WHEELS: Lightweight Obermayer III

Lightweight Obermayer III

A great wheel made even better: Lightweight “Obermayer”. The Lightweight “Obermayer” is a lighter variant of our proven spoked wheelset. “Obermayer” wheels are built around extralight hubs by TUNE and Lightweight and feature lighter rims, as well.

The Lightweight “Obermayer” is a direct descendant of the Lightweight “L’Alpe d’Huez”. We developed the latter upon request from a leading pro team especially for the grueling mountain time trial in the 2004 Tour de France. Most of the innovations developed for this highly specialized wheelset have been incorporated into the new “Obermayer” wheels, resulting in considerable advantages to you: You get an even lighter race ready wheelset with unsurpassed stiffness. In fact, the “Obermayers” are just as stiff as our regular wheelset with the same spoke count, taking a top spot among lightweight wheelsets.

Racing performance without compromises:
In contrast with the uphill-only “L’Alpe d’Huez” wheelset, “Obermayer” wheels can be used in any road racing event both up- and downhill. The thickness of the carbon layers and the heat protection in the rims brake tracks have been designed accordingly. Even thought the lightest Obermayer front wheel only has 12 spokes, it tracks as well as any wheel from Lightweight – we know about the importance of stiff wheels for a safe ride! Robust fiber spokes, showing almost no elasticity, ensure a stiff wheel. We recommend the “Obermayer” wheelset for riders up to 176 lbs (80 kg). 16- and 20-spoke front wheels are available as well.

In contrast with the uphill-only “L’Alpe d’Huez” wheelset, “Obermayer” wheels can be used in any road racing event both up- and downhill. The thickness of the carbon layers and the heat protection in the rims brake tracks have been designed accordingly. However, the carbon lay-up has been redesigned to lower the weight even more compared to our proven standard wheelset. Less weight means that you arrive earlier – more time to celebrate your victory afterwards! This new and improved lay-up is a direct result of the development work we did for the specialized Lightweight “L’Alpe d’Huez” set.

The rear wheel revolves around the super light “Mag 160” hub by TUNE. This high performance hub is built using a carbon fiber axle, which is both stiff and light, and it is one of the world’s lightest hubs. The front wheel contains our own super light bearings which have proven successful in all our wheels. To reduce drag special high-precision bearings are used. And as fits what may be the world’s best wheelset we only use specially formulated grease to reduce drag even more.

While even our 12-spoke wheels are plenty stiff, Obermayer front wheels can be ordered with 12, 16 or 20 spokes depending on rider weight and intended use. All rear wheels come with 20 spokes. There are no spoke nipples or other fixtures which could loosen or fail – no need to true your wheels ever again!

Integrated wheel magnet and microchip:
to give an even greater advantage, extremely light Samarium-Cobalt-magnets have been laminated into the rim. At only .8 g there is nothing to disturb the wheel’s perfect roundness. In addition, integrated magnets are aerodynamically superior to ordinary wheel magnets, which are bolted to a spoke and create additional turbulences.

Even lighter is the microchip laminated into the rim: A mere .2 g light, but it stores all relevant production data, giving your wheel something equivalent to their individual fingerprint. This allows us to ensure identification of the wheels, perfect product support, and easier repairs in case of a crash.

Weights and properties 28” / 700C:

front wheel 28 " spoke count : 12 / 16 / 20
rear wheel 28 " spoke count : 20
weights per set (gr.): 960 / 975 / 990 g max. per wheelset
lacing patter: 1x
spokes: lens shaped
rim dimensions: 53/19,5
tires: tubular
UCI-approved: yes

Weights and properties 26” / 650C:

front wheel 26 " spoke count : 12 / 16 / 20
rear wheel 26 " spoke count : 20
weights per set (gr.): 970 / 985 / 1000 g max. per wheelset
lacing patter: 1x
spokes: lens shaped
rim dimensions: 53/19,5
tires: tubular tubular
UCI-approved: yes