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Re: WheelTop EDS TX Full Wireless Groupset (Chinese SRAM)
This reminds me of the book factfulness by Hans Rosling. China used to make garbage using child labor. But that was decades ago. Most people (and I mean the vast majority of people) pretty much still assume it's true to this day. Except it isn't. China has long moved forward. In fact their industrial policy has been extremely successful. They also ran out of children, mostly, the population is now ageing AND in absolute decline, which is pushing costs up a lot. Just looking at bikes, they've been OEM manufacturers for pretty much everything for eons, and they started to innovate, with carbon spokes for example. If you want custom built super wide rims with carbon spokes, you can get them from at least 5 chinese factories, but not from Zipp, and Campagnolo has become a running joke more than anything. The software on LTWOO groupsets is better than Shimano Sram (ability to change the number of gears, gear protection). I've helped develop a new gravel frame, it took them weeks to produce a mold and a prototype for me to ride. And this year you can buy a frame from lightcarbon that weighs 910g, which is the same weight as a Look 795 blade RS 2024... In fact Look's fork is heavier by 35g... So if it took 15y for a Chinese brand to go from A to B doesnt mean it will take them another 15y to go from B to C. Things tend to accelerate. It's tragic in a way, because in the west we barely make stuff anymore, everybody's become a life coach or a therapist (there's also a nice book on "bullshit jobs"), everybody's become super expensive with zero real skills. Applied to Cycling, it's the farce of "paying for R&D" which really means inflated staff doing god knows what, and paying for pro cycling teams. March 28, 2024, 08:07:54 AM |
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Re: Super wide aero rims like ZIPP 303 XPLRs?
Maybe direct from China won't be as flat-o-matic as the original. https://bikerumor.com/zipp-303-xplr-sw-gravel-wheels/ My first ride was on lighter gravel with mostly road to and from. The wheels felt nice on the pavement; they spun up fast, held speed, didn’t pull in the wind, and were as stiff as any gravel wheel I could remember. However, when I hit the gravel, the flats started. I immediately got a small cut that was too much for my Orange Seal. I plugged it with a Dyna-Plug and cursed my luck. Another 10 minutes later, another flat, this time in front. Same deal; Dyna-plugged it and moved on. Then I noticed I was hitting the rim nearly the entire time. The pressure was above what the SRAM calculator recommended (to be on the safe side). But yet the tire was bottoming out and hitting the sharp rim bead while leaning the bike. This was a common theme for the next hour or so until a cut so large required a tube and tire boot. I decided to steer clear of the gravel and ride the road home. This ride ended with four fixable flats and one that required a tire boot – I was not impressed. October 07, 2024, 02:09:34 PM |
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Re: Super wide aero rims like ZIPP 303 XPLRs?
I think manufacturers need to start looking at external and internal rim width independent from each other. The super wide Rovals are the only rims that really seem to do that. Sure, you can argue that making gravel rims as wide as a gravel tire provides aero benefits, just like with road rims. But you can't increase internal width infinitely alongside that. Especially in a discipline that requires the tire to flex and at least be able to somewhat squirm under load. Also, it unnecessarily exposes the rim's sidewall to impacts. All this is less of an issue with road rims due to the much higher pressures and surface tension in a road tire. But with 42s at somewhere between 25-35psi you can't count on the tire to be that stiff. Plus we're talking offroad riding, rocks and sometimes roots. It's just asking for trouble. Which that review demonstrated very well. My gravel rims are hookless and 25mm internally mated to 40mm tires. That's a great combo, but increasing inner width even more makes for a more and more exposed tire sidewall. If you're mainly riding asphalt and the occasionall silky smooth dirtroad, then no problem. But if you're looking for a go anywhere kind of setup, that's not a good idea. October 07, 2024, 03:13:51 PM |
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Re: TAVELO AVRO Gen-1 Integrated Handlebar VS Avian Falcon II
Avian falcon sounds a lot like avian flu. And of course the German word for baboon is Pavian. October 14, 2024, 08:14:27 PM |
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