Bespoke Blog

above: Meilenstein 24E in action at the Tour, photo credit: Tim de Waele via Lightweight

Bespoke and Lightweight go back a long way. About as far as it's possible to go, in fact... We were the original UK distributors for their ultralight carbon wheelsets 14+ years ago.

Fortunately the days have gone where if we wanted the best we had to import it ourselves, and we're now free to concentrate on our core passion of bike fitting. But Lightweight have always remained a central part of our offering, and have a special place in our hearts.

With that in mind, it was wonderful to see Lightweight wheels featuring heavily in this year's Tour de France, notably with the riders of Team Ineos (nee Sky). It's not Lightweight's first appearance there by any means - Pros have long appreciated their performance and managed to sneak the odd set in past their 'official' wheel sponsors. We've seen unbranded (but easily identifiable) Lightweight wheels in the peloton being ridden by the likes of Armstrong and Ulrich in their epic mountain clashes - the riders were buying the wheels themselves.

But this year saw Team Ineos officially making extensive use of the Meilenstein wheels for climbing stages - yes they may have other sponsor obligations, but this is a team that's obsessed with finding every last technical advantage.

The fact that Ineos, with their famously deep pockets giving them unlimited choice, chose to purchase Lightweight wheels speaks volumes for their quality and performance. And yes, that's purchase - they weren't gifted these as a publicity stunt, they bought them from Lightweight.

As the pioneers of "marginal gains" Team Ineos leave nothing to chance, and aren't swayed by hype or superficial trends. Everything they use is tested, then tested again, tested some more and then chosen for a very specific reason.

We checked with Lightweight, and found that Team Ineos have been using the Meilenstein in both clincher and tubular form. Clincher for training, and tubs for the race itself - specifically the wider Meilenstein 24 in 20/20 spoke form. With its 24mm internal rim width this latest version of their climbing/all-rounder wheelset adds extra volume for superior ride quality and low rolling resistance.

below: stealthy Lightweights are no strangers to the Pro peloton - here the Tinkoff team sneak some into their Tour roster