First Look: Alchemist's Radical Carbon Wheels - Eurobike 2015
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How do you go about making a carbon wheelset even more trick than they already are? You make a rim that's shaped like nothing else out there, obviously. Italian company Alchemist is doing exactly that with their X-sense 6D family of rims, all of which are manufactured by hand in Venice, Italy, by a process that the company refers to as ''printing of pre-impregnated unidirectional carbon fiber.'' The end product is a rim whose cross-section resembles the shape of a wine glass, but Alchemist is insistent that the unique profile isn't different just for different's sake, but rather that there are some real advantages to the design and the use of 18K unidirectional carbon.
The unique shape of the X-sense rim is said to make for easy maintenance and better reliability. Also, they look pretty damn cool.
You can access the nipples without have to remove the tire, and the sealed rim bed doesn't require any proprietary rim and nipple interface.
The most obvious difference between the 6D rim and a more traditional option is that the twenty four nipples are exposed and held in place at the rim by going through a ridge that's moulded into its shape. This means that Alchemist is able to create a rim with a completely sealed bed that doesn't require taping, nor any sort of funky double-threaded nipple interface, which makes setting them up sans tubes easy and maintenance a cinch. The rim's novel shape isn't just for ease of use, though, as the company also claims that the shape allows for a certain degree of engineered flex that not only makes them ride nicer than less forgiving rims on the market, but also far more resistant to failure due to a violent impact. The hookless rim bead is also canted in slightly on each side to help keep tires from taking leave when the rider corners hard or lands on more of an angle than intended.
The odd looking rims grab your attention, but it doesn't end there: Alchemist's Stealth hubs sport a weird, angular shape that the company admitted was really only used to make them look cool. They also offer carbon hub shells on the lighter duty wheelsets, but I think that it was mission accomplished with the Stealth hubs - they look like they were lifted from Batman's mountain bike. You'll find four "high-flow" SKF bearings inside the rear hub, with a trick titanium ring on the driveside that threads into the hub shell and helps to seal out the elements.
The 44mm internal width option can be yours if you want the most unique 27.5+ wheelset out there.
The angled shape of Alchemist's Stealth hubs make it easy to sneak into enemy territory without being picked up on radar.
The X-sense rim is available in 26", 27.5" and 29" sizes when you buy a complete wheelset, and the 27.5" and 29" diameters can be had in 26mm, 32mm and 44mm internal widths. The sole 26" size comes in a massive 85mm width for fat bikes. The claimed weights are all pretty competitive, with the 26mm internal width, 29" size coming in at 420 grams, and the 27.5'' version weighing 410 grams. A complete RR-9E wheelset in 29" weighs 1,400 grams, which is impressive when you consider the rim's 26mm internal width, while the RR-7E 27.5'' model weighs 1,380 grams.
So how much does it cost to be different? A wheelset will set you back about $2,950 USD, which is more than a lot of riders will spend on their entire bike, but also in the same ballpark as some other high-end carbon wheelsets out there.
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I like a marmite wheel just fine, I still have no idea how that relates to bike wheels, haha.
And also practically every load-bearing product on the mtb market...
and I can't afford it either but I don't whine about rich doctors/lawyers who buy expensive stuff but never push them at their full potential. I don't get it. If you have the money, I'm sure you'd do the same even if you don't ride just as hard as they are meant to be. Besides, who are we to dictate what these people want to use their money for, it's their money in the first place.
If you have $3k dollars disposable, would you rather buy alexrims or some sexy enve rims? yeah thought so.
Stop whining! lol be happy someone or some company is doing something different than what everyone else is doing.
Do you guys remember that poll PB did about "who pays retail?" I remember that most answers went towards "friends and family discounts", or at least a lot answered so.
Seems like bad business.
PS - I do love these rims and miss my Shimano UST wheels every time I bust out the tubeless tape.
I think it's interesting to put the nipples on the the outside making the rim tubeless without tape and also creating a much greater bracing angle.
The flexibility of what can be made with plastic really should warrant starting from the axle out rather than even considering traditional spokes, nips and hubs.
If you think this rim looks add wait till they start pumping out one piece plastic wheels. It's coming. Back to the future (just thinking of Spinergy right now).
Joking aside, those are crazy-looking. And I mean that in a good way. They need to run ads with a former Star Trek Next Gen character that needs some skrilla.
These are for people who don't understand basic engineering principles. They are the very antithesis of form follows function, or at least a very bad prioritization of which functions are most important. Strength and stiffness during daily use, or ease of building during the one-time build... Ridiculous.
Give a chance to innovation.
Also no matter how strong a wheelset is (within reason, not talking about putting a Harley wheel on a mtb) the loads on the wheel during a big case, flat landing, hitting square edged rocks hard, etc will make ANY wheel come out of true. The idea that if it's built perfectly, or close to it, it won't come out of true is ridiculous.
Not saying they're the best wheelset out there... I have no idea. But I highly doubt you have much of a clue either. This "as an engineer..." thing isn't a valid argument either. As a GOOD engineer you would acknowledge that there are too many unknown variables here to make an informed opinion... Other than they're probably too expensive!
@ericwahl83 I didn't say they're weak, I said they would be stronger and stiffer with the carbon material at the outside edge rather than at the middle.
Considering how much I was downvoted, the concept of a neutral axis is obviously foreign to a lot of folks. Think about bending a pencil like you're going to break it in half, or grab one and do it (well, not break it, just put some stress on it). You'll notice at the top that the material is in tension, it's being stretched, at the bottom, the material is in compression, it's being squeezed together. The highest amount of tension is at the top edge, and the highest amount of compression is at the bottom edge, as you move down from the top, the tension decreases until there is no stress on the material at all, then it transitions to increasing compression. The area with no stress on it at all is the neutral axis. It's not supporting any of the load and doesn't contribute to stiffness, but does contribute to weight.
This is the reason why large hollow tubes are used instead of solid pieces of metal, you get a much better stiffness to weight ratio for bending forces for a hollow tube, since the material in the middle isn't contributing as much to stiffness. Hence, why these are weaker than they could be. Not to mention the capacity for collecting crud. Could you imagine having these on a muddy ride and they just fill up with mud. Ha.
@Narro2 I said nothing about adding more material I said the same material or less could be distributed better to increase stiffness. It's because of the principles I outlined that we're building skyscrapers instead of pyramids. It's actually the reason why I-beams are shaped the way they are.
@ericwahl83 agree they're too expensive. Would bet many internet dollars that not a single person that downvoted me will actually buy them.
@ericwahl83 See above. You're applying the design principles in the wrong direction. Vertical instead of lateral. Your interpretation would make for an extremely stiff-riding wheel without any vertical compliance, but with plenty of lateral flex when cornering. Not completely optimal for riding.
Edit: Just had a thought. Picture an I-beam turned sideways as what you would optimally want for a bike rim. When experiencing lateral loads, one side is experiencing tension, the other compression. If I could draw a picture in here to help you understand I would, sorry I can't.
I will probably try these rims because they are breaking a preconception that exists, someone took a risk going into the unknown taking advantage of new technologies (carbon in this case), if they are going to the market is cuz they been tested, so we will be ok.
If you cant grasp this concept man, you are just an armchair engineer.
The 1/8" of material lying flat doesn't provide stiffness because it's all at the neutral axis. It's getting the material spaced out further from the neutral axis which provides the stiffness. With the strip turned vertical is mostly the top and bottom of the strip that's providing the stiffness, while there's still quite a bit of material doing progressively less. That would actually be a really inefficient design. Take the same cross-sectional area (so same weight) of material and form it into the shape of an I-beam and it will be far stronger/stiffer.
@ericwahl83 Glad I got my point across. The increased bracing angle of the spokes might provide enough stiffness that they don't need additional stiffness from the rim... They're essentially just giving up some of the strength to weight ratio that could be achieved with optimal design in that regard to make wheelbuilding easier. It's a trade-off, I get that. I'm of the mind that you build a set of wheels once, but you ride them every day, so I'd rather have the stiffer/lighter wheels to ride everyday, than the wheels that were slightly easier to build one time... I guess that's just me though.
Also, why use straight pull spokes but then design the hub such that they have to be bent anyway? With a custom hub for straight pull spokes there should be zero spoke bend.
But I only have 1 job and didn't get a masters or doctorate so that's my bad...so far.
That's bordering on ludicrous monies. first post ever from me saying that.
plus mud...?
mind you these puppies been around for a couple of years but i yett have to see or hear annyone about ridding them !
Let's see, I never broke a rim, but call the lifespan of a solid aluminum wheel 5 years, 5 x 15 = 75 years ... yes! buy a set for your 10 years old and it will be the last wheel set he/she will ever need!!!!!
Hey! give her a aluminum set plus $2800 in a bank account and by the the time she is 85 at an interest rate of 5% she will have a neat $108,731 in the bank
Was created to be geared towards dudes riding in mud all day? If you're loving your mud covered tires then you're probably not overly concerned with weight.
I thought the point of carbon rims was stiffness
2. Charge 5000$ per rim
3. Sell to lawyers/doctors who will ride them on paved bike roads/fire roads as an exclusive boutique luxury LOOK AT ME IN RICH brand
4. PROFIT
Your envy and piousness sound exactly like envy and piousness though.
Id say "take up soccer" but i have a funny feeling,those that play with shoes with a fancy "swish" on them or a ball with sufficient air in it would be targets of your spiritual enlightenment.
PS: @khaki you are a retard
PS: I'll take that as a compliment lol; spoken like a true expert!