Chinese carbon wheels

[Nitram]

Hi all,
With all this talk about the benefits of running 25mm tyres (or wider ?) and lower pressures, I'm thinking of replacing my Reynolds tubs with clinchers that will take 25s.
I've heard the usual stories of Chinese carbon clinchers not coping with heat and cracking etc etc., but I see in the ebay ads that they are talking about building them with Toray T700, for what that's worth. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Dimple-zipp- ... Swu4BVwedx
Has anyone had any RECENT experience road racing on these wheels to enlighten us with ?
Cheers,
Martin

[Duck!]

The grade of fibre is largely irrelevant (T700 is by far the most commonly used carbon fibre in the industry), it's how well it's worked with that determines the quality of the component. The resin that's used to bind the fibres is just as critical, if not more so, particularly when it comes to dealing with heat generated from braking. Not all resins are created equal, and there isn't one resin that's used universally; some handle heat better than others.

One very important feature to look for in carbon clinchers, wherever they're made, is the position of the brake track in relation to the sidewall of the rim. You want the brake track to be a few millimetres down from the lip of the sidewall, so the tracks are supported by the inner wall of the rim. If the brake tracks are high on the sidewalls, the rims are much more prone to the resin melting under hard braking and the sidewalls buckling out under pressure from the tyre.

[ironhanglider]

Hi all,
With all this talk about the benefits of running 25mm tyres (or wider ?) and lower pressures, I'm thinking of replacing my Reynolds tubs with clinchers that will take 25s.
I've heard the usual stories of Chinese carbon clinchers not coping with heat and cracking etc etc., but I see in the ebay ads that they are talking about building them with Toray T700, for what that's worth. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Dimple-zipp- ... Swu4BVwedx
Has anyone had any RECENT experience road racing on these wheels to enlighten us with ?
Cheers,
Martin

Which benefits are most important to you Martin?

Comfort/grip
You could just start by lowering the pressures in your existing tyres. Tubulars will already run lower pressures than equivalent clinchers in the same conditions due to the decreased likelihood of pinch flats.

Next would be to consider your tyre choice, if you are running cheap/stiff/puncture resistant tyres, then lighter/more supple/more expensive tyres will offer better performance. At the same time you could consider putting wider tyres on your existing wheels.

Not forgetting that tubulars are usually rated as more compliant than equivalent clinchers, so you will take a hit in the comfort/grip stakes by switching to clinchers in the first instance, and therefore new wheels are unlikely to improve this. Not forgetting that your frame is going to be what determines what are the biggest tyres you can use, regardless of rim type.

Aero
The aero difference will likely be insignificant, however there is some benefit to be gained from matched rim and tyre sizes. However, if aero was the all important factor, then Chinese knock-offs are unlikely to have the same drag co-efficients as the rims they are trying to look like. I suspect that the new wheels would be unlikely to improve in this area either.


You can buy quite a few tubulars for the $7-800 you'd need to spend for wheels/tyres/tubes/tape etc.

Cheers,

Cameron

[Nitram]

Mmmm. Thanks for that.
But what I was wondering was whether anyone on here has had any recent experience with Chinese carbon clinchers: good or bad.
Cheers,
Martin

[rodneycc]

Mmmm. Thanks for that.
But what I was wondering was whether anyone on here has had any recent experience with Chinese carbon clinchers: good or bad.
Cheers,
Martin

I can recommend Light Bicycle. The lady there (Vivian) was amazingly polite and attentive. The wheels were good as well. Fyi I went with 45mm deep U shape profile with Novotech hubs. About $600 delivered. Just make sure you use quality carbon brake pads like the SwissStop yellows. Makes a big diff from the plain cork ones or those cheap blue barradine pads aren't bad either.

[nickobec]

I bought a couple of pairs of cheap, wide, light chinese clinchers about three years ago. After 3000km the brake tracks started warping, after 5000km they were unusable.

Replaced them with a pair of tawainese gigantex clinchers 55mm rims (probably the same factory your reynolds rims was made in). They are wider, deeper and heavier than the chinese clinchers the replaced. Survived more than 5000km. Great to ride with 25mm GP4000S II

This year bought a pair of cheap 2nd hand carbon tubulars, 35mm Boardmans (so not the same quality as your Reynolds). Just to see what tubulars are like to ride, run then with 25mm Vittoria Corsa CX III

I run both wheelsets at the same pressure 75 psi front, 80 psi rear and seriously the tubulars are my race wheels of choice. I am far more confident in cornering on the tubulars than the clinchers and the ride just feels better.

[open roader]

As a self confessed tubular devotee I don't want to start yet another tubular vs clincher vs tubeless vs whatever war.

My experience has been training on various clinchers wheel/tyre combinations for 5 or 6 years then switching to tubulars again with many different wheel and tyre combinations then also re-trying clinchers side by side with tubulars to discover that I do feel a considerable difference in tubular tyres compared to clinchers and much preferred the differences of tubulars, subtle as they may be.

So I ask the O.P. what do you weigh, what pressures do you typically run on your current tubular set up and which tyres are you riding on currently?

Everyone is indeed different, however, I tend to think if you are riding Reynolds tubular and you are thinking of cheap Chinese clinchers there is something not right in the current set up...............maybe?

[Nitram]

Thanks for the comments.
On the Reynolds I'm using Continental Force Comp rear (24), and Continental Sprinter (22) front (on a Cervelo S2) (100 and 95psi respectively), and in truth I'm totally happy with the steering etc. But generally when I'm using the tubs I'm racing on the super smooth hotmix surface at Penrith Regatta Centre or Eastern Creek (Sydney). In a few weeks I'm going to race at the Tour of Bright in Vic. where the road is often pretty dead (i.e. a coarse and rough surface) and the ride quite harsh with hard tyres.
I got interested in the subject of 25s on wider rims because I read that that harshness is actually slowing the bike down, and that the potential for softer pressures is better with wider tyres/rims. But maybe I should just drop them back to something softer (maybe 75/85 ??) and see if Strava says I'm going slower. Of course there's also the convenience of changing flat clinchers out on the road, but that's a different issue.
Thanks again,
Martin

[Kevzz]

Hi just wondering how you went with these wheels? did you end up getting them ?