MIN 

1450 grams of bliss or vomit?

eXCeSS

does it come in hipster?

MIN 

none of that nonsense-function first.

mihlbach

I like them. I also think the AC clincher track wheel would be sweet for FG road riding. But if I was going to get new track wheels, I'd probably just build my own. One could easily build a similar reasonably aero sub1500 gram clincher track wheel for less than $500.

andre nickatina

Damn it mihlbach, you took this thread away from the direction of sarcastic epicness. To hell with you and your real-life experiences!

MIN 

do they make tubular?

mihlbach

tubular:
https://www.amclassic.com/track_tubular.html


clincher:
https://www.amclassic.com/track_clincher.html

MIN 

Do you realize that with the tubular version, I can save

~1000 grams from the wheelset
~200 grams on tires vs clinchers

1200 grams = 2.64 lbs, thus resulting in a 16.3 lb pista? Nice.

Mihlbach, how would you rate the stiffness and trueness of the wheel?? Road AC wheelsets tend to have durability issues.

deathhare

Do they come with one of these magnets for your SUV?

mihlbach

I said I like them. I didn't say I own them. If you want a good light fg wheel for less money, build your own. Its should be easy to build up a light semi-aero track wheel. Why everyone rides around with boat anchor Phils and Deepvs is beyond me. You can easily get under 1500 grams for the same money or less. I'd go with Niobium 30 rims (clincher), a road hub in front (with skewer), a hollow axle in the rear track hub and Sapim CX ray spokes (or similar but cheaper Wheelsmith). The road hub alone could take off close to 200 grams in comparison to many track hubs. I know less about tubular rims, but I'm sure you can find something comparable to the AC tubular.

chase.

road hub in front is key to dropping weight. if you're not a tricks rider you can even get a 20 or 24 hole setup in front, use oval or bladed spokes, and keep your 32h with track hub out back.

MIN 

How come track hubs are so heavy? The high flange?

mihlbach

High flange and solid axle probably account for most of it. There are probably other differences in the hub shell as well. The lightest front road hubs use materials other than steel for the axles.
A set of track nuts probably weights about as much as a skewer, so those items probably come close to canceling each other out.

mihlbach

If your not doing tricks, theres actually no reason why you couldn't go with 24 or 28 spokes in back, as long as the spokes are tensioned properly. There are a lot of fat roadies out there with low spoke count wheels and they do just fine. A ssfg wheel will be stronger than a road wheel, due to the lack of symmetrical dish, so you should be able to get away with fewer spokes.

Hirohsima

Not sure if this helps but my wheelset w/o skeweres or freewheel weighs about 1650 grams. which is about 1/2lb heavier than the AC wheelset.

Rims - Velocity Fusion
Spokes - Sapim Race (weigh about the same as CX-Ray but cost less and are not aero)
Nips - Alloy front, alloy/brass rear (non-drive/drive)
Hubs - Front - DA 24h, Rear- Superbe Pro 28h
Veloplugs
Soon to have a rear ti-axle which *might drop* 15-20 grams tops.

I run a steel QR rear and a Salsa Ti in front. I could have dropped a few more grams w/ Aeroheads but not much. I can't image building a lighter wheelset from std road parts. As it is, my front wheel is laterally flexy. Rear is stout.

You can build your own setup and get close to AC's weight, but if you want a seriously light wheel, I think you will have to buy something like an AC or start looking at carbon rims.

MIN 

Thanks for the input... what did you spend on this build? The AC is only $420 so that gives custom a big run for it's money.

Hirohsima

For <$400 I would pull the trigger on the AC.
I acutally built with a combo of Laser and Race spokes.
Laser front
Laser Drive/ Race Non-Drive

Spokes: $54
Rims: $128
Nips: $15
Labor: $40
VeloPlugs: $16
Ship $25

Total ~ $250 (I provided the hubs)

As note about AC. Their bearing quality IMHO is kind of sketchey. I had a New-never installed AC BB and there was a ton of play in the bearings. THey said it would go away once the bearing is "loaded", but that is BS IMHO. Bearings on their BB are NEVER loaded based on their non-drive slip cup design. I know a BB is not the same as a hub, but that kind of Quality Control does not inspire confidence. I would double-check you can get non-AC replacement bearings. If it were me, I would be concerned with bearing life and overall QC.

Wonder if the SSFG group buy could do an AC wheelset? $450 is pretty good, but I honesly think those wheels are worth probably closer to $350.

If building from scratch I would get:
https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...20Front%20Hubs
$68 DA 24 hub (with 10% off coupon)

Paul rear hub which are lighter and just as good IMHO as a Phil hubs for ~$125

Like for like you would have a handbuilt DA/Paul/Velocity wheelset for the exact same price as AC. AC will be lighter , but I suspect the built-from-scratch wheelset will be stronger and with the parts listed I would guess the weight diff would only be about 100-150 grams).

Hirohsima

Just looked at the AC wheels again. There is no way, short of a lot of money, you could build a set with as deep a dish as the AC wheel for the same weight.

I know you and I like to save weight,.... these wheels may be the ticket.

I noted that their clinchers are 1585 grams which is not that much less than my wheelset
I noted that they have track bolts. Not sure how that works, but the picture looks like there are no axles... wonder if the weight is w/o axles????

MIN 

I apologize - the tubular wheelset uses a Mg rim which is 290 grams and it costs $900. Out of my budget. There does appear to be a TRACK TUBULAR which is only marginally heavier than the Magnesium tubular wheelset. Here's a weight list from AC.

Hiroshima, the AC Track clinchers seems to be about 1600g after I looked at the details. Not 1450grams but 1600 g is still lighter than anything else out there for this price.

The Mavic Ellipse is 2000 grams for reference.

mihlbach

MSRP for AC track clinchers is $800. Thats way too much. What are people actually selling these things for?
Also not that the Sapim CX Ray upgrade us not available for this wheelset.

MIN 

That's for the Mg rimmed version. MSRP is $450 for the regular ones.

Here's a used one for about $250 now on the bay.

mihlbach

Where are you getting that price?
The MSRP for the aluminum clinchers on the AC website (New Track 420 Deep Section Clincher: claimed weight = 1585 grams) is listed as $799.95.
Look here: https://www.amclassic.com/price_sheet.html

MIN 

First google result.

repart corse @ $440

teiaperigosa

Usa...usa>......usa>>>....usa!!!!!!

mihlbach

I think we are talking past eachother. If you are talking about the Hurricane classic track wheels for $439....that appears to be an older model. Its not a deep rim, nor is it listed on AC's website. We have been referring to different models.