Light Bicycle Carbon Rims

Originally Posted by ohmygato
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I am reporting back on my experience with Light Bicycle’s Flyweight XC rims. I had a professional wheelbuilder lace them up to a pair of DT Swiss hubs with Sapim X-Ray spokes. I rode them for about 4 months as light duty cross country wheels and much of this time I did not ride on them at all due to an injury. I am 150 lbs. and ride at about 30 psi. I did not crash or take any big drops with them. I have not even ridden them in any rocky or difficult terrain. I also have NEVER broken a rim before. However a couple weeks ago at an XC race which is considered to be an extremely tame course the rear rim developed a small crack. I am not happy about Light Bicycle’s performance or their marketing these rims as an XC purpose rim.

What is more disappointing is Light Bicycle’s lack of response on this issue as it took them nearly 2 weeks to get back to the shop that built them. They also have not responded to my messages to them on this site. They offered the shop a 25% discount as a crash replacement when the rims were clearly not crashed, then when questioned on their policy they offered a 50% discount.

I’m giving Light Bicycle one last chance to do the right thing and stand by their product. I expect either a complete replacement at no cost or a full refund. If I don’t get a response here on MTBR or through the shop I ordered them from I will never use their rims again and I will start actively recommending against using Light Bicycle rims.

Can you post pics?

Mine are beefier for sure, the 38mm external with 31.6mm internal by 38mm deep, but they have been bomb proof. The flyweight designation says something. How many spokes does the rim take? Something that light will need all the help it can get to stay together. Carbon fiber is strong, but your rims have half as much as mine.

That looks like an impact for sure. A stress crack/separated layers ect wouldn’t protrude like that, at least I don’t think.

I’m no expert, I was just curious to see what kind of damage we’re talking about. But to me that looks like a pretty serious rim strike. Maybe a beefier rim would have survived, and that’s the trade-off on the ultralight versions.

Originally Posted by machine4321
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That looks like an impact for sure. A stress crack/separated layers ect wouldn’t protrude like that, at least I don’t think.

Yeah, you can even see a bit of a crease where the wall must have folded.

Edit:
There’s dirt in the tire/rim interface as well. Pretty clear that it must have hit something. I would be thankful you were able to finish the race!

You might not remeber hitting something but as mentioned those pictures sure make it look like you had a pretty solid hit.

Yeah I hear you on this and I was wondering the same thing, but I did not hit the rim on anything. I have done about 12 races on this same course using some old Stans rims and a rigid bike and I have never had any problems. So my reasoning is that if these rims can’t survive a single cross country race on a course I’ve ridden a dozen times before on other rims, they are really not up to the task of light XC racing at all. And keep in mind I have NEVER broken a wheel until this race. In fact the whole experience has me thinking that I should just switch back to Stans and get away from this carbon BS altogether.

LB marketed these rims as XC race rims. I went for it because I weigh 150 lbs. and only ride XC, plus I have never damaged a rim.

Is it typical that carbon rims will just crack open like this where aluminum rims won’t? If that’s the case I am going to give up on LB and all other carbon rims altogether.

Originally Posted by ohmygato
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Yeah I hear you on this and I was wondering the same thing, but I did not hit the rim on anything. I have done about 12 races on this same course using some old Stans rims and a rigid bike and I have never had any problems. So my reasoning is that if these rims can’t survive a single cross country race on a course I’ve ridden a dozen times before on other rims, they are really not up to the task of light XC racing at all. And keep in mind I have NEVER broken a wheel until this race. In fact the whole experience has me thinking that I should just switch back to Stans and get away from this carbon BS altogether.

LB marketed these rims as XC race rims. I went for it because I weigh 150 lbs. and only ride XC, plus I have never damaged a rim.

Is it typical that carbon rims will just crack open like this where aluminum rims won’t? If that’s the case I am going to give up on LB and all other carbon rims altogether.

What does riding the same trail with other wheels have to do with anything, the trail changes, you take different lines etc…
Personally think you’re overreacting but whatever, for all you know that hit would bent the crap out of you stans rim

That is definitely a rim strike and those paper thin rims are not tough. They are light. How much air pressure were you running and on what size tire?

Originally Posted by TwoTone
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What does riding the same trail with other wheels have to do with anything, the trail changes, you take different lines etc…
Personally think you’re overreacting but whatever, for all you know that hit would bent the crap out of you stans rim

So you’re saying that you would use the exact same LB Flyweight rims again and trust them completely for XC racing on that same course when you have ridden other wheels there 12 times and never had any problems? No thank you.

I’m not asking for your support here, but I’m not looking for ridiculous suggestions either.

Originally Posted by Prophet Julio
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That is definitely a rim strike and those paper thin rims are not tough. They are light. How much air pressure were you running and on what size tire?

About 30 psi, 2.25.

That last guy I saw bust a rim didn’t know he did until he lost his tubeless, it was an aluminum HED a few weeks ago. He hit it somewhere before, but wasn’t aware of it. The last one I busted I didn’t know at the time, only figured it out half a mile later, although I knew I hit something, a quick look did not seem to indicate any damage. I’ve busted a significant number of aluminum rims, one carbon rim because I meant to, but didn’t add air before a ride. Totally happy with my carbon Nexties and LB rims, wouldn’t be taking em on hundred mile rides if I wasn’t confident about em.

Originally Posted by ohmygato
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So you’re saying that you would use the exact same LB Flyweight rims again and trust them completely for XC racing on that same course when you have ridden other wheels there 12 times and never had any problems? No thank you.

I’m not asking for your support here, but I’m not looking for ridiculous suggestions either.

You’re the one being ridiculous

Originally Posted by Jayem
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That last guy I saw bust a rim didn’t know he did until he lost his tubeless, it was an aluminum HED a few weeks ago. He hit it somewhere before, but wasn’t aware of it. The last one I busted I didn’t know at the time, only figured it out half a mile later, although I knew I hit something, a quick look did not seem to indicate any damage. I’ve busted a significant number of aluminum rims, one carbon rim because I meant to, but didn’t add air before a ride. Totally happy with my carbon Nexties and LB rims, wouldn’t be taking em on hundred mile rides if I wasn’t confident about em.

Do you use the LB Flyweights or something else? I had heard a few concerns about them before using them but they seemed to meet my intended purspose so I went for it. I am really questioning that decision now though.

Originally Posted by ohmygato
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Do you use the LB Flyweights or something else? I had heard a few concerns about them before using them but they seemed to meet my intended purspose so I went for it. I am really questioning that decision now though.

No, but Im heavily considering ordering some T800 light rims from Nextie/LB/carbonspeed for xc racing as a race-only wheelset. I have Nextie and LB rims, 2x sets of each, the oldest are about 4-5 years old and have been used for everything from DH race to endurance XC.

I’m currently debating between the BC05 from LB:
https://www.lightbicycle.com/Hookles…ompatible.html

and the Nextie NXT27WC38:
[Asymmetric] [NXT27WC38] [All Mountain] 38mm Width Carbon Fiber 27.5″ / 650B MTB Rim Clincher Hookless Tubeless Compatible

Any thoughts between the 2? Rim Depth? Ect..
These are going on the Calling I am building up

Originally Posted by Jayem
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No, but Im heavily considering ordering some T800 light rims from Nextie/LB/carbonspeed for xc racing as a race-only wheelset. I have Nextie and LB rims, 2x sets of each, the oldest are about 4-5 years old and have been used for everything from DH race to endurance XC.

If I understand the materials correctly that T800 would be what they use in the Flyweights which is the one I busted. That one I am going to replace with something heavier duty. The one that’s still on the bike will probably break eventually too and at that point I’ll upgrade it to something heavier as well.

Which Nextie and LB rims are you using now? Do you have a set of the LB Standard weight rims that have held up?

Hi ohmygato,

I was concerned when I heard about you Customer Service experience, so I looked into it a little more with our Global team. As for the wait period, I just spoke to the Global support team and they explained that they did not receive the warranty claim from the shop until February 26. From there, we looked at the claim and got back to the shop to say that we had decided that this was not a warranty (see more below) and offered a 25% crash replacement. After talking to the shop a little more, that was bumped to a 50% off crash replacement.

We didn’t hear anything from you or the shop afterwards, so assumed that everything was resolved.

Typically a warranty issue comes in the form of a lamination issue whereby the layer come apart, or a warp due to improper curing. Nowadays both of these issues are VERY rare. Once a process has been dialed, it is reliable and consistent. Carbon is stronger, and lighter than any alloy rim out there…but the trade off is that it cracks whereas an alloy rim would dent or taco.

The LB Flyweight is undoubtedly a race focused rim. Ideal for experienced racers who are looking for every possible edge. That being said, you can rest assured that they’ve been tested to handle some heinous terrain. We tested them out here in BC for 6 months under the legs of former national champions, trials riders and well known shredders. We’ve put them through the paces of enduro courses, chundery terrain with lots of rocks, roots and you name it. We had riders case drops badly enough that they blew the tire off the rim and it still didn’t crack.

In short, those rims are strong, but nothing (alloy, carbon, any bike part) is indestructible. The nature of carbon rims and especially an XC focused rim such as this, is that it won’t have the same sort of impact strength that a trail or enduro rim might have. This makes it vulnerable to rim bottom outs or rock strikes. Based on the photos, it appears that something must have come in contact with the rim. That is the only way a crack like that can occur. This didn’t necessarily have to have occurred on the ride you noticed it, but perhaps a previous ride.

I hope that answers some of your questions and concerns. If you have any others, feel free to reply here, email us at either [email protected] or [email protected].

Originally Posted by light bicycle
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Hi ohmygato,

I was concerned when I heard about you Customer Service experience, so I looked into it a little more with our Global team. As for the wait period, I just spoke to the Global support team and they explained that they did not receive the warranty claim from the shop until February 26. From there, we looked at the claim and got back to the shop to say that we had decided that this was not a warranty (see more below) and offered a 25% crash replacement. After talking to the shop a little more, that was bumped to a 50% off crash replacement.

We didn’t hear anything from you or the shop afterwards, so assumed that everything was resolved.

Hi light bicycle,

I hope you are just personally misinformed on this issue and not purposefully trying to mislead us. Please see the dialogue between my shop and Light Bicycles which clearly shows the dates they opened the dialogue. I have removed the email addresses and names for confidentiality. If you have any questions about this please respond to my private message to you and we can discuss it over the phone. The reason Light Bicycles has not received further correspondence on this since is because I was trying to get ahold of a LB representative who could actually address this issue.

Email dialogue below:

“Hey Dan,

So after an initial email only offering 25% off a replacement, they now have offered 50% and $5 off the second rim. I’m still disappointed but essentially they seem to see this as a crash replacement, not warranty.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: support LightBicycle
Date: Sun, Feb 25, 2018 at 2:44 AM
Subject: Re: Your Shipment Notification from Light Bicycle-

Hi,

I am so sorry for the delay to reply! There are too many e-mails waiting to deal with. Hope to get your understanding.

Yes, your our honor customer. Thanks for your continuous support! I have discussed with my manager and told them you are our returning customer. What I can strive for you is offer 50% discount for the crash replacement rim. And I have checked on our stock rims. There are 2 standard RM29C06 rims( matte 3K 28H ) in stock. If you are in urgent, we recommend you to choose the DHL delivery. It is USD75 for 2 rims and take around 5 days to USA.

Please check our quotation as below.
RM29C06 rims: standard, 3K matte,28H, with green stickers, 1 pcs, USD82.5 each(after 50% discount)
RM29C06 rims: standard, 3K matte,28H,with green stickers, 1 pcs, USD160 each(after USD5 cheaper)

Do you want to ship by EMS delivery(USD50 for 2 rims to USA) or DHL delivery? And then I will create an invoice for you accordingly.

Best regards,
Grace

2018-02-25 3:06 GMT+08:00
Hello Grace,

As I previously stated the customer did not hit anything out of the ordinary for riding off road. We had an in depth conversation about where he rides and how, ect. As I previously mentioned he runs fairly high pressure, which should help prevent damage. He rides cross country trails and does nothing that should have resulted in this crack. He does not want another of the same rim, but wants to replace both with the regular versions.

I’m not very satisfied with the customer service I’m receiving. I realize that this process was delayed by Chinese New Years, but the message said you were unavailable until the 22nd, and now it’s the 25th. These are race wheels and it’s the beginning of race season. I loaned the customer a personal set of wheel so he would not be left unable to race, but I need my wheels back.

This is an opportunity to provide excellent customer service and create a good reputation for Light Bicycle. The offer of 25% of only the replacement rim is not adequate. I’ve bought a number of rims in the past and hope to continue to, but I need to have faith in your products. What’s the best you can do for 2x RM29C06?

Thanks,

On Sat, Feb 24, 2018 at 3:23 AM, support LightBicycle wrote:
Hi,
Thanks for your assistance and I am so sorry for the delay to reply!

Could you please have a further check with the customer? Did he hit something else?

I have submitted the file for check. However, it is judged as crash replacement. What we can do is offering 25% discount for the replacement rim.

Let me know if you have any further question.

Best regards,
Grace

2018-02-14 5:05 GMT+08:00
Hello Grace,
Here are the photos you requested.
Thanks,

On Mon, Feb 12, 2018 at 8:07 PM, support LightBicycle wrote:
Hi,

I will deal with this issue for you.

Could you please offer the following information to us for check?
1)Rim serial number picture(the serial number is on rim bed, please make sure the picture is clear enough, otherwise the replacement file can not be approved)
2)The pictures of issue area and the whole rim.(please take clear pictures, otherwise the replacement file can not be approved)

Let us know if you have any further question.

Best regards,
Grace

2018-02-13 12:05 GMT+08:00

———- Forwarded message ———-

Date: 2018-02-13 6:48 GMT+08:00
Subject: Re: Your Shipment Notification from Light Bicycle

Hello Kartrin,
How are you today? A customer of mine just brought in a cracked flyweight rim (RM29C06 Flyweight) from the order above. He’s been riding on the wheels for just four months and weighs on 150 lbs. He also runs fairly high tire pressure, about 30psi. He doesn’t recall hitting hard while riding and definitely didn’t crash. Have you had any problems with these rims? It seems like a warranty situation, but he would rather get a pair of the regular version of this rim (RM29C06 Standard) and not another flyweight. Can you replace one rim as warranty and he will buy a second rim?
Thanks,”

Originally Posted by light bicycle
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The LB Flyweight is undoubtedly a race focused rim. Ideal for experienced racers who are looking for every possible edge. That being said, you can rest assured that they’ve been tested to handle some heinous terrain. We tested them out here in BC for 6 months under the legs of former national champions, trials riders and well known shredders. We’ve put them through the paces of enduro courses, chundery terrain with lots of rocks, roots and you name it. We had riders case drops badly enough that they blew the tire off the rim and it still didn’t crack.

Interesting you say that. I have been racing for 15 years, I weigh 150 lbs., I run fairly high pressure, and the terrain that I ride and race on here in northern California is considered to be extremely tame compared to BC. I certainly wouldn’t dare take these rims down any enduro courses, chundery terrain with lots of rocks, roots and you name it. I also don’t do any jumps or drops. As I mentioned multiple times in this thread I have never broken a wheel.

Don’t I sound like the ideal customer for these Flyweight rims to you? That is how they are marketed, that is why I bought them, and that is why I expect the company I bought them from to stand by their products even if that means replacing them free of charge.

Originally Posted by ohmygato
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Interesting you say that. I have been racing for 15 years, I weigh 150 lbs., I run fairly high pressure, and the terrain that I ride and race on here in northern California is considered to be extremely tame compared to BC. I certainly wouldn’t dare take these rims down any enduro courses, chundery terrain with lots of rocks, roots and you name it. I also don’t do any jumps or drops. As I mentioned multiple times in this thread I have never broken a wheel.

Don’t I sound like the ideal customer for these Flyweight rims to you? That is how they are marketed, that is why I bought them, and that is why I expect the company I bought them from to stand by their products even if that means replacing them free of charge.

So if you crash and break your frame you expect a free replacement? It’s not a defect it’s obvious to everyone that have seen the picture you hit something hard.

Originally Posted by TwoTone
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So if you crash and break your frame you expect a free replacement? It’s not a defect it’s obvious to everyone that have seen the picture you hit something hard.

Of course not! I would never ask a company to replace their products if I crashed them or hit something hard with them.

It seems that you’re having a hard time understanding this, so I would like to personally invite you to race with me out here on the beautiful smooth sandy trails in northern California and see for yourself. I’m sure you will enjoy the course. Here are some photos of the race I was at when the rim cracked: About Us

Dude, I feel bad for your wrecked new wheel, but I don’t know how you can look at that and say it didn’t hit anything. Maybe it didn’t happen that particular day, but it’s obviously been smacked hard. If I were in your place, I would be very thankful for a 50% crash replacement.

Funny, I got on this thread thinking this is just some small Chinese company and therefore they are probably not going to even respond, but thinking that I should at least give them a chance. Now I am leaving this thread realizing that not only are they some small Chinese company but also that they have a rep who takes several days to respond and is either totally misinformed or being purposefully misleading about the communications and history of this issue. I’m done with Light Bicycle. You’ve clearly proven to me that your XC race wheels are not meant for XC racing the way they are marketed.

Hi ohmygato,

We certainly weren’t trying to mislead you! I was misinformed by our Global team about when you had contacted them, so I’m sorry about that.

As was mentioned in the email thread, the reason it took so long for a reply was because the offices were closed for Chinese New Year during that period and, when they did come back, were pretty back logged after the holidays.

In the future, if you are ever need difficulty, our North American Sales team is also available and will either help resolve your issue or make sure that is gets resolved by the Global team.

Anyways, I don’t want to take over this forum with this discussion, but we’d be happy to either continue this discussion via email or phone (1-253-216-2535)

Originally Posted by spsoon
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Dude, I feel bad for your wrecked new wheel, but I don’t know how you can look at that and say it didn’t hit anything. Maybe it didn’t happen that particular day, but it’s obviously been smacked hard. If I were in your place, I would be very thankful for a 50% crash replacement.

/walmart syndrome.
Obviously an impact. Just because you don’t remember it happening in a race or out riding when you concentrating and riding hard, especially if you are tapped out, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. I’ve smacked my shoulders on trees and don’t remember doing it until the bruise shows up. That and its a carbon fly weight race rim. That’s the trade off with ultra light wheels, especially when you opt for a brand that is considerably less than name brands. Its like complaining about a set of race ultra soft race tires not lasting a whole season. There not meant to.

30psi isn’t all that high, I have to run more than that when riding aggressively to avoid bottoming the rim. I can kind of get away with around that psi for general non-aggressive, but I have to be careful with that, as one bad hit and it can be done. Yeah, lots of people saying they run 18-20 psi these days on normal size tires, but tubeless and everything else doesn’t change the psi I can bottom the rim at.

Originally Posted by ohmygato
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Funny, I got on this thread thinking this is just some small Chinese company and therefore they are probably not going to even respond, but thinking that I should at least give them a chance. Now I am leaving this thread realizing that not only are they some small Chinese company but also that they have a rep who takes several days to respond and is either totally misinformed or being purposefully misleading about the communications and history of this issue. I’m done with Light Bicycle. You’ve clearly proven to me that your XC race wheels are not meant for XC racing the way they are marketed.

You’re the customer everyone who’s ever worked retail love to see the door hit in the ass on the way out. Won’t publicly say it, but everyone is thinking yes they aren’t coming back!

Here are the pictures from the one carbon rim that I’ve managed to crack. Not being easy on wheels, I’ve killed plenty of aluminum rims in my day, so one out of the 8 carbon rims I own isn’t too bad, but the failure was entirely my fault. I had meant to put more pressure in before the long epic ride I went on, and for some reason I just didn’t do it. Riding at speed I hit a g-out section where there were these rock-culverts built into the trail, kind of like a small “gap” not large enough for your wheel to fit into, but enough that there was a defined edge that you could still slam. I slammed it with my rear wheel and heard a loud bang, like I might have bottomed the shock. I immediately got off and looked over the bike, everything seemed ok. I think I only looked at it from one side, but again, to the untrained eye, everything seemed fine, so I kept riding on. A few hundred feet later, I felt some sealant spraying on my leg and got off to see why that was happening, that was when I noticed the carbon buckled. It was obvious working backwards, the hit must have been the rim. I put a tube on it and rode pretty hard for the remaining 10 or so miles, 7 of which was a fun as heck downhill with fast speeds and stuff, the rim still held together admirably for being compromised. Ordered a new one as a crash-replacement and built up a backup alu-wheel (cheaper) too have just in case I ever ran into that problem again on my most-frequently used bike.

Given how much I’ve ridden these things and where, I don’t fault the rim for failing. An alu rim would have flat-spotted in the same situation and also would have needed replacing. Otherwise, I have other sets that have seen lots of abuse, DH races, etc., going strong. These were Nexties BTW, but basically the same type of construction obviously.

The damage appears to look very similar to the above.

30 psi is quite conservative for a 150 lb rider. I weigh 173 lbs (before bike pack) and ride rougher terrain that what the OP is describing (Downvieville, Tahoe) and haven’t been over 28 lbs in years.

Originally Posted by GMM
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30 psi is quite conservative for a 150 lb rider. I weigh 173 lbs (before bike pack) and ride rougher terrain that what the OP is describing (Downvieville, Tahoe) and haven’t been over 28 lbs in years.

Well, it’s been years since I did Downieville, which was back in the 2000s, but back then, on probably the same width tires you are using, I couldn’t use below 30 and had to be at least up around 35 in the rear, or I’d be risking denting the rim. Wonder what changed?

Hi

I’m considering the RM650BC13 (heavy duty) rim to relace some Sun ringle hubs. Issue, they’re 24 holes. I’m some 220lb with full kit, and the wheels will be used on a 170/150mm travel FS and a 120mm travel HT. Don’t do massive jumps, haven’t taco’d a rim in almost 20 years and tend to use higher pressures rather than lower.
Would the rims be strong enough? Anyone has any experience with that small spoke count? Propietary wheels come in 24/28, ERD is almos the same as the actual 26′ rim (actually the 26 rim has 1mm bigger ERD) so what with carbon being more rigid, rims being wider and reinforced, would you think I could safely use them?

Thanks

I run the standard 28 hole 29ers and have bombed the crap out of them on both a suspension bike AND a hardtail. Weigh about the same as you and have no issues with rim strength, even after a 20+Mph into a sharp rock that I didn’t see/adjust for. I also did @ 4 jump runs at the bike park with 3 broken spokes on my rear and just needed a quick tune from the shop to get it all perfect.

Great to hear, thanks SprSonik.

By rule of thumb, the smaller diameter (27.5 vs 29) could compensate the smaller spoke count (24 vs 28) so I wouldn’t have to overtension them: any wheelbuilder guru like to confirm if the logic is sound?

Nice to know they’ll stay in shape even with broken spokes (btw, where you using straigh gauge & brass nipples or butted & alloy?).

Cheers!

Straight guage w/alloy nipples. I’ve lost about 7 spokes over 1.5 yrs, but 3 were tied to impact. Not apples to apples, but I run 24 spoke Easton EC 70 carbon hoops on my SS and I bomb the crap out of that bike too. Lost 1 spoke on it over @ 1500 miles, and have not even trued the wheels since buying them. Spoke count isn’t as important as a good builder The only damage I have on my LB hoops is a tiny flat spot from my rock strike. Considering the rock strike immediately blew my tire and I had to slow from 20+ on a rocky section, I will take it. Didn’t even affect tire seating or air retention on the tubeless set up.

Well, you’ve just tipped the scales First foray into carbon wheels it is!

Thanks for the replies, really useful and to the point.

Originally Posted by SprSonik
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Straight guage w/alloy nipples. I’ve lost about 7 spokes over 1.5 yrs, but 3 were tied to impact. Not apples to apples, but I run 24 spoke Easton EC 70 carbon hoops on my SS and I bomb the crap out of that bike too. Lost 1 spoke on it over @ 1500 miles, and have not even trued the wheels since buying them. Spoke count isn’t as important as a good builder

The only damage I have on my LB hoops is a tiny flat spot from my rock strike..

I would recommend you use double butted spokes- i wouldn’t be surprised if you stopped breaking spokes as a result. Even if you’re a hard charging heavy rider, 32x 2.0/1.8mm spoke will be plenty strong. Also- use of straight gauge spokes will void warranty on an LB rim. Spokes are designed to stretch to some degree, especially double butted spokes. It helps disperse impacts and soften impacts- sort of like suspension. The natural place for a spoke to stretch is on its butted section. If the spoke is straight gauge, that force will go to the nipple or the head of the spoke. Best case scenario, it breaks in those places. Worst case scenario it pulls through the rim.

Spoke count is important. The less spokes you have, the more tension each spoke has to carry, which means it fatigues faster, and is closer to it’s breaking point. We’ve found that people break spokes at a rate that is consistent with spoke count. A person with a 24h mtb wheel will break more spokes than someone with a 28, who will break spokes more than someone with a 32. Unless you’re a 150lb XC pinner, just go 28 or 32 for peace of mind. The weight saving benefits are negligible especially when you factor in that with LB, the rims are designed according to their drilling. (a 24h rim will weigh more than a 32h rim because it is designed to have more material to compensate for the lack of spokes)

Having a good wheel builder is also important, but I think the mystique with wheelbuilding is pretty overplayed. If you lace correctly, and then tension correctly, you will have a strong wheel. It’s not a dark art.

I could be wrong on the spokes (wheels were built almost 2 yrs ago), and am actually debating respoking the wheelset (and possibly going to an Onyx hub while I am at it). And I totally agree on spoke count. If weight isn’t an issue, or max strength is the primary concern, ABSOLUTELY go with 32. But for what most people do, that is overkill. My personal philosophy with gear is to use the most efficient means to acheive my results, as in don’t overbike. My (+/-) 20lb SS is light weight carbon everywhere, and even when running rigid, where the components took all the force of every impact, I have yet to see a part failure. I even ditched my custom spec FS trail bike for a Santa Cruz Chameleon hardtail (first alu bike in @ 10 yrs) to save some weight and have more fun on the ride. As to wheelbuilders, you are right as well, it is not a dark art, but not everyone who builds wheels is good.

I hope you like them as much as I do. been 3 yrs exclusively on carbon wheels now, and cannot imagine riding aluminum again. I am actually pulling the hub from the stock (Race Face AR 40) wheelset off my new bike and getting a carbon 27.5+ hoop to lace it to. Unless I decide to go big $$$ and get an Onyx hub for my current wheel and move the I9 to the new one.

I tend to agree, I would go for 28h as the best compromise, but the issue here is that I have some great 24h hubs gathering dust and I would like to relace them with some quality rims. 24h alu rims are out of the question, as they are hard to find and I believe, more “accident prone” than carbon with just 24 h (Velocity Blunt SS was the only ones I found).

Weight is not an issue, and while I would prefer lighter rims, I am happy to get the enduro version of the RC13 as long as they are strong enough.

The reasoning, which SprSonic has helped to confirm, is that carbon rims make up in strength for a smaller spoke count. I agree that it is not a linear relationship, and that 28h would be better, but for butted spokes (which I will use) and a reinforced rim, 24h will be adequate.

The propietary spoke count argument could be brought up: Mavic, SR, DT, Easton, use or have used 24h in their rims (I have a pair of 26″ SR Charger Pro which I’ve treated mercilessly and they just have 24 spokes each, and have had no issue whatsoever with them, great set of wheels). In these cases, the rim tended to be heavier to compensate for the lower spoke count, plus the smaller diameter allowed for less tension (that one I assume, not 100% sure).

The LB rim I am looking at has the same ERD (ergo, internal diameter, correct?) that the 26″ alu rim it will replace, so my reasoning was: same internal diameter, stiffer material, reinforced rim and same spoke count vs bigger outer diameter will work.

Or, let me put it in other terms. Say I wanted to replace the 26″ alu rim from the chargers with a 26″ LB carbon rim (instead of a 27,5″). Would the argument stand that 24 spokes are too few to support the new carbon rim? That would imply that the charger alu rim was stronger than a reinforced carbon rim.

Maybe SprSonic has been lucky with his rims (and unlucky with the spokes) but he sounds as he knows his stuff, and his experience is pretty solid. It would be great if I could get a couple more examples from other users, but I guess there’s not many people out there that would go for the 24h solution.

Thanks anyway, appreciate your comment.

Originally Posted by SprSonik
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I hope you like them as much as I do. been 3 yrs exclusively on carbon wheels now, and cannot imagine riding aluminum again. I am actually pulling the hub from the stock (Race Face AR 40) wheelset off my new bike and getting a carbon 27.5+ hoop to lace it to. Unless I decide to go big $$$ and get an Onyx hub for my current wheel and move the I9 to the new one.

Man, I hope I don’t like them that much ove alu, it’ll wreck the bank account if I have to replace all my wheelsets for carbon!

I am a bigger rider, 210 before gear, but I ride light, like Legolas…Been riding non-stop (minus injury timeouts) since 78, and a lot of that was on SS/Rigid bikes, so I learned to flow vs bash. I also don’t mind spending good money on quality parts because I do like to play hard and cheap stuff breaks.

Originally Posted by ohmygato
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Yeah my problem occurred with the Flyweight rims which I think are quite a bit different design than the rims you are talking about. But like I said I am 150 lbs. and ride XC only so I feel I am not operating outside their intended purpose.

This sounds more like a defective rim than an inherent problem with the design. I’m heavier than you and ride them very hard within an XC context and mine have been fine since June ’17. I agree they should send a warranty rim.

Okay, disregard my previous post. That rim was bottomed out against something. Even “burly” rims don’t like being bottom out. I’ve always assumed that my Flyweights will crack if I miss-judge my combination of tire choice, pressure, and how hard I hit things. I’ve cracked other much heavier carbon and alloy rims from impacts that exceeded my tire’s “travel”. Last time I killed a LB enduro rim I was offered the same 50% off replacement rim. I got 2 so I’m ready for the next time but that extra is still in my attic.

Originally Posted by SprSonik
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Straight guage w/alloy nipples.

There aren’t many good reasons to use straight gauge spokes. What are yours?

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a straight guage spoke paired with an alloy nipple.

[QUOTE=ohmygato;13561761]Yeah actually I would appreciate you taking a look at this and letting me know what you think the failure mode was. These were taken immediately after the race when I saw the crack.

Bummer on the broken rim! If you’d like to try ROOST wheels, I’ll set you up with a coupon for a discount – [email protected] – hit me up!

Have just ordered a set of pre-built wheels for the first time thru LB. I’ve built 3 other sets with their rims previously, but it’s worked out cheaper for them to build in-house than for me to gather parts, and spend time building them at home.

Also, I went with the 38mm non-asymmetric rims for a couple of reasons, one being cheaper price, and the other being availability as they were all in stock. So I’ve hit order, paid, and now i see in the order processing that one rim is still in the mold and the other is in CNC machining! So there’s still more machining, sanding, painting, QC, wheel buiilding and shipping to go. Look’s like I’ll have my new frame staring at me for a couple of weeks waiting on wheels.. bummer!

09:11 AM

Originally Posted by ohmygato
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I am reporting back on my experience with Light Bicycle’s Flyweight XC rims. I had a professional wheelbuilder lace them up to a pair of DT Swiss hubs with Sapim X-Ray spokes. I rode them for about 4 months as light duty cross country wheels and much of this time I did not ride on them at all due to an injury. I am 150 lbs. and ride at about 30 psi. I did not crash or take any big drops with them. I have not even ridden them in any rocky or difficult terrain. I also have NEVER broken a rim before. However a couple weeks ago at an XC race which is considered to be an extremely tame course the rear rim developed a small crack. I am not happy about Light Bicycle’s performance or their marketing these rims as an XC purpose rim.

What is more disappointing is Light Bicycle’s lack of response on this issue as it took them nearly 2 weeks to get back to the shop that built them. They also have not responded to my messages to them on this site. They offered the shop a 25% discount as a crash replacement when the rims were clearly not crashed, then when questioned on their policy they offered a 50% discount.

I’m giving Light Bicycle one last chance to do the right thing and stand by their product. I expect either a complete replacement at no cost or a full refund. If I don’t get a response here on MTBR or through the shop I ordered them from I will never use their rims again and I will start actively recommending against using Light Bicycle rims.

Such a bummer to bust a new rim while racing. And at only 150lb makes it even more suspect. But shit happens, and when racing it happens more often.

You should haven taken that 50% off replacement deal and been super excited about it and yelp reviewed The shop and light bicycle 5 stars for helping you out.

Rebuild the wheel and it will probably not happen again or for a long long time.

Is anyone running cushcore with LB rims? If I was planning to should I opt for the heavy duty rims?

Originally Posted by superlightracer
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The less spokes you have, the more tension each spoke has to carry, which means it fatigues faster

I think you may be conflating fatigue and plastic failure. Fatigue correlates to the percentage change in spoke tension in use. Lower tensions actually accelerate spoke failure because the relative tension change is larger over each wheel revolution. Highly-tensioned spokes fatigue less, provided they don’t experience enough additional tension to enter a plastic deformation zone. This is really where low spoke counts cause problems with mountain wheels: when a spoke is already near its limits, there’s little margin to stretch more without a permanent loss in strength.

Originally Posted by phazedalx
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Is anyone running cushcore with LB rims? If I was planning to should I opt for the heavy duty rims?

Not running cushcore. But I went with the EN928(Heavy Duty) for the rear wheel and went with the AM928 for the front wheel. They are on my 2017 Slash. Most run the Heavy duty version for the rear wheel (40 grams more carbon).
Have had these on my Slash for one year and they have been perfect.
My trails are full of sharp rocks and rock gardens. I Run 23psi front and 28psi rear.

I found this Aussie who has a fetish for cutting up Carbon frames and rims..

Take a look at his videos.. For all unwarranted crap LB is getting, they seem to have some of the better manufactured rims out there… way way less voids and other manufacturing defects… Way better than Enve…

This guy has an aviation background and is actually certified to repair composite aircraft..

Home

You are high on Crack cocaine if you think this happened “just riding along on smooth trails” that is some serious impact damage….. Not a warranty issue, you are lucky to get a 50% crash replacement…

Finally got my 29er wheelset, went with 38mm on 28h straight pull DT Swiss 350s and comp race spokes. Pleasantly surprised they came in at 1610g. This is my 4th set of LB rims, and again Im impressed with their product quality, and the wheel build is spot on too. Yet to have a first ride on them but on the street they feel awesome as expected. The 54t ratchet upgrade is nice too. Mounted up a 2.5wt high roller II and a dhr II 2.3, cant wait to see how they feel in the dirt. The 2.5wt blew up massive! Now if would just stop raining….

hey should my Am933’s pop when the beat seats? Never had hookless before…

Scared to go over 40 psi

Originally Posted by phazedalx
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hey should my Am933’s pop when the beat seats? Never had hookless before…

Scared to go over 40 psi

Yes, it will happen usually when seating beads.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

11:21 AM

Well, I finally did it. Just ordered a pair of heavy duty RM650BC13, 24h rims. LB, build them fast!! (fast but well, that is)

I’ll lace them with brass nipples, as they are stronger, correct?

Another wheelbuilding question: the longer the nipple, the stronger the wheel? Overlapping material would make for a stronger overall package, wouldn’t you think?

14mm or 16mm? Or would they foul the actual spoke before being correctly tensioned?

Would washer be necessary in carbon rims?

Anyway, I hope they turn out strong!

Im not sure I understand why you are concerned with strength when you ordered a 24 hole rim, especially as a heavy duty rim. This seems to be contradictory?

Also, I never heard that long nipples are stronger. The spoke has the same amount of threads regardless. I’ve always built with 12mm nipples.

06:51 AM

@Jayem

Long story short, I’m reusing 24 spoke hubs. Rim ERD is the same, and the original rims did not suffer any catastrophic failure (dings and scratches, no buckling). I am aprehensive as I’ve never used carbon rims before. Some forum members have offered useful insight on strength and durability, nevertheles I would like to ensure the wheels are strong as possible. If you have any useful advise, other than “don’t use 24h rims”, much appreciated.

Originally Posted by Lelandjt
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Also, I never heard that long nipples are stronger. The spoke has the same amount of threads regardless. I’ve always built with 12mm nipples.

Thanks, makes sense, I would have to extend the threads to have a larger contact area. I’ll use 12mm brass nipples.

The LBS that has built me several sets of LB rims uses washers FYI.

Originally Posted by TiGeo
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The LBS that has built me several sets of LB rims uses washers FYI.

Did they actually say if they are better for carbon? I have never used them in the wheels I’ve built/rebuilt, and would like to know the benifits they offer vs no washers. Thanks!

Originally Posted by Pommers
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Thanks, makes sense, I would have to extend the threads to have a larger contact area. I’ll use 12mm brass nipples.

Two more things: Aluminum nipples (good ones from Sapim or DT) are actually stronger than brass.
The nipple length will determine the spoke length.

Does the rack you carry the bike on, sit on roof, or behind vehicle ?
[this is a question for anyone with CF rims and 1up or Kaut or any hitch rack]

because hitch racks have killed carbon rims plenty of times by exhaust heat, and the rim busts. Now, if the rim is just heated almost to breaking, or simply compromised, but visually fine….and you cannot see it… and it buts JRA, that might be the issue with numerous CF rim failures.

any hitch rack that is close to exhaust, you may need more than just 16 inches away, you need to consider that on the road, exhaust doesn’t just go out the rear, it sits in eddys of drag vortex and exhaust can warm up the whole bike-hauling area back there, and if is heating up CF rims….will be problematic. all we see are outright failures, we never see something getting slowly compromised over time

Originally Posted by Lelandjt
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Two more things: Aluminum nipples (good ones from Sapim or DT) are actually stronger than brass.
The nipple length will determine the spoke length.

Spoke length should be the same, as the ERD of the rims I’m replacing is the same as the ones from LB, so that, at least, is something less to worry about.

However, and I’m asking in good faith: alloy nipples are stronger? I have read that they are more prone to failure due to the extra rigidity of carbon rims (being lighter, the nipples suffer more from expansion/compression with each revolution of the wheel). Honestly, there’s so much contradicting information going around that I’m at a loss, and for something as small as spoke nipples…

Thanks for the help

Originally Posted by Pommers
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Spoke length should be the same, as the ERD of the rims I’m replacing is the same as the ones from LB, so that, at least, is something less to worry about.

However, and I’m asking in good faith: alloy nipples are stronger? I have read that they are more prone to failure due to the extra rigidity of carbon rims (being lighter, the nipples suffer more from expansion/compression with each revolution of the wheel). Honestly, there’s so much contradicting information going around that I’m at a loss, and for something as small as spoke nipples…

Thanks for the help

an alloy nipple in a carbon rim suffers from galvanic corrosion no matter how strong the alloy is, there is a ticking time-bomb on it when you interface most metals with most carbon. not saying this to panic anyone, they will last forever, but just saying when metal and carbon composites touch, there is certainly small electric current and the molecular fight begins

as far as it being more rigid and does that affect it ? maybe it make the ‘galvanic battery’ stronger ? there are numerous variables at play to examine and decide for sure what the heck is going on and what affects nipple longevity.

Originally Posted by Pommers
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@Jayem

Long story short, I’m reusing 24 spoke hubs. Rim ERD is the same, and the original rims did not suffer any catastrophic failure (dings and scratches, no buckling). I am aprehensive as I’ve never used carbon rims before. Some forum members have offered useful insight on strength and durability, nevertheles I would like to ensure the wheels are strong as possible. If you have any useful advise, other than “don’t use 24h rims”, much appreciated.

The thing is that you are going to either end up with flexier wheels, or higher stress risers, IMO. If you are trying to “make up for” it being a 24 spoke wheel, you would naturally try to over-tension the spokes, possibly some stronger spokes and nipples, like you are mentioning, but you’ll be stressing the spoke holes more than if it was a 32 hole rim. If you go with the normal tension, it’ll end up inherently flexier. Maybe not past the point of being unacceptable, but IMO you give and take with wheels.

Originally Posted by Jayem
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The thing is that you are going to either end up with flexier wheels, or higher stress risers, IMO. If you are trying to “make up for” it being a 24 spoke wheel, you would naturally try to over-tension the spokes, possibly some stronger spokes and nipples, like you are mentioning, but you’ll be stressing the spoke holes more than if it was a 32 hole rim. If you go with the normal tension, it’ll end up inherently flexier. Maybe not past the point of being unacceptable, but IMO you give and take with wheels.

Yeah, I do agree with you, there is less strength in the overall construction with fewer spokes, and thus more flexibility; and even if it seems I am trying to convince myself this is not a bad idea, I expect (hope) that the extra rigidity of carbon will compensate for fewer spokes. Again, the LB rims can stand a higher spoke tension than alu rims, so silver lining and all, I can give them a couple more turns and expect them to remain within tolerance.

As an opener to a purely good natured discussion, what is your opinion on factory built wheels with 24 spokes: i.e. Mavic XA?

Mavic keep using 24 spokes for some their 27.5″ wheels, as the metioned XA, and I wouldn’t think many have failed because of the number of spokes or that they are terribly flexy…they are designed for AM, after all.

Do you think a maxtal rim is stronger than a LB reinforced carbon one?

I would think that with quality parts and expert wheelbuilding, you could change one 27.5″ 24h rim for another one with 24h and not suffer for it.

Still, I may be talking out of my *ss, but the logic seems pretty straightforward….unless the guys at Mavic use some secret french pixie cheese dust that glues the wheel together.

Which wouldn’t surprise me…

Originally Posted by Pommers
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As an opener to a purely good natured discussion, what is your opinion on factory built wheels

My opinion of factory wheels is a four-letter word. In a few words, I don’t trust them. Give me a standard good hub like a DT, Hope, CK, whatever, and let me lace it to a good rim. Don’t give me BS spoke counts where you can’t true the rim, BS aluminum spokes, BS proprietary drive mechs that require parts that are long gone after a few years. IMO, factory wheels are made more under the mass-production mentality, to sell a bunch of product and get it out there. Lasing 5 or 10 years is pretty low on the priority list, as many people will have moved on to a different bike.

If I were you, I’d be lacing them with Alpine III spokes and good brass nipples, maybe even with nipple washers to help distribute the load a little better. You’ll probably be ok, carbon rims are so massively stiffer laterally than aluminum, but taking it down to 24 spokes is only 75% of a standard 32 hole rim.

I simply wouldn’t use a 24 hole hub for abusive riding.

Originally Posted by Jayem
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My opinion of factory wheels is a four-letter word. In a few words, I don’t trust them.

Ok, gotcha

I’m with you on the second part, not so much on not trusting them. I agree most of them are just marketing faff that won’t outlast the life of the bike they’r being used on, and I hate propietary stuff (looking at you, Cannondale & your BB30 crap), but I haven’t had any issues with the durability of factory wheels yet (touch wood, cross fingers).

And yes, one of the reasons I am interested on LB rims is the possibility of breaking with propietary BS and not comprimising performance doing it.

Am I walking on a tightrope in terms of strength? kinda…I’d say it’s more of a wide plank.

Would I be more confortable with at least 4 more spokes per wheel? certainly.

Will I post back if I total the rim? you bet I won’t

Anyway, I was going back and forth on using washers, but they do help to distribute the load, right? If so, I’d certainly use them, don’t mind the “extra weight” (those 20grams are going to kill me, I know)

Thanks for you help, Jayem!

Buyer beware when dealing this with company: make sure you double, triple, and quadruple check your order to make sure they will send you what you asked; otherwise, they’ll send you something that you didn’t ask for and doesn’t fit your bike and will lay the blame on you. Bottom line they’re just another company that is quick to take your money but will come up with multiple excuses when things go wrong.

Sorry to hear you had trouble.

I’ve placed four separate orders over a 3-4 year time period for a total of nine rims and have always received exactly what I ordered with no problems whatsoever.

Originally Posted by amish_matt
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Sorry to hear you had trouble.

I’ve placed four separate orders over a 3-4 year time period for a total of nine rims and have always received exactly what I ordered with no problems whatsoever.

Same with me, 4 sets and not one problem!! So what happened?

Originally Posted by matadorCE
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Buyer beware when dealing this with company: make sure you double, triple, and quadruple check your order to make sure they will send you what you asked; otherwise, they’ll send you something that you didn’t ask for and doesn’t fit your bike and will lay the blame on you. Bottom line they’re just another company that is quick to take your money but will come up with multiple excuses when things go wrong.

Looks like you should have made a copy of your order to compare with what you received. Otherwise, people will believe you got your spokes crossed.

Originally Posted by grizfish
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Looks like you should have made a copy of your order to compare with what you received. Otherwise, people will believe you got your spokes crossed.

The copy of my request states what bike I want it for, but the order only has the rim code with a link to their site for the actual rim. When I placed the order they sent me a link that went to a 650b gravel rim which is what I wanted, and then the link went dead short after I had paid and the order processed. 700c wheels show up at my house and they’re claiming that was the plan all along and now they’ve reactivated the link on the order showing 700c wheels. Just a total failure in customer service and underhanded tactics to cover their error.

Originally Posted by dgw7000
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Same with me, 4 sets and not one problem!! So what happened?

I placed a custom order for a 650 gravel wheelset and 700c wheels showed up a month later. I contacted them and they claim that’s what I agreed to which is not true. They messed up my order and refuse to do anything about it except tell me that I can try returning it to China for a 20% re-stocking fee plus shipping and they still have the right to refuse a refund if it’s an ‘unconventional configuration’. Total BS and not really surprised at this point that their main response is to screw the customer.

Sorry, but that sounds fishy. Every time I’ve ordered from them I’ve gotten an email with all the details on the rims, hubs, and spokes. If I’d accidentally ordered something wrong I could have chnged it then. Also, I don’t see how you’d even order wheels for a specific bike. I’ve always ordered the wheels I need with no mention of what bike they’re going on. If you really said, “I need wheels for X bike,” than wow, that’s really leaving a lot of room for mistakes, even with a US based wheelbuilder. I guess the cost associated with the discounted price at Light Bicycle, YT, etc is you need to know what you want cuz you don’t have a bike shop to help out.

Originally Posted by Lelandjt
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Sorry, but that sounds fishy. Every time I’ve ordered from them I’ve gotten an email with all the details on the rims, hubs, and spokes. If I’d accidentally ordered something wrong I could have chnged it then. Also, I don’t see how you’d even order wheels for a specific bike. I’ve always ordered the wheels I need with no mention of what bike they’re going on. If you really said, “I need wheels for X bike,” than wow, that’s really leaving a lot of room for mistakes, even with a US based wheelbuilder. I guess the cost associated with the discounted price at Light Bicycle, YT, etc is you need to know what you want cuz you don’t have a bike shop to help out.

The prominent chi-bon guys did this sort of thing (poor CS, hiding behind the language barrier, blaming mistakes on the customer) a lot more a few years ago than they do now. Still happens on occasion but competition has gotten so fierce I think they realize that it behooves them to make things right or risk the wrath of so many disgruntled keyboard jockeys. Glad to see the change.

Originally Posted by Lelandjt
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Sorry, but that sounds fishy. Every time I’ve ordered from them I’ve gotten an email with all the details on the rims, hubs, and spokes. If I’d accidentally ordered something wrong I could have chnged it then. Also, I don’t see how you’d even order wheels for a specific bike. I’ve always ordered the wheels I need with no mention of what bike they’re going on. If you really said, “I need wheels for X bike,” than wow, that’s really leaving a lot of room for mistakes, even with a US based wheelbuilder. I guess the cost associated with the discounted price at Light Bicycle, YT, etc is you need to know what you want cuz you don’t have a bike shop to help out.

I put in an inquiry through they system that I was looking for a 650b gravel aero wheels with a Lefty. They came back and said ‘yeah we can do that and we recommend this rim” and included a cross section of a rim with dimensions on it like inner and outer width, depth, etc but no wheel size or rim model number. I had already told them I needed a 650b wheel and told them the make/model of the bike so they could help me with Lefty front hub choices. The rim cross section looked good to me so they put together an invoice detailing the hubs, spokes, etc and a link to the the rim–that rim was the 650b gravel rim they have on their site. A couple of days after I paid, the link to the rim on the email invoice stopped working (still doesn’t work). Fast forward a month and the wheels actually show up and they’re the wrong size. They claim it was the rim I chose all along, but I think a mistake got made in the order where they put down the wrong rim on the order but sent me a link to the correct rim in the invoice giving me the impression the order was correct all along.

What really pisses me off is that they didn’t try to work anything out but instead just pointed to their warranty/return policy that’s loaded with fees and there is a chance my return will get rejected anyway if the wheels are of ‘unconventional configuration’. No attempt to work with me or try to make things right or even entertain the thought that someone on their end had perhaps made a mistake.

Okay, I see how that happened and yeah, now you’re dealing with a return with a Chinese company. Good luck. The mistake happened because it wasn’t the normal “I want this rim with these hubs and these spokes”. I guess the word of caution is, if your order is out of the ordinary expect problems and over communicate.

It does sound like a nightmare, you get all excited about new wheels now its like what the F do I do!!

Did you pay with a CC or Paypal? You may be able to dispute the charges with the company that processed the payment.

Originally Posted by *OneSpeed*
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Did you pay with a CC or Paypal? You may be able to dispute the charges with the company that processed the payment.

I paid with PP so I’ve opened a claim but I’m not too hopeful since it’s a slow process. I’m still trying to talk with LB to get a return wit no fees and no out-clauses like the ‘unconventional configuration’ thing.

Have you bothered to look up the rim model on the site? Not using links.

Yeah its really a shame that you had this bad experience because the product is excellent. Only wheels I will buy, I get rims only and then build up to my spec.

Originally Posted by TwoTone
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Have you bothered to look up the rim model on the site? Not using links.

Like I mentioned in a previous post, initially they didn’t tell me what rim model they recommeded. A model number showed up on the invoice with a link to a rim model on their site, and that was to a 650b rim. Turns out the rim model and the link don’t match, as the rim model is a 700cc rim but the link given to me to that rim was for a 650b rim.

Hi Guys

Anyone is having issues with the actual delivery? It’s been more than two weeks since the items shipped, and LB are saying it’s due to a massive holdup in NY imports. USPS doesn’t even show the rims as having arrived in the US.

I never had a problem. They would double or triple check my order with queries.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Never had a problem. These are generally not companies you “ask for a recommendation” from, they are companies you order what you know you want/need. If you don’t know exactly what you need, it’s best to stay away and shop at your local bike store.

Originally Posted by Jayem
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Never had a problem. These are generally not companies you “ask for a recommendation” from, they are companies you order what you know you want/need. If you don’t know exactly what you need, it’s best to stay away and shop at your local bike store.

I totally agree with you !! 👍

Originally Posted by Jayem
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Never had a problem. These are generally not companies you “ask for a recommendation” from, they are companies you order what you know you want/need. If you don’t know exactly what you need, it’s best to stay away and shop at your local bike store.

Ok that’s awesome but like I mentioned in a previous post, they showed me something that fit what I was looking for so I did end up ordering exactly what I wanted from my point of view. Mistakes happen and things can go wrong sometimes.

Tine to eat it and move on. You can have them relaced with some 650s and sell the 700 rims to recoupe sone cost. Bummer but $hit happens in internet ordering world from China. I have LB wheels on 4 bikes…love them. I wouldn’t bother with a return.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by TiGeo
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Tine to eat it and move on. You can have them relaced with some 650s and sell the 700 rims to recoupe sone cost. Bummer but $hit happens in internet ordering world from China. I have LB wheels on 4 bikes…love them. I wouldn’t bother with a return.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

I’m not enough of a baller to just eat a 1K+ wheelset, so I’m in the process of trying to work something out with them.

This is my latest set of LB wheels, these are only 30mm external and 24mm internal but work well for a light 29er wheel build. 28 hole, Sapim CX-Ray spokes, alloy nips. Project 321 rear hub with 216 quiet hub and DT Swiss 240 front hub. Set comes in at 1567g.

Doing a set of Derby now that I de-laced the old spokes and hubs for Boost DT Swiss 240 hubs with Sapim CX ray spokes and brass nips. Sticking with 240 hubs for all my wheels now. Light and trouble free +bearings always nice and smooth!!

my $0.02
I have been using the LB 38mm rims on my v10 since 2014. I have now done 11 DH trips to Chiang Mai ( between 7-10 days on average per trip) , total mileage of about 2300km of DH. Not groomed trails, pretty rough.
7 broken spokes
Rims are gouged up from rock scapes, but have survived. Certainly lasting longer than my knees.

I now have 3 other bikes with LB rims ( HT, N3 and now a N4). I have cracked 1 rim due to a square edge hit on a poorly set up shock (bottomed out)

The wheels are done, and they look awesome. The rims where 510 and 520 grams, so a bit on the heavy side, but that’s ok, as I requested the hardcore version, and the wheels came out at 820 grams for the front and 940 for the rear. All in all, pretty decent weight.

They set up tubeless without a problem and they seated with a floor pump, but getting the tyres on and off is a royal PITA.

Tried with some 2.3 Maxxis DHF on the first go, and they looked ridiculously small compared with the rim width, so I went with a 2.35 Forestaker rear and a Vittoria Goma 2.4 front. They give the tyres a nice profile, but once they wear out, I think I’ll try something on the 2.5/2.6 range, which will be a good compromise.

I need to try them now, hopefully performance will match looks!

Originally Posted by Pommers
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Did they actually say if they are better for carbon? I have never used them in the wheels I’ve built/rebuilt, and would like to know the benifits they offer vs no washers. Thanks!

Generally speaking with rims w/o eyelets you want to use washers to control the spread of force from nipple to spoke hole. And for carbon, some might not realize that carbon is a very good conductor so it is best to avoid alu contacting the carbon directly. However carbon is only conductive on areas where bare carbon is exposed. Using washers adds another layer on top of the resin/top coat to prevent galvanic corrosion by inserting a ss layer between the alu and carbon.

Aero 07 – Design for Corrosion

Originally Posted by thesmokingman
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Generally speaking with rims w/o eyelets you want to use washers to control the spread of force from nipple to spoke hole. And for carbon, some might not realize that carbon is a very good conductor so it is best to avoid alu contacting the carbon directly. However carbon is only conductive on areas where bare carbon is exposed. Using washers adds another layer on top of the resin/top coat to prevent galvanic corrosion by inserting a ss layer between the alu and carbon.

Been using carbon rims for a while now and never had problems with eyelets cracking. I was sent some “flyweight” type rims from another company for testing, so I’m keeping my eyes on those, but I have 4 other sets of carbon wheels and I’ve relaced some of them as many as 4 times, 3 times for 2 of the sets. Been riding these for years and lots of DH, enduro, racing of all disciplines on various bikes, etc.

The corrosion issue is definitely real, but it depends on several things. Are the spoke-holes treated with clear-coat? Are the nipples anodized (yes, most any decent one is) and is a compound used to prevent the corrosion? I’ve gone from having some pretty serious corrosion issues with the first few (carbon) builds to nothing for a few years. I still think that it’s probably happening, but at a much slower rate. As soon as I start breaking nipples for this reason, I’ll go back and re-nipple the whole wheel. IMO, you are going to at least get a good couple seasons if you are taking reasonable precautions, not letting the bike stay wet, keeping salts away, etc. I liberally apply anti-corrosion compound to the nipple flange and the spoke-threads, to try and discourage the corrosion as much as possible.

Has anyone tried BTLOS.com carbon rims? I like the WM-i29 rim profile with a nice thick bead. Great prices!!

Originally Posted by dgw7000
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Has anyone tried BTLOS.com carbon rims? I like the WM-i29 rim profile with a nice thick bead. Great prices!!

I have the i25 AM rims on dt 240s hubs that they built up. love love love them! 1440g and incredible quality. they use the highest quality molds and do a ton of testing and qc. talk to them on the chat on the website, Amy or Lily were very helpful..

Just pulled the trigger on the AM928 rims for my Pivot Switchblade. Asymmetric with 28mm inside width. Going to put them on Project 321 hubs. Pretty stoked. I will post a review once I get some time on them.

Originally Posted by greginaz
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Just pulled the trigger on the AM928 rims for my Pivot Switchblade. Asymmetric with 28mm inside width. Going to put them on Project 321 hubs. Pretty stoked. I will post a review once I get some time on them.

Suspiciously similar to the Reynolds wheels that Pivot specs.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Well, I finally managed to test the RM650BC13 wheelset…pretty damn good, I have to say.
I could only ride two 20 mile loops over the weekend on flowy singletrail, no rock gardens to speak of, no big drops, so I can’t speak about resistance to rock strikes or harsh landings, but nevertheless I was impressed on how good the wheels felt.

They’re mounted on a Dartmoor hardtail with 140mm up front, which I tend to ride quite mercilessly and they didn’t put a foot wrong.

First impression: they feel stiff, with no noticeable flex and tyres won’t burp even at 20 psi (that was actually an oversight, not done on purpose, but it was useful to determine how low I can go with tyre pressure).

On the second loop, with a more logical pressure, they felt even more rigid, in fact, I could even say that harsher than alu rims. I would have had to let some air out, but was actually having too much fun to start fiddling with the tyres. The steering is quite direct and there is no lateral flex I can detect. In fact, they’re so stiff that the fork was beginning to feel a bit flexy and unable to cope with the small trail chatter. I will have to use less pressure and open the rebound a bit to make it feel more confortable.

On durability: they are haven’t picked any scratches, and there’s no lateral or vertical deviation worth mentioning. I only had to retension one spoke on the rear wheel, but will check all of them before the next ride, to be on the safe side.

All in all, I’m pretty happy on how this first set has turned out. If they don’t fail catastrophically in the next month or so, I will probably convert another set of 26inch wheels. Does anyone know if they do some kind of discount for returning customers? I’ve tried to find some coupon, couldn’t find a thing.

Originally Posted by greginaz
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Just pulled the trigger on the AM928 rims for my Pivot Switchblade. Asymmetric with 28mm inside width. Going to put them on Project 321 hubs. Pretty stoked. I will post a review once I get some time on them.

Good rims! I built up AM928s on DT240s and just hammer the crap out of them. I smash them over and through rocks on my hardtail and I weigh 250-260. I have put some normal scratches on the exterior but Im happy with the rims. Run 2.4 tires.

Got my new rims and tires assembled. Light Bicycle AM928 rims, project 321 hubs, 32 Laser double butted spokes per wheel, set up 15×110 F and 12×157 super boost R for my Pivot Switchblade. Super happy with the quality. The rims look perfect out of the box. I had Daves Wheels get me the hubs and lace them up for me. With valves and tape, they weigh 1670 grams together (no rotors). Tires mounted perfectly, didnt even need levers and the beads popped into place nicely.

The Project 321 hubs are really nice. I went with the quite driver, and you can barely hear the pawls just spinning it with your hand. I do wish they were centerlock rotor mounts instead of 6 bolts, but oh well.

I cant wait to ride them and see the difference vs my 27.5+ set up. Will post back later.

Yes, I opine with you that 6 bolt is a dumb design. But otherwise those wheels look super sweet! LB’s logo is the only budget company’s logo I can stand on a rim.

Got a few rides in on the new wheels. See 2 posts up for details. I lost 1.5 lbs in wheel and tire weight! But to be honest, I didnt really notice much of a difference. My old set up was DT Swiss 350 hubs, their Alum XM551 rims in 40mm internal width, and I was running High Roller II 27.5×2.8 plus tires. My average mph and overall times didnt really change, but my max speed went up by a mph or so. I didnt re-gear, so doing the steep climbs took more energy. According to gear calculator, I should go down 2 teeth to a 30 chain ring to keep same ratios.

It did feel like a slight bit less effort on flats, but I probably wouldnt have noticed if I wasnt really paying attention. The lateral flex on the rear seems like it is a little more in the fast tight corners vs my 27.5+ set up, which I guess is to be expected going bigger diameter and narrower rim. But its hardly noticeable.

On a few of the really techy rock climbs, I didnt clear them like I normally do, but I think it will just take a little getting used to, as the bike is about a half inch taller now. I will run this set up for the next month or so, then try the 27.5+ set up again and see what happens before deciding on which set up to sell.

I have zero complaints with the rims. They arent harsh feeling, they look great, and track really well. Im running 17 and 19 psi and didnt have any rim strikes yet, so I might be able to go down another half or one lb on the pressure.

Hi I just bought a pair of your rims (RM26C05) and I’m about to lace them up. I’m wondering about the arrow stickers. Is this sticker saying the arrow should be pointed toward the disc side if it’s used for the front, and the arrow should be pointed toward the drive side if it’s used on the rear?

And… what does this arrow on the rim bed mean?

Also, I previously bought a pair of your rims (RM26C03) about 3 years ago. I do not recall any stickers with arrows on them. Does it matter which side of the rim should face front disc/rear drive with those? Not sure if they holes were drilled at an angle or not.

By the way, my RM26C03 rims have been ridden on rocks, roots, cross country, down hill parks, and everywhere else. They’ve taken a lot of hard riding and they are holding up very well.

11:06 AM

Got my lightbicycle.com RM29C19’s yesterday. Delivery was less than 1 week ARO. I finished putting the tubeless maxxis ikon on the front but ran out of time on the back. I’m pretty excited to try them out, but my new bike isn’t finished yet and my existing hardtail has that dang RS-1 shock. Front was 738g, rear was 860g with industry9 hubs, alloy XD driver, presta stem and rim tape.

Looking for feedback on riding the XC925 standard version frt/rear at 360g each wheel. Do you think Im pushing the limits at my 195 pound riding weight for 360g, 32h wheels?
Im riding a 120/100 travel bike used for wide open XC trails in SoCal with single track and small sections of chunk mixed in about 10% of the time at most. Will these wheels take a beating with the typical breaking bumps, and on the high speed bumpy fire roads? Just looking for real world experience with someone who uses these wheels.

Im currently running 430g wheels that came off my old build, which are bomb proof, but I wouldnt mind losing around 200g for the long grinding climbs.

Anybody using the new Recon Pro rims from LB? Im building a set of AM930s but curious if anyone has any ride time in on them?

01:30 AM

I order my new black tec Recon pro serie AM735 LB dt240 54ratchet Wheels last week..

https://www.lightbicycle.com/AM735-a…-rims-mtb.html

I am having a great wheel builder at a LBS build me a set of 29C14 (rear hd) on i9 hubs. At just over 200lbs gear up I feel these should hold up well. In fact they may be a little on the stiff side. If you have access to an experienced wheel builder, I highly recommend it. Sure I could have saved $100 + tax or more going direct from China, but my wheels will receive free tuning for life and worst case if I wreck one is the crash replacement cost of the rim as the shop will rebuild for little or no cost and the shop will handle the communication with the manufacturer.

I was wondering what a good 27.5+ Carbon wheelset should weigh? General purpose not too crazy rider.

Black tec LB wheelset direct from factory liftime warranty
AM735 35mm inner/41mm outer dia. 27.5

Originally Posted by 8664
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Black tec LB wheelset direct from factory liftime warenty
35mm/41mm 27.5

Those 2.6 or 2.8? Can’t quite tell…..

front 2.6 but not thiner, rear 2.8

Originally Posted by 8664
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Thats a crazy spot for a break. Looks like it just spontaneously broke, or broke from an indirect impact of course. What happened?

Originally Posted by farfromovin
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Thats a crazy spot for a break. Looks like it just spontaneously broke, or broke from an indirect impact of course. What happened?

from a to smal bike hanger in the train. but it is like paper so fine so fine in this area.. but i my eyes not normal..

Tested my AM930s with CK hubs today, felt great, not a ping or pop to be heard! Sorry, dont really have a closeup of the rim but you can see them in this shot from todays ride:

Thats with a 2.4WT Rekon and a 2.35 Ikon out back. Even on a 30mm rim the 2.35 Ikon still has a nice rounded profile, love that tire!

Originally Posted by farfromovin
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Thats a crazy spot for a break. Looks like it just spontaneously broke, or broke from an indirect impact of course. What happened?

This was definitely not spontaneous, and I believe we still warrantied this case in spite of this. Our new Recon Pro rims come out of the mold as a finished product and the fibers are undisturbed which helps make for a more scratch resistent finish.

Carbon rims are inherently thiner in the sidewalls, so if you hit them with a rock hard enough or jam them into something using brute force, then you can compromise them.

Our Recon MTB rims are are less expensive models and most of them are available in 2 different layup types. The ones that start with EN (Enduro) or have the “HD” version available use an extra wrap of 3k on the interior which thickens up the sidewalls. This makes them withstand hard rock strikes and handle g-out forces a bit better. The ones that start with AM or XC do not have that style of layup and are more traditional (which is what works best for the majority of riders.

The Recon line (and other non-Pro line products) now have a 3 year warranty.

Our Recon Pro MTB rims have a host of new technology and are more expensive. The naming convention is similar. XC and AM rims do not have the thickened sidewalls (and are rarely required for such riding), whereas the EN732 and EN932 for example do have the reinforced layup. The Pro rims have a 5 year warranty with the option of extending to lifetime coverage if you feel you need that.

Just got my EIE Carbon wheels. Very nicely done and were easy to work with. Came in on my scales at 1297g. Super light. Here are some pics;

^very nice. Can you post specs and price?

Originally Posted by matt.s67
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^very nice. Can you post specs and price?

The rims are EIE A29C25D22S with DT Swiss 240 hubs (28h), CX Ray Spokes, Al nipples. Probably one of the easiest ways to drop a pound off my bike. The stock wheels came in at 1750g on my Spark RC WC.

I’m in the process of mounting tires and will report back on the ride quality. I can’t imagine anything out of the ordinary though. Never rode CF wheels before but I’m sure they will work as expected.

Originally Posted by matt.s67
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^very nice. Can you post specs and price?

Great specs… and weight. Can you tell us approx price?

And a ride report please. What tires too?

I just received my Light Bicycle front wheel, it came in at 637g. 28H Flyweight wheel, Sapim CX rays, and DT Swiss 350 hub. I chose to go with brass nipples.

Took my LB AM928 wheels off a huck to flat I found near my house about 5 feet tall. I was scared but I rode away safely! LB seems legit so far.

Anyone on the 50mm 29+ rim? Getting ready to pull the trigger on a pair with Onyx hubs, just waiting on more info on the new hubs…

What kind of lead times have people seen with LB orders? Eyeing a pair for a new build.

Mine took about 3 weeks to arrive, a fair part of that being in UK Customs. This was a custom build, not something they might have on the shelf. The build took about a week from memory.

My long wait is over! Today I recieved my new Light Bicycle carbon fatbike wheelset. FAT680 rims (85mm), i9 Hydra hubs, sapim d-light spokes and brass nipples. Overall quality seems to be top notch!

Wheelset weights roughly: front 920g and rear 1100g.

They set up tubeless so easy with a floorpump and they dont leak air even without a sealant.

I will let you know how they ride

I tried to add some pics but got error when I tryed to add them. I will try again later.

With the price of the LB pro wheel sets being only about $150 max cheaper than NOX or We are One wheels why go with LB? They are no longer a bargain price Like EIE, BTLOS, etc?

Guess that depends on where you are and whether youre searching for a set of wheels or just a pair of rims.

Gesendet von iPhone mit Tapatalk Pro

Originally Posted by Chicane32
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With the price of the LB pro wheel sets being only about $150 max cheaper than NOX or We are One wheels why go with LB? They are no longer a bargain price Like EIE, BTLOS, etc?

I went with LB AM930 wheels over the We are One union wheels for a couple reasons. The LB wheels were a couple hundred dollars cheaper, I’ve had a few sets of LB wheels with zero issues and We are One wheels have a 3-6 week lead time. Both wheels use the I9 Hydra hubs but the LB wheels allow the option of Sapim D light spokes which saves some weight plus the AM930 rims are lighter than the Union rims.

My wheelset taped with valve stems came in at 1710 grams.

I bought a set of the 50mm x 29 for Christmas and am just getting around to mounting them (fatty summer wheels) and I am bummed at how terrible the 29+ tire selection is compared to 27.5+.

Now starting the long wait to receive my rims from BTLOS, Hadley and Sram hubs (didn’t want to spend much on the front), and DR Swiss spokes from Amazon. Since I changed all that, decided to go for a 203 front rotor instead of the existing 180. When this money spending will end???!!!

P.S.: Now shopping for decently priced tires.

Just received 925 wheel set with 240 hubs, Sapim X-rays, 29. Ordered 5/14 from the international site and arrived today. The delivery guy thought the box was empty, very light! Without tape or valves 770g rear 620g front. Tape and valves are about 38g. Now my orbea oiz tr just needs to show up, delivery scheduled for 6/17. cant wait to try these out.

Originally Posted by Mark16q
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Just received 925 wheel set with 240 hubs, Sapim X-rays, 29. Ordered 5/14 from the international site and arrived today. The delivery guy thought the box was empty, very light! Without tape or valves 770g rear 620g front. Tape and valves are about 38g. Now my orbea oiz tr just needs to show up, delivery scheduled for 6/17. cant wait to try these out.

I built up the same rims for my Oiz-TR

Did you go with the “flyweight” front rim?

Just checked order and yes, flyweight. What did yours weigh in at?

Originally Posted by biffhamilton
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I built up the same rims for my Oiz-TR

Did you go with the “flyweight” front rim?

Originally Posted by Mark16q
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Just checked order and yes, flyweight. What did yours weigh in at?

The wheel set? I didn’t weight them…..

I’m a hair over 24 lbs. in the pick

A couple of weeks ago I did a race that didn’t require the dropper post and I put lighter tires on…. brought it down to 23.5 lbs.

Ordered a set of Recon pro 30 with I9 hydra hubs boost front and back. Arrived in one week, everything was in stock. Wheelset came in at 1690 grams with tape and vales.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just built a wheelset with these 650b x 40mm light bicycle AM733 rims

These wheels are excellent. Came up to tension perfectly. The offset helps even out the spoke length. Very consistent and barely any truing necessary.

Mounted them up tubeless, the shape of the rim center makes it easy to mount up tires without spoons, yet you can still seat the tire with only a floor pump. The beadlocks do a very good job holding the tire on even when deflated.

The lifetime warranty doesnt include rock strikes. So its worthless essentially.

I have cracked one of the Lb older rims. Not looking for warranty coverage. I am just looking at all the options.

So recon pro 260ish$ warranty doesnt cover crash or rock strikes. 450 grams.

We are one 400-450 no questions asked warranty anything that happens on the trail is covered. 425 grams

Santa cruz reserve $600 no questions asked warranty crashes and rock strikes covered. 475-500 grams.

Zipp 3zero moto $700 lifetime warranty including crash and rock strikes. Little heavier 545 grams but the coolest looking and has built in compliance.

Enve stupid expensive have to remove tire to adjust spokes no way.

Are there any others I should consider?

Winner right now seems to be WAO which is the lightest and cheapest rim with a legitimate lifetime you break it we give you a new one warranty.

Originally Posted by Kevin Van Deventer
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The lifetime warranty doesnt include rock strikes. So its worthless essentially.

I have cracked one of the Lb older rims. Not looking for warranty coverage. I am just looking at all the options.

So recon pro 260ish$ warranty doesnt cover crash or rock strikes. 450 grams.

We are one 400-450 no questions asked warranty anything that happens on the trail is covered. 425 grams

Santa cruz reserve $600 no questions asked warranty crashes and rock strikes covered. 475-500 grams.

Zipp 3zero moto $700 lifetime warranty including crash and rock strikes. Little heavier 545 grams but the coolest looking and has built in compliance.

Enve stupid expensive have to remove tire to adjust spokes no way.

Are there any others I should consider?

Winner right now seems to be WAO which is the lightest and cheapest rim with a legitimate lifetime you break it we give you a new one warranty.

FWIW Light Bicycle gives a 5 year/25% off crash replacement for their Pro series rims

I’m still waiting for LB or similar company to reduce prices in response to coronavirus. This has got to be destroying their ability to sell anything.

Originally Posted by Le Duke
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I’m still waiting for LB or similar company to reduce prices in response to coronavirus. This has got to be destroying their ability to sell anything.

You got it backwards.
Supply and demand.

Less supply, more demand, higher prices.

Originally Posted by mudguy
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You got it backwards.
Supply and demand.

Less supply, more demand, higher prices.

I’m fairly certain they are sitting on a pretty large supply, and little to no demand.

Originally Posted by Le Duke
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I’m fairly certain they are sitting on a pretty large supply, and little to no demand.

They sell tons of product. This virus is a temporary thing and looking to cash in on their misfortune is shitty.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by Kevin Van Deventer
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The lifetime warranty doesnt include rock strikes. So its worthless essentially.

I have cracked one of the Lb older rims. Not looking for warranty coverage. I am just looking at all the options.

So recon pro 260ish$ warranty doesnt cover crash or rock strikes. 450 grams.

We are one 400-450 no questions asked warranty anything that happens on the trail is covered. 425 grams

Santa cruz reserve $600 no questions asked warranty crashes and rock strikes covered. 475-500 grams.

Zipp 3zero moto $700 lifetime warranty including crash and rock strikes. Little heavier 545 grams but the coolest looking and has built in compliance.

Enve stupid expensive have to remove tire to adjust spokes no way.

Are there any others I should consider?

Winner right now seems to be WAO which is the lightest and cheapest rim with a legitimate lifetime you break it we give you a new one warranty.

I’m in the same boat and ‘been shopping around. There are several others that are pretty notable like Nobl and Nox; Nobl was popular around here locally for a couple years, I know a dude that ran Nox for a few years with no issues too.

You’re right though, LB has an $100-add-on “lifetime” warranty but if it doesn’t include the rock-smash, its not even worth considering in my opinion. I was close to going with LB until I noticed that asterisk of the warranty.

I’ve talked to the guys at WE1 and even the owner – super nice guy; they have really risen strong and are becoming a top brand. Now it will be interesting to see if they stay in this position; they’re growing.

Originally Posted by Kevin Van Deventer
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The lifetime warranty doesnt include rock strikes. So its worthless essentially.

It’s a warranty, not a lifetime rim pension.

Originally Posted by TylerVernon
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It’s a warranty, not a lifetime rim pension.

Huh? Sorry to insult your brand of rims.

We are one and others offer a lifetime “rim pension” if you choose the lifetime option for LB its around $350 for a $100 more i get a warranty that actually protects against things that happen when you ride a trail.

Originally Posted by Kevin Van Deventer
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Huh? Sorry to insult your brand of rims.

We are one and others offer a lifetime “rim pension” if you choose the lifetime option for LB its around $350 for a $100 more i get a warranty that actually protects against things that happen when you ride a trail.

Kevin, you picked the cheapest rim, and then said the warranty is “worthless”, completely ignoring the separate “crash replacement” they offer.

I don’t run low enough pressure to crack rims, so saving $200-300 on a set of wheels is a perfectly reasonable tradeoff for me, and I don’t consider the warranty to be “worthless” – if the wheel delaminates then it’s certainly worth something.

I’m also more concerned with function of the wheel/not getting stranded than with the warranty – have you ever carried a bike for a few miles when it won’t roll? You won’t care about $300 when you have to leave your $4K bike in the woods.

Your overall tone is why people are arguing with you, you could have said “the LB warranty is not suitable for my purposes”, but instead you chose a negative/hostile way of phrasing it that implies the product is no good.

I went with LB on the assumption that for the cost of most others, and one warranty replacement (because I just pin it through rock gardens despite being a ~260lb vehicle with pack installed), I’d still be money ahead. I use them like I still need to justify replacing the rear wheel on both bikes… but they haven’t given up.

For my part I’d probably choose WeAreOne wheels as a complete build, but getting LB complete sets on DT350’s and having my LBS work on the tension to where it’s spot on (after a couple rides) has been a really solid value. The 31.6/38mm Enduro wheels are pretty solid, even at my weight and lack of talent.

Its cool the actual tech is good the rims are nice just want more security.

I have CK hubs so I just want rims. I have my lbs build them thats $65 plus 32 spokes. Then add in shipping for new rim I’m out $125 for a new wheel to be built on warranty rim.

If I buy 1 Lb rim at $250 and crack it total cost of replacement is $375 or $625.

So if I crack only 1 rim ever I’m still up money after 1 replacement.

I’m 145lbs and a pretty smooth rider but I was kom hunting and made 1 wrong choice and that’s all it takes.

Originally Posted by Kevin Van Deventer
View Post

Huh? Sorry to insult your brand of rims.

We are one and others offer a lifetime “rim pension” if you choose the lifetime option for LB its around $350 for a $100 more i get a warranty that actually protects against things that happen when you ride a trail.

You actually insulted the English language. None of this has to do with a warranty. What you are discussing is an insurance policy.

Originally Posted by TylerVernon
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You actually insulted the English language. None of this has to do with a warranty. What you are discussing is an insurance policy.

https://www.weareonecomposites.com/page/warranty

Light Bicycle Carbon Rims – Page 4

Final product!

Lacing Rims With Angled Nipple Holes

Price please.

Light Bicycle Carbon Rims

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