Test 2018: Carbon wheel BC Flechtwerg 45 Evo - Flechtwerk aero wheel in endurance test

Carbon production is manual labour. Normally. And because manual labour is expensive, carbon products are often manufactured in Asia, where labour costs are low. The Flechtwerk wheels, however, are harbingers of a new era in which production could return to Europe thanks to automation. The rims of the wheels are woven by robots in Taufkirchen near Munich. The manufacturer Munich Composites specialises in the production of hollow bodies. Once the blank has been braided, it is placed in a metal mould, then resin is injected under high pressure and cured by heating.

The mail order company Bike-Components from Aachen builds the rims into wheels with lightweight hubs from Newmen, which are manufactured on CNC machines in the Allgäu region, while the thin Aero-Speed bladed spokes come from DT Swiss. The result is an all-round wheelset weighing just 1,395 grams. The 45 millimetre high and 26 millimetre wide rim has a modern shape and performs similarly well to the Zipp 404 in the wind tunnel test, but is only half as sensitive to crosswinds and therefore steers much better. On paper, an excellent wheel at a very favourable price.

The wheels also ride very nicely, they accelerate well and roll very quietly. Only the spur gearing of the rotor rattles audibly when freewheeling, which you may or may not like. In the endurance test, however, the braking behaviour proved to be the Achilles heel of the wheels. In combination with the yellow SwissStopp pads prescribed by the manufacturer, the braking performance is rather weak and becomes more difficult to control the more abrasion from the brake pads accumulates on the rim; 50 kilometres were enough in the test. The rear wheel then stutters in a barely controllable manner. If you are confronted with this phenomenon for the first time and without warning, it can be really dangerous; in this form, the wheels are unsuitable for riding in the mountains. In the TOUR forum, users also report critical brake rubbing with the yellow pads.

The front wheel, on the other hand, could be decelerated without vibrations. However, the pad wear is very high when braking hard: three full braking manoeuvres from 60 km/h ate away half the pad. If you only brake at the front, these stops are easy to manage. After consultation with the manufacturer, we also tried the Black Prince pads from SwissStopp. With these, the brake rubbing on the rear wheel is less pronounced, but also increases over time. By way of comparison, the current generation of Zipp or Lightweight brakes much more powerfully and evenly.

In addition to the brake pad/rim combination, we suspect the unusually wavy rim flanks as a possible cause of the brake stuttering. We measured the rims and brake flanks in the laboratory and found variations in width of up to 0.23 millimetres. Random samples of carbon rims from other manufacturers showed fluctuations of between 0.05 and 0.1 millimetres. A wheel with a rim of the same design from Aerycs, also currently being tested, even shows a deviation of 0.3 millimetres and also stutters. Christian Lichtenberg, project manager at Munich Composites, comments on our experiences: "The Flechtwerk rim is one of the first 2018 models and it slipped through our quality assurance process. In future, we will carry out a 100 per cent inspection to rule out brake stuttering." Lichtenberg also plans to approve the Black Prince pads and Shimano's carbon pads for the rims in the future. Bike-Components has announced to TOUR that it will be able to supply the quality-tested wheels for the 2018 model year from the end of 2017.

PLUS light, good aerodynamics, favourable
MINUS Brake stuttering

Info www.bike-components.de
Price 899 Euro
Weight 1,395 grammes
Lateral stiffness f/h 45/38 N/mm