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

lightweight

Cheers, is that on Ali express?

I've been looking at wheels from lightbicycle thanks to @amey's post and various other previous experiences up thread. I just have a few questions which I'd appreciate advice on. I'm looking at the Falcon set, either in 25 or 36mm depth. Is there any significant difference/advantage in a 28mm wide rim over a 25mm wide rim? I'm going to be running clinchers, no more than 25/27mm wide eg. gp4000, vittoria corsa etc and only riding road, no gravel etc.

The only hub options that work for Campagnolo are either the DT Swiss 240 or the Bitex RAF10. But there is a £200 difference in picking the DT Swiss hubs. Are they really that much better than the Bitex in terms of quality? Equally are the Sapim CX Ray spokes worth an extra £100 over the standard Pillar spokes?

Bit of a minefield of choices... Any help appreciated. Cheers!

I've got some wheels here with the 28mm wide/36mm deep rims (the RR36CO2) which I think are the same as the ARC36 rims they use on the Falcon wheels. They fit really nicely with 25mm 5000TL tyres, and generally speaking the wider the rim the lower the pressure you can run the tyre at as you'll get less sidewall squirm. All other things being equal, I'd go for the 28mm rim.

DT Swiss hubs are a lot more durable than the Bitex RAF10/RAR9 set in my experience. There's nothing wrong with the Bitex hubs, but the bearings are tiny and will need to be replaced regularly, especially if you're a large or powerful rider. Then again, the bearings are cheap and easy to replace. Whether they're worth the extra £200 is debatable - depends how often you'll be using them, what mileages you'll be doing, and what weather you'll be riding in.

As for spokes, I'd definitely got for the CX-Rays. I've never had any problems with Pillar spokes myself, although I've only had a few wheels with them, but I know a lot of other people who've had issues with wheels made with Pillar spokes. Of course, it might not be the fault of the spokes, but I've never had any problems at all with CX-Rays, so I'd be tempted to splash the extra for them.

If you're going rim brake, have you thought about the Novatec option? It's cheaper than the Bitex, a teeny bit heavier, but the bearings in the hubs are a bit chunkier than the RAF10/RAR9 option. If you're not going rim brake then the Bitex option isn't an option anyway.

If you're not actually planning on riding with 28mm wide tyres, then getting 28mm wide rims doesn't make that much sense in my opinion.

Take into account though that 25mm tyres will balloon up to probably about 27mm when mounted on a 25mm LB rim. I'm running 23mm tyres that come up to just about 25mm on my own LB rims, and that fits very nicely.

Another factor is that this rim width generally refers to the outer width at the brake track. However, the rims
(at least the 25mm variant that I have) have a maximum width of just under 28mm. Presumably, the 28mm wide ones will have a maximum width of 30mm or higher? In any case, make sure you have the clearance for it. Edit: Having looked up the specific rims, it appears these are what they call 'v-shape', the maximum width is at the brake track, so this last point is not applicable here.

Is there any significant difference/advantage in a 28mm wide rim over a 25mm wide rim? I'm going to be running clinchers, no more than 25/27mm wide eg. gp4000

There will be a significant difference in how wide a 25C GP4000 actually ends up when you go from 18mm internal to 21mm internal rim width. Make sure you have clearance for a 30mm wide tyre (between the chainstays is usually the tight spot) if you choose the 28mm wide rims.

@danstuff - thanks for your thorough response. That’s all really useful info. TBH I’m pretty light ~60/65kg and definitely more of a spinner of pedals than a stomper of them. I don’t think the Novatec hub choice is applicable as though I’m using rim brakes I don’t think the Novatecs are Campagnolo compatible ?

@SwissChap and @mdcc_tester - thanks for your thoughts. The 25mm rims sound the better choice then for my needs. @SwissChap do you have the rim brake version? If so, what do you make of the braking surface and do you have any experience of the different hubs at all?

I bought the rims and built them up myself, using DT Swiss track hubs - so no experience with the hubs they offer I'm afraid. I'm using the wheels on my fixed gear now, so no brake track on the rear, but I am using a rim brake on the front. The braking surface honestly seems fine to me, it looks a bit like a copy of the Zipp one with the little ridges. Brakes fine in the dry and loses no more braking power in the wet than some standard Shimano blocks on Miche X-Press alu brake tracks - which is not a super high standard though. I also have not used the wheels on any long descents - for my use case, being able to do an emergency stop is much more important than not having brake fade, so I can't really comment on that.

Overall I'm really happy with the rims, they seem very solid, they look good (... main purpose really), they are not too unstable in cross winds (I'm heavy though, and I have the 65mm 'U-shaped' ones) - would definitely consider buying some again if needed.

interesting feedback from users. i have a pair of 45mm deep, 25mm wide, 20h 24h, with groovy brake track ones which i am looking at building for road next summer. or selling if i can't find the funds and motivation.

I don’t think the Novatecs are Campagnolo compatible

Not direct from LB, nope. If you're Campag, it's DT Swiss or Bitex.

Haha... information overload! Now in the mix is the idea of just buying the rims from LB and sourcing hubs and spokes elsewhere... never built wheels from scratch... this could be fun

It's not hard to do. Go for it. My first wheel build was with 50mm carbon rims and Circus Monkey hubs. Still in use...

I recently bought a pair of farsports wheels with DT Swiss 350 campagnolo hubs, they are very good. Plain matte black clincher rims - 50mm deep 23mm wide. I use them with 23mm tyres in old steel frames so didn’t want to go any wider. Took about 3 weeks from ordering to arriving in London. Seem well built, true and even spoke tension, and they look great. I am very pleased with them!

https://www.wheelsfar.com/

Edit: also not too heavy - 1500g ish

we did a group buy with people on here and got a significant discount and freebies

Some farsport rims I ordered finally shipped 3 weeks after ordering. It is shipped with their tax pre paid service that shows up as xdb. Has anyone used this and how long does shipping normally take?

There is really no reason to build the wheels yourself. Even with factory wheels you will need to take them trued after couple of rides so you can just as well have the initial build done in China. Novatec and Dt Swiss hubs are available and both are quite nice. The only thing I would recommend is asking for brass nipples instead of the standard alloy ones.

There is really no reason to build the wheels yourself

Except wanting to do it, of course. Or already having some hubs you want to use.

you will need to take them trued after couple of rides

Or do it yourself, save money and never have to ride a shoddy wheel build

On my recent wheel purchase from farsports (early November) they arrived exactly 3 weeks after placing the order. Apparently the wheelset was built to order, so there must have been a bit of lead time before they shipped. I also paid the extra for tax. So I would imagine your rims won’t take more than a few days in transit...

Well, if a doctor says so it must be true. Thanks.

Haha! Just a guess based on my experience, hope they arrive with you for Christmas!

I have Novatec running 10 speed Campag which have been spot on for 5 years of summer only use. With generic Chinese spokes and 20/24 tub rims they weigh 1350g.

y shaped core removal tool is so pigging annoying but it does work. (used it last night)

Nothing wrong with that of course. I just would not trust myself with a wheel build :)

Bought the Sensah 2x11 upgrade kit for laughs and giggles. The front derailleur bolt's helicoil thingy came loose when I tried to install it and I got a full refund from ebay. Hard to beat that deal :)