New rim shipment!

While we have been quiet in posting recently, it's only due to the show season and daily work activities taking their toll. To show how busy it has been, here are pictures of our latest KinLin 560 piece rim shipment, which finally give us the only stocks in North America of the XR-200 in polished silver (28, 32h). We think these look great for neo retro builds (being more of a classic box section rim shape) and make a nice change from the regular polished black finish so prevalent today.




Mountain bike rims also join the crowd, the XD-230 and XD-280 are available in both 26" and 29er flavors, with the option of black or white finishes.






A rim designed for daily use (commuting, training) at 510gm, the ADHN is the only KinLin rim we offer with eyelets. 24mm wide, it's perfect for Vittoria Open Pave and other 24-28c tires. Great for those cold winter days full of snow melt and runoff (even here in normally sunny SoCal it's been snowing!).




Finally, we started stocking the shallower 24mm deep 455gm XR-240 rim, which is available in 20, 24, 28, 32h (700c) and 20, 24h in 650c. This rim is only available in polished black. We will also be offering this rim in our comprehensive prebuilt range of wheelsets.



Some new items and product lines are being released for 2009, stay tuned for some exciting news!

Wheels of the Week.

As Monday was a holiday, there wasn't a set nominated or considered. Come back next week!

Wheels of the Week

Actually two pair, as they couldn't be split, kind of non identical twins.

Both used Dutch M5 hubs, fitted with Phil Wood and Co bearings. Front hub is the SP version, with the flanged rear. Why? The rear SP version isn't available yet (plus read further), and while both M5 front hubs share the same weight limit (there isn't one), the SP version just looks more robust, and the top hat inserts to carry the spoke heads has a lot more material behind it. We have never heard of problems with either, but prefer to err on the side of caution. Corporate preference is towards straight pull spokes also on front wheels due to the way the stresses work, so that's another reason. It's cleaner and stiffer. Rear hubs undergo different dynamic stresses, so the way a flanged hub works is actually an advantage here. We tested this using a mixture of machinery and on the bike use, and have found the results to be consistent. The difference is small however, and wouldn't prevent us building SP rear hubs under certain conditions.

Spokes are Sapim CX-Ray. They are nice spokes, available in SP form for the front from stock, and work well with the M5 hubs (no surprise, as they come from just over the border in Belgium). Nipples are 3/16" internal aluminum.

Rims on set #1 are KinLin XR-200, their 22mm deep box section Niobium alloy model. We have these drilled for internal nipples especially for this wheelset.

Rims on set #2 are KinLin XR-270, their 27mm deep aero section Niobium alloy model. Again drilled for internal nipples, they are a rim we use a lot of.

Weight for set #1 with 24/28 spokes is 1246gm/pr. Lighter than many carbon options of "climbing" style carbon rim clinchers without the high cost associated with carbon rims.

Weight for set #2 with 20/24 spokes is 1350gm/pr. These are a great "do anything" road wheelset. Century rides, racing, even Cross. They have some aerodynamic advantage without the weight penalties normally associated in mid-deep section clincher wheels, and aren't a problem to handle in cross winds.

Both sets get our vote for contenders as wheels of the year...

The Taiwanese are here!

Anyone who remembers Breaking Away will remember the original line. Unfortunately these days the rim choices from Italy are not so easy to get excited about. It's a shame, because back in the day you needed two hands to count off the number of different companies, now all that exists is Ambrosio and DRC (Campagnolo only offer complete wheels). While both companies make good rims, they don't get as innovative as the Taiwanese. For a good place to look, KinLin is it. See some posts below about this.

In any case, this is what a shipment of rims looks like, all 386 of them...

Wheels of the Day

Is going to become Wheels of the Week. Why? Because we couldn't keep up with it, and when you build 36pr of DT Swiss 240s hubs into different wheels during the course of a week, it's hard to look at one set as being above the others. So every Monday, there will be WotW.

Staff News

We have a new Office Manager!

Autumn comes to us from the Beaumont Chamber of Commerce, where she was Director of Marketing among her many unofficial "hats".

While not a long time cyclist, she enjoys the outdoors, hiking, skiing and camping in the magnificent mountain ranges that tower above and around us. There is always a set of snow chains in the back of her truck. She was a driving force behind getting Beaumont organised to host the first stage ever seen here of the Tour of Redlands this year (2008), and has a good appreciation of the skills it takes to put on an international class cycling event and also to ride one from a spectators view (she thinks cyclists are nuts!).

Her skills and knowledge will be beneficial to us here, and also to our customers and the cyclists who use our products. While her role is simply named, we intend for her to be a driving force behind making sure the paper side of daily business is run efficiently, taking us out to a wider audience with her marketing skills, and running the shipping department (because we like people to be busy!).

M5 Hubs

We like to use these hubs. When we are asked for lighter options than DT Swiss hubs, M5 is always the first option mentioned. Front hubs in either a straight pull spoke or regular flanged format, and a rear flanged hub make for a set of hubs that weigh only around 218gm. That's less than a rear DT Swiss 240s hub!

Some of the great things; they follow a no tools concept that makes them very simple to work on, and have a very large diameter rear axle which combines with a very large pawl - ratchet system to make things very stiff. Swapping cassette bodies is simple, and requires no redishing of the wheel. Simple hand tools are available for removing and pressing in bearings, something that can be done in a home workshop.

The flange geometries work very well, very wide front spacing allow of great front wheel lateral stiffness, yet not so wide there could be problems with spokes clearing some beefy carbon fork blades, and the rear hub is optimised for radial non drive rear spoke lacing, giving good balance of tension with a two or three cross drive side lacing. We pick the rims used with an eye to correct spoke lines with these hubs because of their spoke angles, optimising them when needed. If not done, this would lead to local stress on the rims that could cause misshaping leading to cracking, or potential for broken spokes at the threads.

Something we do change from standard, we worked with Phil Wood & Co to have their bearings available for the front hub, a size that was not previously available from them. The rear hub is fitted with Phil Wood & Co bearings also, and we believe that these bearings, from a company with a great history in the use of cartridge bearings for bicycle hub applications, only add to these terrific hubs.

M5 Carbon Rims

M5 clincher carbon rims are coming our way.

With some unique points, like having metal strips buried BENEATH the carbon in the braking areas and spoke nipple seats, these rims have a lot of promise. The two strips buried in the braking areas reinforce the carbon walls against blowout of the from outward pressure caused by the beads when things heat up, and also move heat away and distribute it all around the rim for more efficient cooling. Local heat buildup can cause blowouts, and also rim bowing (via resin softening) in the worst possible place. This can happen on downhills or any time there is a lot of high speed braking, and high speed plus problems don't have great ways to end for the cyclist. These two strips are a great way of answering this issue.

The other strip reinforces the spoke holes, allowing for greater spoke tensions, the bane of most carbon rims. Ever seen blips in the rim walls under the nipple seats? This spreads the load over a larger area, allowing for no local high pressure spots caused by spoke tensions. Another innovative solution that M5 have developed.

Only 38mm rims have been released to date, and we are offering them built with M5's own hubs laced with Sapim CX-Ray spokes, and also DT Swiss 240s hubs laced with DT Swiss Aerolite spokes. Both are good hub/spoke options that we feel offer the most when combined with these great carbon rims.

Kinlin's Niobium Rims

We love these rims. That's not a phrase used lightly around here.

Typically just known as "Niobium" (Kinlin call this KLM41) rims, they are made by Kinlin of Taiwan. Now Kinlin isn't a name you hear much of, if at all, but they make custom rims for some of the best known wheel producers in the US, and their stock models are sold under such names as IRD as rims only. The Niobium is actually an alloying element in the aluminum alloy, which offers a nice grain structure and the ability to make very light rims. We weighed some of the first XR-200 (22mm deep) clincher rims at 278gm! There are four models offered, the NbR-19 (19mm deep box section ~ 395gm), XR-200 (22mm deep box section ~ 384gm), XR-270 (27mm deep aero section ~ 430gm) and XR-300 (30mm deep aero section ~ 455gm). There is also a tubular rim TB-25 (25mm deep aero section ~ 440gm). Kinlin also make a regular aluminum alloy (KLR60) clincher rim, the XR-240 (24mm deep aero section ~ 470gm) that makes for great OEM and less expensive wheels. We also carry this rim in 650c diameter, which makes a great wheelset when paired with DT Swiss 240s hubs and Aerolite spokes. All the Kinlin rims we carry are available in a gloss black anodizing, with some models (XR-200, XR-270, XR-300) also available in a polished "silver" clear anodizing. We are the only US importer of this option.

Pictures to follow.

Contacting Us

It was pointed out that there is no contact and sales information published, so here it is.

Ph: 1-877-4Z-WHEEL
Ph: 1-951-845-5757
FX: 1-951-845-6118
E: info@cherryvalleywheelworks.com

Please note; Cherry Valley Wheelworks, Inc. does not supply the public. We are a importers, wholesale and distribution company. While we welcome technical questions and feedback from anyone, we only accept orders from established bicycle stores, wheel builders, and frame builders with the correct business credentials. We are happy to give quotations for OEM supply also, and will ship our products anywhere in the world except where it contravenes manufacturers distribution agreements in those countries. Having supplied customers in the EEC, Australasia, Asia and the Americas, we have great experience in international shipping and supply needs.

We accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express directly, and will also accept checks drawn on US banks or wire transfers. We do not accept Paypal, Google Checkout, Western Union, or International Money Orders.

We only purchase products from legitimate suppliers/manufacturers, and stand behind our offered products 110%. All our wheels have a 3-year warranty, and crash replacement policies should the unforseeable happen. 95% of our purchasing is on a prior payment basis, giving both competitive purchasing and payment security ability, and allowing us to offer highly competative pricing as a result.

If it's not a Cherry Valley Wheel, it wasn't picked for you.

Finally the move is over!

The new premises are set up and running, a long haul from painting and cleaning, to etting up and then cleaning again. Finally we are done though, and normal operations, while only slightly hampered during this time, will now speed ahead. Posts will hopefully be more common now, although getting physical tasks done will take precedence.

We are sorry for any delays and confusion during this time, but feel the results of our efforts will be more than worth the short term pain.

What have we been doing?

Well, building lots of wheels!

A picture being worth a thousand words;



This is seventy (70) DT Swiss hub boxes and wrappings (sometimes they come packed in the web sleeves). All of them are empty, and show how many wheels we built in March. Actually, the total is higher than that, as it doesn't include the M5, Extralite, Shimano, and Campagnolo hubs we also built up. Total was over 150pr! If you enjoy the math, that's approx. 12.5 wheels per day...

Wheels of the Day

It's been a while, but here we are!

Rims: Ambrosio Nemesis 'day SC 32h
Spokes: DT Swiss SuperComp
Hubs: DT Swiss 240s - Campagnolo

Weights: 774gm Front, 889gm Rear.

I enjoyed building these wheels. They are kind of old school, but with a new twist, using the 240s hubs and triple butted (2.0/1.7/1.8mm) spokes. With such rims you just get the spoke tension even and the wheel is straight and round, they demand very little truing, and will probably wear out before they need any post build truing. Gerard Schraener comments in his book about how a wheel builder can tell the best pair of wheels from a batch, this is one of those pairs.

To finish them off, I corked the rims. Something you don't see much anymore, you use little corks to fill the ferrules, giving a better support to the base of the tubular. I have seen base tapes wearing holes when this isn't done because the tire pressure pushes the tape into the ferrules. This solves that problem!

Wheels of the Day

Will be back on Tuesday. The past week has been busy on other matters that will help when it's build time!

Hubs

I was asked today what our favorite hubs are. It depends on the application was my thought, but as we were talking about EDGE Composites rims, I said I'd post a few pictures. The choice of rims made it easy, as only a few hubs are available in the drillings needed; 16, 18, 20h front and 20, 24h rear hubs are not so common, and those I like are less so.

Typically I build with DT Swiss Aerolite spokes. They are nicely made, finished well, and having several thousand in stock means we normally can build even custom wheels without waiting for spokes. The 36 different lengths in two finishes (black and polished) make for fun when it's inventory time. Add Revolution, Super Comp, Competition, Alpine 3, plus Sapim Race, Laser, CX-Ray and CX spokes, and it's over 402 combinations that we have available.



White Industries make some nice hubs, the H2 series is the heaviest set we use, but they are well made, nicely polished, US Made hubs. The titanium rotor is good with Shimano systems, as it won't get chewed like aluminum rotors will, and the polished finish looks great with a Record group. If you want a polished black finish, they do that too.




DT SWISS 240s hubs are good. They do everything well, are easy to service, and have only one failing, these days people will put them on a scale and comment that they are too heavy. DT had a response with the 190 hubs, which use ceramic bearings and some nifty machining to reduce the weight of the rear hub but at great expense. There are lighter hubs than the 190's, and there are people who like to weigh things, so look further down the page for my reply. Overall though, I don't think you can beat the 240s.




For really light hubs, I like the UltraHubs from Extralite. The SX is only 49gm and is rebuildable. The UltraRear SR is 158gm. Both use materials in exotic ways to trim weight as much as possible, yet the regular UltraFront and UltraRear are tough enough for off road use. They can be a little quirky when building, but I like them.





Extralite get a little more special with their UltraFront SP and UltraRear SP that use straight pull spokes. I like to build them with Sapim CX-Ray spokes, but have done the odd special with Pillar Titanium spokes. The 49gm + 153gm weights are getting into rare air indeed, with only a few exotics getting below that, like the hub below, all 36gm of it....