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| » 2002 Tour de France. |
Spoked-wheels as well as disk wheels are 100% hand made
in Germany. These high-tech wheels are built using the original
processes and techniques developed by the wheels inventors
Dierl and Obermayer. They consist of an all-carbon rim with
a lightweight foam core. The hub body is made from carbon
fiber and the spokes are made from carbon- and kevlar-threads.
During all stages of development, the goal was to develop
wheels for the needs of professional racing. Pro racers unanimously
prefer their wheels to be stiff, but at the same time aerodynamic
and light. As a wobbly wheel will not transfer a racers power
to the ground adequately, stiffness was always the top priority.
Accordingly, Lightweight Wheels are by far the stiffest wheels
in their weight category.
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| » Rim and spokes are laminated
as one piece without heavy screws or bolts. |
Our all-carbon rim is 19.5 mm wide and 52.8 mm high. As
the wheels are mainly used in time-trials and difficult mountain
stages as during the Tour de France, the carbon fiber braking
surfaces provide adequate brake performance. The rim surface
is sealed with a special clear coat. Our wheels’ excellent
acceleration is due to the extremely low mass on their outer
perimeter: No heavy screws or spoke eyelets are needed to
hold the spokes. In our design, rim, spokes and hub are laminated
as one piece, forming an extremely stiff unit. This leads
to a more trouble free wheel needing no maintenance – and
one which accelerates like no other!
Tubular technology for highest
performance
Lightweight Wheels are only available for tubular tires.
Unless their sponsorship contracts demand otherwise, pros
still prefer to race on tubulars. They are lighter, offer
better handling and they give triathletes an advantage in
case of a mishap. Tubulars also allow for lighter rims, and
as low mass on the outer perimeter of the wheel is the key
to better acceleration, tubulars make for a faster wheel.
The combination of tubular tires with a light all-carbon rim
is the winning team!
Deep-dish rims for perfect aerodynamics
and stiffness
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| » 2003 Tour de France
individual time trial. |
Lightweight Wheels come with a rim which is 52.8 mm high.
The rim’s sides are slanted in the same angle as the
spokes, aiming the spokes for the opposing brake surface.
This is the secret behind their unsurpassed stiffness as the
spokes are at a shallower angle than in conventional wheels.
The aerodynamic lens-shaped spokes are seamlessly joined to
the rim, so there is no spoke nipple creating unwanted turbulences.
Altogether, this design yields better aerodynamics, and it
just looks good, too!
Option: 0.8 g wheel magnet laminated
into the rim
As a new option we now offer a special Samarium-Cobalt magnet
laminated into the rim. At only 0.8 g this is the most radical
weight savings you can get, while at the same time improving
wheel trueness and reducing drag. We offer the magnet as on
option for either the front or rear rim.
Memory chips laminated into the
rim
All wheels now come standard with a memory chip laminated
into the rim. It weighs only 0.2 g and contains a unique tracking
number with information about the production process, temperature
cycles, trueness and much more. This chip also gives you the
option of registering your wheel with the bikefinder.de database,
allowing identification in case of theft.
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| » Hubs from DT Swiss and
Lightweight. |
The hub shells are made of carbon fiber. The front hub is built around durable and lightweight cartridge bearings. The rear uses DT Swiss Hugi 240s hubs modified for Lightweight. It is housed in a carbon fiber shell, and it is compatible with either Campagnolo or Shimano cassettes (9/10-speed). An easy change of the freehub body can be performed at any time to make the switch to the other cassette standard. The bearings have been proven to stand up to every-day use under hard pro team conditions without problems. Reliability and durability are the key to success.
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| » The spokes are made
from a carbon-kevlar weave. They are lens-shaped and can
hold 1200 kg each. |
Our unique spokes are woven from carbon and kevlar threads.
Each spoke can hold up to 1200 kg without a significant increase
in length. Due to this enormous strength we can build the
wheels with much higher preload than ordinary wire spokes
which lengthen greatly under load. Thus, our wheels offer
unsurpassed lateral stiffness. Even our 12-spoke wheel at
only 460 g is stiffer than a conventional 32-spoke wheel.
Aerodynamic, lens-shaped spokes
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| Round spokes create enormous
turbulences (top picture). Flattened spokes are somewhat
better. Lightweight’s lens-shaped spokes best approximate
the ideal tear-drop shape. |
All our spokes are lens-shaped,
creating less turbulence behind the spoke and ensuring lowest
aerodynamic drag. Thus they are much faster than flat or traditional
round spokes. The wheels spin more easily, which can be felt
at speeds as low as 30 kph (about 20 mph).
Contrary to popular belief, excellent aero wheels offer
their greatest benefits in tail-wind situations or when riding
in a tightly-packed peleton. The stronger the wind from the
front, the smaller the advantages of aero wheels. Click
here to find out why.
Fiber-reinforced construction
along the stress lines
The kevlar-/carbon spokes used in our Lightweight Wheels
follow exactly the stress lines. A comparison with traditional
wheels shows the difference:
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| » In conventional wheels
there is a bend between spokes and rim. Since spokes
can only transfer pulling forces, the stability of the
wheel is diminished. |
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| » The spokes in a Lightweight
Wheels are in line with the rim surface. Pulling forces
can be transmitted without interruption. In addition,
the spokes are set at a shallower angle, further improving
wheel stiffness and strength. |
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The rim’s outer surface and the spokes form a straight
line, transferring pulling forces without any loss. The angle
between the spokes from the opposing flanges is much greater
than in conventional wheels. Since spokes – be they
made from carbon-fiber or from steel – can only transfer
pulling forces, this wheel geometry makes for a stiffer and
stronger wheel. In this design, torsional loads encountered
during sprints, climbing or turning are handled easily by
the spokes. Thus the rim can be optimized towards other desired
properties.
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