I bought some Hunt (I know, I know) Aerodymanicist 32s a few months back. At 1213g for a shade over £1k I found them irresistable. Initially I was a bit nervous using them, having a bit of buyers remorse but about the concept of carbon spokes rather than the price I’d spent… but over time I became more confident on them.
Sadly, last week on an Alps holiday, one of the nipples broke in half on my front wheel. I first noticed it going uphill (“tink tink tink” at low speed), but since I’ve hit no potholes etc since I got the wheels, I can only assume the damage happened under hard braking downhill.
I’m 75kg so well under their advertised maximum weight.
I’ve not spoken to Hunt about this yet, so I’m not sure how they’ll handle it. At the very least they must repair it for free, but I’d hope they’d actually exchange the wheel for another (as maybe there was a bad batch of nipples, or the manufacturing tolerances were out that day). Ideally I intend to return them for a full refund, but I don’t know how plausible that is.
Assuming I do get a full refund and opt to put my £1k towards a different set of wheels, and assuming I’m happy to chip in another - say - £500, maybe. What should I be spending my money on?
I’m a self-declared weight weenie (the wheels are on a recent Aethos build), and I don’t care about aero. Where I live is often very windy, I’d rather a similar rim depth to these (or less), and want something ~1300g or less, but crucially I don’t want to shear nipples merely from braking hard into corners
Any advice appreciated. Maybe I’m expecting too much of lightweight wheels. On the strong/cheap/light triangle, I pick strong and light. Now how much do I have to spend, and who do I give the money to?
No proof, but it’s something I’d done a lot of in the days before, and my “good reason” is that I feel that’s when the wheels would have been subjected to the most force?
Low spoke counts and alloy nipples are not a great combo for durability, but that’s a trade off for the weight. Should be fine for descending at your weight, but lightweight wheels are going to fail more often than a wheel with brass nipples and more spokes. It might have been a defective nipple or you might have just hit something at some point “just right” to crack it. Might have been improperly tensioned when the wheel was built.
I’m not a weight weenie, so I’m always about reliability and aero over weight, but to each their own. I’m also about 75kg (75,0000 grams) so an extra ~200g for something as safety critical as wheels just isn’t worth the squeeze for me.
Trust me, I’m a numbers person and did a physics degree, I know there’s not much logic to wanting a superlight wheelset. Weightweenyism is both a fun hobby AND a mental disorder
While currently sat in the Alps, I’ve had the option to go lighter but declined and sticking with my 1450g 45mm deep wheelset. Actually went as far as purchasing these in flyweight but sold them on AR35 Disc Carbon Road/CX/Gravel Rim - Light Bicycle … even though they are probably OK if using a decent wheelbuilder, I’m not sure it’s worth it.
Wheel spokes can pop for any number of reasons and could happen to any wheelset, aluminum or carbon. Unfortunately just part of cycling imo. If it happens every time you ride, then I would be concerned. There should be a local shop that can repair it for you, hopefully.
So, I’m a road newbie. Can anyone pass comment on the title question. Can < 1300g wheels be trusted as much as “regular” wheelsets at the limit of braking on dry surface at speed? I’m a keen descender and not scared of the brakes - my rear wheel regularly starts to lift into corners when I’m pushing on on a descent. Am I expecting too much of lightweight gear, or do y’all think that should be fine?
Like someone said, maybe I just got unlucky and this is just one nipple and it doesn’t happen again
I highly doubt hunt will replace the wheel because a nipple broke. Spokes and nipples break, it just happens, particularly on low spoke count wheels. It’s not a sign of any defect. Tension changes over time, and that can weaken them and they can break for seemingly no reason. Most often when I’ve broken a spoke I’ve just realized it way after the fact, and am not able to figure out exactly what broke it.
I’d just replace the spoke and get the rim re tensioned. If the issue continues with more breaking, then I’d start to think about some sort of defect.
All else being equal, no. A wheel built with less spokes and optimized for weight is going to be less “trustworthy” than a wheel of similar quality built with more spokes and more robust components. From my experience, it’s not uncommon for lightweight wheels to have spoke issues more often than wheels with higher spoke counts. It can happen to either, but lighter weight wheels are going to be less durable. You are prioritizing weight over durability.
Though it should also be noted that all of these wheels undergo strength, durability, and fatigue testing. I was just looking at Hunt’s the other day. So theoretically they should all be as trustworthy under their intended use case.
However, the lightweight wheels likely have less of a safety factor over that testing threshold. As others have pointed out, just a factor of having less spokes mean that each spoke has to do more work.
So either you’re going to have more broken spokes/nipples than a similar wheel with a couple more spokes or a bit more carbon or you’re going to have to service them more often to keep them at 100%.
i have wheels with Berd Spokes. that will save some weight. from what I understand they might be a little less stiff than regular spokes but basically get to the same stiffness when you increase speed.
i’m not enough of a wheel offcianado (spelling?) to compare…but i like them just fine, they look awesome and are quite a bit lighter. i’m 87/88 kg and have had no problems for ~6-8 months with them
they make wheels also but you can put the spokes on other wheels.
@downhiller if you are looking to replace your wheel set my Rovals have been exceptional. I’ve just had to replace my front wheel after ten years use. A change of circumstances meant a cheaper replacement was called for so I opted for a ultegra 32mm. Comparable weight, lower cost and just over a month in I’m really pleased with the purchase. Which is a lovely surprise as I seriously loved my Rovals. Simply because they handled everything without issue. 4 spoke replacements in total were needed ( front and rear) but an untimely end came due to rider error on a chainy. One thing I noticed whilst researching options was the progression of quality and accessibility in terms of cost compared to ten years ago. Prior to the accident I would have suggested your price point was too low, now I’d say it’s about right and sounds like you have been unlucky. Best wishes on a speedy and satisfactory outcome.
