ussprinceton

before I make the purchase, what are your thoughts on the 1260g Kinlin XR200 alloy wheelset 22mm clincher wheels?

Here is the link to it on eBay: Free Shipping Only 1260G Kinlin XR200 Alloy Wheelset 22mm Clincher Wheels | eBay

hueyhoolihan

i've got two sets of wheels with the xr-200 rims. they are the lightest 700c alloy rims i have been able to find.

the 28h versions i have built up nicely and weigh about 1500 gms with the older Shimano 600 hubs i used. i haven't had any serious trouble with them in over 3000 miles of use, including a vicious pot hole or two that would have dented and made unusable any other rim i've ever used.

here's the only downsides i can find.

they have no discernible "channel" in them, so tire mounting is not their forte. and the alloy as you might expect is very very thin and can be dented, just cosmetic, easily. finally, the braking surface is machined leaving high ridges that after a few hundred miles break off and lodge into the brake pads, causing screeching (i removed the pads and picked out the alloy shards twice before it ceased happening). all in all their faults have not been reason for me to think that they are unworthy.

i don't know anything about those hubs though. but on my last wheel build i used some similar looking hubs sold by the name of "Circus monkey" they are running fine with about a thousand miles on them. wouldn't be surprised if those in the link are pretty much the same thing.

rms13

I bought the same wheels from that seller and all I will say is the build quality on the ones I got where not great. Needed to be trued and tensioned before they where rideable. But they are hand built to order so I may have gotten a set with poor quality control.

Mounting tires was also a major pita. Hoping I never have a roadside flat

rpenmanparker 

I build them myself to a similar spec, and as of now that is all I ride on three bikes. My weights come out just about that. The XR-200 is a superb rim. It is surprisingly sturdy for its weight. Never had a ding or dent over several years and thousands of miles. The feel of these wheels is incredible

Now about the quality from that particular builder. Why not just regard the wheels as a roughed out set that needs competent tensioning and truing. You don't have to learn how to lace the wheels, just to tension and true them. An easy way to enter the world if wheel building. You can't buy and ship the parts cheaper than that. Just fix them up yourself, or worst case have a local wheel builder "finish" them for you for probably $100 or less. If you were in Houston, I would be glad to do it for about $60.

I find tires mount on them similar to most other wheels. No big deal. And I have experienced none of the other problems mentioned above.

Bottom line, I love the ones I build just like these. YMMV depending upon the assembly quality.

ussprinceton

the seller has 100% positive feedback. Thanks for the responses and input. I think I will build mine as well. Will Shimano DuraAce hubs work with the Kinlin XR200 rims? If so, which are the lightest spokes I can use (please provide a link)?

rpenmanparker 

DT Revolutions, Sapim Lasers and Sapim CX-Rays (aero blades) all weigh about the same. About 4.6 g/spoke. But let me say that Dura Ace hubs are certainly high quality, but unnecessarily heavy. Also I don't think they come in a 20/24 spoke hole seat (front/rear). You won't get a 1,260 g set of wheels using them. More like 1,400 g. Not too shabby, but not the same. If you want 1,260 g wheels as advertised on ebay, you are going to need to buy light weight hubs like American Classics, or the Taiwanese hubs sold by Bike Hub Store. Sure there are others and lighter hubs to boot, but they are much pricier than the BHS type.

The Sapim spokes are sold by BHS, www.bikehubstore.com.

ussprinceton

will this 20h front hub work? Mr Ride Front 20H Hub 64 5g Road Black Japanese Bearings | eBay

ussprinceton

will this 24h rear hub work? Mr Ride Uniq 185g Rear Road Bike Hub 24H Shimano 10speed Black Japanese Bearing | eBay

rpenmanparker 

Yes to both, but don't do that. Get them from Bike Hub Store. US retailer. Plenty of help with your spoke lengths. He stands behind his goods. Don't buy from Taiwan if you don't have to even though all the hubs do come from there. Just my opinion. He has the Kinlin rims too. You can get everything from him.

Dunbar

I thought the XR-200 had a reputation for being sort of a soft rim. Once you get <400g with alloy rims, in general, you run the risk of bending the rim in normal riding conditions unless you're a feather weight or run a lot of spokes.

ussprinceton

BikeHubStore.com is only 40 minutes away from me

rpenmanparker 

I'm sure that some folks will flex the XR-200. But not everyone is looking for the ultimate in stiffness and durability in a wheel. Those rims are all I ride (several sets up to now), all with 20/24 ultralight Laser, Revolution or CX-Ray spokes. I weigh around 170 lb right now and they perform beautifully for me. Times have changed and modern rim design makes a big difference. Compared to a heavier, boxy cross section old rim like an old Mavic, even a slightly deeper Open Pro, the V-section of the XR-200 provides it remarkable stiffness. Intelligent design has made up for the reduction in weight.

rpenmanparker 

Of course. I hadn't seen your location. Heck, you could go in there and weigh rims to get exactly the ones you want, lightest or not. If you go in, tell Brandon hello for me, Robert in Houston. He will know who you are talking about. We correspond more or less regularly. If I lived that close, I wouldn't source wheels any other way. Wait, actually I live far away and still don't source wheels any other way.

Drew Eckhardt 

1. The box profile will cost you more time than you save dropping weight from a deeper more aerodynamic aluminum shape on all but the steepest climbs (not something like l'Alpe d'Huez averaging a mere 8.1%).

While marketing material, the math in FLO Cycling - The Great Debate - Aero vs. Weight sanity checks.

2. Rims under 400g have poor durability with heavier riders. I got 12 years out of my last 400g Reflex clincher until I grew past 200 pounds and bent it early in the season.

3. Adequate stiffness with heavier riders dictates more spokes than with a heavier rim so you loose some of the weight savings.

rpenmanparker 

Drew, but look at the difference in shape between Reflex rims and XR-200s. The newer design incorporating even just a shallow V makes much better use of the weight. You are comparing apples and oranges.

loimpact

Hmmmmm.......so instead of 303 front, 404 rear I really need to go 808 front & full-disc rear. Hmmmm.....gotta cancel that first order.

ussprinceton

thanks Robert for all your replies. I will let Brandon know you said hello

Dunbar

I thought Bicycle Wheel Warehouse used to sell a wheelset based off the XR-200. I recall many reviews complaining of the rims bending under normal riding conditions. The other thing is they're not wide rims which would be a tough sell to me in 2015.

rpenmanparker 

Maybe so, but you can't prove it by me. Actually the rims "bending" at the "equator" (Perhaps "flexing" is a better word; after all we are talking about an elastic change, not a permanent deformation) is not altogether negative. If the rims are too stiff to flex laterally at their horizontal center line, and yet the spokes are not quite stiff enough to keep the rim from rotation in a single plane around that center line, you will get brake rub. A slightly flexy rim won't rub on the brakes nearly as badly as a stiff one. It all depends on what you are looking for.

Wider rims are not consistent with the lightest rims. Once again it is all about what you value. I have been riding narrower rims for over 30 years. Yes, perhaps wider rims are supposed to be an improvement, but should I believe that all that experience I have has been negative. Not so much. 19mm outside width rims do fine for me with 23 mm tires. YMMV

Dunbar

No, I'm talking about permanent deformation. I could prove it to you if I wasn't lazy.

rpenmanparker 

I would be very interested in seeing that and learning about the conditions which could cause it.

rms13

I have had mine out on two 20 mile rides so far. I'm 170 and they haven't exploded or crumbled like a tin can under my weight yet. Performance is more than adequate for me and they are as light as advertised. They cut 1 lb off the weight of my bike in stock mode so I'm happy. As for longevity, if I get 3000 miles out of them I'll be satisfied for the price/weight

ussprinceton

did you buy the wheelset on eBay? Or, did you have them built?

rms13

I bought them from the seller on ebay that you linked. But technically they are custom built because they build them to order which means there is a little delay. But I had mine in CA about 2 weeks after ordering. As I said in previous post, the wheels were built but definitely not finished properly. Both front and back needed a good amount of truing out of the box. If you have experience wheel building it would be no problem but I have limited experience truing my own wheels and I don't have tension meter so i was able to get lateral trueness dialed in but still have a bit of a hop in the rear.

I will say I contacted the seller and they said the they are usually well built but their workers turn out many wheels with fast turn around so sometimes QC is lacking etc etc. They were nice and offered to exchange but in the end shipping back to China and wait time wasn't worth it to me

bikebreak

any updates from owners of the wheelset?