50mm tubular rims, Chosen produced hubs, DT Aerolite spokes. Radial front 20, 2X rear 24.
I chose HongFu Sports Equipment for my purchase. I researched them and found them to be fully certified to EN standards by SGS, a Swiss firm. HongFu has photos and video of their production facility and testing facility on their website. I had many (24) emails with Jenny, the customer service manager. Jenny answered all of my questions almost instantly and offered to call me if I wanted. She provided technical drawings for the rims when I asked and EN test results. I wanted a matte carbon 3k drilled 20/24 and she was able to accommodate even though they don't generally offer matte finish. I paid by PayPal and have my purchase covered for 45 days by the PayPal fraud policy. Jenny confirmed the payment and when the wheels shipped she sent me a tracking number. The wheels arrived 4 days after being picked up with the longest delay happening in US customs... of course...
I was charged $70 USD for shipping and was surprised to see that HongFu paid 544 Yuan for shipping- meaning they paid $81 USD to ship the rims to me; a loss of $11. The customs declaration stated that there were 2 pieces of bicycle parts valued at $25 each. I would most certainly order from Jenny at HongFu again. In fact my teammates are now considering a bulk purchase.
I was required to sign for the package which was delivered by the USPS. The box was dented but not punctured or damaged. The cardboard was triple walled and certainly durable enough to protect the rims. Each rim was packed in a foam sleeve.
The carbon is beautiful. The weave is tight, unified, clean and at the seam it's almost perfectly wallpaper matched. There are no ripples or creases in the carbon and the weave looks amazing. The finish is as smooth as can be. No imperfections, no variations, nothing. The holes are drilled perfectly; offset at the bed and centered at the nipple exit. There's no tear through and all the holes are identical. The bed is smooth and consistent. The seam channel is not as deep as Zipp but exists to allow proper seating of the tire. The valve hole is sunk at the bed allowing for the bulge in tubulars (I've never seen this on any other rim and I think it's a fantastic idea). The warning decal states the maximum force is 180kgf, definitely high up- I'll prob only run 100-110.
I am VERY happy with my purchase and will report back on the build process and ride quality later.
Here's a full gallery of photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkinginc ... 053560446/
Another poster ordered the same rims and his came to 393 front and 417 rear... so somewhere around that...
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