BOYD/SOUL/PISMET/ROL/LIGERO WHICH IS SUPPOSED THE BEST?

[RAFIUDEEN]

Hi,
Must have spent 100 hours reading endless threads to arrive at the following conclusions;-
considered all the following options
Soul/Pismet/Boyd/Williams/Ligero//Rev/Rol and many more if while you r reading the this thread and find any name missing ask me will tell you if i had considered it in my short list

1> First to be out is williams as one they dont give you the hubs you want and dont change as per client requirement ? it is supposed to be custom built wheels right ? anyways even then i was a little inclined due to positive ratings but then the killer was they dont ship it to my country.

2>Second out was ROL very good review on their wheels but kinda I lost favor tempted with superb decals unknown ,not much reviewed hubs )but all have favorable ratings but left out because did not feel like it no technical drawbacks at all strange explanation but its more personal then anything . Ok after thinking hard found very few threads on this wheel even though in the wheels rating section their r almost 70 people giving it higher 4 + ratings.(for a spesific model ROL RACE SL)

3>Soul read a lot of rev reviews about the wheels but their r a few riders who had soul and another custom built wheel will not name which one who felt the other was better and my analysis resulted in seeing that conners were cut in the hubs and spokes (even though they might be very good but were not known and much reviewed-made from some Taiwanese manufacturer).

4> Rest of the pack in my review is Rev the wheel set was not impressed ,compelling value though.

5>SO finally wanna decide between Boyd/Pismet and awaiting Ligero inquiry mail.Found Pismet quality value proposition the best Boyd just behind..... keep in touch will know soon who wins the race for me

inviting your valuable comments

[prendrefeu]

Please, no yelling.

[NWSAlpine]

Out of the choices I would select Boyd as the customer service is top notch and so are the wheels. PSIMET is just as good (I have a set) but the support is not there as he is extremely busy! Lots of potential customers never get a reply unfortunately. If you still want to go custom build then PSIMET is your choice. Although the Boyd wheels as is are awesome and extremely well built.

[RAFIUDEEN]

yes agree Nicole answers you in detail love it and had to send several mails to Pismet before i got reply awaiting reply of ligero tonight will decide then and i live in India so getting it here will be the second part of the puzzle

[1415chris]

Although we may understand the importance of your subjects, but really there is no reason for SHOUTING that loud, no reason to do that at all.

[abuck55ru]

Just got a pair of Boyd vitesse. First impression was fantastic, absolutely the best aluminum wheel I have ever ridden. I would compair them to the zipp 101 but less than half the price and 100 g lighter, 1 + on the excellent customer service.

[russianbear]

Check out neuvation as well.

[prendrefeu]

Williams, Boyd for customer service.

Soul for price/value/quality.

Ligero is through Fair Wheel Bikes now, no longer doing his own wheel builds under his own name.

[mjduct]

Boyd responded to at least a half dozen of my E-mails before I ordered, I have no doubt that he will respond as rapidly to followup issues or problems in the future.

If you look at these guys hard enough you can find where they get all their parts and then decide whats the best value.

[DI75]

I've had my Boyd 58's for over a year now and 7000 miles. Great wheels and immediate reponses to my emails. PSIMET? good luck. Won't answer emails, but has time to post 18,000 times on that other bike site....

[xpert]

I would go with Soul , really helpful with clients and superb products!

[555969]

I would vote for Boyd. I order a set this spring and they where awesome to deal with. Answered all my emails with in a couple of hours if I sent them during the day and if sent in the evening I got a reply the following morning. I have now put about 1000km on my wheels and they are still riding as true as the day they arrived. I have road them on some rough roads too.

[Zen Cyclery]

I would throw in a vote for Ligero, but I don't think he is making hubs anymore (?). If anyone has heard anything differently then please let me know. But his hubs were sweet. I loved the triplet lacing as well.

[prendrefeu]

Ligero = Troy Watson
Troy works at FWB.

You may want to call up FWB and ask for Troy.

[transamman1999]

I have a set of Boyd 58mm carbon tubular rims as well as a set of PSIMET Kinlin 300 alum clinchers w/ WI H2/H3 hubs. So I feel compelled, and qualified, to answer with my opinions/experiences.


BOYD
Pros: great customer service/response to emails, reasonable turn-around time, good looking carbon rim, price
Cons: hubs are very sub-par, packaging was lazy at best(skewers were loose in box, scuffing up the spokes and rim), skewers were "free" probably because they are complete garbage(hardly worth the effort of walking to the trash can to throw them away!)

PSIMET
Pros: completely custom, amazing hubs!, great packaging, easy communication, I got EXACTLY what I wanted
Cons: wait time (~50 days from payment to delivery), 'supplier shipped wrong color hubs' (delayed the build ~1.5 weeks)


So, if I had to do it all over again, I'd DEFINITELY still order my alum clinchers from PSIMET even with the wait time. They are the best rolling wheels I've ever ridden and I have no doubts they'll last a long time. The build quality, the feel of the wheels and spokes, just everything about them felt superior, and that was confirmed in the ride quality. The Boyd's are plenty stiff, but the hub just doesn't feel like I want it to, and it's not just the RIDICULOUSLY loud freewheel noise, it's just the overall feel while riding.

I really wish I had the patience a year ago when I bought my carbon tubular rims. I went w/ Boyd because they had almost no lead time and because PSIMET was backlogged several weeks. I saved maybe $200-300 going w/ Boyd but I honestly don't feel that the savings were worth it now in hindsight. I plan on replacing the Boyd's w/ some PSIMET carbon tubulars next summer. Not only do I desire better hubs, but it'll be so much better/nicer/easier having 2 wheelsets with identical hubs so that swapping wheelsets won't require a single derailluer adjustment! Currently I'm having to dial in the shifting every single time I swap wheels (for racing vs. training).

In conclusion, don't make an impulse decision, don't decide purely on availability/pricing. Don't settle for anything less than what you want! I'm probably the most impatient person on Earth, so I know how hard that advice is to follow, but even I have learned to not rush purchases like this. When you're spending 6-8 hours a week on your main wheelset, and/or spending $40+/week on races every week, you'll wanna be happy with the equipment you're on.