“A long overdue email.  I think I promised to send a photo for the blog or something, but I’m too dim witted to work out how so voila my lovely wheels on an early March morning, a quick photo opp taken on a ride with pretty much nothing else sharing 70 odd miles of road except the odd sheep.  They’ve been pretty spoilt in terms of routes so far.  They are also beautifully comfortable on every form of Scottish road surface and lighter than everything else that was on the shortlist.  Look fab too.  Understated.  Gorgeous.  Katie”

Thanks Katie for the words and photo. If you want a pair of hand built wheels get in touch on 01903 750040.

The company say they’re proud to have claimed the first World Cup win with a carbon clincher rim; Greg Minnaar took the victory at the 2010 season opener in Maribor, Slovenia. They also report that the final prototypes – a single set of rims – incredibly carried Steve Peat through the entire 2011 World Cup season’s race runs.

Since the wheels first made their way onto the Syndicate’s rigs they’ve undergone major revisions, both in terms of profile and material. During the 2010 season, the Syndicate’s first on the carbon rims, they replaced 53 wheels, which was down from a reported 180 wheels per season when the team was on alloy. In 2011, the team had to replace just 11 wheels.

Such durability comes from the high specification materials – “we’re using the most expensive resin system on the planet; it’s stuff that’s meant to stop bullets and ballistics and the processing of the rim is just incredibly hard – it goes well outside what other resin systems are like.”

The production ENVE DH rim is 31mm deep and features a 21mm inner bead-to-bead width (30mm external). It includes structural modifications said to improve ride performance and strength without any notable weight penalties. The rim is only available in a 26in, 32-hole configuration and weighs a claimed 475g, compared to 580-660g for an equivalent alloy rim.

“It was a real challenge to get a rim that looked good,” said Schiers. “The ones they ran last year were built with the right resin system but they’re ugly as hell. If there were ever a close-up picture, I think people would be surprised at how poor of quality the surface appeared. Structurally they were fine but to get that resin to play nice it took us almost [the whole] two years – and that was working on them every day to try and come up with something better.” Currently, ENVE’s DH rims are for tube-type tyres only, but Schiers says that they’re working on a rim strip for tubeless conversion. ENVE is proud to release the world’s first all carbon downhill rim…

Key Features:

DH specific 100% uni-direction carbon fiber construction provides:

• -Unprecedented tracking and cornering performance.
• -Sizeable weight savings over DH specific alloy rims, most  DH specific alloy rims weigh between 580-660 grams.
• -Improved stiffness over DH specific alloy rims.

Proprietary Toughened Resin System:

• -Guarantees superior strength and impact resistance when compared to much heavier alloy rims.
• -Dampens trail feedback.

ENVE Patented Moulded Spoke Hole Technology:

• -Virtually maintenance free wheel builds.
• -Stronger spoke holes allow for higher spoke tensions.

Developing the Smart ENVE System 3.4 clinchers was more than simply taking the existing SES tubulars and converting them into clinchers.  “Because clinchers are structurally unique from tubulars, this project merited a completely separate development cycle to ensure that the laminates were dialed. The end result is a line-up of premium race wheelsets that are durable enough to train on every day,” said ENVE founder Jason Schiers.  According to Simon Smart, “the new clincher rims have the same optimized external surfaces as the tubular rims, and it’s a great testament to the ENVE engineers that they were able to surpass the demanding structural requirements of a carbon clincher without compromising the external aerodynamic shape.”

“Pairing ENVE composite technology with Smart aerodynamics makes for the strongest, most versatile wheels for any wind condition in the world. Throughout the development, we were able to add new benchmarks in aerodynamics, which are highlighted by the new Smart ENVE System 8.9. The new 8.9s outperform some disc wheels in terms of aerodynamics, but in terms of stability and weight there isn’t a disc wheel that comes close,” said ENVE engineer Kevin Nelson.

Regarding aerodynamics, the Smart ENVE System has been exclusively developed in the Mercedes GP – Petronas wind tunnel in Brackley, Northhamptonshire in the United Kingdom under the direction of renowned aerodynamicist Simon Smart.  What sets the Smart ENVE System wheels apart from the rest is that they were developed to perform as a complete wheel system in frame, with rider on board.  As a result of this approach, the Smart ENVE System wheels feature dissimilar depths and widths between the front and rear wheels.  The front rims are wider and shallower to maximize stability across a broad spectrum of wind angles; and the rear rims are deeper and narrower to minimize drag on the trailing edge of the bike to eliminate turbulence and fit issues associated with modern aero frames.

Contact Strada on 01903 750040 or use the contact form to get in touch to discuss your SES 3.4 carbon wheels.

Hi, several months ago you built me a pair of pretty awesome wheels! They are brilliant! Great training to get them rolling and then you feel like a steamroller once you’re up to speed. They just resurfaced a couple of roads round here and I grin like a kid when riding those sections, so unbelievably smooth!
All the best,
Matt

To cut a long story to something shorter, I’m highly impressed with these wheels and their associated build. In fact I’m willing to go a little bit further. These A23’s are the best feeling and most comfortable clinchers I’ve ever ridden. For me, they are an ideal if not the perfect choice for everyday training and Sportive riding. Please see attached for an image of the wheels fitted to my training bike, a 2011 Canyon Ultimate Al. All the best, Stuart.

If you have a pair of favourite rims in need of a rebuild do get in touch on 01903 750040 or info@stradawheels.co.uk

Photo by Geoff Waugh

Strada are proud to be a sponsor for 2012 of the “Hell of the East”. When Alan Rosner decided to organise a new race on the calendar he wanted to do something different that would compliment rather than be much of the same. He eventually came up with resurrecting the Dengie Tour of the Marshes situated close to the windswept east coast and a race with a strong lost pedigree.

The race uses private roads and the first editions went onto the public highway for a short time only and featured two sections of farm track not forgetting rough tarmac roads. In 2011 the race route was tweaked with extra ‘pave’ and in 2012, the April Fool’s date of April 1 sees the race cover nine sections of non tarmac and more miles of the ‘Flanders’ type roads. Many think it’s the pave that decided the race, but that would be wrong, yes and to repeat a sporting cliche, the race can be lost on the rough stuff but the race is won when the riders hit the windswept and unpredictable stretches of narrow tarmac.

The first year Billy Joe Whenman attacked and took a group away with him to win, in 2009 Andy Lyons out sprinted Darren Barclay to win, and again in 2010 the race split into numerous packs of riders seeing Adam Biggs win ahead of Jon Mozley. In 2011 the race was uprated and saw a host of top UK teams in attendance and from the start the Rapha Condor Sharpe squad blew the race apart setting up a win for Zak Dempster.

We can expect even greater drama in 2012 when the Maldon Dengie Tour ‘Hell of the East’ becomes a counting round of the Premier Calendar Series. The race is backed by the local council will start and finish in Maldon high street.

What is true of the Maldon Dengie Tour ‘Hell of the East’ is that whether a winner or last rider over the line all are heroes and was this celebrated in the Rouleur Annual Volume 1 because it is a heroic race.

Maldon Dengie Tour ‘Hell of the East’, April 1, 1pm.

Photo by Geoff Waugh.