The special feature of the road bike wheels manufactured in Saxony is their sensationally low set weight of just under 1,250 grams. This is made possible by the construction of the spokes, which are woven from textile fibres (Vectran). For the first time Pi Rope the 2018 fibre spokes for mountain bike wheels one. The R.38 has 24 such spokes with an oval cross-section per wheel, each consisting of 24 fibre strands with 300 individual fibres each.
That makes 7,200 Vectran fibres per spoke, each of which is thinner than a hair. The wheels are tubeless-compatible and freewheels are available for current SRAM and Shimano cassettes. Our long-term tester rode the R.38 wheels 80 per cent of the time on gravel, the rest on the road and on easy terrain. The good acceleration and agile steering behaviour of the wheels is particularly impressive, and the measurements in the TOUR laboratory confirm the impression: they show an extremely low energy of 81 joules, which is required to accelerate the wheels with tyres from 0 to 30 km/h.
By comparison, values below 100 joules are already very good for wheels with similarly high rims and comparably good suitability for everyday use. On the other hand, we only determined an average lateral stiffness for the R.38: with only 38 Newton metres per millimetre (front and rear), they are slightly below the level of classically constructed wheels from established manufacturers. However, this proved to be unproblematic for our very light test rider - he didn't even notice it during the test rides.
Exactly as stiff as before after 6,500 kilometres
Interesting: Even after prolonged, intensive use, the spoke tension did not decrease. According to our measurements, the wheels were exactly as stiff as before after 6,500 kilometres. Only a few protruding fibres on the spokes were irritating. On enquiry, the manufacturer assured us that this "optical maturing" was normal and not a technical defect; it could be corrected with the care product supplied. The warranty and crash replacement conditions are customer-friendly. The spokes of the latest 2022 wheels are not only available in a single colour, but also in eleven different colours.
Facts about the R.38 wheelset
- Price 2,049 Euro
- Info www.pirope.net
+ Processing; Weight; Acceleration; Service
- Lateral stiffness
Matthias Borchers
Editor
