Anybody have any experience with William’s Carbon Clinchers?
The 38mm set looks like an awesome all-round set and for $1000 they look like a great deal.
Hold off for Flo Cycling’s wheels. They’re deeper and cheaper–a combination that rarely goes together.
I was looking at their website… Looks like they are having some start up pain. Is there an ETA on their product? Cheaper than $1000?
Hold off for Flo Cycling’s wheels. They’re deeper and cheaper–a combination that rarely goes together.
Thanks for keeping us in mind! We appreciate it.
I was looking at their website… Looks like they are having some start up pain. Is there an ETA on their product? Cheaper than $1000?
We had some issues with our first factory but those have been resolved. Last week we approved final engineering drawings with our new factory. We are currently pushing for a 2012 season release.
Our estimated prices are currently $375 for front 60 and 90 mm wheels, $425 for rear 60 and 90 mm (which works out to $799 per set) and $499 for our lenticular disc.
If you have any additional questions please don’t hesitate to ask.
Take care,
What’s lenticular disc mean? Not flatted? What’s the difference between that and a standard Zipp or HED disc…if there is any?
What’s lenticular disc mean? Not flatted? What’s the difference between that and a standard Zipp or HED disc…if there is any?
Conventionally discs were flat from hub to tire. Some of the newer disc wheels have a bulged shape near the rim. In our example our FLO DISC follows our FLO 90 fairing shape until you run into the spoke line. When you do, the carbon fiber just follows the spokes (more or less) to the hub. If you are familiar with the Zipp Sub 9 or the HED Jet disc wheel, you’ll understand what I mean. I don’t have a great picture with me but here is a screen shot of our FLO DISC in the wind tunnel. You can see the bulge I’m talking about.
http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc409/flocycling/DISC.jpg
Let me know if you have any more questions,
I recently got to ride a pair of their 58mm’s in a crit race and was very impressed. Stiff, decent weight, good handling, and solid breaking, could not ask for more at the price. The Flo wheels look cool but i would not wait if you have a good deal on them.
The Williams stuff is pretty good. They’re local (Nor Cal) and a lot of guys train and race on their wheels.
I am not in a hurry. I signed up for the Flo newsletter so hopefully they get product flowing. I think there is definitely a markey for a good quality, reasonable priced offering. A little price pressure on the likes of Zipp can only be a good thing. Any other specs/pict available? Weight, spoke type/count? Campy version?
I am not in a hurry. I signed up for the Flo newsletter so hopefully they get product flowing. I think there is definitely a markey for a good quality, reasonable priced offering. A little price pressure on the likes of Zipp can only be a good thing. Any other specs/pict available? Weight, spoke type/count? Campy version?
Here is the basic run down of our products. Our blog has a ton of information if you want more. You can find a link to that in my signature.
Custom designed shapes. 2 years of development, CFD and Wind tunnel testing. Campy and Clydesdale available.
Hubs: FLO VORTEX Hubs. High quality lightweight hubs with Japanese EZO bearings or a ceramic upgrade option.
Spokes: Sapim CX-Ray for our FLO 60 and 90 and Sapim Laser for our FLO DISC.
24.4mm custom made wide rims made from 6066 aluminum
3k Carbon fiber fairings.
If you visit our blog our “component series” breaks down all of the above listed components in great detail.
Weight… we are still waiting on that but we are in the 1750-1950 gram range for sets as an estimate. The FLO DISC is 1300-1400 as an estimate.
Thanks for the interest. Let me know if you have any additional questions.
I have the Williams 30X and just purchased the System 85. I also used to race on the System 58’s. I am a rough rider (not like DMX) and all my Williams Wheels have held up beautifully. I split time between road racing and triathlon, the wheels work well for both.
As for Flo… I understand their challenge with getting going, and feel for them. I’d liked to have considered them further but my “A” race is Beach to Battleship this year and I just couldn’t wait any longer to purchase wheels. If their wheel quality is anywhere near their marketing machine… I suspect they’ll do well.
it would be nice if more companies made 650c wheels. zipps are just too overpriced
I train and race on the 38’s on my road bike and have an 85 rear on my TT bike. I’ve had no problems. I would buy them again.
If their wheel quality is anywhere near their marketing machine… I suspect they’ll do well.
That is a really big compliment. I really appreciate that… thank you.
it would be nice if more companies made 650c wheels. zipps are just too overpriced
650c wheels are much less common than a 700c wheel. For a company like ours… one who opens custom molds for each wheels we design (fairings, spoke hole pattern tooling, rims)… there is a large initial investment to bring a wheel to market. As a start up company, it was something we simply couldn’t afford early on. We will definitely consider it in the future but we will have to be certain the initial investment will pay itself back. I know I’m likely not telling you what you want to hear, but it’s simply something we can’t afford to do at the current time.
I hope you understand,
Have a set of Williams 58 Carbon Clinchers with a PT hub. No problems in 1.5 years I’ve had them. Solid wheelset. Also have a set of the System 30 wheels as a training set also with PT hub that I’ve been using for almost 2 years. Zero problems with either set. Customer service was excellent when purchasing the wheels and have heard good things about response post sale.
Randy
What length races do you do? Sprints, Oly, HIM, IM?
I’m looking for a wheelset to train/race and WIlliam’s carbon clinchers seem to be a fantastic value but it’s lack of popularity within the triathlon community makes me wonder why?
Edge Design stuff is better. Much more durable and same weight.
Is it just me… or are there a lot of smaller companies coming into the market with a 38mm or a 50mm carbon clincher for about $1k and 1500g? Are they all getting rims for the same shop in china/taiwan? I have heard Williams uses Carbotech rims. Is it possible to just buy the rims? Flo looks like they are designing their own hoops (hence the delay getting to market) but is everyone else just sourcing a rim from a generic carbon shop like hong fu?