PEZ of Pezcyclingnews posted these on WeightWeenies so the credit goes to him and I thought that everyone here would like to see these.
http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=72926
Did not want to post the whole thing here but they look pretty cool.
Those look hot. Very hot. Integrated spokes can be bad if you break one, but damn if they don’t look spiffy. Interesting indeed.
It will be interesting to see how they hold up after all the issues with Spinergy’s
.
I don’t knw that Spinergy is a good analogy. More like R-Sys:
http://cytex.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/1wheel.jpg
I kid I kid, if the wheels perform like they claim, its great to have one more competitor in the market.
Or how about the legendary Lightweights? These could absolutely be on par. I’m not keen on the 6k finish though. Wheels seem to look better with uni-d, but maybe that’s just because that’s what we are all used to now.
This is Ric Hjertberg’s new project, and there are very, very few people on the planet who know as much about wheels as he does. He’s also one of the brightest guys you will ever meet.
Ric has been working on these for a while, and the early reports I have heard have been over-the-top positive.
They’re the real deal, for sure.
.
Still find these interesting. Surely a small niche market, but compared to what else is similar to these, they might have an edge. Good read on Lavamagazine:
http://lavamagazine.com/gear/tested-wheels-demo-d-in-the-dirt
does he know much about aerodynamics? I have a hard time believing those wheels would test well in a wind tunnel.
I don’t knw that Spinergy is a good analogy. More like R-Sys:
http://cytex.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/1wheel.jpg
I kid I kid, if the wheels perform like they claim, its great to have one more competitor in the market.
cringe
ouch. I bet that was day full of suck.
it says the ‘spokes’ are thin & flexible as a piece of paper, but functional under load.
better be careful with packing these puppies, and i hope they have a solid crash replacement policy.
I don’t knw that Spinergy is a good analogy. More like R-Sys:
http://cytex.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/1wheel.jpg
I kid I kid, if the wheels perform like they claim, its great to have one more competitor in the market.
Spinergy is a good example b/c they use the two wheel halves brought together as these do. That process is what led to a lot of failures as the wheel aged.
A friend noticed this too:
“If you look at the cross section they also take a lot of material out along the deeper part of the tubular channel. Definitely extra care would be required during the cleaning of these rims and tubular removal.”
They’re at the R-sys price point and will compete with them. I wonder what that front wheel will do in heavy x-winds.
it says the ‘spokes’ are thin & flexible as a piece of paper, but functional under load.
better be careful with packing these puppies, and i hope they have a solid crash replacement policy.
Yeah, the seem cool, but not so different from ADA or Lightweight. What I’m interested in is:
I think it’s great when folks with a lot of smarts and skills make products that push the envelope. But especially with these sort of wheels (carbon “spokes”), they have performed disastrously in the tunnel in the past.
They had those out in June at a local Seattle tri, though unfortunately not on a bike to try. They seemed well finished and pretty light!
I’ve been able to do a parking lot ride on them - they do feel very nice (completely subjective, but the wind tunnel was closed that day). I think “springy in a good way” would be the best way to describe it and feel more lively than an 808, HED3 or Jet 90 (the 3 wheels I’ve most recently ridden which are around the same category).
However, up close they look like an arts-and-crafts project. The bonding on the spokes close to the hub looks pretty weak as it’s just the two CF pieces (radial array and spoke) laid on top of each other and glued.
The rep said they tested better then an 808 at high yaw angles, but couldn’t say how much or what angle. Also they have been load tested to 700 lb on a rolling barrel, but as I pointed out to the rep the wheel needs to see an impact before it can be deemed safe.
They do make a really cool swirling/slicing sound in the wind when at speed.
does he know much about aerodynamics? I have a hard time believing those wheels would test well in a wind tunnel.
http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/8336/presentation1dd.jpg
You can read more here: http://www.madfiber.com/aerodynamics-article
Does anyone have info on the wheel they used for comparison? Mad Fiber only says “Light blue curve is a very well known and highly developed carbon rim aero wheel.”
Jon
For $2600 per set they better pack themselves in the box with extra bubble wrap.
Mavic “mad wheel” R2R: 
Associated products: Cosmic Carbone Ultimate Cosmic Carbone SLR Cosmic Carbone SR Rim to Rim. R2R cuts spoke count by 2, resulting in only 2 spoke ends instead of 4: - better aerodynamics: smooth integration of the spoke to the hub flanges - lighter: carbon spokes are lighter than alloy ones - stiffer: unidirectional carbon fiber spokes have a greater resistance to traction - stronger: since R2R reduces the number of spoke in half, it cuts the chances of spoke breakage as well
Picking nits here, but the article mentions a B1 bomber. The B1 was the Lancer and very much looks like a plane (although a cool one). They probably meant the B2 Spirit.