scozim 

My dad called this morning to say his Teledyne Titan has been shipped off to a welder in Portland OR for some repair work. He found another set of rims in his basement that came with the Teledyne - Flamme tubulars. I've never heard of them and he hasn't either. Does anyone have any information on these wheels.

triplebutted

Maybe he meant Fiamme.

scozim 

Yep, looks like that's it. I've got my answer now with the correct spelling and a search of the forums. I don't think he'll be getting rid of those rims when the Teledyne comes back.

San Rensho 

Fiamme made some of the best tubular rims at the zenith of the Italian road bike era, the late 70's, early 80s. Fiamme Yellow Label on Campy hubs with Clement Criterium silks were among the best, strongest and lightest wheels of the era, still lighter than a lot very expensive new wheels today.

In a criterium, those wheels will outperform anything that is made new today.

anomaly

What was the difference between red and yellow label rims? I have a set of 36h red label gold anodized pista tubulars laced to campy record pista hubs that I need to get rid of.

San Rensho 

Yellows were the lightest ones, up to about 170 lbs rider if I remember correctly. If you ebay them, ask for some serious money and take your time.

anomaly

Yea, I saw a set of just the rims up for $400 BIN

Force 

San Rensho-

Where have you heard that Fiamme yellow/gold rims were only for riders up to 170 lbs? I have heard similar things before, but never with any citation of authority. I've read mixed reviews about these wheels -- some riders heavier than 200 lbs have used them with no problems; others, including lighter riders, have found that they damage easily.

The reason I am asking is that I have a very nice pair of the gold label wheels (36h) with Campy record hubs that I am considering keeping as a second set of wheels. They are very nice looking and I am curious as to how they ride. However, I am @ 215 lbs and don't want to be worrying about them.

I'd appreciate any information you have.

Thanks!

kpug505

Just don't hit potholes, hop off or over curbs, keep the tires inflated to the proper rate and ride with no worries......Might not hurt to check the spoke tension every now and again.

iab

Fiamme Ergals (the yellow label) are a 290g rim. They were intended for the track, time trials and mountain stages for the skinny climbers. At 215 lbs., I'd worry about them going out of true if you hit a pebble. Ride smooth my friend, ride smooth.

oldbobcat

At 165 lbs (back then), I dared use only Red Labels. Or Mavic Monthlerys, or Super Champion Arc En Ciels. All nice rims with ferruled spoke holes.

Mike Mills

The variation in reports may be due to local road conditions. In New York City, the pothole capital of America, Yellow Labels were only for light weight riders. When I lived there, I used to ride on Red Labels. I rode a LOT! I rode in Manhattan traffic, where swerving to avoid a pothole is not always possible.

Heck, in New York, steel car rims are at risk from pot hole damage!

Out here in California, riding on the bike paths, you never even see a pothole. Out here, Yellow Labels would be fine.

Citoyen du Monde

teh old adage was "what do you want? light, strong, and/or cheap. Select any two. The ergal's were light and not overly expensive, so what was missing?

luker

My original time trial wheels were ergals. At 170 lb, they were too light for me, but they were just like crack cocaine. I still love light, light wheels (at way more than 170 lb...)

San Rensho 

The info I have is purely second hand from about 28 years ago, so you decide how reliable it is!

When I used to race, my sponsor gave me some Yellow Labels and thats when I heard about the 170 lb limit. At the time I weighed about 130-135. I wish I only weighed 170 now!

But as others have said, if you baby them on smooth roads, you should be able to ride them. I don't think you could have a catastrophic failure, where the wheel just folded causing you to crash, with normal riding on normal roads.

well biked

Amen, brother.

anomaly

SOooo what is the better rim, Nisi Sludi 290 or the Fiamme yellow label?