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It’s hard to believe the thought of professionals still buying their own equipment, but when it comes down to having the best, even professionals dish out the dough. While hitting the rounds at Interbike (see Interbike Coverage Parts 1-7), we had the opportunity to sit down and talk to Stefan Behrens of CarbonSports GmbH, the makers of Lightweight Wheels. Lightweight Wheels have been ridden by the world's top cyclists, triathletes and duathletes for over 10 years, but most still don’t know the Lightweight name. Carbon wheels are every where now, but after a closer inspection of the pro peloton one will quickly find one wheel that truly stands apart; Lightweight. When describing the history and athletes of Lightweight Wheels, the company avoids mentioning the names of the riders that use their wheels and their victories won at the Tour de France, World Championships and other top professional races due to contractual obligations. But after one quick look at CarbonSports’ website it is very clear who ‘shops’ at the Lightweight factory including Cipollini, Jan Ullrich, and Stefano Garzelli as well as Johan Museeuw, Lance Armstrong, Bjarne Riis, Joseba Beloki, and Erik Zabel, to name a few. A Little History During the ‘90s, German engineers Rudolf Dierl and Heinz Obermayer started a revolution transforming the bicycle wheel. Dierl and Obermayer developed the first all-carbon wheelset in which the spokes were laminated directly into the hub and rim. Rudolf Dierl and Heinz Obermayer are both tool makers from the aerospace industry. Dierl worked at MAN, an aerospace technology company, for over 25 years and Obermayer worked for MTU, another aerospace company, for over 33 years. In their spare time the two built glass fiber spoilers and air dams for Mercedes cars in their garage. Their first wheels were disk wheels built for a friend’s horse-drawn race chariot. In 1989, they turned their attention to disks for bicycles and sold them under the name, ‘Ultec’. The first disks had low-profile rims and were marketed by ‘Heylight’. In 1995, Lightweight Wheels introduced their spoke design which has been improved and modified upon to become today’s Lightweight spoked-wheel. Only a few wheels were made per year, but the public immediately took notice to Lightweight when their wheels were ridden to victory in the ’96 and ’97 Tour de France. Ever since then, Lightweight Wheels have been used by the world’s top professional cyclists in the top races. In 2003, Dierl and Obermayer sold their company to CarbonSports GmbH. CarbonSports specializes in building carbon fiber components for many applications, not just in bicycles and bicycle products, but in aircraft, satellites, medical technology, and components for Formula 1 cars. The manufacturing base moved to The Wheels Lightweight offers 3 spoked-wheels, the Standard, the Obermayer, and their Alpe d’Huez as well as a disc wheel (see Interbike Coverage Part 4). The rims are completely made out of carbon fiber and have a lightweight foam core. They measure 52.8mm deep and 19.5 mm wide and are built around Lightweight's carbon fiber-shelled hubs. All front hubs use Lightweight’s durable super-light cartridge bearings, while the Standard rear hub is available in several versions with the option of the Shimano Dura Ace 9/10-speed hub (7700), the new Shimano Dura Ace 10-speed hub (7800), the Campagnolo Record 10-speed hub, or the DT-Swiss Hügi 240 hub. The Obermayer boasts a lighter rim over the Standard and revolves around a rear Tune Mag 160 hub. And if the Obermayer isn’t light enough, Lightweight offers their “L’Alpe d’Huez”. The Alpe d’Huez lacks the heat dissipating foam and resin found in the braking areas of their Standard and Obermayer wheels reducing rim weight by 40 grams meaning these things are meant for one thing: Climbing. Sorry boys, no descending these babies. All rear hubs are modified to fit in Lightweight’s carbon fiber shell. The lens-shaped spokes are a mixture of carbon and Kevlar threads which can hold up to 1200 kg each and are joined to the rim seamlessly, so there is no unwanted turbulence created by the spoke nipple. Lightweight's rear wheels and L’Alpe d’Huez front wheel are all 20 spoke, while the Standard and Obermayer front wheels come in 12, 16 or 20 spoke options. The weight difference between spoke options is about 10g per four spokes. All wheels 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 buyers the option of registering their wheel with the bikefinder.de database, allowing identification in case of theft. Lightweight also offers the option of having a 0.8 g wheel magnet laminated into the rim eliminating the need for a spoke magnet. The rim’s deep 52.8mm sides are slanted in the same angle as the spokes, aiming the spokes for the opposing brake surface. This is the secret behind Lightweight’s unsurpassed stiffness as the spokes are at a shallower angle than in conventional wheels. The rim’s outer surface and the spokes form a straight line, transferring pulling forces without any loss. In this design, torsional loads encountered during sprints, climbing or turning are handled easily by the spokes making for a stiffer and stronger wheel. On Test Look for our full review of Lightweight’s Standard wheelset to come. Specifications: Model: Lightweight Standards Rims: Full carbon with foam core (Tubular Only) Front Hub: Carbon fiber body with Lightweight cartridge bearings Rear Hub: Carbon fiber body with Campy Record 10-spd hub Spokes: Carbon fiber / Kevlar Spoke Count: 20 Front / 20 Rear 
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