Ha Braden; top ride! Like it a lot!
I've only given the Cortechs a preliminary spin so far. Realizing that these wheels are still in the nascent or test phase, here's what I found:
Pre riding: On spinning the wheels when mounted on an 8mm axle, there is a slight wobble at the wheel edges that suggests that the hub is not horizontally flush with the riding surface. In addition, the wheel colour (translucent white) is not entirely constant from wheel to wheel. This latter is a purely cosmetic defect and in no way hinders performance. In other words, ride 'em once and no one gives a damn. The white colour is also very recogniseable, as Carsten demonstrates on the Pavel forum, so it's a good thing!
The former fluctuation can be sorted when the wheels go into manufacture proper. Every manufacturer seems to have initial difficulties in the area eg: Abec 11 with the Big Zigs, Seismic with the Speed Vents; so it's to be expected.
Riding: The board is set up with the 85a up front and 75a in the rear.
I had expected the 75a to be too soft, yet would have to agree with the initial review that says that these wheels feel harder than their durometer suggests. Don't quite know why this is; soft is soft surely? Anyway, it works. The 75a feels more like a typical 78 or 80a.
Up front the 85a (large core) rode a little hard. As many will know, this is mainly due to riding a stiff board and Radikal. Not much give in the bushings there, then. In theory the 75a core on the 85a wheel should act as a dampener; that is to say that the axle can move around in the softer formula whilst the harder formula remains attached to terra firma. In other words, more traction especially where the riding surface is les than perfect. It might also allow a harder duro to be run (with its assumed reduced rolling resistance), but with the traction of a softer duro. One for Ramon there.
Since writing the above paragraph, I have been in communication with Tim Dawe and discovered that my faux-science assumption is completely wrong. The main section of the wheel is infact 75D (rather than 'A' hardness scale). This is a much harder durometer scale and therefore helps to shed light on why the wheels do indeed feel harder than their 'A' durometer suggests.
The Pre-riding concerns had no real world affect on the wheel's performance. These wheels feel hard, fast and have plenty of traction. Haggy has drawn up some comparative figures to suggest that Cortechs are at least similar in performance to the major players and I wouldn't doubt that he's right. It'll be interesting to see how these wheels wear and whether the initial hard feeling is due to the new wheel 'skin.'
Either way, it's great to see a new player in the slalom wheel market that is redefining the pre-conceived ideas about durometer technology. Nice one Tim.
And thanks for the wheels, Braden!
Now, when are we going to see the 80a/75d 68mm wheel?
Let's get a full set of race duros going!
Sam
