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Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels?
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I have read, searched, and researched, and these two both look appealing. There is a 164 page thread on weightweenies, but just seeing if anyone here has any thoughts either. Please keep any unhelpful posts like, "It's Chinese so it will explode" to yourself. Those comments are so 2013.

Light Bicycle looks more appealing and a bit better quality, but the ICAN wheels, especially the newer FL or AERO series are nice and can be at my door in a couple days from Amazon. They also seem a bit lighter as well. I can't find any wind tunnel information on the ICAN wheels, but Hambini shows very good results with the 46mm and 56mm depth Lightbicycle wheels.
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Re: Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels? [BLD 25] [ In reply to ]
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I've built and used several lightbicycle rims over the years on MTB and Cross/Gravel bikes. Never a single issue.....all older models so no experience on their newer products but would assume they have only gotten better and not worse. I have set on my current gravel bike. 6 years old with no issues (although not a ton of miles on them). I would not hesitate to use them especially disc specific rims. That being said, if the total cost to build lightbicycles vs standard brand, I go with a standard brand just due to the warranty.
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Re: Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels? [BLD 25] [ In reply to ]
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Another brand you might look at is Farsports. They have comparable quality and reputation to LB. I was going to order LB but their shipping costs were very high, Farsports came out cheaper factoring in shipping. I've bought 3 wheelsets from Farsports for myself and my wife in the last few months and been happy with the build quality, much better than some inexpensive generic chinese wheels I ordered a few years ago, in which the rims were clearly not of the same quality and they were not as true. On the other hand those wheels have held up fine so the ICAN would probably be OK.

The Farsports wheels I bought were for gravel and general training so wasn't concerned with getting absolute objective data on aerodynamics, but they seem to perform well from my anecdotal experience so far. As for Hambini's aero tests, I don't think you'll find many people here on ST that give him much credence, opinions range from general skepticism of his conclusions, to belief that he outright fakes his data, there's been lots of discussion over the years if you want to do the research.
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Re: Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels? [tttiltheend] [ In reply to ]
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tttiltheend wrote:
Another brand you might look at is Farsports. They have comparable quality and reputation to LB. I was going to order LB but their shipping costs were very high, Farsports came out cheaper factoring in shipping. I've bought 3 wheelsets from Farsports for myself and my wife in the last few months and been happy with the build quality, much better than some inexpensive generic chinese wheels I ordered a few years ago, in which the rims were clearly not of the same quality and they were not as true. On the other hand those wheels have held up fine so the ICAN would probably be OK.

The Farsports wheels I bought were for gravel and general training so wasn't concerned with getting absolute objective data on aerodynamics, but they seem to perform well from my anecdotal experience so far. As for Hambini's aero tests, I don't think you'll find many people here on ST that give him much credence, opinions range from general skepticism of his conclusions, to belief that he outright fakes his data, there's been lots of discussion over the years if you want to do the research.

Thanks. I didn't look at shipping until you mentioned it, and shipping and handling is $65 with a 5-7 week wait time. Dang.

I read here alot about Hambini, and I see good and bad. I guess I shouldn't treat it as Gospel though.
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Re: Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels? [MKirk] [ In reply to ]
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MKirk wrote:
I've built and used several lightbicycle rims over the years on MTB and Cross/Gravel bikes. Never a single issue.....all older models so no experience on their newer products but would assume they have only gotten better and not worse. I have set on my current gravel bike. 6 years old with no issues (although not a ton of miles on them). I would not hesitate to use them especially disc specific rims. That being said, if the total cost to build lightbicycles vs standard brand, I go with a standard brand just due to the warranty.

That's good feedback. Too bad shipping and wait time is so bad!
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Re: Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels? [BLD 25] [ In reply to ]
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Hey BLD,
Yes, I have an ICAN 50c wheelset on my old road bike right now purchased back around 2018. I re-built my Powertap hub into the back and have been quite pleased with them. Got 'em on clearance from an ICAN supplier in CA IIRC. PM me if you have any specific questions.
Cheers,
Eric

Here's the cross-section if you want it...


PS: Reading the responses, I too prefer to source items nearby...that is to say, North America. Only once have I sourced an item from China/Taiwan, etc. Likewise, I experienced the frustration and test-of-patience that others have mentioned. Jeez, waiting for an item to travel from the east coast to Washington state is exasperating enough.
Last edited by: skipper0802: Mar 1, 21 17:12
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Re: Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels? [BLD 25] [ In reply to ]
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I have two sets of LB wheels due to arrive in a couple of weeks.
A carbon expert I trust who works with the bike industry in Taiwan wrote they were legit top quality... up there with the best.
Aero? Probably close enough.
Not many wheel brands making 25mm internal, 32mm external rims for a reasonable price.

Shipping time from China, and my order going in through the Chinese New Year makes the wait for them a bit of a pain, but it's still ski season here so whatever.
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Re: Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels? [BLD 25] [ In reply to ]
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BLD 25 wrote:
I have read, searched, and researched, and these two both look appealing. There is a 164 page thread on weightweenies, but just seeing if anyone here has any thoughts either. Please keep any unhelpful posts like, "It's Chinese so it will explode" to yourself. Those comments are so 2013.

Light Bicycle looks more appealing and a bit better quality, but the ICAN wheels, especially the newer FL or AERO series are nice and can be at my door in a couple days from Amazon. They also seem a bit lighter as well. I can't find any wind tunnel information on the ICAN wheels, but Hambini shows very good results with the 46mm and 56mm depth Lightbicycle wheels.

I bought some 80mm LB race wheels a few years ago and didn't have a good experience. They took 4 weeks to arrive, both wheels had been damaged in transit, the packaging was nothing more than a cardboard box with some foam bits. LB became difficult to deal with, they wouldn't admit the packaging was inadequate, eventually they relented and replaced the wheels, but I had to send mine back, So by the time my new ones arrived it had been 3 months since I purchased them. This needs to be factored in when buying from China. Anything goes wrong, you will be waiting a long time.

They weren't that cheap either, $800 Aus inc. shipping. I bought a near new 808 wheelset for the same price (tubs). I bought a Zipp Super 9 disc for $700 (used once). The resale is shocking. As soon as people find out they are Chinese, they are not interested. I ended up selling mine for $100, although the front was buckled. I'm not sure why people would opt for new Chinese, when they can get near new 2nd hand Zipps, HED etc for the same price.

No idea how it came to be buckled, never had that before or since with a variety of training and race wheels. I took it to a bike shop who tried to true it, but said the spoked were ultra tight or something, can't remember and he couldn't do much with it. He seemed a bit confused which led me to believe the wheels weren't built right? Who knows.
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Re: Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels? [skipper0802] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks, everyone. I really think both sound good, but have their cons. If all were the same, I think I am leaning towards the LB wheels. However, I didn't realize how expensive the shipping is, and I am not really interested in waiting 4-6 weeks.

The ICAN wheels would be here this week, and while not as wide at about 18.5mm internal, ZIPPs are 19mm, and still the gold standard. Keep opinions coming!
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Re: Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels? [BLD 25] [ In reply to ]
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BLD 25 wrote:
Thanks, everyone. I really think both sound good, but have their cons. If all were the same, I think I am leaning towards the LB wheels. However, I didn't realize how expensive the shipping is, and I am not really interested in waiting 4-6 weeks.

The ICAN wheels would be here this week, and while not as wide at about 18.5mm internal, ZIPPs are 19mm, and still the gold standard. Keep opinions coming!


Yup shipping is a PITA especially if , like me, you have an issue. When I bought a Renn disc, shipped from USA to Australia, it took 7 days to arrive. It too had been damaged in transit, but Renn sent me a replacement, no questions asked with just a photo. So that was a 2 week turnaround compared to LB's 16 weeks.

TBH I'm not sure how these companies are still in business. Who is buying their products? They obviously have customers somewhere. They certainly aren't particularly popular in Australia.
Last edited by: zedzded: Mar 1, 21 17:34
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Re: Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels? [BLD 25] [ In reply to ]
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I bought ICAN Wheelset three years ago through Amazon,FR and I am very pleased with them.
Shipping packaging was sturdy, wheels looks good and are very light for their price.
I recommend them.
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Re: Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels? [ppkestrel] [ In reply to ]
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ppkestrel wrote:
I bought ICAN Wheelset three years ago through Amazon,FR and I am very pleased with them.
Shipping packaging was sturdy, wheels looks good and are very light for their price.
I recommend them.
Thanks! Yeah, the appeal of the ICAN wheels are the weight and how you don't have to wait for half a year to get them.
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Re: Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels? [BLD 25] [ In reply to ]
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As a recent customer, here is my experience with LightBicycle so far. I placed an order for January 23rd for a Novatec hub/R65 road disc brake wheelset. Unfortunately, that was right before the spring festival in China, which meant a 3 week production shutdown. They notified me up front during my order of this upcoming shutdown. The website gives you order updates every step of the way as the wheel carbon is laid up, painted, sanded and the wheel is assembled. Right now my wheels are in the wheelbuilding step. I had a couple questions along the way on decal colors and they were extremely responsive. The customer service has been excellent. I am shipping using their EMS option to the US, should be 5-7 weeks shipping time.
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Re: Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels? [khanlon] [ In reply to ]
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khanlon wrote:
As a recent customer, here is my experience with LightBicycle so far. I placed an order for January 23rd for a Novatec hub/R65 road disc brake wheelset. Unfortunately, that was right before the spring festival in China, which meant a 3 week production shutdown. They notified me up front during my order of this upcoming shutdown. The website gives you order updates every step of the way as the wheel carbon is laid up, painted, sanded and the wheel is assembled. Right now my wheels are in the wheelbuilding step. I had a couple questions along the way on decal colors and they were extremely responsive. The customer service has been excellent. I am shipping using their EMS option to the US, should be 5-7 weeks shipping time.

And if there is an issue with the wheels, you will have to send them back and wait for replacements. So you'd be looking at April/May?
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Re: Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels? [khanlon] [ In reply to ]
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EMS shipping from China to the US should take about five days.
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Re: Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels? [BLD 25] [ In reply to ]
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I order a LB custom 50mm set, the wide boys in 33 external width disc with DT Swiss 240s for my Venge Pro. Took a LONG time, but I knew it was going to be 3 months. LB sent an email every month or so letting me know the status. One the wheels failed QC and they had to remake it. I appreciated their attention to detail. Wheels came perfectly true, undamaged. Set up tubeless with TL 28s...fast, smooth...no flex even in the light weight build.
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Re: Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels? [anthonypat] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks. I keep going back and forth on these. The appeal of getting them in a couple of days from amazon is a strong favor for the ICAN set.
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Re: Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels? [BLD 25] [ In reply to ]
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I have 2 pairs of ICAN wheels. The first pair are rim brake that I bought off Amazon late-2016. Was looking for pair of lightweight carbon wheels. Was about to build a set of my own and saw the ICAN. Figured I couldn't go wrong, since I would return them...plus it was Prime shipping. These were going to be same parts I was going to build my own wheels with anyway. I checked the spoke tension when they arrived and was very impressed...nice and even. Have probably about 12k+ miles on them and still going strong. Same for my ICAN Aero 40s disc brake that I got in 2019. The only issue was the bearings going in the freehub. Something I just replaced myself, since the wheels had 10K miles on them.

I've also built up a few pair of Light Bicycle rims. I like their rims as well as Nextie. Seem to be good quality...at least as good as any other manufacturer (eg, Zipp, Enve).

"Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps"
Blog = http://extrememomentum.com|Photos = http://wheelgoodphotos.com
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Re: Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels? [khanlon] [ In reply to ]
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I wanted to update my post from earlier. Hopefully showing this process for a LightBicycle order helps someone. Ordered wheels on 1/23/21. Shipped via MTS (not EMS as I incorrectly mentioned below) on 3/5. There was the chinese new year right after my order which added a three week delay. Wheels have arrived in the US as of 3/21. They are being transitioned to UPS for final delivery to me here in MA. Will update when I receive the wheels.

khanlon wrote:
As a recent customer, here is my experience with LightBicycle so far. I placed an order for January 23rd for a Novatec hub/R65 road disc brake wheelset. Unfortunately, that was right before the spring festival in China, which meant a 3 week production shutdown. They notified me up front during my order of this upcoming shutdown. The website gives you order updates every step of the way as the wheel carbon is laid up, painted, sanded and the wheel is assembled. Right now my wheels are in the wheelbuilding step. I had a couple questions along the way on decal colors and they were extremely responsive. The customer service has been excellent. I am shipping using their EMS option to the US, should be 5-7 weeks shipping time.
Last edited by: khanlon: Mar 27, 21 4:13
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Re: Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels? [khanlon] [ In reply to ]
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I recently took delivery of a Lightbicycle Trispoke. Got it about 10 days ago having ordered it mid November. It was special order as I requested a tubular rim so wasn’t ready for dispatch until January and got held up due to Brexit and UK lock down in January and was returned to Lightbicycle with out it getting to me. When they got it back they payed for a more expensive shipping option and sorted out the paperwork so that I would not have to pay any tax or import charges and received it about 5 days after the second dispatch date.
They also offered me a discount on any future orders and always answered my emails promptly.
I would buy from them again with the caveat that I’m pretty sure there would be a prolonged wait before receiving my order.
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Re: Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels? [BLD 25] [ In reply to ]
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I have both!

I put some LB rims on my MTB several years ago (5?) and have thousands of miles on them including events like Leadville 100, Kokepelli Trail, La Ruta in Costa Rica and multiple weekends in Moab. They are still true and holding air with a few cosmetic (I hope) scuffs from rock strikes.

I put some ICAN wheels on a new Tarmac 3 years ago ( with rim brakes) and they have been equally dependable , although I don’t love the sound or 1’st squeeze braking response..I’ve done a few braking tests side-by-side with buddies on Envy & Mavic carbon rims and they are comparable / equal.

I’ve had a few pairs of Zipp and Envy wheels as well, I don’t see much point in the premium...but if I was doing an epic back-country event I would probably feel safer on a name brand.

" I take my gear out of my car and put my bike together. Tourists and locals are watching from sidewalk cafes. Non-racers. The emptiness of of their lives shocks me. "
(opening lines from Tim Krabbe's The Rider , 1978
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Re: Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels? [BLD 25] [ In reply to ]
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I have 4 set of wheels from Farsports. Great to work with and awesome wheels too. I have a set of 20mm carbon tubulars with ED ceramic bering hubs that weigh 766 for the pair, great climbing wheels. I also have a set of 38mm 21mm wide clinchers with the same ED hubs that are 1276 grams and have about 35,000 on them. The bearings still feel buttery smooth but did have to have the rear wheel respond twice. Sapim CXray spokes on all my builds.

Then I build a disc bike. A Litespeed T3 and bought from Farsports a set of 38mm 25mm wide with Bitex hubs. They were about 1450 for the pair and even though I have bought ceramic bearings for them they just spin very sweet and no issues so I have yet to install the ceramic bearings.My latest wheels from them where for my disc bike also. 55mm 25mm wide with Novetec hubs again that have no holes on the inside rim so no rim tape necessary. 1600 grams for the pair and being u shaped hubs that handle great in the wind. I was riding them this weekend with 30 to 40 MPH gusts and they handled great.

Their shipping is reasonable and so are their prices.
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Re: Anyone with personal experience of Light Bicycle wheels or ICAN wheels? [BLD 25] [ In reply to ]
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I've had a set of Light Bicycle WR56's on my road bike since August 2019 and have been extremely pleased with them.
My only observation is that bearing life in the Novatec hubs hasn't been great but some of that is down to me not being able to choose better spec hubs at purchase date.
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