TWE aero carbon rims

[trianything]

Hi all
Anyone used Greg's all carbon aero clinchers? Pretty light for the price. I have his lightweight alloy rims which are excellent.
Any comments on them including stiffness, crosswind performance (especially) and durability would be much appreciated. I'm light and not particularly powerful so not overly worried about flex but nonetheless any views welcome.
Cheers
CH

[vander]

Only heard good things about them. I have a set on the track and they are great, havent had a problem with stiffness on the track, too new to comment on durability but I know people that have had sets for years (both track and road) and never had any issues. Will be getting a set for my road bike when I can afford them.

[trianything]

Vander. Thanks mate that's reassuring. I'm super happy with my TWE's which are a couple years old now. Never gone out of true. Can't believe he can do the aero wheelset for well under 2K, maybe it's the mark up with the HED/Zipp/Enve's that's the issue. CH

[Le Mong]

What is the rim profile like?

[open roader]

I had a pair of Greg's TWE full carbon 50mm deep clinchers with 19mm wide rims fitted up with his own TWE 'Premier' quality hubs laced in with DT swiss Aero Lite spokes 20fr / 24r circa late 2009 and weighing 1380grams for the pair as I recall.

I rode these on a Giant TCR Adv. 1 frame and found them to be very lively, offering feedback from the road (you knew exactly what sort of road surface and degrees you were riding on. These were still quite fast to accelerate compared to a lightweight box section rim wheel and def. required a tad less effort to keep rolling once the speeds climbed well apst 30km/hr.

I had these matched to a couple of pairs of Schwalbe R.1 slick tyres and found this package very fast to steer and yet not overly flighty on decents and when the crosswinds did grab a hold of them which was generally when the winds pushed above 40km/hr and were dead set coming in from the side at 90 degrees.

In all I put just under 2,000 km on these in 18 months. I had the rear wheel go slightly out of whack (1.5mm) and despite opening the brakes as much as I would dare before I had to use too much lever to get some braking; the rim still rubbed slightly when I was out of the saddle and pushing hard on the drive side down stroke. My mechanic (qualified, trustworthy and very experienced) pulled one of the spokes clean out of the rim when making preliminary truing adjustments.

To his credit Greg replaced the rim as soon as it arrived in his workshop under his excellent warranty arrangement. He explained that he had had a few occurances of this nature and that he had changed both rim supplier for this wheel typre and also slighty upped the spec on the rim leading edge/spoke wall. The repair cost me only postage to get the wheel to him and took 3 weeks from breakage to return which I thought accepatable considering I live in country Victoria and postage is hardly warp speed here.

I sold the wheelset soon after but only as I was changing bikes and did not want to match a 50mm aero wheel on my next bike. So my suggestion would be to opt for a higher spoke count rear wheel if you want TWE wheels - despite Greg changing the rim spec. I was an 80kg rider back then and did not really make too many demands of my bikes (still don't) and i got a TWE 50mm 24 spoke wheel to flex enough to catch a brake pad set a good 2mm off closest rotation. The wheels do perform aerodynamically in my perfectly subjective opionion so adding more spokes to the set is a better option than going too light weight. The TWE premier hubs were excellent, they both spun forever on the stand but I cannot comment on longevity of these beyond 18 months of age from new.

I also have two pairs of TWE 26" MTB wheels (alloy) which have never missed a beat in the rain and grit for 4+ years.

I resisted temptation and ordered plain white decals

[trianything]

Thanks OR. I'm a bit lighter at 61kg (yup hill climber trying to keep up with the bigger chaps on the flats) so I am now debating 24 or 28 spokes. My alloys are 28 as I intended to use them for training too. Same with these aero's so maybe 28 better. Will probably add a few grams to the weight no biggie. Backup service sounds good and Greg had reassured me of that when I bought the last set. Nice looking bike. I'm going stealth decals like the current pair.
Le Mong, I don't think they are ZIPP type profiles. If they were, Greg would have said I guess. Nothing on the website about that too. But I'm after 28/38 so probably not crucial. Wondering if I can go 48mm for rear hence asking about crosswind performance. Cheers

[open roader]

I am now debating 24 or 28 spokes. My alloys are 28 as I intended to use them for training too

If I were ordering another pair of TWE aero clinchers it would be 28 rear and 24 front, and maybe beefier spokes, esp in the rear even though I am relatively speaking, a low power producing rider.

I'm going stealth decals like the current pair

I most likely also would have gone for those stealth decals if Greg had them avail. back then - esp. on the Giant bike.

Wondering if I can go 48mm for rear hence asking about crosswind performance.

My experience with a mis-matched pair of Xentis Mark 1 wheels (quite different to TWE but still mixed depth aero rims) has been good using a shallower front profile and a deeper rear profile. I live in a windy area and ride in open countryside 90% of my miles. Most days here have plenty of wind for 9 months of the year, so if you want to ride then you simply get well used to riding in windy conditions. I find now at 76kg bodyweight a 40km/hr cross wind does not gather my attention so much - esp. on the front end of the bike utilising a shallower front rim profile compared to the rear. If you want to take best advantage of aero profile rims I think this combination is a real world winner for solo riding in crosswinds.

[trianything]

Yup I've been thinking along the same lines. 28 front and 38 or 48 rear. It is said a lot of the aero advantage is in the front rim depth though. 40kmh crosswind? I'd be on the rollers at home instead! Thanks

[vander]

I would just go both 50mm and for you (AT) 60kg you wouldnt need anymore than 20/24 f/r spoke count, if I were you I would go 16/20, the number of spokes makes a big difference (as with depth) and you really dont need any more than that. Talk to Greg see what he says and remember he is the expert.

[trianything]

Yeah I've been thinking 28f/38r might possibly be neither here nor there for my speeds. Could go up to 38f/50r but I do wonder if some of the gusty crosswinds in the flatlands of WA might negate the aero advantage. Seen guys all over the place on their deep rims on some days and we got road trains here too.. 28/38 possibly won't make much difference at my speeds so maybe I should go large. All or nothing as they say.
No ones jumping out with negatives about Greg's full carbon rims so unless I hear a few, the maker is settled. I have had a few exchanges with Greg about the choices, see what he says about going deeper. He's a small rider too. Don't know anyone here with anything under 50mm so difficult to work out for myself.
Cheers

[Crawf]

fr28h (AT) 6okg is waaaay overkill, 20/24 or 24/28 absolute max.

[sdnelson19]

I've got his 50mm clinchers and could not be happier. I'm 95kg and have 24/28 on mine. Incredibly stiff and responsive etc. Cannot fault them. If I was in the market for another set of wheels I'd buy from him in a heartbeat. I've had a set of 38mm alloy clinchers in the past.

[trianything]

Hey Crawf thanks. You're right but I was referring to rim depth. Spokes yeah prob 20 front, rear might go 28 as the wheels will stay on the bike for training rides too. Limp home insurance. Still tossing up.
sdnelson19 excellent to hear. Almost pulling the trigger now.

[Crawf]

Yep even so, fr28h/38mm is still very overkill on carbon rims. I know, I built some.

[trianything]

Thanks mate. What about for 50mm rears? 24?

[Crawf]

Yep perfect.
38 or 50mm, for you weight 20/24 is fine. If worried 24/28 max.

[trianything]

cheers much appreciated

[Minizian]

I had his lightweight alloy wheel with 20/24 lacing for my 56 kg weight and its serving me well from normal riding to racing. Have anyone tried the 23mm width carbon clincher/tubular? I am very keen to buy more of his wheels but have left Australia for long time, not sure if he actually will ship it overseas at the expense of high shipping fee

I am curious if he actually supply brake pads for his carbon wheels? What kind of brake pads he used? Not to mention if i should get clincher or tubular or both?