The OP was @robbyville. I started along your topic and was corrected that this was about a brand.

Depends a bit on location (winds) and weight and speed.
For the general rider 35mm is likely better. If you pump higher speeds, a deeper profile is likely better.

Wheel mass matters more for the general rider as the general rider is going under 20mph.
In all and every case a tubular will provide the better ride. It may not be worth the learning curve dealing with them. But in no case will a non tubular out perform a tubular except maybe a constant speed super smooth surface.

If you are a general rider - 25mm-35mm with an alloy clincher 25-28mm will give the best ride/$.
Carbon if you want to give up a bit of quality and performance to get the very best.

Tubular - carbon.

I actually was referring specifically to LB wheels in 25x35 and 25x45 and have updated last my post to reflect this. My question is, what's the difference in ride quality between the two sizes? You commented that alloy wheels give the best ride/$. Can you explain?

I don't follow why it's hard to understand. It's a manufacturer-direct brand and there's not a lot of spilled ink to be found on them, so this is a place for buyers to share their experiences and provide their thoughts for the benefit of others that are curious about the brand.

Exactly! Although I like all the different directions it takes at times

Clinchers need a hooked brake track. Two things here - the brake track and the hook.

As alloy rims are extruded the thickness of the metal can be well controlled and makes a nice pronounced hook can be made to hold the tire well. Carbon is not extruded. The degree carbon takes bends or has differeent material thickness is based on the mold and hand layup. It is not unusual to have carbon rims with alloy brake tracks.


Then the brake track. This is more of an issue using rim brakes, but grit and rough pads are squeezing the outside of the carbon tracks while the air is pushing the walls out. Same is true of course for alloy, but this fatigue can cause side/brake tracks to splinter/blow out over time. So typically the carbon wall are thicker (or alloy) than the alloy ones to account for this. The clincher distance from inside the rim to the outside is further for carbon. The tire may be leaning on the edge of the rim more. Could you feel this? Don't know. It just doesn't mentally seem as right.

The net is in low profile clinchers - 25mm or so alloy rims are often lighter than the carbon ones, due to the brake track issues. Tubulars, not having the brake tracks are lighter in carbon.


Ride quality is based on the tire case material, tread, and width which affects the the cross section area, then the PSI. The width thing as another poster mentioned is having the same area of air in the cross section. Adjusting the PSI accordingly. Leaving the actual case material and where the air is is a mistake IMO. We also generally leave the PSI part out of many discussions. I think it is implied, wider gets lower PSI, but most the rolling resistance tests I have seen you have to be careful and see if the PSI was the same, or adjusted for cross sectional area. Also having air between rigid brake tracks vs floating on top of the rim can be felt.

Having air between rigid brake tracks vs floating on top of the rim can be felt.

Do think the characteristics you mention have something to do with the Vittoria/Enve 'spat'? OT: was there any further followup on this?
Vittoria - ENVE Compatiblity

That is evidence of what I was saying, but I think more to do with the bead of the tire which likely would not be an alloy rim issue.
Some tires have a more pronounced bead that will slip in better under a smoother carbon hook. I use Veloflex Master 25s on my Mercury M5 carbon clinchers. They hook in better.
I do not know about these Light Bicycle Wheels but often wheel manufactures will swap out suppliers for one component to the next. The same Asian made rims will find their way to multiple brands, and the same model wheel may have a different rim from one year to the next.

So with these issues in mind, is there an advantage going with a quality alloy rim instead of the LB carbon, if price is about the same? Say for instance, the HED Ardennes LT Plus vs LB carbon.

For low profile - yes. The Ardennes are robust. I have the cheap Shimano, Mercury, DuraAce, and Ultegra in alloy. For hi profile you pretty much need a carbon rim. Maybe with an alloy brake track (Zipp, HED). Low profile alloy will be lighter and fit tires better.

I'm bigger and like 50mm. I ride mostly tubulars but have 50mm carbon clinchers too. My 25 clinchers are alloy. I own 25mm carbon, and I think they are inferior to the alloy.

With alloy, is there a tradeoff in responsiveness on climbs?

I don't know. Tires, pressure, spoke tension matter, and typically carbon can take higher tension. I just don't think of any climbers as clinchers. Like asking about truck performance.

[MENTION=364302]Doge[/MENTION] has nothing to add about Light Bicycle brand wheels, so he’s confused.

How is it possible that there’s a large thread, and he has nothing to add?

I have nothing to add, so I'll change the topic.

For the sake of posterity, here is the progress of my order so far:

Monday 6/17: two rims ordered - RRU35C02 3k matte with grooved graphene brake track
Wednesday 6/19 (two days): Paypal charge appeared on bank account
Friday 6/21 (five days): Informed that rims were not in stock in North America and would be manufactured and shipped from China. Order status changed from Pending to step 1 of 10 "Material Prepare."
Wednesday 6/26 (nine days): Order status changed from step 1 of 10 "Material Prepare" to step 4 of 10 "CNC Machining."

Hubs still have to come from Poland so I'm not in a rush. Just posting for additional data points.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled argument. As you were, fellas. Carry on.


-Tim-

My guess is that the rims will arrive 7/12

That would be great, actually.

Any idea on the hubs?


-Tim-

I have no experience with that vendor.

I dare suggest that in practice, you won't be able to tell the difference. Unless you buy both, suit them up identically with matching tires and tubes and ride them back to back for a week. Even then, probably not enough of a difference that 2psi wouldn't fix.

In other words, I'm saying you're probably overthinking it a little. Go 45mm.

I would love to hear more about this, maybe it's hard to describe though.

I have a set of Ardennes, they came with the bike. I have a pair of $$$$$ carbon hoops and feel the same way about them that you described. Even at lower speeds they just feel like less work.

I would like to have another set of hoops, and do far everything I've read here is very encouraging.

How much do you folks weigh?

84kg. (185ish in old money)

What depth are your carbon rims? For <30mm 23+mm width clinchers I've never found any significant difference in speeds using the same GP4000s tires and I've had a lot of them (kinlin, shimano, HED, Zipp 101, Stans, generic carbon etc)

Don’t mind me. Just excited that my wheels are done.

492g and 494g for the (internal nipple drilled) rims. 1592g for the wheelset. Pretty much on the dot.

Which LB wheelset is that?

Posted more detailed stuff earlier but they’re the 56mm deep, 30mm wide ones.

Congratulations, looks awesome! Ride safe and let us know how you enjoy them.

How will you be setting them up?