Open mold wide profile carbon wheels

Back by popular demand, the general all-things Road forum!

Moderator: robbosmans

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

by bm0p700f

Gotobike obviously they are a trading company who buy from a factory in china somewhere. I deal alot with trade where I have to pay and wait for deliveries (I have been waiting for months for some kit from Miche) if you a retail customer not used to that then I can see where some of the complaints come from.

by Weenie


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

www.starbike.com



martyh
Posts: 190
Joined: Sat Nov 03, 2007 5:46 pm
Location: Northern Ireland

by martyh

Received a pair of the hongfu ar40 clinchers earlier this week, weight 707 front 851 rear... seems reasonable. Waiting on tyres arriving before a ride.

A question if any of you guys have these in campag fitting - they're apparently an 11 speed hub body.. I'm running 10 speed record.. do I need a spacer or anything?

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

by Zigmeister

tharmor wrote: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.


Yes, well I needed a rim to replace the current rim that was bad and have it rebuilt. Waiting for months wasn't an option, and this seller was willing to ship it ASAP from China even right up to the last minute of CNY. Which they did, had it 5 days later.

Rim was rebuilt by a local builder, rides nice, no problems.

Couldn't wait for HongFu to sort it out, had to move on.

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

by Zigmeister

petepeterson wrote:@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.



They did offer to provide a new rim. But they would never tell Paypal or myself how exactly this was going to work. They just kept telling me to drop the PP dispute and they will take care of everything. Paypal also requested how they were going to rectify the issue. But no reasonable answer ever came back from them.

You were fortunate with your situation it sounds. That is good for others to hear. Guess I had the bad side of the equation this time around.

I only wanted them to refund the cost of the 1 rim cost, not even shipping, because I did get one other rim. I think that was reasonable.

I know they are half way across the world, and I'm just telling people and want to reiterate, if you want follow up support/warranty, it isn't going to happen. Plain and simple. Buy wheels/rims from them with the assumption that is all she wrote, end of story, anything that goes wrong, your problem.

If you do want support/warranty, buy from a reputable company in the US/your part of the World. There are plenty, they will take care of you, people like Boyd etc...which I've owned his rims previously. They have fantastic support/customer service and a descent product for the price.

The real tragedy was the wheel build issue I had. I don't even want to go into that whole mess and what it cost me to fix somebody else's mistakes who built 3 wheels wrong...live and learn my friends, live and learn. Should have rebuilt my 303 FC Zipp tubies with new hubs and been done with it...haha...

Plus, I need to learn to build wheels myself. I do all of my own maintenance for everything, except wheels. It's the only mechanical thing I've never tackled...guess that it is time to learn also.

The rims/product from HongFu, or any Chinese maker have be fine. Want to make that point also. They ride good, laced up well, have been good performance-wise comparable to any other wheel I've owned. I train/race with them, no issues at all.

My post was really just a reminder/lesson to people that if you think you are going to save a buck, in the end, you might not. Just buy the wheels, and if something goes wrong, buy another wheel and just eat the cost. Or you can try what I did and hope for the best.

Even after the refund from PP, props to them for that, although it isn't what I really wanted, and the wheel rebuilding, it cost me quite a bit of money than my first set of wheels from China did. That is the real lesson. On the initial purchase, you might save money, but if there is any problems like I had, forget it. All the cost is coming out of your pocket, any savings just vanished unless you have PP back you up.

Also, I wouldn't trust any, but a few wheels from any company, big brands etc, to be correctly built out of the box from China. You should take them to a good wheel builder and have them tested for tension/true etc...before riding them. You would be surprised, even with so-called well known wheel builders in the US, how they can f-up a set of wheels. Even more money out of pocket!!

LittleBill
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2011 4:14 pm

by LittleBill

I have the Light-Bicycle 45mm wheelset, that is wide, u-shaped, and tubeless ready. I ordered them right after Christmas and got them before the end of January. I would have preferred different spokes, but took what was their default 20/24 build. I have raced the wheels twice this year so far, and they have been great. I hit a super deep pothole in the last race, and I fully expected a broken rim. Nope. Tire didn't pop either, which was a surprise. I am running Conti Supersonics 700x23, and they were a breeze to fit. With the tubeless ready rim, I am not running any rim strips. My $0.02.

Marin
Posts: 4035
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:48 am
Location: Vienna Austria

by Marin

I received my 23mm wide 50mm-profile wheels from Farsports yesterday, and I got black ceramic brake pads with them. Besides the fact that they weigh 40 grams for the set as opposed to 22g for the Swisstop/Sram they are replacing, the don't really brake very well, at least compared to the Kool Stops on my Ridley Cyclocrosser, on which I can do stoppied from the hoods position.

Does anyone have experieces with the Farsports black ceramic pads - do they get better? Or do I want the Farsports blue ones?

(Cross-posted from the Farsports thread)

pushstart
Posts: 461
Joined: Sat Jun 16, 2012 3:12 am

by pushstart

I know people on here talk about braking being "as good as alloy" but this was *far* from my experience with Farsports high-temp braking surface and the blue pads they sent. (Maybe this surface doesn't brake as well or maybe others have just had really bad alloy brake setups?). I imagine there would have been a combination that worked a little better, but the prospect of bringing the bike to a stop quickly was terrifying, especially from the hoods. I needed a lot more runway. For the most part I just adjusted behavior, started braking sooner, etc. But one doesn't always have the luxury of planning ahead. In the end, I applied the ultimate solution and switched to disc-brake carbon wheels. Now my braking is fantastic. Admittedly at some cost :)

Marin
Posts: 4035
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:48 am
Location: Vienna Austria

by Marin

I assume you added disc brakes as well? ;);)

pushstart
Posts: 461
Joined: Sat Jun 16, 2012 3:12 am

by pushstart

Marin wrote:I assume you added disc brakes as well? ;);)


Heh, yeah that's where it started getting expensive. :) (It is just a completely new bike.)

wynkendeword
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Jan 05, 2014 11:07 pm
Location: Vancouver

by wynkendeword

A heads-up to those interested or waiting to bite the bullet: I ordered two identical sets of HongFu (aka UAM) tubulars two weeks ago and paid my 1/3 deposit—I'm the guy who determined HongFu offered the best option for a 50–60mm with a more modern U-shape in tubular. I was informed tonight they finished building them up, and that the wheels will be shipped and arrive at my place in Vancouver, Canada in a week or two.

Quoted from HongFu:
56mm deep x 27mm wide tubular : 509usd/pair *2=$1018;
20 hole front / 24 hole rear
Chosen hubs and CN bladed spokes.
one set All black colour ,one set RED colour hubs;
brake pads send as gift ;
skewers 10usd/pair *2=$20;
extra spokes 0.7usd/pcs*6=$4.2; (front 2,rear 4)
ship cost : $120;
4.5% charge for paypal;
so total: 1018+20+4.2+120=$1162.2*1.045=$1214

The red-hub set is for a buddy ($60 shipping each instead of $80 each). Will hopefully have a better experience than Zigg on here (i.e. delaminating out of the box and dealing with refund run-arounds). I'll report once I get the wheelset and do a few Spring Series A races in the rain and potholes on them.

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

by petepeterson

See ya at Murchie

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

by HillRPete

wynkendeword, good info, keep us posted.

So nice that "generic" wide tubs are being made available, I'm particularly interested in the 38mm and shallower rims. "Light Bicycle" has some in 23mm width, there's of course BHS/Gigantex (although out of stock) with their 25mm wides, and HongFu's 40x27.5mm bulged. Awesome. "Unfortunately" my Yishun's are still going strong, no reason to replace them ;).

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

by tharmor

Is there any documented benefit from buying directly from HongFu/UAM, or even DengFu, for the 27mm wide various depth wheels? I ask because @wynkendeword (among others) seem to be going that route, but paying more than the eBay sellers which the exact same builds, etc.

Most people have been paying ~$500 plus shipping at HongFu, but __________(on eBay) sells them for $370 + shipping.

What am I missing? If anything, I would think that one would be more protected by using eBay.

eric
Posts: 2196
Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 9:47 pm
Location: Santa Cruz, California, USA
Contact:

by eric

Are you sure the ebay guys are selling the same parts? And will they offer any warranty?

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

by tharmor

Looks the same to me::


Hubs: Novatec A291SB+F482SB(shi 8/9/10s, only a few for shi11s, sram 10s) ~Default!

82g+245g Novatec A291SB+F482SB(Camp 10s/11s)

Spoke&nipple(7g): Mac Aero 494 Cn spoke+Alloy nipple

Weight: Front: 650g Rear: 820g Total:1470g excluding skewers

Max rider weight: 180kg


30 Day Return Policy
You may return the products for bad quality reasons for 30 days(not included those dameges coursed by shipping). A 15% restocking fee is assessed for any products returned in "used" condition. Buyer is responsible for return shipping costs. If there is an issue with the products,please contact us– we will solve it as soon as we get your email.

by Weenie


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

www.starbike.com



Post Reply