This is another build using China-direct carbon rims. These are tubulars from Light-Bicycle, a brand featured on this blog a few times. They’re nice rims. The new infosheet from LB says special skills are required to build carbon rims but I completely disagree. If you’re smart enough to use a tensiometer, you can build carbon. I like nipple washers with carbon but otherwise my process is the same.
A recent build using economical carbon rims from Light-Bicycle. I selected Sapim D-Light spokes and aluminum nipples to save weight without compromising durability. Came out great!
It was a pleasure building these fancy WTB CI31 rims to DT Swiss 350 hubs. Normally I find myself building China-direct carbon rims but the brand name stuff is great too.
As a rule I don’t recommend carbon clinchers for rim brake applications. Carbon clinchers for disc brakes are a different story. Check out this recent build of carbon rims to Hope hubs:
I’ve built this make of rim before. These rims were supplied by the customer but I hope to stock them in the future. We’ll see — it turns out doing business with China isn’t easy.
I’m really happy with the quality. The nipple seats are reassuringly thick and the rims were round out of the box. The manufacturer makes carbon rims for a major league brand so production is mature. This particular model is 45mm deep with a hybrid toroidal shape, virtually identical to the Zipp 303. They lack the dimples found on Zipp Firecrests but sell for a fraction of the price.
You can buy them as factory-built wheelsets but I offer more choice. For one thing I use brand name spokes and hubs. Or I can use your existing hubs, which is the story of the PowerTap shown here. Plus I lace carbon rims with nipple washers, which are not on the factory menu. For a scant weight penalty of 0.175 grams each, washers help nipples spin freely at high tension and ease maintenance.
If you’re interested in these rims and would like to discuss configurations, send me a note. Customers outside Calgary can order their rims with shipping directly to the shop to save money.
