New Wheels Day - Joining the All-Road Bike Revolution

The RAMAX has proven a fast and comfortable bike for long day rides. So far, the longest trip has been the 300km Beef Line/Green Furusato Line brevet in Ibaraki.  I have not yet ridden it on 400km or longer rides because of the lack of a front wheel with dynamo hub that fits with the 12mm thru axle and disk brake specification.  For a 400km or longer ride, I don't want to worry about battery life for my front light. Problem now solved!

On Friday, a beautiful new set of handmade GS Astuto EV36+ wheels arrived. 

The carbon rims are WIDE, 32mm outer width, and 36mm deep. For comparison, my typical Velocity A23 or H Plus Sons Archetype rim, which once were considered "wide" rims, similar to the early HED Belgium rims, have a 23mm outer width. The GS Astuto EV36+ are more like the Miche Graff Route wheels ridden by the winner of last week's Gravel Unbound, Ivar Slik. as he went 200 miles (322 kms) on a variety of surfaces at an average speed of 34.4 kph. They are a similar hookless carbon rim, 36mm deep, 30-32mm outside width. Even the current Zipp 303 Firecrest tubeless rim, which has a definite "road" racing heritage, now has a 30mm outer width.

Since the EV36+ rims are carbon, hookless and disk-brake specific, they can be both very light and strong. Indeed, the box they arrived in felt ... as if it were empty!

Hookless rims are lighter weight and easier to manufacture than hooked ones. They should only be used with a compatible tubeless setup and at lower pressures than a typical road bike. Given the width, of course, they must always be used with larger width tires that are designed for lower pressure. (The tires should be 30mm wide or greater to fit the EV36+ rims.) Hookless rims will help drive the high end of the cycling market toward the conclusions Jan Heine of Bicycle Quarterly/Rene Herse has been preaching the past decade in numerous Bicycle Quarterly articles and his book, The All-Road Bike Revolution: wide supple tires run at lower pressures are as fast or faster, and a lot more comfortable, than narrower tires run at higher pressures.

The RAMAX finally as it was intended--An all-road adventure bicycle.

Both front and rear wheels have 24 Sapim CX-Ray spokes. CX Rays are the best spokes by far, in my experience.  They combine strength, light weight, and aerodynamics. Unbeatable. Not cheap, but worth every penny. I used to break spokes regularly. When I switched to building (and in this case, having built for me wheels with CX Rays ... the problem pretty much went away. For an aluminum clincher rim, I would hesitate to use a 24-spoke rear wheel, even with CX-Rays, but for these wide, deep and stiff rims, with fatter tires running a lower pressure, a 24-spoke setup should be fine even for challenging, off-road conditions.

The rear hub is an OEM/private label model made for GS Astuto, and the front is an SP Dynamo PL-7. The hubs are for Centerlock disk brake rotors -- Tim Smith tells me that the Centerlock design, a Shimano standard, is better, and I now agree. It is a lot easier to put the Centerlock rotors on (and take them off) and to get them in exactly the right position than with the 6-bolt style I am accustomed to using. And indeed, the weight of the dynamo hub for Centerlock is 10g lower than the corresponding 6-bolt style from SP Dynamo.

The PL-7 is SP Dynamo's newest model, released just before the pandemic. It is about the same weight as the SV-8 models I have used in the past, but offers more power output at the same speed. It is noticeably lighter than SP Dynamo's previous disk-brake specific versions, but it looks and feels just as solid. The hub is designed for the now-common 12mm thru axle specification, which offers the possibility of a stronger axle than a 9mm QR. (Some hubs can be converted between QR and 12mm thru axle by changing the end caps, but most older hubs cannot).

For tires, one of Tim's suggestions was the IRC Boken Plus 700x32mm version. It is a gravel bike tire with a slick middle strip so that it can go fast on tarmac as well as handling rough or muddy surfaces. IRC is a Japanese brand that is not as widely known as some European tires (Conti, Vittoria, Michelin, et al), but IRC was one of the early adopters of road tubeless technology. IRC stands for Inoue Rubber Corporation -- headquartered in Nagoya and with production facilities in Sendai as well as in SE Asia). The Boken Plus has gotten some good reviews so I was happy to try them.  They feel as if the side walls are relatively supple -- crucial to making a tire fast. And IRC has a lot of experience with tubeless -- these hold air extremely well and, Tim reports, set up very easily.

Matched with the wide EV36+ rim, the tires actually measure at 35.5mm width -- and seem to have a large air volume similar to the 700x36 Challenge Gravel Grinder tires that were on the loaner wheels when I first got the RAMAX.  So while, for gravel tires, they are near the "narrow" end of the spectrum, for me they are huge. I inflated them to 55psi or 3.8 bars of pressure. I will try 45-50psi or even lower for rough surfaced roads. But years of riding at higher pressure has gotten me stuck in my ways, and it will take awhile to change the prejudice that a tire needs to be "hard" to the feel to be fast. 

I took my first long ride with the new wheels on Saturday -- 200 kms entirely on tarmac. The ride feel was comfortable and smooth as silk. My overall moving speed for the day, 23.5 kph, was about what I would have expected for a 200km ride with ~1500m of elevation gain, a long gradual uphill grind and much less downhill, in humid weather.  If I struggled at times, it had more to do with the humidity and that farewell party for a friend that I attended the night before than it did the wheels. Indeed, the wheelset is so light that even with the heavier gravel tires they do not feel heavy or sluggish -- a feeling that has turned me off of gravel tires in the past. Even with the gravel wheels, the bike still climbs well, and it descends like a dream on tarmac. What once might have been a kind of "white knuckle" descent at high speed at the end of the ride, was very relaxed though my top speed seemed no different.

I look forward to many years of riding with this wheelset.  Tim is already suggesting that I might want to try them with a pair of super supple, lighter Rene Herse tires at some point ...but for the time being the Boken Plus will do just fine.

Effetto Mariposa Tubeless Conversion for the Renovo

When I picked up my new front wheel for the Renovo last week at GS Astuto (SP Dynamo SD-8 hub, Velocity Aileron reflective rim), Tim Smith confirmed that the Aileron is a "tubeless ready" rim and can be converted for use with road tubeless tires by adding the right rim tape and valve.

This offered a perfect opportunity to use the Effetto Mariposa tubeless conversion kit I got last year.  Last night, mission accomplished!  For someone who has used a tubeless set up before (or even who has not, but can follow some very basic instructions), it was very easy.  Just clean the inside of the rim, unroll/smoothly apply the tape to the interior (2x wrap for higher pressure road tubeless), insert a hole (I use an awl) for the valve and firmly press it against the rim interior and use the included washer and threaded ring to secure it.  Then fit the tire and add air with a floor pump.

The conversion kit worked just GREAT.  And the kit includes a tool case that will fit in a water bottle holder, plus lots of sealant -- several years' supply?

The front tire filled with air, pulled its bead into the rim's "slot" and held its pressure the very first time.

Enough tape for 2 standard (622) road rims, each wrapped with a double layer.  Second valve not shown.

For the rear wheel, it looked as if the rim already had internal sealed tape on it ... so I tried using that and failed to get the rim to hold air a few times before giving up, removing that old tape, and using the Effetto Mariposa tape.  After trying again, the rear also held air the first time.  As painless a tubeless tire installation as I have ever experienced.

I also swapped out an 11-28 rear cassette for an 11-32, if I am going to use this on hilly ultra endurance events with its 52-36 crank.  I bled the front disk brake ... which had been very soft.  That seems to have worked (though still not as tight as the rear brake).  And I have removed the fenders -- should be easy enough to put them back on so I can "rinko" plausibly with this bike.  I may want to change some of the bolts/nuts so I can install and remove the fenders without needing a "+" screwdriver.

Today, now that I am comfortable the tires are holding pressure well, I will add Caffe Latex sealant. Then ride!  

If all goes well with this setup, ... I will definitely use the Renovo on April's Fleche.  Fast, smooth, comfortable tires, an SP Dynamo hub and Busch Mueller light, shock absorbing Renovo frame.  Di2 Ultegra shifting. Just thinking about it fills me with anticipation!

If all goes well on the Fleche ... maybe Okayama 1200?

The rim looks almost carbon grey/black, ... but with a camera flash (photo at top of post) is very bright: reflective.

Update:  I added the Caffe Latex sealant and rode the bike to/from work.  These 700x25 Schwab One tubeless tires are very smooth and fast, though I would be hard pressed to say if they feel as comfortable as the 700x28 Continental Four Seasons.  They do feel fast.

Rice tires? RBCC from IRC

I got a set of Fulcrum Racing 3 tubeless (2-way fit) wheels early this year.  I had some near-new Hutchinson Fusion 3 tires getting old in the garage, and the wheels were inexpensive via Wiggle.  I must say they are a more refined product than the Fulcrum Racing 1 two-way's that I experimented with back 5-6 years ago.

First, the spokes are regular steel bladed, not the fat, stiff aluminum ones of that era's Racing 1.  And I have had no issues with the wheels staying true so far, or with spoke nipples coming loose as I did with those.

Second, the tubeless tires went on the rims much more easily than I had remembered, and I had no problem adding some Caffe Latex sealant inside each tube by removing the core of the valve.

No flats so far.  (When I removed the rear tube I could see that the sealant had formed a tight rubber block around one area of the inside of the tire ... presumably where it prevented a leak from expanding.  Pretty cool.

Juliane used these wheels this summer, and I have used them a bit in spring and again on several longer rides this fall.  Henry also used them on some short rides this September.  Total mileage on the tires is around 1500 kms, I expect.  Now they are worn to the point near danger.  I guess the age of the product prior to use (they were purchased 4-5 years back) plus some skidding on rough roads did most of the damage.  Time for a change.

... Time for a change from the Hutchinson Fusion 3's.

I was pleased to find a much more diverse set of choices for road tubeless tires than the last time I looked.  Also prices have come down from former nosebleed territory, so that when you add in the cost of a few tubes you would need during the life of a clincher, they are about the same, or even a potential cost saver.  And this time of year they are actually in stock, even in the 25mm versions.

What tires to get?  More Hutchinson?  Specialized?  Schwalbe?  Or how about IRC?  I had used and liked one of their tubeless tires back in 2009, but they were too expensive.  So I was glad to see that their high end RBCC version are now available here in Japan for around 6000 yen including tax (that is about US$45 plus tax).   I also ordered some closeout-priced Schwalbe Evolution One tubeless that have yet to arrive.

For now, IRC.  What is RBCC?  Rice bran ceramic compound.  Yes, tires with a special ingredient to increase the grip.  Very Japanese!

Hiroshi tells me that IRC was once known for making tires that slipped too much in the wet -- treacherous in rain and they had a bad reputation with his generation of racers.  Well,  IRC obviously took that to heart and decided to fix any issues in the intervening years (decades?).  One way is with the RBCC coating.  "Grip +" the package says, and it is true.

These tires have incredible grip.  I felt firmly attached to the road as I took my first corners.  They will be great for descending.

They are also incredibly comfy -- the first time I have tried 25mm tubeless tires and they roll very nicely at 90psi.

They went on the rim easily -- on my first try they held air and slotted into the bead perfectly.

If road tubeless can now be this easy ... I may need to use it more going forward.

They are a bit heavy (300 grams in the 25mm version, 260 in the 23mm) ... but when you add the weight of an inner tube to something like a 230 gram Conti Gran Prix Four Season 25mm version, that brings them very close in overall weight.  Insert sealant and a gap opens a bit more.

An interesting and attractive made-in-Japan product!  Stay tuned for updates.
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UPDATE -- Nov 30.  I got in my first real ride with the IRC tubeless RBCC tires today.  141.6 kms.  After rain yesterday, and with the humidity still very high and rain threatening at times today, the roads were still damp, and covered in leaves in some places.

The tires worked fine.  I tried skidding by braking hard on a road covered with wet ginko leaves. Nope.  Stopped perfectly.  On the forest road North side of Lake Tsukui was covered in wet leaves many places.  No problems.  Grip.  And comfort.

One of the better sections of the forest road on N side of Lake Tsukui.