Seen a fair amount of chatter about this and am always sort of curious why everyone cares really?

Prototype wheels had anodized tracks that everyone ooh'd and aww'd over. Then Flo announced production wheels would have silver tracks because anodization on the track would clearly wear. Everyone got upset and said oh no, we'll deal with it, give us our black tracks!

So here they are, and they wear as promised. Brakes work exactly the same, just with your track slowly changing from black to silver like it is on every single other aluminum track wheel.

Guess I don't really see what the fuss is about.

I hear they wear down to the aluminum in spots after a relative low mileage.At the price point they are selling the wheels they did not have the tech. and money to avoid that and should have gone with a all aluminum brake brake.

Yes, thank you everyone for informing me of things I already know. I already have a set on order. I'm just interested in how it actually looks when it wears. Not concerned.

Fussing is what it seems you're doing.

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"One Line Robert"

There is no such thing as "the tech" to prevent it. It's just an aluminum brake track, anodized black. The only other wheels with what appears to be black brake tracks are wheels that don't actually have brake tracks, i.e. structural carbon wheels where the braking surface is just the wheel itself.

You are right in a way though that they probably should not have anodized the tracks, as they originally said they wouldn't, rather than give in to the feedback and keep them black, thus opening themselves up to shock and dismay as exactly what they said would happen does in fact happen.

Any anodized rim will wear eventually. It is just more noticeable when the silver peeks through black vs. grey. If you use them for road racing or crits I can see how the wear would happen pretty quickly, but for time trials or triathlon??? How often are you on your brakes??

Mavic's exalith rim treatment gives a grey/black look on an aluminum rim. Though even their treatment apparently wears off over time depending on usage. Also, ceramic treatments on alloy rims give a darker grey appearance.

Here is a pic of my rear FLO 60. It has approx. 1,000 miles which includes 5 or 6 races (road). The black is basically completely gone.

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I don't fault the Flo guys for caving to perceived market demand, but I guess I also don't understand the point of anodizing the rims. Did people really think they were going to get faux "carbon-look" (black fairing/black rim) wheels, and did they really think the brake track would stay black? As things stand, rather than a silver rim, there's a black-edged rim with a silver brake track.

I still plan to get a set, but IMO silver rims would have been more, I don't know, honest?

I'm guessing it was more of a matter of the guys from FLO wanting the wheel to look like carbon.

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24 Hour World TT Champs-American record holder
Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
Insta: chris.s.apex

Go back and check the Flo development thread. I think the Flo team actually wanted the rims to be silver.

I don't see how this is a problem. Either way the brake tracks are going to be silver. The only difference is they look a little cooler for while then they go back to normal.

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+1

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Formerly DrD

I posted the pic above - I should have mentioned that I could care less about the black anodization coming off. The wheels have been great so far, and I wouldnt hesitate buying another set.

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The only thing the FLO guys are guilty of is satisfying their customer. The decision to have the brake tracks anodized was pretty much unanimously voted in by their (at that time) potential customers because, well they (the customer) wanted it to look like carbon. Remember they were very open in their early design stages, right from the logo, the sticker colour, and the brake track choice.

geetee wrote:

Did people really think they were going to get faux "carbon-look" (black fairing/black rim) wheels, and did they really think the brake track would stay black?

Probably....most of them probably don't even know what anodizing is. All they heard was "black brake track" and chose to ignore or disbelieve the claims that it would wear off.....because you know....those industry types like to exaggerate things like that for liability reasons.

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sometimes you just have to eat the cake

The black doesn't wear off if you don't use the brakes.............

LOL
very good!
i was going to suggest applying a film of WD40 to the brake track prior to every ride. :-P

i have a set in pre-order 1, wave 2. should be here next week. i really don't care what the track looks like. it was still a sweet deal for what seems like a good wheel.
if anyone bought a disc or a rear 90 and is unhappy with the track, i am in the market. i wish i had ordered one.

Fastest wheels EVER!

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sometimes you just have to eat the cake

Its sounds like you're using them as training wheels. Are they holding up well to everyday riding?

I've been using the wheels for most of my riding lately - training and racing. They are holding up very well. I checked them yesterday for trueness, and they haven't moved.

I'm not going to say they are "bomb proof" as I only have about 1,300km on them, but so far so good. I must note that I'm only 145 pounds, so I'm not putting as much stress on the wheels as some might.

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Here's an example of my rear Flo90 (tire is deflated) after one race on a hilly and very wet 70.3 event yesterday. Prior to yesterdays race, the wheels showed absolutely no track wear as I train on a trainer with a different rear wheel. Not at all surprised of the wear and could really care less about it.

Digging up an old thread, I know...

It just occurred to me that the whole brake track wear issue might be resolved soon if/when FLO releases a disc-brake wheel. Not that I'm in the "disc-camp", but it looks like at some point the market will forces a global shift to disc brakes.

Anybody know if FLO have something planned?
Any of the bros care to comment?

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if you can read this
YOU'RE DRAFTING!

Looks like they have one in the works.


https://www.instagram.com/p/BPvgk9TFb47/

cool!

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if you can read this
YOU'RE DRAFTING!

I think that looks better than a shiny aluminum brake track. The anodized material remaining in the machining grooves leaves a cool dull grey colour from a few feet away. I like it.