Another day with wheels (and so on).
Before I get started. I get questions from customers asking, "Why don't you make a Nomunomu Lab Wheel with a carbon tubeless rim?"
It's been happening more frequently lately, but in most cases it doesn't make much sense as competitive equipment, so for now I'm not interested.
Nomunomu Lab Wheels No. 1 and No. 5 have height-to-weight ratios of rim height mm / weight g of 30mm / 462g and 22mm / 384g respectively,
but unless a new rim exceeds or at least matches these specs (regardless of rim material),
it can't be considered a superior upgrade.
Another thing.
The XR200 rim used in Nomunomu Lab Wheel No. 5 has "unusual" material characteristics — there's no other tubeless rim under 400g that can be tensioned as much as this one.
Early models of Novatech's ZTR Alpha 340,
early models of ALEXRIMS' EST13, early models of Crostini R3.1, and American Classic's CR350
can't tension as much as the XR200,
and the top three that I labeled "early models" later got nervous and became heavier under the same model name.
Even if there were a carbon tubeless rim with specs around 22mm / 384g, if it couldn't tension as much as the XR200, it wouldn't really make sense either.
As for the appeal of looking like a carbon rim — which I findcompletely irrelevantnot particularly interesting — there are cases where at 50mm or 80mm heights, aluminum rims have no options so you go with carbon.
Even in those cases, I've never seen a carbon rim that's lighter than a tubular rim of the same height, and they tend to be extremely heavy, so I question their use as competitive equipment.
As rare exceptions, rims like Fulcrum's Racing Zero Carbon or Reynolds' Assault are actually lighter than aluminum rims of comparable height, but these rims are expensive.
(And they're made by the same manufacturer anyway)
So, another day with wheels (and so on).
A shady broker brought me a carbon tubeless rim.
The question was whether it would work for Nomunomu Lab Wheel No. 7.
This rim is probably made by the same manufacturer as edco (Educo). But that doesn't mean there's an identical model with the edco brand name.
They asked me to build it up, so I did.
The rim feels very stiff and builds up nicely.
Front wheel is a Black hub 20H
Spokes are Hoshi Aero Star Bright Type II.
I chose the Black hub with slotted holes specifically for these spokes.
Built the rear wheel too.
Evolite hub 24H, semi-strong 1.5x crossing with lacing. This is the rim broker's personal wheel, and while they wanted a comfortable-riding wheel, I ended up building it as close to a completely rigid body as possible with steel spokes.
If there's a next time, I'll likely build it a bit more conservatively with CX-RAY front and semi-competition rear.
With rims and hubs I'm seeing for the first time, doing it this way makes things easier later.
Early this year, I built two pairs of Star hub front and rear wheels with somewhat experimental specs, and it was for the same reason.
※Actually, this isn't my first time seeing this rim, but I'll pretend it is.
↑This valve rattle guard — edco rims have a similar one.
It's an internal nipple design, but the rim hole diameter is so small it's almost like it's made exclusively for 15g spokes — I had to drill it out.
Weight.
This is the rear rim, but the front rim was 542g.
Both rims are 38mm in height, but that's pretty rough.
So, I've decided to pass on adopting this as Nomunomu Lab Wheel No. 7.
Before I get started. I get questions from customers asking, "Why don't you make a Nomunomu Lab Wheel with a carbon tubeless rim?"
It's been happening more frequently lately, but in most cases it doesn't make much sense as competitive equipment, so for now I'm not interested.
Nomunomu Lab Wheels No. 1 and No. 5 have height-to-weight ratios of rim height mm / weight g of 30mm / 462g and 22mm / 384g respectively,
but unless a new rim exceeds or at least matches these specs (regardless of rim material),
it can't be considered a superior upgrade.
Another thing.
The XR200 rim used in Nomunomu Lab Wheel No. 5 has "unusual" material characteristics — there's no other tubeless rim under 400g that can be tensioned as much as this one.
Early models of Novatech's ZTR Alpha 340,
early models of ALEXRIMS' EST13, early models of Crostini R3.1, and American Classic's CR350
can't tension as much as the XR200,
and the top three that I labeled "early models" later got nervous and became heavier under the same model name.
Even if there were a carbon tubeless rim with specs around 22mm / 384g, if it couldn't tension as much as the XR200, it wouldn't really make sense either.
As for the appeal of looking like a carbon rim — which I find
Even in those cases, I've never seen a carbon rim that's lighter than a tubular rim of the same height, and they tend to be extremely heavy, so I question their use as competitive equipment.
As rare exceptions, rims like Fulcrum's Racing Zero Carbon or Reynolds' Assault are actually lighter than aluminum rims of comparable height, but these rims are expensive.
So, another day with wheels (and so on).
A shady broker brought me a carbon tubeless rim.
The question was whether it would work for Nomunomu Lab Wheel No. 7.
This rim is probably made by the same manufacturer as edco (Educo). But that doesn't mean there's an identical model with the edco brand name.
They asked me to build it up, so I did.
The rim feels very stiff and builds up nicely.
Front wheel is a Black hub 20H
Spokes are Hoshi Aero Star Bright Type II.
I chose the Black hub with slotted holes specifically for these spokes.
Built the rear wheel too.
Evolite hub 24H, semi-strong 1.5x crossing with lacing. This is the rim broker's personal wheel, and while they wanted a comfortable-riding wheel, I ended up building it as close to a completely rigid body as possible with steel spokes.
If there's a next time, I'll likely build it a bit more conservatively with CX-RAY front and semi-competition rear.
With rims and hubs I'm seeing for the first time, doing it this way makes things easier later.
Early this year, I built two pairs of Star hub front and rear wheels with somewhat experimental specs, and it was for the same reason.
※Actually, this isn't my first time seeing this rim, but I'll pretend it is.
↑This valve rattle guard — edco rims have a similar one.
It's an internal nipple design, but the rim hole diameter is so small it's almost like it's made exclusively for 15g spokes — I had to drill it out.
Weight.
This is the rear rim, but the front rim was 542g.
Both rims are 38mm in height, but that's pretty rough.
So, I've decided to pass on adopting this as Nomunomu Lab Wheel No. 7.