Tuesday, February 19, 2013

new year/new gear

Okay, so the year isn't that new. But nice riding weather is just around the corner and I'm finally going through the process of re-cabling and re-tire-ing (although not retiring) bikesand swapping off old broken things for shing new ones.

Like most of you, the fellows at BCC often covet shiny new things, but enjoy some of the less glamorous but reliable and affordable things. Take for example wheels. Through technological advances in design and manufacturing, they now make wheels that are many thousand dollars. And, through technological advances in marketing, they have also found a way to sell these ridiculous things, despite the fact that they are often more fragile and possibly impossible to repair and may or may not stop under wet or icy conditions.

So I was curious when Dave at Durham Cycles mentioned this wheelset. Seemingly, simple, repariable without any proprietary parts (I'm looking at you, Mavic spokes), and made of metal. I'm also intrigued by the new "fatter" 23mm rim width. I eventually jumped on the bandwagon and got a 29er mountain bike, after people had hyped bigger wheels as the next big thing, and it really is a design development worth embracing. Same goes for tubeless mountain bike tires (although not tubeless cyclocross tires just yet). However, I've been reluctant to make the switch to fatter road rims since you supposedly need to adjust your brakes when you change wheels.

So dear readers, anyone try out these fat rims? Notice smoother ride? Better cornering? Fewer flats? Increased telepathic powers? Holler back and let me know.

2 comments:

felonious said...

Professor, I have a set of HED belgiums and although only a little wider at 23mm, they make a huge difference in ride quality and confidence while cornering and descending. They make 23mm tires feel plush since you can "run" them at 90psi. I don't think I'd want to ride anything else.

John Miles said...

So did you end up pulling the trigger Chris? Like Ali, I really like the idea behind this, and certainly like wider rims on my mtb, but haven't used the wider road rims. In fact, I'm still riding a pair of Fulcrums that I bought from Tom C several years ago.