Test: These 1.200 gram wheels named Leeze CT 38 Disc don't have to remain a dream. Leeze from Münsterland offers them at a price that arouses curiosity. Without wanting to anticipate: anyone who tries them will not be disappointed.
In the cycling world, nobody disputes that light material has advantages. Uphill you benefit from a reduction in system weight of around 4 watts per kilo saved; lighter wheels have a positive effect on handling. In cyclocross there is also a very special riding situation: you have to get off your bike and pick it up, carry it and jump, run and climb stairs with it on your shoulder. And here at the latest, a few hundred grams are more or less clearly noticeable.
Leeze CT 38 Disc - nothing saves weight as effectively as light wheels
The easiest way to get rid of the extra pounds is on the wheels; So before you weigh up handlebars and stems or weigh up the pros and cons of a mono chainring, you should try it here. Our current test bike is a good example: The wheelset of the Merida Cyclo Cross 5000 weighs 1.840 grams (without tires, brake discs, cassette and thru axles), which is a full 580 grams more than the wheelset that this test is about - the Leeze CT 38 disk
"Leeze" is the Münsterland word for a bicycle and doesn't sound particularly sporty at first. If you read the word on a rim, you should take a closer look, because then there is a super-light wheel set made of carbon or aluminum behind it, made by the manufacturer of the same name from Havixbeck west of Münster. Frank Decker and Florian Otterpohl founded the company when they were still students, but what started out as more of a hobby has long since taken on a life of its own.
Today the company offers a comprehensive portfolio from the super-light aluminum all-rounder to the 60 mm deep carbon aero wheelset. Leeze's pride and joy is an automatic centering device from Holland Mechanics, which is only available in this form a few times in the world. With high and absolutely even spoke tension, the machine ensures that the wheels are stiff and run smoothly; Even experienced wheel builders have to take their hat off to its precision - and it's fast on top of that, which perhaps also explains the attractive prices that Leeze is able to charge for its products.
The Leeze CT 1.199 Disc Tubular costs 38 euros, which is extremely low for a wheelset weighing only 1.260 grams - the relevant providers in this weight class are asking for 50 to 100% more. The sample set that Leeze provided us weighs exactly the 1.260 grams specified by the manufacturer; we determine 570 grams for the front wheel and 690 grams for the rear wheel. Apparently, attention is paid to stability; the front wheel hub, for example, has a large center section, as befits a disc hub. Steel rails on the aluminum freewheel with six pawls ensure that the sprockets do not dig in. The 24 spokes are crossed twice; radial lacing is not allowed with disc brakes.
The 38 mm deep carbon rims are perfectly tailored to cross-country use. They measure 27mm at the widest point and still 25mm at the rim well; there is a lot of adhesive surface available for the connection of tire and rim. The pronounced longitudinal groove in the rim base ensures that conventionally sewn tubular tires slide into the correct position almost by themselves; fitting the tires on the Leeze CT 38 Disc is comparatively easy.
Leeze CT 38 Disc - compatible for all axle standards
As is common today, the wheelset can be adapted to various axle standards; it fits the modern Merida cross bike with 100×15 or 142×12 thru-axles. And hey presto, the bike weighs only 8,8 kg, rather than 8,2 kg. The difference is even more dramatic on our two-year-old aluminum Focus Mares: swapping the original wheelset for the Leezen lightens the bike by a whopping 1.000 grams.
In the case of conventional clincher wheels in particular, the switch to carbon tubular tire rims is also a real benefit in terms of driving dynamics. Compared to folding tires on narrow rims, glued tires allow extremely low air pressure; since the Leeze carbon rims are so wide, the tires have little tendency to buckle when cornering sharply. The somewhat spongy feeling of our tires at 1,7 bar belied the rigidity of the wheels on the first test drive; with higher pressure, one can then happily state that hard accelerations such as abrupt changes of direction leave the Leeze CT 38 Disc completely unimpressed. Even when braking, the wheels do not warp in any way. One reason for this stability is the intelligent choice of spokes: the combination of the super-light Sapim CX-Ray spokes and the more stable CX-Sprint on the drive side takes into account the different loads on the wheel sides.
The filigree flat spokes together with the wide rims indicate that the Leeze wheels should also work well aerodynamically. In view of the speeds achieved when crossing, however, this aspect is negligible.
Leeze CT 38 Disc – weak points? Actually none!
The tires buffer, the six-pawl freewheel purrs, leaves and chunks of mud fly around our ears. Pure cyclocross feeling paired with an agile, dynamic wheel set - what could be nicer in winter? It's difficult to find a hair in the soup, but we even struck gold with the Leeze CT 38 Disc: The Centerlock brake discs sit fairly tightly on the teeth, which requires a little more effort when disassembling. After all, you don't have to do this step very often. If you are looking for a very well-functioning, extremely light and comparatively inexpensive wheel set for off-road use, you should definitely go for it.
