A lot of you have maybe heard of the $5000 Pro V1 wheelset from Lew, but I just found out they’re offering rims!
It’s feasable to build a set of these at 960g/set (< 290g per rim) for a bit more ($200) than a pair of Zipps.
I’ve been testing multiple carbon wheelsets this summer and these are next on the slate.
I’m writing extensive reviews of each for the ST community, so look for that shortly.
This set is 1056g w/o skewers, tires, or cassette.
White Industries hubs, Sapim CX-Ray spokes, Pillar nipples
Hutchinson tubies, Salsa Ti skewers.
Avery cool technical feature of these rims in the last pic… a big hole near the vlave.
It completely eliminated that bulge you commonly get around the valve, making the ride exceptionally smooth.
Not an easy build, but easier than Zipps.
My initial reaction to the wheels is that they rock, but I’ll get more detailed later.
How is the quality of the rims? the part you mount the tire on doesn’t seem that good of quality… I’ve heard of a few problems with Lew and their quality, so I was wondering what their rim quality is like.
The rims are very stiff (I tried twisting one) and the molding is clean and precise. However, they are unfinished. They have no clear coat or cosmetic carbon weave, so they look raw. With the exception of the valve hole, all other areas look great, even the inside. the hole drillings and inside of the rim are very clean, much cleaner than my zipps. At the valve, you can tell they cut away a section and used a minimal amount of epoxy to stop the edge from chipping. It’s ugly, but it ultimately is not seen and it seems to work quite nicely.
What White Indusrty hubs is that? I have my 404s built on White Indusrty LTA hubs with Sapim’s and am a big fan of the hub…Have never seen that one before though and was curious what model it was… have never seen a WI in black either.
We eagerly await your “extensive reviews”. Why? For what? Are you going to wind tunnel them against Mavic, Zipp, Dura-ace, Bontrager? On different set-ups? All else is truly anecdotal and inapplicable to others.
They call it the H1. I think it’s new this year. I don’t remember them being this light when I’ve looked in years past. They’ll make you anything you want if you ask and pay nicely, but I think all their hubs come in black. This set is an un-advertised, but still “stock” 16/20-hole drilling - as in I asked and they had it on hand without having to make it just for me.
It will be a completely subjective review by an objective, unaffiliated person. So yes, to people like you, it will mean absolutely nothing, but for people who would like to know what it’s like to ride on and work on a few nice wheelsets in real world conditions, they will gain some valuable information.
It will include the following: Zipp 808’s, Reynolds Stratus DV UL, Bontrager Race XXX lite (110gsm), these Lews, and a hand-built wheelset. It will be more like a Cyclingnews review.
