Lightweight wheels???

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Bazzman1968
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat May 06, 2023 3:03 am

by Bazzman1968

Are lightweight wheels actually worth the money? I can afford them but being from down under the Aussie dollar only buys .66 of a US dollar so things get expensive very quickly. Keen on your thoughts and on what other really light options are?
Thanks Baz

by Weenie


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billendk
Posts: 82
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2015 8:13 am

by billendk

I have Lightweight meilenstein evo black ed. on my aethos. Maybe not worth the money. But i buyed them for the look and stifness. I love the wheels but you can buy wheels that are lighther and cheaper.


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Last edited by billendk on Thu May 18, 2023 7:37 am, edited 1 time in total.

jlok
Posts: 2400
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2015 3:30 am

by jlok

IMHO, they are among the greatest climbing wheels. Worth the money if you like very stiff climbing wheels.
Rikulau V9 DB Custom < BMC TM02 < Litespeed T1sl Disc < Giant Propel Advanced SL Disc 1 < Propel Adv < TCR Adv SL Disc < KTM Revelator Sky < CAAD 12 Disc < Domane S Disc < Alize < CAAD 10

shotgun1
Posts: 136
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2020 4:33 am
Location: Manila

by shotgun1

Could you help us in sharing more details. What are you looking for in terms of lightweight (how light in grams) and what would you define as value (1K, 2K, 4K USD)? Will it be used for racing, club rides, WW meet ups? Disc or rim brakes?
2021 Giant TCR Advanced SL0 Disc 6.8kg
2019 Specialized Allez Sprint Disc 7.9kg
2017 Festka Scalatore 5.375kg


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wheelsONfire
Posts: 6283
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2014 8:15 am
Location: NorthEU

by wheelsONfire

Bazzman1968 wrote:
Thu May 18, 2023 7:25 am
Are lightweight wheels actually worth the money? I can afford them but being from down under the Aussie dollar only buys .66 of a US dollar so things get expensive very quickly. Keen on your thoughts and on what other really light options are?
Thanks Baz
What do you consider really light in terms of weight?
For stiffness you should consider Bike ahead wheels (yeah, price is high, bling is high)
Bikes:

Ax Lightness Vial EVO Race (2019.01.03)
Open *UP* (2016.04.14)
Paduano Racing Fidia (kind of shelved)


Ex bike; Vial EVO D, Vial EVO Ultra, Scott Foil, Paduano ti bike.

CustomMetal
Moderator
Posts: 1293
Joined: Sat Dec 01, 2018 4:14 pm
Location: UK

by CustomMetal

If in Oz then I would be looking at Partington. They are basically Lightweight 2.0 and in disc just as stiff and lighter than LW while still being reassuringly expensive and boutique
Allegra- Steel Lugs TBC
Aurelia- Stainless All Road 8.5kg
Bertha- TT 9.8kg
Perdita- Ti Turbo bike 8kg
Serenity- Ti Gravel 9.5kg/8.9kg
Verity- Ti Aero 8.2kg
Alya- Ti Climbing TBC

All weights with pedals,cages & garmin mount

Bazzman1968
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat May 06, 2023 3:03 am

by Bazzman1968

Hi WheelONfire, thanks for comments, I will look then up.

As for light I am thinking 1000 to 1300 gems. I was a weight weenies a 7 years ago then had accident and sold everything off, I had Reynolds RZR that were sub 1000 and stiff enough for me at 72 king.

Cheers Baz

Bazzman1968
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat May 06, 2023 3:03 am

by Bazzman1968

72 KG...156 pounds.

Llanberis
Posts: 297
Joined: Tue Jun 23, 2020 12:10 am

by Llanberis

If you cut LW Meilenstein's in half and look at its section, you will know that these wheels are inherently ultra stiff due to how the load is transferred. Direct link from rim to rim via no spoke nipple (laminated instead) forms a stacked XX shape and wrapped around with additional material at spoke intersection. They might not be exactly lightweight these days, but the weight / stiffness ratio is still unrivalled in my personal experience (compared to Corima MCC & Mavic Cosmic Ultimate). The instant acceleration sensation they produce makes them a joy to ride when rolling up hills. You do need to be careful in crosswinds as they can be quite unstable, which is possibly the downside of their v-shaped rim profile. It's what some people call it, gain time on the climb but lose it on the descent.

eurostar
Posts: 465
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 7:19 pm
Location: London

by eurostar

I love my Lightweights for their strength and build quality and looks and heritage. I think they will last me forever. And they can't go out of true, because of their design.

But things have changed in the last 10 years. Do you want wide tyres and rule 105 compliance? Lightweight fell behind these trends. The current version of the Meilenstein is 24mm wide, and it's not toroidal. Maybe this is why Ineos switched to Princeton Carbonworks? https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ineos- ... de-france/) Chinese competitors now have very light WW options for much less money. There's a lot for you to read up on. Look at some Light Bicycle https://www.lightbicycle.com/ and Winspace and Farsports threads. The Silca blog is great, e.g. https://silcavelo.eu/blogs/silca/part-5 ... rodynamics.

Second hand Lightweights can be incredible value, especially ones for rim brakes and tubs. Buying used carbon wheels sounds scary, but if you get some Lightweights in your hands the wear and damage are easy to see. I bought some almost mint condition Fernweg 80s with Ceramicspeed bearings for cheap. They would have been £5000 UK Pounds list price! To me, it's like having a pair of Picassos. Ridiculous for me to have them, especially as I already had a pair of Meilensteins. And they're
20mm wide, so I have to stick my fingers in my ears when the subject of aerodynamics comes up. But I think of them as an asset, whereas Chinese rims seem to me to be a consumable. Maybe I'm just a dinosaur.

Jasonlelam
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2018 9:20 am

by Jasonlelam

New technologies have emerged these years, and it appears chinese competitors adapt to them much better than big brands including Lightweight. The burly build and quality are also proved whilst keep weight down quite a bit. Typically take Light Bicycle as an example.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZGNMTvwf6s Hambini reemed.
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsgI6M5 ... e=youtu.be when the light bicycle wheelset on a weight weenie's bike.

vamoots58
Posts: 46
Joined: Mon Feb 17, 2014 1:46 am

by vamoots58

I love my Meilensteins!! They have been my everyday road wheels for about four years. I'm a tubular only guy. Have a Gipfelsturm front wheel for days when it is really blowing. With respect to 'worth it', for even the most ardent cycling nuts (non-pros) I doubt any of the high end gear we buy is 'worth it' other than the satisfcation it brings on the bike. Using that as my barometer, my LW's (and all the rest) are well worth it!!

eurostar
Posts: 465
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 7:19 pm
Location: London

by eurostar

They are made in Germany. So in terms of salary and benefits for the employees, they probably are worth it. I went to the factory once - nice people, motivated and cheerful.

But I don't know why they haven't developed a toroidal fat rim. People want 25mm tyres and rule 105 compliance. They talk about their general purpose wheels as the absolute ultimate https://lightweight.info/en/wheels/obermayer-evo But they look as if they have the same profile as the Lighjtweight Standards from 20 years ago, but with a width increase from 20-24mm. I'd like to see them regain their position as the ultimate upgrade for pros. Here's a reminder of their glory days https://pezcyclingnews.com/technspec/li ... ht-wheels/

Llanberis
Posts: 297
Joined: Tue Jun 23, 2020 12:10 am

by Llanberis

They did that with Fernweg, but it's way heavier and physically not possible to be as stiff as Meilenstein's are due to how it's constructed and that's probably why they kept the V profile for the later for now

by Weenie


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eurostar
Posts: 465
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 7:19 pm
Location: London

by eurostar

Are there any toroidal Fernwegs? I can't find any diagrams of Fernweg profiles. I have a set of Version 1 80mm and the profile is flat. They're 20mm thick on the whole rim except for the hemispherical front edge, if that makes any sense.

Here are Fernweg max widths.

Fernweg 1, 80mm deep 20
Fernweg 1, 60mm deep 20
Fernweg 2, 63mm deep 25
Fernweg 2, 85mm deep 26.4

Inflated width of tyres is often greater than the stated width, so even with Fernweg 2 85mm you might not keep to the 105 rule with a 25mm tyre.

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