# Cool Wood Wheel Videos



## Iverider (Mar 6, 2013)

These are new wood wheel videos of manufacturers but I thought they were interesting. I can't believe there is a company that makes Free Ride wheels out of wood. If you don't know what free riding is, type it in to Youtube and you'll be pelted with numerous videos on the subject. Let's just say...they had better be strong rims!

Holtzwegen Videos

[video=youtube;Vx7L2YuqaLM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx7L2YuqaLM[/video]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZaSbh09hcw

[h=1]Cerchio Ghisallo videos[/h]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hjCwav452s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFtgVfDu5Vg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l79hjU1oWCg


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## GiovanniLiCalsi (Mar 6, 2013)

Wow!
Great videos!
These wheels are a bargain for the amount of labor involved.
I'm going to eventually order these wheels in 700C with carbon fiber.


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## thehugheseum (Mar 6, 2013)

these are 100% wood 28 x 1 1/2 with clincher tires/tubes..............no carbon fiber and i wont ever understand why a good quality wood rim would ever have a need for that nonsense


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## GiovanniLiCalsi (Mar 6, 2013)

When using a 700c wooden wheel with carbon fiber laminated to the tube side, it can handle 110psi tire pressure.
Standard wooden wheels can only handle 40psi.
I like to ride my antique bicycles with the least rolling resistance.


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## thehugheseum (Mar 6, 2013)

thats interesting.........i guess my only question now would be why not just paint a full carbon or steel rim woodgrain?  my guy at the bike shop local to me said "you cant run anything over 50 psi on a wood rim"  my retort was "oh" of course in my head i was saying............"why the hell would i need more than 30 psi anyhow?" i have had thoughts of building a faux 1890s bike with p35 rims and high pressure tires but then i rethought it and decided that was just too phoney


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## dougfisk (Mar 6, 2013)

GiovanniLiCalsi said:


> When using a 700c wooden wheel with carbon fiber laminated to the tube side, it can handle 110psi tire pressure.
> Standard wooden wheels can only handle 40psi....




I guess I am out of my comfort zone here... what happens to a wood rim as result of higher tire pressure?


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## GiovanniLiCalsi (Mar 6, 2013)

The rim can crack from over pressure .


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## thehugheseum (Mar 6, 2013)

this is totally true,i have a chum who is a bike collector and owns a large machine shop............he had a little piece on a bike he needed welded so he had one of his goons from sector g weld it up.................but the goon decided he wanted to give the bike a little ride inside the shop............he felt the tire "hey it feels like its only got 25 psi" so he put the air compressor air fitting on and proceeded to nearly hurt himself and others around him.................blew the thing right up.............now my chum was very very mad.......he gave the goon from sector g a real fine browbeating

     i actually like the feel of 25/30psi,it absorbs the cracks and bumps from transferring thru other parts like the frame and my ass

heres the proof goons from sector g should not handle things they know not of


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## GiovanniLiCalsi (Mar 6, 2013)

A nice overstuffed antique seat is really good for softening the ride.
New Amsterdam Electras do a nice job absorbing shock.


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## thehugheseum (Mar 6, 2013)

though i understand your point.......my thinking is the soft seat can only take the abuse off of your buttocks........the force still attacks the parts of the bike since it goes thru it to get to your cheeks


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## GiovanniLiCalsi (Mar 6, 2013)

Got to get me one of those novacane covered seats.:^)


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## rustyspoke66 (Mar 6, 2013)

Just thought I would throw this in the mix. I'm sure there are a fair amount of early wood rimed bikes with natural wood finish but I have seen very few. Most wood rim bikes have painted rims from the factory so why not just buy a nice performance rim like the P-35 and give them a vintage correct paint job. After all we are not talking about original equipment. We just want our bikes to have the correct vintage look and ride nice. Of course if you like the look of wood I think real wood rims are the way to go and as far as putting 90+psi in the tires of a 100 year old bike seems a bit extreme, unless there is some sort of competition going on. Just my preference and two cents. I wouldn't mind seeing what it feels like to ride a antique bike with high pressure tires. Which brings up another question, what tires are being used that take 90psi?


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## thehugheseum (Mar 6, 2013)

i do like the p35 painted idea,seems like what i see of the really early stuff (1890s/early 1900s) is plain wood though,natty finish..........as far as competing with 1890s/1900s bikes on a track my feeling is using too modern a part is like the guy who has the 34 ford with a 1985 v6 as a power plant.......he isnt concerned with the idea of time travel but more wants to have the "look".............i personally have always gravitated towards the time travel experience over doing something because its easy...........i have a ton of respect for the guy who has a 34 ford with the original drivetrain and parts......he has to know how it works.....the guy with the modern running gear? i honestly dont get his mantras at all


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## GiovanniLiCalsi (Mar 6, 2013)

The Amsterdam Electras can take 75psi.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055HO2ZC...e=asn&creative=395105&creativeASIN=B0055HO2ZC
It is wise to use higher pressure tires when on a Wheelman Club Century Ride.


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## thehugheseum (Mar 6, 2013)

those tires look like the ones i saw at fred meyers on a mongoose


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## Champy (Mar 6, 2013)

*P35*

You can buy new P35s with wood-grain paint.

http://www.velocityusa.com/default.asp?contentID=715


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## thehugheseum (Mar 6, 2013)

those are sweet.........too bad they flatten out in the center of the drop though........those wood painted ones are really interesting.......never saw a wood rim that the wood had a big old knot like that in it!


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## thehugheseum (Mar 6, 2013)

i bought a set of the black ones just now.........im not sure what i will put them on or do with them yet...........hell maybe i will still build a faux old bike......a fauxycle


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## pelletman (Mar 6, 2013)

rustyspoke66 said:


> Just thought I would throw this in the mix. I'm sure there are a fair amount of early wood rimed bikes with natural wood finish but I have seen very few. Most wood rim bikes have painted rims from the factory so why not just buy a nice performance rim like the P-35 and give them a vintage correct paint job. After all we are not talking about original equipment. We just want our bikes to have the correct vintage look and ride nice. Of course if you like the look of wood I think real wood rims are the way to go and as far as putting 90+psi in the tires of a 100 year old bike seems a bit extreme, unless there is some sort of competition going on. Just my preference and two cents. I wouldn't mind seeing what it feels like to ride a antique bike with high pressure tires. Which brings up another question, what tires are being used that take 90psi?




I don't agree with that.  I think at least as many were sold natural wood


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## pelletman (Mar 6, 2013)

Champy said:


> You can buy new P35s with wood-grain paint.
> 
> http://www.velocityusa.com/default.asp?contentID=715





Let's see you try!


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## chitown (Mar 6, 2013)

rustyspoke66 said:


> Most wood rim bikes have painted rims from the factory






pelletman said:


> I don't agree with that.  I think at least as many were sold natural wood




What if you are both right? Maybe there was a time frame (early TOC) where plain was more prevalent and then painted ones came into style (early teens?) and outnumbered the plain ones. Nothing to back that up, just a thought.

and here is a page from a 1918 CCM catalog:

View attachment 87166


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## pelletman (Mar 6, 2013)

That is true.  I like and see mostly pre TOC stuff


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## rustyspoke66 (Mar 6, 2013)

I know for sure I have had at least four different era wood rim bikes and all of them had original painted rims but with close to 90% of the paint gone. starting with My 1895ish Napoleon which had blue and black painted rims, My 1922 Columbia which had green and black and so on. I have also noticed that most bicycle specs when you come across them the rims are offered Painted not natural wood. Basically I think paint was a way to dress the rims up and protect them. I'm not saying they were not offered in natural but in the short time I have been into collecting the earlier bicycles I have found painted rims most of the time. I will compile some actual catalog pages to back up this theory a little better. love that sample chart above!


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## rustyspoke66 (Mar 6, 2013)

Looks like Racycle 1907, Columbia 1900 and many years of Sears bicycles all had painted wood rims for sure. There should be more to add to the list but I guess my point is that it seems like most of the bikes guys are putting the new clincher 700c wood rims on may have came originally with painted wood rims. I guess the important thing is that everyone ends up with what the want and has fun. I know retail is about 99.00 each for the P35 rims but I do not know what they charge for the wood/carbon fiber rims. Plenty of catalogs to look at in this link, I'll try to post some stuff this week as well.
http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?23765-catalog-challenge!&highlight=catalog
http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/album.php?albumid=1085


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## Gary Mc (Mar 7, 2013)

rustyspoke66 said:


> I guess the important thing is that everyone ends up with what the want and has fun. I know retail is about 99.00 each for the P35 rims but I do not know what they charge for the wood/carbon fiber rims.




Ghisallo wood/carbon fiber rims are $195 each.  I just bought a new set of Velocity Blunt 35s (replaced P35s) on ebay for $45 each.  To me if you are going to paint them go with the P35 option.  If you just want the natural wood look, I love the wood/carbon fiber option offered by Ghisallo.  And I completely agree with "important thing is that everyone ends up with what they want and has fun".  My Hartford I just wanted the wood look for fun & to see the look on peoples faces who have never seen wood wheels outside of a book so went Ghisallo wood/carbon fiber option. I got the added carbon so I could run 55-60 lbs pressure in the tires.  On my Stutz, I wanted to paint them to get the look of the bike I wanted so I opted for the Blunt 35's.  To me it's about preference and having fun with it.  

I have old TOC catalogs that show both painted & natural rims.  I'll try to dig them out. One thing I have noticed is predominance of racers had natural wood whereas roadsters had painted.

Here's the Ghisallo's.


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## filmonger (Mar 7, 2013)

*RE: Wooden rims*

First - I would like to say that it was a cool video.... secondly, I would like to say everyone is right to a degree so far. P-35's are cheaper and fit the bill very well, Modern clincher wood rims are great but only can take pressures up 65psi otherwise you are very likely to have the side of your rim splinter. Modern wooden clinchers with metal inserts ( Stutzman ) or Carbon ( Ghisallo ) are designed so that the wooden rims can take higher tire pressures of modern tires.

Now - as far as how vintage wooden rims would have appeared ( Painted, Varnished, Cladded ).... This mainly depended upon costs of the day as well as appearance ( style - trends ) of the day. Wood was used with early rims because they were fairly cheap to make and the materials were easy to obtain. Bicycles produced in the 1890's and early 1900's were very cost conscious as it was all about the bottom line during the boom. Though, Europeans frowned on wooden rims - this changed once they found how versatile they were. 

I think you will find there were quite a few variations on wood rim appearances - but these were mainly due to style - as most wood rims of the day were protected fairly well once varnished , painted or cladded.

I have attached a few pics showing these variations....


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## Iverider (Jan 13, 2014)

Thought I would bump his thread just for fun and to add that anyone wondering how a velocity blunt 35 stacks up to a singletube 28" rim they are nearly identical in profile save for a very narrow flat spot that runs the radius of the blunt and the drilling pattern on the blunt lies more along the equator of the rim (I there is such a thing). They are durn near if not exactly the same diameter. The blunt is a 29er rim (700c size or 622mm bsd)


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