eBay Finds: Lightweight Fernweg/Meilenstein Weiss Edition clincher wheels

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These Lightweight Meilenstein/Fernweg Weiss Edition full-carbon wheels – and that includes the spokes and hubs – will be a much-sought-after upgrade to any racer's dream machine. A number of Tour de France winners have been choosing Lightweight wheels since the mid-1990s, including last year's Tour winner, Egan Bernal (Team Ineos).

Take a closer look at the wheels on eBay here

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This Weiss – white – edition of the German company's wheels, featuring those eye-catching spokes and hubs, makes them look even more premium than they are, which is no mean feat. We're just a little confused, however, by the fact that the pictures show a Fernweg front-wheel rim with a Meilenstein hub, while the rear wheel seems to have a Fernweg hub, and what at least looks to be a Fernweg rim, so you may want to ask the question of the UK-based seller, who says they happily welcome queries.

Lightweight wheels have been some of the most-sought-after wheels for almost 25 years, with various models seeing the light of day during that time.

In the early 1990s, Rudolf Dierl and Heinz Obermayer developed a carbon wheel that included carbon spokes, and in 1996 could count wins on their wheels that included Johan Museeuw's road race world title and Bjarne Riis's Tour de France victory, as well as Rolf Sørensen's silver medal at the Olympic Games road race in Atlanta.

The following year – with the Lightweight name having been applied to the Germans' fledgling wheel company – Jan Ullrich used Lightweight wheels to win the Tour de France, with the new name covered over with that of his team's wheel sponsor's name, according to Lightweight.

No doubt that's happened a few times since, too, such is Lightweight's reputation, although last year Team Ineos bought a number of pairs of Lightweight wheels for their climbers to use during the 2019 Tour de France.

The British WorldTour team rides on Shimano wheels for the rest of the year, but are believed to have bought 16 pairs of Lightweight's Meilenstein Obermayer wheels, which would have a combined retail value of around £80,000 (US$100,000).

Of course, the team took first and second place at the Tour courtesy of Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas, which seems appropriate given the wheels' reputation, and which meant it was money well spent.

The seemingly somewhat reluctant seller is asking £3,300 (US$4,200) for this rather special clincher wheelset, which features a 60mm rim depth on the front wheel and 80mm at the rear, with an 11-speed Shimano- (and SRAM-) compatible hub.

We're constantly on the lookout for unique and rare cycling relics on eBay. If you have any suggestions or leads, please send them to cyclingnews@cyclingnews.com with 'eBay Finds' in the subject line.