BERD wheels: are polymer rope spokes the next big thing or marketing hype?

[cool_hand]

Mate of mine in the US spunked out over £1,800 on a set of BERD wheels:
https://berdspokes.com/collections/...x-carbon-gravel-wheels?variant=36372536557732
Not sure what hubs he went with?
The spokes are £7 a pop.
Has anyone owned/tried them, are they worth the $$$?

 

[T4tomo]

He should have gone to Zed, his carbon - titanium spokes are lighter and cheaper..
https://zedbikewheels.com/product/sl-ultra-disc-aero-wide-cs-35-carbon-titanium-spokes/

 

[Jody]

Polymer spokes remind me of the old Tioga disk drive from back in the day. That used Kevlar to suspend the wheel.

 

[matticus]

Mate of mine in the US spunked out over £1,800 on a set of BERD wheels:
https://berdspokes.com/collections/...x-carbon-gravel-wheels?variant=36372536557732
Not sure what hubs he went with?
The spokes are £7 a pop.
Has anyone owned/tried them, are they worth the $$$?

I've just written to them for a free test pair, to be reviewed on CycleChat.

<waits>

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Berd spokes provide 200% better vibration damping than metal spokes, giving you speed over rough terrain and will not leave you fatigued after a long gravel ride.

Damn, it’s been the spokes fatiguing me all this time…

 

[newfhouse]

How do rope spokes work then? Surely spokes carry a (cyclic) compression load. I mean, the hubs don’t hang from the rims, do they?

 

[cool_hand]

He should have gone to Zed, his carbon - titanium spokes are lighter and cheaper..
https://zedbikewheels.com/product/sl-ultra-disc-aero-wide-cs-35-carbon-titanium-spokes/

LOL. I will let him know : )

 

[Jody]

How do rope spokes work then? Surely spokes carry a (cyclic) compression load. I mean, the hubs don’t hang from the rims, do they?

Didn't Yellow Saddle once do a lengthy post about that?

 

[PK99]

How do rope spokes work then? Surely spokes carry a (cyclic) compression load. I mean, the hubs don’t hang from the rims, do they?

Naughty boy!

 

[Ming the Merciless]

How do rope spokes work then? Surely spokes carry a (cyclic) compression load. I mean, the hubs don’t hang from the rims, do they?

Build a wheel and you’ll see that a hub will quite happily hang from spokes at top of rim 🍻

 

[PK99]

Didn't Yellow Saddle once do a lengthy post about that?

Yes.
And he was wrong.

 

[andrew_s]

Mate of mine in the US spunked out over £1,800 on a set of BERD wheels:

Has he considered the aerodynamics?

 

[cool_hand]

Has he considered the aerodynamics?

Clearly not.

 

[davidphilips]

My own view on really expensive items is the law of diminishing returns, even if they are great unless you are a professional cyclist then apart from the bling factor then not really wort the expense to the club or leisure cyclist.
Know a few club cyclists that have bought wheels with carbon spokes, low spoke count and thought they where really great at first but would never buy them again as they found they where neither long lasting or dependable. Can not say about the polymer spokes but know i would avoid them even if they where the same price as steel spokes.
Bit of topic buy anyone know if yellow saddle is still on Cycle Chat, not seen any posts from him in a long time?