Open mold wide profile carbon wheels

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tharmor
Posts: 423
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2010 6:20 am

by tharmor

I didn't get the impression from OP's post that he was labeling himself as a beginner rider, rather a beginner to the Chinese carbon clincher wheel game.

I've been doing a bunch of reading on this topic myself, and I've concluded that Farsports' reputation on this forum is tough to beat. Kyle Fu is a member of this board and is completely reachable with any questions/concerns.

Having said that, in the new aero shape market, I don't see a lot of aero shapes coming out of Farsports that would actually compare to a Firecrest or Bontrager D3 shape (or anything wider than 27mm). I could be wrong, but I haven't seen those yet from Farsports.

Lastly, with Farsports you will be able to pick from a variety of hubs and pair them with Sapim spokes. This is huge. Every other Chinese wheel outfit will sell you the CN aero spokes. I'm sure they're decent, but they're not Sapim.

Foil30
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Feb 09, 2014 7:39 pm

by Foil30

kulivontot wrote:They had a v shaped 50mm pair with 1150g weight. With sub 350g rims that's certainly possible.

on their site it's u shaped 20.5 but anyway i ended up picking up a new set of vision tc50 50mm from ebay for $899.. I don't like the red and white decals plus 1500g of weight is not very attractive but it I figured $200 more for a good set of wheels is money well spent. Farsports is still not out of my head though, maybe next year I'll pick up a set of 38mm that people are talking about in another thread.

by Weenie


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kulivontot
Posts: 1163
Joined: Sun May 16, 2010 7:28 pm

by kulivontot

Yeah... They got a new 23mm u shaped tubular at 1230g, the one you were referring to is the old model. They haven't put out many wide tubular models

davymc
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Feb 18, 2014 4:29 pm

by davymc

tharmor wrote:I didn't get the impression from OP's post that he was labeling himself as a beginner rider, rather a beginner to the Chinese carbon clincher wheel game.

I've been doing a bunch of reading on this topic myself, and I've concluded that Farsports' reputation on this forum is tough to beat. Kyle Fu is a member of this board and is completely reachable with any questions/concerns.

Having said that, in the new aero shape market, I don't see a lot of aero shapes coming out of Farsports that would actually compare to a Firecrest or Bontrager D3 shape (or anything wider than 27mm). I could be wrong, but I haven't seen those yet from Farsports.

Lastly, with Farsports you will be able to pick from a variety of hubs and pair them with Sapim spokes. This is huge. Every other Chinese wheel outfit will sell you the CN aero spokes. I'm sure they're decent, but they're not Sapim.


I am not a beginner to cycling , but I am a beginner to carbon wheels , as there seems to be so many out there. I am going to check out the farsports website.

I have also been recommended carbonzone

Zigmeister
Posts: 938
Joined: Mon Jan 24, 2011 8:09 pm

by Zigmeister

Guys, all I will say is, I will never buy another set of rims from China again and deal with those companies. The only way you can buy a set of wheels from them is if you plan on never expecting to receive any support/replacement/resolution if you run into issues like I did.

I posted my rim several pages back that had delamination issues of the UD layer. It was probably like this out of the box, but I didn't notice it until the rim was built. Or maybe the stress of the build caused the delamination. Either way, the rim was flawed.

I ended up having to open up a Paypal dispute to get their attention and some kind of response, and also because there is a 45 day limit set on disputes with PP. For 1 week I went around and circles giving them photos they asked for, to finally say, yes it is a flawed rim. Then they went on their CNY New Year vacation for nearly 3 weeks with no response (yet over CNY, when I opened the PP dispute, due to the fact I was almost at 45 days of protection via PP, somebody responded from HongFu and of course said they won't refund any money).

Then, they would never clearly tell myself or Paypal resolution center, how exactly they were going to deal with the situation.

I assume they expected me to ship the rim back, and if you again want PP protection, you need to ship it via the only method you can track it, about $150+ FedEx air with tracking, to prove they received it. I don't think that is reasonable at all for something that wasn't my fault.

I told HongFu I just wanted a refund for 1 rim, the flawed one and be done with it. But they would NEVER provide a refund. Just kept saying to send the rim back. How? On my dime for your flawed product you shipped me? We went around and around for about 10 days on this directly and via Paypal resolution team. Paypal gave up, as did I. Paypal finally refunded my money in full and said move on it is over.

In the meantime, I purchased an identical rim from another seller on eBay, it arrived in good shape, which I'm still waiting for the wheel to built and old rim to be torn down. I have no need for it, and would gladly ship it back, if they send me PP funds to cover shipping prior. Otherwise, it is wall art now. Or maybe I will take a hacksaw to it and take photos of the flaw.

I didn't really want a full refund, but HongFu, and most of these companies, will never really provide an acceptable answer or solution on how they will resolve the issue reasonably. They just kept saying to drop my Paypal dispute and the rim will be replaced. And, they won't provide refunds ever, that is a given.

Furthermore, after Paypal refunded the money, they then kept emailing me and said I need to pay in FULL again via Paypal for the rims I have. I could get another 45 days of buyer protection, and they would "replace the rim". Yeah right. They would never explain how they were going to "replace" the rim, the process etc. That is why Paypal just refunded the money and basically said case-closed, there is nothing for me to do any longer.

They are shady people over there, will do anything to get your money, then never offer any resolution if you have issues.

If anybody has actually got them to replace/ship a replacement product for defective issues, please post up about it. I've never heard of anybody getting things replace satisfactorily in a reasonable time from anybody company over there.

By all means though, if you don't care about ever getting support and it is a throw away product if you have an issue, so be it, go for it. Buy from them and save some money. It is just when you run into issues, then the cost savings and hassles to try to come to some resolution where it becomes moot to buy from them.

Good luck.

tharmor
Posts: 423
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2010 6:20 am

by tharmor

But you had the courage to buy from an eBay seller also from China? I'm confused. Your situation sounds tragic. Definitely making me think twice about HongFu. Completely shameful.

Wookieopolis
Posts: 118
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2011 4:28 am
Location: Berkeley, CA

by Wookieopolis

I'm impressed that paypal gave you a full refund, that definitely makes it worth the extra 3%.

rainerhq
Posts: 898
Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2010 10:32 am
Location: Estonia

by rainerhq

Want to share my experience with DengFu. Ordered 40mm U shape rims to my friend on 9.01 and they promised to ship before CNY, but they did not. It was 16H 24H rimset, so they have to produce the front one.
Then they promised to ship 15.02 and then 18.02.
19.02 I opened a dispute on PP and they refunded 100% and told me that rims will be ready next weekend and then I can pay again and they will ship.
"Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride"

54x11
Posts: 40
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2012 4:02 am

by 54x11

I got my DengFu 40mm aeros back in August last year, I ordered and paid via PayPal on a Thursday afternoon at work and they arrived at my house on the the Friday lunchtime one week later. I rode them that night and love them.

I have probably put 5,000 km on them now and no issues whatsoever. Fast wheels as well. I guess any set of wheels can have issues like a set of Mavics I had once that broke one month out of warranty. It would have cost $800 to replace those, it cost me $540 for these DengFu's.

goldielox
Posts: 31
Joined: Sun Feb 16, 2014 3:43 pm

by goldielox

getting ready to get some china wheels and (thinking from light bicycle) 90 and 60. my problem is i'm not sure of the colors, should i go all black. or white hubs spokes and red nipples. will be on a black with red white p2. if you have any pics of your wheels can you post them so i can get a look

HillRPete
Posts: 2284
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:08 am
Location: Pedal Square

by HillRPete

Goldie: 2 colours at most :mrgreen:
White + colour may look good. Black + colour looks cheap quickly. Fancy nipples are overrated, except black ones with white spokes. Don't overthink it.

kulivontot
Posts: 1163
Joined: Sun May 16, 2010 7:28 pm

by kulivontot

@zig
I think the issues involved with a lack of warranty are pretty well understood. As with any product, to get a refund requires you to return the item in question, the problem is that while it may cost rando Chinese company $50 to ship something across the world, a shipment by you or I is considerably more expensive.
I don't think these companies have any obligation to state a "buy at your own risk" clause, I think that it should be common sense that somebody halfway across the world who doesn't speak your language is not going to provide you the best support. And when they're taking orders by email and paypal, that should be the next sign that you're not exactly dealing with Performance Bike or Wiggle.

petepeterson
Posts: 1402
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 6:58 am
Location: 604

by petepeterson

@zig
Did you ask hongfu to just send you a new rim rather than demand a refund?

I ask because I have had very similar experiences, with Farsports albiet, and a UD finish delaminating and they replaced the rim and covered the shipping.

bm0p700f
in the industry
Posts: 5777
Joined: Sat May 12, 2012 7:25 pm
Location: Glermsford, Suffolk U.K
Contact:

by bm0p700f

I am happy with mine I did have to wait 30 odd days for them to be made but I am patient and they where shipped on time. They are also one of the roundest rims I have ever built with I mean as round as an archetype or HED, that good. Then again I bought the rims and built the wheels my self which I think this is the best way.

I have not put huge miles on them yet but I would be surprised if they delaminated or anything went wrong with these. I do struggle to tell them apart finish wise from the gigantex I build with sometimes.

tharmor
Posts: 423
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2010 6:20 am

by tharmor

bm0p700f wrote:I am happy with mine...


Which did you go with?

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

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