I would definitely like to hear about these wheels after they have been heavily ridden.

I think it would only be fair to give an unbiased review after showdown and his teammates get some miles on them and see how they hold up. Please, please, pretty please.

For sure I'll report back with all the details, good and bad once we've taken them to task.

Unfortunately there is still a TON of snow in Chicago and it was 10 degrees fahrenheit this week so that report may have to wait a bit...

Our first race is March 20th, and then we race pretty much 2x a weekend through October (road season). The spring races are over cobbled roads and terrible pavement so it should be a good test of the wheels.

Anyhow... I have two more wheels to build (the 20mm's) and then I'm done and I never want to see an other rim or spoke in my life. (11 sets of wheels had to be built by me, ugh)

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Please do not PM me about Chinese carbon wheels. I will not respond.

So, you can give us a review of the finish quality, and how they build up:
ERD at least. Even ?
Are they " round "?
Did you have to use different spoke lenghts, or ....
How do they hold tension ? Of the whole "bunch", no hole "failed" ?


Louis

ERD - Even enough that I didn't have any problems with spoke length.

Round - Sort of, There are multiple seams around the rims that are visible/you can feel with your finger and the wheels are not extremely round..especially around the valvestem and they are not the easiest build ever.. but you can get them sorted.

I've built two sets of wheels with the 20mm rims, I'm riding a set today for the first time and my teammate is riding the other set.. I'll update later.

I do agree that they are not worth it, I'm never going to buy them unless I can find a supplier with much nicer product.. or stick with the high-end.

My 20mm tubular rims came from ArchTecks (sp?) and they are beautiful.

The erd is even all the way around and 12mm nipples were just perfect.
The rim was round and true as can be and stayed that way during the entire build
I built the rears only so far but I went with a 2x pattern on both sides and all the drive spokes were the same and the non-drive were the same...
The rim held tension without any trouble. He 20mm have a max load of 130kgf and were able to sustain that without issue.
the finish on the 20mm's is beautiful. We went with matte clearcoat and it's even and pristine all the way around. The brake track is smooth and even and the tire bed is as it should be- there is a recess for the tire seam and even one at the valve hole for the bulge on the tire...


No hole on any of the 22 rims I've built has failed. No hole has been off-center or drilled poorly, none of the holes have uneven nipple beds.

All things considered, these rims are really quite stunning. Were they to cary the FFWD label, folk would pay 2x as much for them, were they to cary the Colnago label people would bay 5x as much...

Despite the fact that I'm totally burnt out on wheelbuilding right now, I would buy them again. We received a very generous discount for buying in bulk so all totaled, hubs, DT aerolite spokes & nipples, rims, valve extenders, skewers and labor costs (I ain't doin it for free!) the average price of a set of carbon wheels (keep in mind some were more expensive like the clinchers or the 88mm wheels) comes to about $550.

$550.

Add a cassette and conti tires and a complete ready-to-ride wheelset comes to about $700.

And like I said, when I get some miles on them I'll report back...

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Please do not PM me about Chinese carbon wheels. I will not respond.

Are the spoke holes offset? I want to do a triplet lacing pattern on a 24 hole Archteks 20 mm rim with Record 32 hole hub.

Same question for the Hongfu rims?

Guys, you do know that the internet, aside from delivering us copious amounts of pornography, both of the titillating kind as well as the bike kind can in fact be used to do research...

I'm not saying, I'm just sayin'

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Please do not PM me about Chinese carbon wheels. I will not respond.

love your work! showdown

Looking forward to hearing how these stand up after being being raced.

I bought a set of 60 mm. carbon clinchers from Miracle Trade in August.

They unfortunately was delayed and I didn't get the until early January. I was actually quite impressed with their build quality. The hubs was REALLY smooth and the the wheels was DEAD straight.

However, they were WAY to heavy!
Miracle Trade claimed a weight of 1610 g. without QR. They weighted in at 1760 gr. and I thought it was to much of a hassle to deal with special brake pads and poorer braking on carbon clinchers, so I sold the wheels and got a set of VERY slightly used Mavic Cosmic carbone sl's at the same price.

I think the Mavic's are better because of the alu. brake track. Weight and aerodynamics are almost similar I think.

My point is that I actually think the wheels where really nice, but to heavy compared to the hassle of dealing with carbon clinchers. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a set of tubular wheels from china, but I really can't see the advantage of riding carbon clinchers (when similar wheels can be found with a alu. brake track).

Did you happen to weigh the 20mm tubular rims separatly? I'm really starting to concider a set of 20mm tubulars + bikehubstore.com hubs and some cx-rays. And maybe a set of 88mm tubulars

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WTB: MTB hubs, 29'er carbon rims

My 7.3kg/6.4 kg 29'er project buildthread!
My Bianchi Oltre XR

I think what was mentioned above about re-sale value is important, in addition to having some long term relaibility tests on these rims. However, I want to mention that many name brand bicycle parts and frames/forks are made in china and simply branded and sold to us. W/o getting into the extremely long list of major manufacturers (many who are long-standing stalwarts synonymous with "USA"), it is simply bottom line profits that these companies- most recently a brand that starts with Cannon-something or another- are setting up Asian manufacturing plants, having them ship overseas, and puting their stickers on them and marking them up big time. If memory serves me right, even such a premium name as Cervelo's are all, and have always been, made in China. My personal experience, 4 years ago I purchased on Ebay Ti QR's from China for dirt cheap and they have worked flawlessly ever since. They are quality. I also got a digital weighing scale for $7 (yes, $7, including shipping) 2 years ago, has not failed me once and I am extremely happy. Why pay extra for a name brand sticker? If it's good enough for Colnago, it's good enough for me.

^ freds can't brag about yishun wheels

Huh?