I feel Like I just watched an episode of Portlandia.

She's just using you Man! Thats cool but I would worry that posting about it on hear would taint the situation given the standards of the testing. I myself would like to wait and here the final outcome when its all said and done, from her of course since she is the mastermind, but only if she is willing to give up her secrets.

According to the color chart that keeps getting posted here (think it comes from Mich), 109 lbs is right for a 160 lb rider.

This particular statement says more than a little in itself. It is AMAZING the misinformation, hype, and pure nonsense that gets passed on as knowledge online and particularly forums of all types (not just bikes)....and yes, I am guilty of it too.

Nice thread. Am very interested in how this turns out. Keep it up!

Subscribed.

Hi Bianchi,

great thread, this says so much about Oregon, this kind of opportunity would never happen around here without specifically asking for it. I gotta move Seriously this will be a great story to watch, hope you enjoy the experience (and yes you will get used to the sound of CK, it freaked me out at first but now I've grown to like it). Heck anything that has it's own ring tone has to be iconic.

You can get away with less pressure on a wider rim without increasing the risk of pinch flats.

Bianchi10, could you tell us your weight just for the record?

I am 170 lbs (depending on the weekend Lol)

Could you photoshop out those bricks she's making you run as skewers?

Nice write-up.
One question as you never mentioned it in the initial write-up. What are your goals?

good question. My goals were to have a lightweight wheel set that gave great performance (I.e. stiff and durable). I also want the wheel to look good too. I don't plan to race, strictly recreational cycling. I do a fair amount a of climbing. My initial thoughts were that I wanted a 38mm or 46mm carbon wheel. They look good and was hoping to find a set that performed as well as they look. She has really been trying to break the idea in my head of wanting that because as I just mentioned the type ofriding I do, I don't need a lot of aero advantage. Which means there is no benefit for me to have such wheel sets. Also, they will weigh more and she knows that one of my biggest concerns was keeping them light. So now I'm just trying to be open minded and follow her requests. I still care a great deal how they will look but I'm starting to understand that having what looks cool isn't always what will be best for your particular riding.

Functionality over vanity anytime.
I ride on Handbuilt 32H DT Swiss 3X Wheels - they probably weigh 4 pounds. 7,000 miles since built, still true and smooth as glass.

OP
Friendly advice: if you want to get the most out of this testing, close this thread and stop answering questions.

Assume that the builder has a specific test criteria in mind, including order of test and test parameters. All of these affect subjective testing, which is what you are doing. You writing up the detail of each ride is fine, but answering questions taints your observations.

If you ever want an interesting read, check out "Influence". Order of testing impacts results. You having a commercial relationship (her $20 repair upfront) impacts results. Whether you use your Boyd's or her first build as exemplar impacts results.

Write your notes as you go, and post it all at the end. Sounds like a great opportunity, if you use it as intended.

I totally agree. What a refreshing change from your typical male blowhard.

I had Sugar Wheel Works build up a set of track wheels for me using some Zipp 404 undimpled rims I had as part of a different wheelset. She's pretty good.

One thought, and not to be rude, but stop looking at the wheels before/during the ride. The influence appearance has on your perceptions will be material.

Edit: Skip that, I hadn't read this post...

Yeah I want to have a wheel that looks good as well. I don't want to sacrifice the performance for looks though. This is why she said I am going to be tough because I want the whole package wheel and its going to simply be a process to find what will work to meet my desires. At the end of this, if in find that I need to adjust my thoughts then I will do so.

What are your thoughts on the sound of the CK hubs. The new design isn't as loud but do you like the angry bees. Just image how loud they would be with deep carbon wheels.

I love the thread idea, and I won't hold any flaws in bianchi's methodology against him. Looking forward to updates.

Test Ride #2 on H plus son wheels:






Did a 25 mile ride today with some climbing. The hill in the photo above was just 1 of many, but it gets much steeper after that first corner and winds around for just over a mile.

Todays Thoughts:

-Already started to get used to the CK hub noise and am getting kind of fond of it actually. Its almost like once you get used to the sound, it just sounds like quality.

-Confirmed on todays ride that these wheels are MUCH stiffer. Since my boyds were only my 3rd wheelset ever ridden and probably my 1st wheelset that I rode with any kind of real cycling experience, I thought my boyds were fairly stiff. I can now honestly say that I know what the wheel flex feels like now and where. That little bit of flex in my boyds now feels a little "spungy" if you will, compared to this experience.

-I really like how these feel while descending. I think that the heavier wheel allows me to feel more balanced, which in turn feels like i have better control. I like the combination of the 23mm wheel and 23mm tire. even though i was using a 25mm tire on my boyds and was more comfy than riding 23's, the 23/23 combo feels even gooder. I feel like I am floating across the asphalt. In all honestly, it feels so smooth that I feel like I did when I was test riding an evo. The evo was BUTTER smooth and thats how my SS felt today.

-Riding on flats, felt super smooth as I said above. I felt that I was able to maintain my speed easier. I dont know if that is due to the weight of the wheel, better hub or combination of it all?

-Sprinting felt contradicting. Since the wheels are noticeably heavier I felt that it took me longer to reach my top speed, BUT because the wheels are stiffer it felt like a stronger pull with each stride. Gonna do more sprints and see if I can test some results with my garmin or something.

Climbing-Kind of similar thoughts with sprinting. Since it is a heavier wheel, I believe it was noticeably more challenging on steep long sections of climbs, especially when I was reaching my thresh hold. Since they are stiffer, I felt that each stride was a stronger pull. Not sure how i feel about these if I was to do a lot of climbing. Again, since I do not know the weight of this set (Please do not tell me in case you are just coming into this) I dont know how much the weight factor plays in this equation.

At this point, only 2 rides into it if I had to choose between my Boyds or these H plus son wheels, I would choose these demo wheels! I dig them so far and I am glad that in only 2 rides I have been able to experience the difference between the 2 wheelsets!

More to come this weekend

I would like to chime in and say that you should feel a difference between the two wheels. The set of our wheels you have is two years old, has been ridden a lot, has a previous version of both rims and hubs. The set you are testing out is a great set and the rim and hub are both going to be stiffer and better handling than the 2 year old Vitesse. Our current Vitesse with our new hubs would be a very comparable wheelset to the demo set and would be more fair to compare. Of course, we are not really in a position to send out a set across country for this type of comparison, sorry.

please dont be sorry. I am a big fan of you and your wheels. I have done nothing but praise your name and product every time someone asked which wheel they should look at. Please understand that I am not disappointed in my vitesse wheels now that i have test ridden these others. They are 2 different wheels and as you said, my vitesse wheels are a bit older and used. To be honest i was a bit fearful of you reading this because I didnt want you to feel as if I was now against purchasing your wheels. I am still a big fan, just trying out some other options since it was offered to me.

I definitely understand, and if I got upset everytime somebody bought a wheel set that wasn't ours then I would be a pretty upset guy. . . And I like to think I am a really happy guy. I just want to make sure that people know that they are two different wheelesets and aren't that comparable. I would like the chris king and h plus son rim better than our old Vitesse, which is why we made a lot of the changes to our new lineup.
You should never turn down opportunities to ride other products. I test out other things all the time.