Okay, enough of the bike stuff, let's have a quick ~125mi impression of the wheels--
Previous wheels: Mavic Open Sport with 32mm Vittoria Zaffiro for a little over 1000mi, and then maybe 4k mi on some Fulcrum Quattros
What I bought:
45mm deep 25mm wide (RRU45C02 rim) on Novatec hubs, Sapim CX-Ray spokes. Regular brake track.
Initial impressions: Wow these are PURTY. But wait, no skewers? no spare spokes? (I mention this in a previous post)
Mounting: Vredestein Fortezza All Weather 25mm. They were tight. Really tight. I'm a wimp and my hands are weak tight. So Stan's lever to the rescue. Worked fine, no damage or anything. I was scared, then relieved.
The Elephant Rock Century is a Denver-area staple (
https://www.rollmassif.com/elephantrock/ ), and though the route has changed up in the last few years, it's still a great 'early season' organized ride. Rolling hills (5700-6000ft elevation gain) and inevitably some wind. Usually it kicks up in the afternoon, but yesterday, we were treated with 10-15mph steady from the south the entire day, and only getting stronger as the day wore on. And the route has a good 25 miles of due south riding.
First thing I noticed was the wheels like to roll. Places where I would mentally expect to pedal to maintain momentum, I didn't have to (as much). And on any downhill slope the wheels just picked up speed. I've never rolled up to 30mph without pedaling. With these wheels, it was normal. They just jump up to speed. Go aero profile!
In the 25mi headwind section I had plenty of time to reflect on their performance, seeing as I was trying to pull my buddy and kept dropping him (his relative lack of training, not my strength). The wheels (and the new bike in general) didn't seem to care about the wind or notice. The only place I "felt" resistance was my big ol' arse getting pushed back by the wind. If I pushed it, the bike was happy to oblige, headwind or not. I've not felt that before with wheels (and the Fairdale isn't exactly an aero superbike. It's round-tubed steel).
Braking: Better than what I'm used to. 2003 Campy Record (which, in its day, were pretty good, but the single pivot rear brake is passé) and more recently some Tektro Cantis on the FrankenCrux.
If you are worried about relative braking performance, stop. With the SwissStop Black Prince pads, I had modulation and control and though I didn't do any comparative testing, grabbing a handful of brake stopped forward momentum far faster and easier than previous experience.
Crosswinds: I was hoping I wouldn't have to find out about crosswinds on a century ride, but lucky me, I got to find out yesterday. The only time I felt sketchy was north of 30mph (downhill rollers on the way back into town) and gusts of crosswind made me pucker a couple times. Other than that, they were easier to handle than the Open Sports (probably the most unaero, round spoke, lightbulb profile wheelset you could have), and though I haven't been on them in a number of months, I think the LB's handled even better than the Quattros. Again, go aero!
Ride Quality: This one is hard, because I was also on a new bike all the way around. I ran the 25mm tires at 90psi (I'm 6'3", 185lbs) and they felt a touch harsh. Expansion joints and broken seams came right up into the saddle and bars. I will experiment a little lower and see if it helps. --I will say this, though: I hadn't really trained for this ride (only a couple >40mi rides all year), and I wasn't beat up or fatigued from road buzz. I was sore in the expected places, but no lower back pain or other signs of getting beat up from the ride. Go steel!
Verdict? Buy them.
Epilogue: Without riding Enve or Zipp or Williams or Flo or Reynolds or any of the 4-figure wheelsets, I can't say how LB compares, or what % of performance to those wheelsets you'll get with far-east options such as LB. I will say, as a first pair of carbon wheels, the combination of build quality, profile, and weight are awesome, and then price point makes them more or less a no brainer. Especially if you don't have (or want) the 4-figure budget.