Orient Express - Cheap Chinese Rims / Wheels / Forks / Frames / Cranks / Etc

In theory it's a zipp 404 firecrest wheelset for much less money and 90g less weight.

In theory.

Oi, this thread is about cheap, untested, paper-filled, child labour, carcinogenic death wheels. Zipp >>>>>

:)

I'll be sure to test my new set of death wheels, as I did the last, on a technical 1500m descent.

Death wheels. You should get that stickered up!

hmmmm.

That could look cool. In the Zipp font. Words separate around the wheel alla zipp.

Wheels Of Death

I thought its reserved for spinergys.

hmmmm.

That could look cool. In the Zipp font. Words separate around the wheel alla zipp.

Wheels Of Death

"Deathwish" in the crappy "Lightweight" font

Even 'Lightweight' is hilarious in that font though.

Anyone tried either of these?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-50mm-clincher-fixed-gear-carbon-wheels-carbon-track-wheelset-/261228090803?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item3cd26855b3

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/50mm-Clincher-carbon-track-bike-wheels-fixed-gear-single-speed-bicycle-wheelset-/251243850411?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item3a7f4ceaab

Considering a) can I trust these rims, or b) whether I should source some equivalent 'branded' rims and build them myself

with no prior building experience suspect option b may be more rewarding but less reliable than a.

As an experiment in to torodial shaped rims I've bought some of those 23mm wide carbon clinchers from farsports They will be here in 5-8 working days apparently! Crazy fast!!

What depth?

Do you mean the FSJ-50 cyclocross rim?

I looked at that one (was offered discount to replace my melted carbon clinchers). But the profile looks the same as my current rims, just wider. So you get the nicer tyre profile, but not the torodial effect. I asked weather they had a similar profile to the new road clinchers, but wider, and was told they are the old shape, but wider.

You want the fattest part of the rim closer to the inside edge.

I have these (tubular version) in transit.

http://www.uamcycling.com/web/userfiles/AR56.png

http://www.uamcycling.com/web/userfiles/Flow%201(1).jpg

Firecrest 404

So even my HongFu rims arent as extreme in torodial design as the firecrest. More of a halfway house I guess.

.......so long as they make a 'vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv' niose when up to speed. Who cares.

If you can hear your wheels over the wind noise you're not going fast enough.

That's where you're going wrong. If you turn your head left or right you will no longer hear the wind, thus achieving maximum vvvvvvv

.. but losing speed. Never!

Vvvv makes you go faster. Everyone knows this!

I used to think that when I was passed by lots of disc-wheel riding types in races... now I don't get passed so often I'm not sure :)

if you're not spinning your wheels fast enough to hear them over the wind noise. You're not going fast enough.

ftfy.

My rims are actually produced by an EPS process. Which is very much related to my work.

.....although we make fish boxes. But its the same really.

I had read on the internet (so it must be true) that it's actually very difficult to achieve such a blunt profile on a rim- the spokes tend to pull through very easily.

Hence the Chinese factories make theirs a little less blunt than Zipp and HED so as to avoid having to use the same manufacturing process as them, with (presumably) approximately the same sort of costs.

This is of course Knscobledge rather than Knowledge.

I had read on the internet (so it must be true) that it's actually very difficult to achieve such a blunt profile on a rim- the spokes tend to pull through very easily.

Hence the Chinese factories make theirs a little less blunt than Zipp and HED so as to avoid having to use the same manufacturing process as them, with (presumably) approximately the same sort of costs.

The direction of the rim wall is near perpendicular to the direction of spoke tension. So its going to need some clever reinforcement I guess.

Although some chinese open mold rims, have quoted near unusably low max spoke tensions. Pressumably in an effort to get around this. This is why I went with HongFu, despite a small cost penalty. I like my spokes, tioght like a tiger.

Seems as though my new crabon fibber rims are already in London, despite the fact that they only left Xiamen yesterday. Nice work, Farsport. Power meter wheels here we come...