New Wheels

Lumen

I was cycling with niceonetom on the way home yesterday, and his Cosmics were making the most horrific noises going over broken surfaces. He reckoned it was the valves bashing off the fairing and echoing around the "chamber". I've noticed this before in races.

To my ears it makes the bike sound like rattly piece of junk. Maybe you don't hear it when you're riding it.

niceonetom

Carbonnes (not mine btw - they're on loan) are super noisy and changing gears under load is impossible to do surreptitiously. I'm going to experiment with putting a wrap of electrical tape around the valve extenders to see if that lessen the valve rattle but I don't think there's anything more to be done... as well as nasty rattles and bangs they do make a pleasing voom-voom-voom noise when sprinting out of the saddle, so it's not all bad.

They do feel fast though - at least on the flat and while sprinting. I think the front is significantly stiffer than my normal open pro so they are confidence inspiring through corners too, though they're not light, so acceleration must suffer a bit. It might be the power of suggestion, but I did feel like they slowed me down on the steep climbs yesterday, but it could be the weight on the saddle that's the issue right now.

I did NOT enjoy the descent of Glenmalure yesterday. That descent has that rippled wavy surface that means wheels as vertically stiff as the carbonnes (and most other rims with a depth over, say, 50mm) do nothing to smooth out the road. The bike was bucking around underneath me in a way that was not fun.

They are very very strong. Zipps are not.

They make my Planet-X look very business-like.

AstraMonti

Tom do you think there would be any difference if you would run long valve tubes (60mm)?

niceonetom

AstraMonti wrote: »

Tom do you think there would be any difference if you would run long valve tubes (60mm)?

Well the rims are something like 56mm deep (or something) so 60mm wouldn't do it... are there 90mm valves? Either way, I don't think it would make any difference whether it was a long valve or a short one with an extender.

Lumen

niceonetom wrote: »

Well the rims are something like 56mm deep (or something) so 60mm wouldn't do it... are there 90mm valves? Either way, I don't think it would make any difference whether it was a long valve or a short one with an extender.

I have 80mm valves on my 50mm rims and I wouldn't want them any shorter.

FrankGrimes

Mmm...on the one hand that €699 price on Jedi makes the Carbones even more tempting, but on the other hand some of the downsides niceonetom experienced are a little concerning.

The valve rattle thing sounds like something you'd probably figure out how to stop if you owned them and had time to look into it. Were they 2010 models by the way tom or previous versions (not that I know of there being any differences)?

I'm pretty close to clicking that buy button, sounds like worst case would be they don't get the nod when doing hilly courses to avoid lugging the weight up and the rigidness on the descents. Best case is I find I just love the vroom-vroom sound and any downsides just fade into the background

Mellon

Talked to my mate and he's using the 2010 version with 60mm valves (no extenders) and has enough space for pump and Co2 option. He hasn't experienced the noise you guys noticed and have to say while cycling beside him I haven't heard it either but I do love the wooosh wooosh when accelerating...buy them and no I don't work for Mavic

Lumen

Frank, in answer to your question about the Powertap with Cosmics, they do sell versions factory built like this, so it is possible. They're 1600 from jedi.

If you're considering buying a set of Mavic-hubbed ones then rebuilding with your existing PT hub, you'll probably need to get different spokes, which could get expensive. Probably best speaking to a wheelbuilder (Mr Skeffington would be my first choice).

Obviously powertap Cosmics will be heavy (1931g according to my spreadsheet), but you don't care about this.

FrankGrimes

Think I'm gonna let the head win out on this one. It boils down to the Powertap: I've become used to riding with one and use it to sense-check my effort in an event (e.g. if it's taking me a higher wattage than I know I can sustain to hang onto a group, I'll drop-off, vice versa if I need to go off to find the next group up the road). So, I enjoy cycling with the PT as it is something to always be thinking about (e.g. I'll often see myself slacking on slight down gradients so it helps me push on).

I hope to get into more of a structured training program in the run-up to next spring, so a PT would be very useful then. As I'd be using the Cosmics for flat training and power threshold tests, I just know I'd end up adding a PT later, at some expense as Lumen points out. I can't justify 1600 quid right now to help me with all these plans that I have that I might actually follow-up on, so I'll use it as a carrot: if I do actually do all the stuff I hope to, this will be the reward. I'd then probably try to sell my Powertap Pro IRD Cadence Aero wheel and just use my PlanetX B wheels for hilly courses (and tbh I quite like those PlanetX wheels).

So damn you logic and rationale for winning out on another battle of heart vs. head!

wersal gummage

these cosmic carbones are just a time trial type wheel are they ? it wouldn't make a lot of sense to run them as a normal road wheel - as someone who cycles mostly on the flat.

Lumen

wersal gummage wrote: »

these cosmic carbones are just a time trial type wheel are they ? it wouldn't make a lot of sense to run them as a normal road wheel - as someone who cycles mostly on the flat.

No, they're not really a TT wheel. TT wheels are often deeper than that. They alloy braking surface and general robustness make them suitable for general riding.

As for "making a lot of sense", that's a pretty tough criteria when talking about €600+ wheels.

wersal gummage

Lumen wrote: »

No, they're not really a TT wheel. TT wheels are often deeper than that. They alloy braking surface and general robustness make them suitable for general riding.

As for "making a lot of sense", that's a pretty tough criteria when talking about €600+ wheels.

thanks and damn you at the same time:) !!! i'm trying to resist buying them. i was telling myself they didn't make sense as a general wheel....

how does one justify such a purchase ??? (just to myself - i wouldn't admit it to any family\friends)

AstraMonti

You don't, you just hide them successfully and sneakily use them. Next summer you 'll say.. "oh i have these since ever, they are just new decals i bought off ebay for 3quid".