Schmolke might be a brand most associated with the weight conscious obsessed among us, but if you’re riding a carbon bar on your road bike, you may have Stefan Schmolke to thank for that. Supposedly the first to build a carbon road handlebar, Schmolke has usually been ahead of the times when it comes to carbon fiber wizardry. News of their latest handiwork comes to us via Fair Wheel Bikes and comes to us in the form of some very light carbon rims. And while pricing for carbon fiber rims to be called affordable is all relative, the Schmolke SL and TLO rims are probably less than you’d expect…
Following in the footsteps of other Schmolke products, the rims are made in Germany and feature an improved resin that should make the rims more heat resistant. The claimed heat resistance (Tg) number of the rims is now listed at 230ºc – which is the glass transition point or where the resin would begin to break down. The actual Tg numbers of most rims are hard to find, but 446ºf is fairly high.
Available in clincher or tubular models, the rims be available in 30 and 45mm tubulars, but only 45mm deep clinchers. Rim widths are a respectable 25.4mm for the 30mm tubulars and 26mm for the 45mm rims. The chart above shows the weights for the SL (Superlight) at the top and TLO (The Lightest One) at the bottom, with the TLO rims carrying a $100 premium. Weight limits are listed at 100kg (220 lb) for the 30mm tubulars, and 110kg (242lb) for the 45mm clincher and tubulars. Look for the new rims to pop up for sale on Fair Wheel’s website next month.
