Message #21744

[jim-ratliff]

An additional impetus may be carbon wheels with their requirement for special pads and an inability to dissipate heat very well. I would say that more than half of the good bikers I see in Central Park are running aero carbon wheels this year. It will be interesting to see how long before the high end components actually trickle down to bikes I can afford.

Like you, I am just blown away by the power and modulation of MTB disc brakes; and I do have low spoke count wheels on both road and mountain bike with no problems, but I am lighter as you said.  Here again, carbon may be an answer.  The guy at Neuvation now offers a 2 year warranty on his carbon wheels because of great experience with strength and reliability.  Not a single **** rim or pulled out spoke in the past two years.  They used to be more brittle, I believe.

The SRAM adaptatin of hydro power with rim brakes is an intriguing approach.

And I have to say that my bikes both ride better since I took about 10 pounds of weight off of the bike-rider combo.  For the first time, I can actually keep up with Lynn this year.