New AF Rayspeed tubeless rims
Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 10:20 pm
At the LCGB pre-AGM drinking hole yesterday, the charming Jeff from Scarborough (58) had two tubeless rims that will shortly be available from AFR. Unfortunately, I did not have a camera, so I will have to describe them with words.
The rim is a one-piece with a lot of meat around the studs, apparently machined from billet ali. The "scallops" in the rim are still there, but slightly eliptical, in a stylish way. Now I'm no expert in tubeless rims, but those around me commented that the beading inside the rim was better than most of those currently on the market, and there was a decent recess in the middle to aide the fitting of the tyres.
Special domed 12mm nuts, plain washers and spring washers are required in order to sit into the machined recess for each stud. The nuts we saw were not nyloc.
The most innovative feature is the valve, which is screwed into a tapped hole in the rim. Whilst these pre-production versions had issues with the angle of the valve (a matter that could easily be improved prior to production), these valves were clearly an improvement over the bolt-in versions that have attracted criticism elsewhere. They certainly should not clash with the fork-link pivot, like some tubeless valves do.
The finish was silver or matt black powder coat, with a polished version arriving in due course. Delivery is expected next month, with a wide version available before the summer. In case you are wondering, these rims are similar to the Vespa version that has been around for a while from SIP.
I am very taken with these and at £45-50 a wheel, they seem like good value.
The rim is a one-piece with a lot of meat around the studs, apparently machined from billet ali. The "scallops" in the rim are still there, but slightly eliptical, in a stylish way. Now I'm no expert in tubeless rims, but those around me commented that the beading inside the rim was better than most of those currently on the market, and there was a decent recess in the middle to aide the fitting of the tyres.
Special domed 12mm nuts, plain washers and spring washers are required in order to sit into the machined recess for each stud. The nuts we saw were not nyloc.
The most innovative feature is the valve, which is screwed into a tapped hole in the rim. Whilst these pre-production versions had issues with the angle of the valve (a matter that could easily be improved prior to production), these valves were clearly an improvement over the bolt-in versions that have attracted criticism elsewhere. They certainly should not clash with the fork-link pivot, like some tubeless valves do.
The finish was silver or matt black powder coat, with a polished version arriving in due course. Delivery is expected next month, with a wide version available before the summer. In case you are wondering, these rims are similar to the Vespa version that has been around for a while from SIP.
I am very taken with these and at £45-50 a wheel, they seem like good value.