08 am

by garbageman

I haven't had any of those issues on my Falcon Pro AR45 without tape. GP5000S TR 28c were easy to mount by hand. Beads seated with my regular floor pump with valve cores removed. I've completely deflated both tires a few times to top up sealant and the beads did not unseat. Always pumped back up without issue. The only issue I've had was one of the wheels did not hold air well upon initial set-up (losing 10-20psi in 24h IIRC). An additional 10-15mL Orange Seal and laying the wheel flat on each side for a few hours solved the problem.
aeroisnteverything wrote:
Tue Apr 25, 2023 5:03 pm
I emailed LB about it, they said it's all normal. After a bit of an argument, I agreed to ship the wheels back to them for re-inspection at my own expense - but they found it all normal. They said that my valves were a bit clogged so there was not enough air flow to budge the tyre into the lock (which was fair - new valves did better) - but also fully admitted to the fact that tubeless tape was necessary in order to get tyres seated, at least used tyres.
I wonder if you've added a bit of your own color to their "admission," especially since it was "after a bit of an argument," and other customers have had different experiences. I plan on rotating my front tire to the rear soon. I'll report back if I run into any trouble getting it seated and inflated.

I would definitely choose no access holes again.

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