stabybrian Posted September 20, 2017 Share Those who have ridden Cape Epic....what are riders using for wheels? Aluminum or carbon? What do you see the most of? I hear it is really rocky over there. Just curious....racing in 2018. BrianCalifornia, USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Long Wheel Base Posted September 21, 2017 Share Ping V12man, He can offer some good advice on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcL Posted September 21, 2017 Share Those who have ridden Cape Epic....what are riders using for wheels? Aluminum or carbon? What do you see the most of? I hear it is really rocky over there. Just curious....racing in 2018. BrianCalifornia, USAHiI finished the 2016 Epic on Carbon (Syncros) and will be again ride in 2018 on Carbon. No issues with good carbon wheels. But as they say, the best wheels are the wheels you have.... Top Tip - Tyres are way more important than wheels! Edited September 21, 2017 by MarcL Aaron_B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringbean Posted September 21, 2017 Share Lots of carbon wheels around epic,no problem.Your tire choice is more important than your wheel choice and everyone here will give you opinion on what worked for them for epic.Whichever tire brand you use make sure it has some kind of protection ( snakeskin,protection,grid,every manufacturer has their own label)Don't go for any flyweight,lightweight stuff.SB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron_B Posted September 21, 2017 Share Some good points. Carbon wheels are fine - no issues. it comes down to tyre (tire) choice and making sure your sealant is topped up after every stage. Book a service package - it's a must. I've used Vittoria Barzo 2.25 29er rubber in both Epics I've participated in - no issues. MarcL and Suidwes Boytjie 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwan Kemp Posted September 21, 2017 Share Those who have ridden Cape Epic....what are riders using for wheels? Aluminum or carbon? What do you see the most of? I hear it is really rocky over there. Just curious....racing in 2018. BrianCalifornia, USA Hi Brian, Welcome to Bike Hub. As others have said carbon should not be any more problematic than alu. Just make sure you dial your tyre pressure pre-Epic (riding some local trails before the event kicks off will help) and don't skimp on sidewall protection. In the early days of the Cape Epic many a race was lost due o punctures and sidewall cuts. The riders have learned by now to opt for tyres with good sidewall protection. Tubeless is another good point. Not sure with this past year's tech support, but when SRAM was doing tech support at the water points and neutral tech zone at the finish they always had spare wheels for riders who had issues on stage in order for them to make it to the finish. Vaalhaai 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V12man Posted September 26, 2017 Share Ping V12man, He can offer some good advice on this.I have run epics on both carbon and alloy rims - personally I like the carbon better because it's more "accurate" The choice is simple: 1 - Ride carbon and have the risk of a broke wheel and potentially running for a bit/buying a wheel at a waterpoint2 - Ride Alloy and have a softer ride, and the possibility of riding/straightening a buckled/dinged wheel- but also (imho) a greater chance of a pancaked wheel. I suppose the real choice is ultralight wheels vs reliable ones - go for reliable every time.... and maintainable - esoteric wheels/hubs might not easily have spares available amongst the serviceing agents - rather ride something fairly common where you can get spares locally. Six and half really - the key thing is mostly tire choice - I have moved away from ultra light XC type tires to slightly heavier pattern/agressive tires - this I feel works for me - and I am pretty happy with my current combo of Schwalbe Rocket Ron on the rear and Knobby Nic's on the front (Note - I am a lightweight) My next epic will be on carbon wheel again - same as my current set from xmcarbonspeed.com - hope hubs and 30mm rims with no inner spoke holes - thus no tape to fail - tire pressure 1.5 bar front and rear and a simple rule - don't ride the tire flat/soft - ever The other note on my bike - I run dual piston brakes - SRAM RSC works for me - running Castrol SRF fluid - we (team mate and I) tend to make up places on downhills and tech sections - I don't trust brakes that pump up when they get hot.... Gearing wise - my bike has 1 x 12 X01 Eagle gripshift on it - 34 chainring - this year was my first Epic with 1x on - pretty happy with it. Epic is mostly about managing your head - stay out of the hype as far as possible, ride your own race, and don't make mistakes - the race is unforgiving of mistakes - eating/drinking and falling..... . Mopkop, Captain Fastbastard Mayhem, gummibear and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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