Hi all,
Just wanted to drop in and give feedback about my recent experience with xmcarbonspeed & Peter.
I ordered this wheel set:
https://www.xmcarbonspeed.cc/products/carbon-speed-700c-clincher-tubeless-ready-26-mm-internal-width-disc-brake-road-gravel-bike-carbon-wheelsetsI chose the following:
--UD finish with paintless (imho, absolutely gorgeous compared to other finishes)
--50mm deep front and rear
--no rim holes (made setting up tubeless so easy)
--Pillar 1420 spokes
--brass nipples
--instead of 20F/24R, I went with 24f and 28R (I am 80-85kg)
I ordered the last few days of 2024 (~Dec 27), exchanged a few emails with Peter (who was responsive and great to deal with).
Since the Chinese New Year was in mid-to-end January 2025, I was thinking it'd be nice if I received the wheels near end of February.
Around mid-Jan Peter emailed the build was finished, and that he'd notify me when he received a tracking number. I thought for sure, weel, ok, the wheels will arrive end of February. This is Europe, after all. Stuff arrives slow. Well, forget that.
The wheels showed up at my doorstep on 1 Feb.
Packed great, box in good shape. I took the wheels out, spun them by hand and began to smile. Checked with tension meter, spokes were all within 5-8% tolerance of what they should have been. Took off the Shimano HG freewheel, and light grease was perfect around the inner hub. Wheels were true, and maybe the roundness could have been a touch better, but then I realized (from the wheels I have built myself over the decades) that these were just as good if not better than what I can do. Which is to say, the overall build is quite good.
I have been riding this wheelset for near one month now, 3-4 times a week (weather here is iffy this time of year, so I use my other winter bikes when it's really bad out).
With this new wheelset, there's been nothing to report. No surprises, nothing unexpected. Just the way wheels should be.
Well, that's a lie, there has been one thing unexpected.
For near 35 years I have been 'ROAD" riding, training, etc on alu wheels no deeper than 25mm and rim interiors from 13mm to 18mm (back in the 2000s I had went with 28mm external tires, but never changed rims).
These xmcarbonspeed 50mm, 26mm internal deep wheels? How to say this without sounding like a Koolaid drinking fool? They've been nothing short of "wow" eye-opening. Running tubeless Conti GP5000 TR 700x30mm on these 33-34.16 ext width rims, where the Conti inflates to 32-32.4mm (at 40 psi front, 50 psi rear), has been a joy.
The wheels snap to attention when I want to go (suddenly I am up & running). After 17-18mph, the speed these rims are more easily able to hold, plus the cornering confidence that comes on a 30mm tire on a 26mm internal rim? Again, joy.
I have come back home from my normal rides thinking "what?" I know and/or I thought that I felt like crap during some of those rides, yet there I am staring at either another new course PR, or better, knowing I had been fighting 25-40kmph winds, yet I am near my old course PR on that route.
Basically, my avg speed for rides has went up 1.5-2mph. I can't imagine what I am going to feel like when I get one of those days (that admittedly come less & less as I get older), where I feel I can rip the cranks off the bike & I am just powering fully over my ride. Will I pull off a 21-23mph ride like I used to be able to do when I was a young pup? Being an old dog now (a few decades now), where I was average only 16-18mph on my 2-3 hr solo rides, I am now easily averaging 18-20mph. At my age, for me, by myself, to be near 20mph rides? Averaging this?
If you've been riding decades, you'll know what a big deal this is.
Anyhow, back to XMcarbnspeed & Peter. It was thanks to Chinertown and this message board (and reading Peter's replies here and in other threads) that gave me confidence to make the jump with xmcarbonspeed.
I now face the problem that my wife (who 'road' rides too), has seen me too often grinning ear to ear when I come home. Guess what she wants? Her bike can only take a 28mm exterior wide rim, so I am not sure if Peter/XMcarbonspeed can do a similar build as above but just with different rims (rim brake rims) that are 28mm max external width but maybe with a 21-23 inner width.
I'm thinking a 25mm tubeless, with gobs lower psi, on a 21-23 inner width carbon rim, along with it being 45-50mm deep, is going to bring similar smiles to her face.
