Flo Cycling Wheels (Page 22)

Thanks so much for your reply! I think it means a lot when the owner of a company is on the forums taking the time to answer questions about his products personally.

One question: I am currently training at about 195-200lbs would like to race around 185 so what is your recommended cutof for the clydesdale build?

thanks again,
Matt 

Let me know if you have any additional question,

All the best,

If my calculations are correct, the estimated weight for as set of Flo 90's (2,090 grams) is 331 grams more than Zipp FC 808's (1,759 grams) - or 11.676 oz (.7297 lbs).

Assuming $800 for a set of Flo's vs. $2,949.99 for a set of Zipps from Nytro.com - that's $184.13 per oz or $6.49 per gram for the weight savings.

I'd have to be a lot faster in the Zipps to make that justification - bring on the Flo's!

Of course - if my math is incorrect, please let me know.

twomarks

You raise a really good point. I think part of the reluctance to give up is that it is kinda nice that the owner posts here and therefore seems more accessable. Plus this is a forum where everyone is pleasant so it is hard to be too hard on someone who posts to apologize for something. Anyway, imagine if you had placed an advance order for something and hadn't received that product for a year? I think you would be more than ticked off!

Beyond this though, I am still amazed that people get this excited about an inknown product when there are others for a similar pricepoint that are readily available (for instance, I bought a 101/82 set of carbon Planet X wheels a couple of years ago for ~$650). I'm curious why folks seem to think the flo wheels are "better" somehow?

louskie,

Are the Flo's torroidal (sp?) in shape like the firecrests?  Don't know if that's the case or not, but if so, that may be a cause for excitement.

twomarks

Hi twomarks- I have no idea if the flo's are torroidal...Canadian Flo will likely chime in and answer your question though on whether they are torroidal or not.. My point was more that people are excited about the flo's, which don't yet exist, versus some wheels that are pretty darn nice that do. It's just puzzled me all this time.

Totally understand,

Cheers,

twomarks

Yes, the Flos are toroidal, and wide at that.  In fact, to me they look so similar to the Firecrest shape that I'm not sure how they're getting away with it.  The devil is in the details when it comes to aero, but there's a good chance that the Flo wheels will be very competitive with the Zipps and will significantly outperform a simple v-shape wheel like the Planet Xs.

Because they didn't copy the Firecrest shape.  They can demonstrate how they arrived at it using CFD models. 

well, I'm not an IP attorney, but I assume that will protect them...

Don't think so.  If the shape is patented, I'm pretty sure coming up with it independently doesn't mean anything.

At this point, there is nothing new under the sun in aero wheels.........just saying.

I have only good words for start up companies who make a better market place for the consumers.

Although if I were one of the proprietors of Flo.  I would just stay under the radar and just not say anything.  People wants good products and they want it now.  All the threads about their wheels and "future release" is in my opinion, just hurting them.  I would rather be on the down low and surprise everyone with a new and cheaper alternative to what is accepted as the norm.  That will drum up less negative publicity.  For all we know (and other unforseen circumstances), the wheels won't be released this year.

I think ST is smart and in some way helping Flo when it's head honcho decided to block all threads regarding Flo.

Nobody is bashing them...at least I don't think.  I for one actually hope they succeed and change the pricing of race wheels in general for the future.

I just don't understand why people are (currently) so amped to buy brand new race wheels (which have yet to hit the market, nor set firm pricing) from a new start up company when they can spend the exact same amount of money to buy a used set from a more established and experienced company from who's expired design patent FLO is using.

IMHO...the real excitement will come 3-5 years from FLO's release.  Because by then, if FLO proves to be a quality product and business, other companies will have to react with more aggressive pricing.  And by then, you'll start to see used FLO's on ebay that will likely sell for $400-500 per set.

The Zipp/Hed toroidal patent has expired. Something about the hybrid toroidal shape expiring in a few years. I think flo is very much safe with their design.

But they aren't using the expired torriodal patent.  They said in their blog that was the starting point, but it evolved into something far far more like the Firecrest shape.  So you aren't getting equivelent (as in aero) wheels to the torroidal.  These will be the wide Torriodal (Firecrest) shape like.

Our wheels have a wide toroidal shape.  I think the reason people are excited is because we are... to my knowledge... the first company to bring wheels to the market that are both affordable and have about a years worth of R&D behind their shape.  

There are several ways to bring wheels to market...

1.  There are plenty of factories over seas that have an inventory of "pre-designed" wheels.  Many companies visit a factory, choose a pre-designed wheel, and put their sticker on it.  In a way it's like shopping for a car, you have a few options to choose, you get the color right and you place the order.  

2.  The other method is to design everything from scratch.  We didn't want to use a "pre-designed" wheel.  We wanted to design the most aerodynamic rims we could from scratch.  It takes time, money and as you can imagine is much harder than pulling something pre-built off of a shelf.  Once the design is right you factory has to develop the proper processes and procedures to produce the new product effectively so that the product you ship your customers is of high quality and properly functioning.

I'm not knocking the companies that choose method number 1.  In fact, some days I wonder why we didn't do it ourselves.  It would have removed a lot of the hassle and stress we have gone through over the last 2 years.  However, you have to do what you believe in.  We have a vision... and that vision is that you can merge affordability, leading edge aerodynamics and high quality into the same product.  

All the best,     

awesome! again thanks!

Came back to say this.  You're not going to find a set of Firecrest wheels for $800.  Not for a LONG time.  Yes, you may be able to find a set of older 404s if you look long enough.

This is the reason I'm eager to see these in production.  For less than 1/3 the cost, I can get a set of wheels, that while slightly heavier, are likely to perform just as well or very near.

I think there is some confusion about our actions because of the comments made by an admin over at ST.  The admin stated that we have made continued promises that have been broken.  This simply isn't true.  There haven't been broken promises.  We have been nothing but open and honest throughout our entire journey and the facts are all documented on our blog, website and social media sites.  The problem is people hear a thing or two here and there and then come to conclusions without actually reading the facts.  

To be honest, that is human nature and it's to be expected.  I guess the point I am trying to make is the following.  We were expected to come to market about 9 months ago.  We had all of our factories in line, the design was complete, our website was ready to go and... then our carbon fiber factory admitted they couldn't do what they promised they could.  Could we have come to market with a poor quality product?  Yes, we certainly could have.  But we felt that was irresponsible and disrespectful to the people who were going to give us their hard earned money.  

Our choice was to take the hit, loose a ton of money, and find a factory that could deliver a high quality product to our customers.  

Not everyone is going to agree with our decision and that is fine, but we couldn't come to grips with selling poor quality products.  We are confident that when our products finally do come to market, the customers who buy them will be very happy we kept quality in mind.  

Regarding all of the "threads" about our wheels.  When we started FLO I had been a member of ST for at least 2 or 3 years.  We originated some posts asking questions about starting the company and then about our progress.  I did this similar to the same way you would ask your friends for advice before taking a huge leap of faith to start a business.  

I'll admit that a transition took place on the forum.  I went from being a general forum user to a business owner and there was an adjustment period.  The admins at ST asked me not to originate any new threads about FLO or link to any FLO related material and I have followed their request for the last year or so.  

All of the new FLO threads  are generated by other people.  What others choose to say our post about our company is out of my control.  All I can do is respond accordingly.  Some may feel that I should say nothing, but we think it is better to talk to our potential customers, help answer questions, and keep the rumors as close to the truth as humanly possible.  

I don't expect everyone to agree with our choices, but I think it is fair to let you know why we make them. 

All the best,