100 km with Blackwell Research 50mm Clinchers

I had the Blackwell Resesarch 50mm clinchers out on the club ride this morning for a windy 100km. I'd say that the first 70 km was either into a cross wind or head wind from the east. Certainly a lot of work.

The first set of aerowheels that I ever rode were some 3 year old Zipp 404 tubulars. They were light and clean and then I glued the tire to the wheel. Now I am sure that I will get the hang of it soon but the mess I made with the glue was legendary and there was a bump of the stuff on the rear wheel, such that when it spun, there was an audible noise from the road and the whole bike pulsed. Completely my fault but certainly something that made me think twice about riding tubulars. I rode those wheels in a half ironman despite the bump (pumped up to 175 psi!) and had the fastest bike split for myself at that distance.

Over all I liked those Zipps. Good graphics, responded well when accelerating but I did experience a bit of brake rub when I stood up and pedalled hard. I can only guess that newer generations have solved that issue.

So yesterday after wrestling my brand new Vittoria Corsa Evo CX tires on to the Blackwell 50mm wheels I was ready to give it a go. The only qualms that I had were the Equinox brake pads that I had not heard of before. But first on the ride.



These are stiff wheels. No speed sapping brake rub when out of saddle! Hit a bump and keep on rolling. I usually ride Mavic Ksyrium ES wheels and when comparing the ride quality (road shock rolling over potholes, spinning downhill, accelerating) the Blackwell 50s beat them hands down. And with a total wheel weight of this set (less skewers, rim tape, wheels and tubes) of 1587 grams, these were comfortably within the range of a light wheel (maybe only 100 grams or so heavier than the Mavics).

Braking on a carbon wheel is different than on an alloy one. When you can just pull the brakes on an alloy wheel and you feel a grab of rubber to metal; on carbon the feel is more like the pads are gliding over the brake surface - not a bad feeling but certainly different. The braking surface is a raised bump on the wheel and is lowered away from the clincher bead to reduce the chance that the heat from braking will blow out your tube. In general there was no pulsing when braking normally, the Blackwell 50s slowed down in a controlled manner and when I needed to make one emergency stop (tired, 85 windy kms into the ride) I stopped as quickly as I would have on an alloy wheel. Now I did leave behind a little trail of carbon brake pad, but that is to be expected.

The hub action was great and when ever I coasted, a loud buzz eminated from the rear wheel that made me quite happy. I am not sure if the loud ratcheting noise really indicates good performance, but I like it. Not quite a

Chris King Angry Bee, but still noticeable.

How was handling these in the wind? No problem from the front or when the wind was at a slight angle. I did get pushed around a little when there was a direct cross wind but nothing alarming at all. With a wind to the rear and slightly off to one side I imagine that there may have even been a bit of a sail effect.

These wheels are available now for test rides through Hello Vélo . More info from Blackwell Research. And some details on the internals here.