bianchi10

To take you straight to my test rides, click the links below:

H plus Son with chris king R45 hubs

Test ride #2 #47
Test ride #3 post #63
Test ride #4 post #94



Velocity A23 DT swiss 350 hubs
Initial report with small feedback Post#136
Test ride #2 and #3 Post #172/#173
Didn't report with Ride #4 or #5 since they were pretty on par with #2 and #3

Enve carbon 45's with chris king R45 hubs
Info Post #214
1st Test ride Post #286
2nd test ride #402


Random Thoughts
Post #112
Post #235
Post #294
Post #411


The Decided purchase!!!
HED Belgium C2, Chris king R45 hubs, CX Ray Sapim Spokes (24/28)
Review and THE CHANGES!
The official pictures









I recently broke a spoke that caused me to go on a wild goose chase to find a dealer that stocked CX Ray sapim spokes. Was directed to a local wheel builder (Jude kirstein-owner of sugar wheel works in Portland, OR) where she would have what I needed and be able to install it. I took my wheel in and sure enough she was able to help (only cost me $20 for the spoke, install and true the wheel, not bad!). After she took my information we started up a conversation about my kind of riding and my goals. I told her a few wheel options that I was interested with and asked some questions about each set. After 15-20 minutes of talking, she realized that she was talking to someone who had a foundation of cycling information, but had been influenced by a lot of "internet Knowledge." She said I was an interesting case and if i would be willing to do so, she would like to put me on a demo program. Have me test 4 or 5 whe lsets that she had, some with top notch hubs, some with lower quality hubs, super stiff rims compared to not so stiff...etc. I had ZERO obligation to purchase anything after we were done and I could always come into ask guidance. She said she really wanted me to have first hand experience and see for myself the difference between wheels instead of just read about it or ask questions. She also wanted to break my theory that having some 50mm carbon wheels on my bike may look cool, but isn't always the most beneficial. Same went for shaving weight everywhere, specifically a wheel set. I was super excited about the opportunity so we talked about some further details. I was to come back a week later to pick up my first demo set. ONLY thing she asked is that I not research the wheels she was going to put me on. At the time I didn't understand why, but I said ok.



Fast Fwd a week:'
First wheel Demo:
-H plus Son Rims 23mm wide
-Chris King R45
-CX Ray Sapim bladed spokes(24f/28r)
-New Conti 4000s tires 23mm (PSI set at 85f/90r)

As she was installing the new tires and tubes on this wheel set for me, I figured I would ask a few questions. first question I asked was,"what can i expect to feel out these hubs compared to mine (Boyd vitesse 30mm alum clinchers)" she replied with laughter, "you really think I'm going to tell you?? I want you to feel it for yourself, not try to feel what I'm telling you to expect." I got what she was saying, but it frustrated me that I had no info of this wheel set and no idea what I should be looking for. I thought, ok well I wonder how much this wheel set would cost me if I were to buy it right now, so I asked. She again replied with, "you think I'm going to tell you that??. what if I told you this was a $2k wheel set. would you take them out with a pretty high expectation..yeah probably. If I told you this set was only worth $250, would you take them out still having those high expectations or would you not be so excited because they were a cheap wheel? I smiled and said..ok I gotcha.

She put my KCNC lightweight skewers on my wheels and threw on some brick heavy salsa skewers on the demo wheels. While smiling, I asked if she could put my skewers on the demo set and she laughed and said, "man you are going to be hard to break aren't you!!?? You said you would trust me and hand over all control. So I say you will use this set up!" She installed the wheels and handed the bike over. "here ya go, try and ride as much as you can on them and really hone in on what you experience. Abuse these wheels, we just ask that you bring all the parts back, they dont even need to be in one piece lol". I looked at the bike and thought, they aren't as cool to look at. Immediately found myself thinking about what she said and that I just need to be open minded.

First test ride: First thought was I could feel the weight difference between these and my Boyds. I don't know how much (Please don't tell me) because I'm not supposed to look them up. wheels felt super smooth on the flats. Ran several sprints and the wheels felt MUCH stiffer and again stiffer while climbing. I could really tell the difference when i was out of the saddle climbing. Descending felt the same until I hit a corner while descending. I felt that I had much more control through the corner and was able to enter and exit faster. Its a mixed feeling because they feel heavier which I have trained myself to immediately frown at. But after feeling the benefits, I'm starting to see what she was wanting me to experience.

I will continue to add to my thread with new experiences with each ride and update as I get new demo sets. Feel free to ask questions or ask for specific photos.



Here are some picts of the first set (sorry for bad cell phone pict. this was the only wall I could find nearby before loading it up to take home)

antmeeks

Wow, this seems pretty cool. Subscribed & anxiously awaiting more reports!

sosojeffcc

VERY cool. subscribed.

Adrianinkc

Very cool indeed. Enjoy and learn from this experience.

bianchi10

Thanks guys! I'm really excited about this. Best thing is it is all FREE.

ls01

a blind study...... GENIUS!!!!!

abhirama

Very cool. Will be following this thread closely.

ls01

I hope you intend to post your thoughts and findings of each wheelset on this thread. I am very interested in how this works out.

bianchi10

Totally will! Again feel free to ask ask me questions or if anyone wants specific pictures I can certainly do so.

hueyhoolihan

nice to see a well-spoken, intelligent, attractive women wrenching on a bike. rare combination!

antmeeks

Maybe some more pics of Jude, lol. Is she that cute in person?

(You knew someone was gonna ask eventually).

bianchi10

hahaha yes, she is a cutie. What i find more appealing is that she is super passionate about what she does, so she shows her excitement with every answer and is truly interested in your questions or concerns.

StanSeven

Does she have a lime green bike with aero bars? And has it on a back of a Toyota on I-85?

antmeeks

Holy ROFLMAO!!!!

That made my night!

Ok, no more polluting this thread with randomonium... serious stuff here.

garysol1 

On wheelset number one. Tell me how you liked the CK hubs compared to your Boyd hubs? Quicker engagement, smoother, none of the above??

TrojanHorse

Love it! But really, I just want to see you end up preferring some 2000g, box section wheels after all is said and done.

(But at the same time I'm seriously interested in the process, keep at it!)

vesteroid

Oh I have to chime in here. I found Jude through this forum. I went to a wheel building class she held, and had a great time, and learned a lot. I also built (well almost finished) a set of Hed C2 with r45 hubs with cxray spokes for the wife, then after i got home from the class, asked her to build me a set with power tap hubs (same rims and spokes).

Jude is awesome. I can say I am pretty much convinced to sell my powertap enve 45 with g3 hubs in favor of another set of her hedc2 with the same hubs.

I caught a lot of flack when I posted about my perception of her skills in another area of this board, but for my money, she is where I will go for all my wheelsets in the future. (even though I supposedly learned how to do it myself lol)

Jude, if your reading this, I will still true them assuming they every go out....

Seriously, she is one great lady, and one super wheel builder, who doesnt try to sell, she tries to match you to a wheelset.

bianchi10

I say all of the above. The engagement of the hub seemed more responsive. It engaged instantly and I felt that the hub felt more "solid". I would also say it felt smoother while pedaling on flats. With the short ride that I did, though I may be confusing the smoothness with the combination of the 23 wide rim and low psi 23mm tire. The differences were very subtle, but I was able to notice it. This is not to say that my Boyds feel bad compared to the Chris king hub either.

One thing that drove me absolutely BANANA SANDWHICH was the sound of the CK hub!!! I'm sure I would get used to it, but as of now, I am not. I ride with an earphone in right ear and when I was at a steady pace or pedaling I could not hear the free hub at all. BUT instances where I was climbing and then got to the top I would sometimes find myself pausing my cadence as I recovered. In that slight moment where I paused, I could hear the free hub out of my left ear. It wasn't SUPER loud, but it was a sound that my ear has not been accustomed to yet. Since it was an unfamiliar sound, I found myself looking over my shoulder a lot more because it sounded like a car was approaching. Again, I'm sure I would get used to the sound over time.

MarkThailand

Awesome thread - congrats on being able to try a blinded wheel test.

It would probably be better if you also tried to ignore the brands of the rims, spokes, and hubs, or at least do no research them or try to erase your perceptions of them.

Good luck and looking forward to reading your posts.

Mark

Parson

This is awesome. I thought there was some joke coming like "then I woke up" or something like that. Wow, this really is awesome on so many levels. Jude seems amazing. I'm looking forward to you trying more wheels and hearing all about your impressions.

Beaker

Nice.

Subscribed.

Bob Dopolina 

If possible try to use the EXACT same tires/tubes/rim strips/skewers and run them at the same pressure to eliminate their influence on your field tests.

This could be an epic thread.

abhirama

Isn't that a little low? Any reason? I imagine that makes a difference to how the wheel feels.

MisterGaspar

Excellent story. Lucky lucky dog!!!! (Subscribed)

bianchi10

It is low for a 20-21mm wide rim but normal for a 23mm tire on a 23mm wide rim. I'm probably not the best to describe it but imagine taking your rim with your tire and stretch it 2mm wider. This flattens out your tire which combined with Running a lower psi gives you a larger contact patch to the road.