Best of the Test: Lightweight OBERMAYER EVO

We started spring on a high note courtesy of the tech experts at German cycling media outlet Tour. Conducting a head-to-head test of carbon-spoke road bike wheels, they pitted our top-of-the-line OBERMAYER EVO against seven other competing sets from brands like Cadex, Mavic, Hunt, and others. Testing for aerodynamics, weight, stiffness, acceleration, and stability, they put each pair through their paces in the state-of-the-art Tour facility.

When the figurative dust settled and the final numbers were crunched, it was our OBERMAYER EVO wheelset that came out on top, earning particularly high accolades for rigidity, our 5-year warranty policy, and crash replacement options.

Lightweight Riders Rock Unbound

The next two big moments for Lightweight came from the same event—the summer’s biggest gravel race—Unbound in Emporia, Kansas. Held each June on the unforgiving g-roads that crisscross the Flint Hills, Unbound has long been notorious for its unpredictable conditions and extreme difficulty. And this year certainly didn’t disappoint, with heavy rain leading up to the race resulting in lengthy sections of what attendees described as “peanut-butter mud”.

While these nearly unrideable segments may have slowed forward momentum, they couldn’t stop Lightweight athletes Ulrich Bartholmoes or Elliot Phillips. Ulrich, a.k.a. Uba, is a German ultra-cyclist best known for his multiple multi-day victories in events like the Tour Divide, Across Andes, and Transiberica, so it’s no surprise that he would take on the biggest Unbound route on offer: the 568KM Ubound XL, earning a third-place finish for his efforts by completing the course in an impressive 25 hours, 10 seconds.

UK-based rider Elliot Phillips has earned a reputation for both his electric personality as well as his speed on the saddle, applying the latter to Unbound’s 100-mile course—an experience he detailed in our interview with him following the race. Pushing the tempo with each pedal stroke, Phillips’ ride came down to a final sprint, in which he narrowly missed the top podium spot for an impressive second-place finish.

Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast with Jonas Deichmann

The next highlight on the Lightweight calendar came from yet another of our impressive athletes, but this accomplishment wasn’t exactly about going fast, but far. World-record setter and professional adventurer Jonas Deichmann spent the better part of 2023 tackling one of his most ambitious challenges to date: a coast-to-coast-to-coast crossing of the United States, first by bike, then on foot.

^{Photo by Markus Weinberg}

Starting in New York City at the beginning of July, Jonas cycled some 5,439KM across the continent to Los Angeles, prioritizing gravel roads whenever possible to ensure that he had plenty of nice scenery to enjoy along the way. Once in L.A., Deichmann swapped his Lightweight wheels for some lace-up trainers and ran a further 5,400KM back to NYC. We caught up with Jonas during his journey, and you can read our interview here.

Welcoming tune to the Growing Lightweight Family

The final big moment from 2023 came courtesy of our parent company, carbovation gmbh, who expanded their family of brands by welcoming German precision-parts manufacturers tune into the fold. Specializing in ultra-light, high-performance cycling components, tune was founded by Uli Fahl in 1989 in the Black Forest and have been innovating the bike industry ever since.

We’re proud to welcome tune to carbovation and look forward to working alongside the brand in the year—and years—to come.

While we eagerly anticipate the adventures that 2024 is sure to have in store, we’d like to thank you for sharing these past twelve months with Lightweight and can’t wait to roll into the new year together. Thanks for riding with us.