People who bought FSW wheels have confirmed that they are, indeed, freaking sweet wheels. So of course it’s time to come up with something completely new.
For some time, we’ve been captivated by the new wide rims that are becoming more popular, and which are the basis of our new FSW 23 wheelset. Whether using them with 23- or 25cm tires, they make good tires feel great and great tires feel stunning. They also help decrease the risk of pinch flats. Contrarians to the core, we’ve actually decided to bump up the spoke counts – we’ll be offering both a 24/28 lacing 2 crossed all around, and a true SOB 28/32 lacing, 2 crossed in front and 3 crossed in back. The rim we’ve chosen is Velocity’s A23, which has been getting rave reviews (not only from Mike, who’s been secretly testing them for most of the year), and which are a development of the popular Aerohead. Slightly lower rim weights allow us to add the strength of the extra spokes and bring the standard build in at a shade under the weight of the original FSW. We still hate weight limits, but the crossover point will be at around 185 pounds: under that, stick to the standard build and over that go with the SOBs. If you plan to use them as “race day only” wheels, you can move that range up by around 10 pounds. If you’re using them for ‘cross, move the range down by around 10 pounds.
Speaking of ‘cross, we also now offer the wheels in a tubular version called the FSW CX, using Velocity’s Major Tom rim. The 23mm width works great with road tubulars but is a positively fabulous match for ‘cross tires. The wider tire bed provides a more secure gluing surface for ‘cross tubulars, and allows less tire squirm at lower pressures. Best of all, the low cost makes it possible for people on a budget to have a set of pit wheels that’s just as nice as their “A” wheels.
All of the wheels will continue to use our sealed bearing Novatec hubs and Sapim Laser spokes as standard. Both are also available with premium hubs including the White Industries H2/H3, Chris King R45, or C-4 RH205/FH-76 hubs. Sapim CX Ray spokes are another upgrade option.
And just when you've finally figured out the whole pre-order deal, we keep you on your toes again. Both the FSW 23 and the FSW CX are in stock right now, waiting for you to order them so we can build them up right quick.
3 comments
Awesome, can't wait to glue up some knobby tubulars.
Curious, are the A23 and Major Tom rims niobium alloy? I got a wheelset from C-4 last summer on their V-22 wide rims which they said were nio. These are clincher CX practice wheels with 20/24 spokes. I like your spoke count/lacing options much better for CX and in general.
Steve, the A23 and Major Tom rims are 6106-T6 alloy, not niobuim. It's what Velocity makes all their rims from.I haven't seen the C-4 V-22 rims in person but in general their stuff impresses me.