C4 bike component hubs review and experience

[LouisN]

That's exactly what's hard to experience IMHO.

I think most of us, the average income worker WW's are always looking for the next passionate craftsman to come up with an interesting new product, at a decent price point.

Even if the smallest company gets behind for some reason, it's still a huge bummer if your hard earned money is lost. There is just no reason to justify anything else but a refund, or total parts replacement if the client is dissatisfied, especially with quality issue.

If the said company don't wan't to refund a hubset because they're behind, well, IMHO again, even if it's not intentional, it's still a rip off...

Mark should make a reputable man of himself, and settle this.

Louis

[devinci]

a reputable man of himself, lets see what happens...

[headwind816]

I just had a set built up for my girlfriend using NOS 28/28 at my LBS. I am 99.9% sure these were the hubs that FWB were first attracted to based on markings from different forums and Google images.

I am not sure whether she will put them to the test so to speak, but I will report back in the future.

Aside, I hope devinci gets his issue sorted out.

[devinci]

Make sure you let us know how they roll

[headwind816]

Will do

In hand, the hubs are smooth but let's be honest ... all hubs should be. If weather cooperates, she will ride them this weekend.

[devinci]

for some reason, Mark told me he wants to send me a new hub when I contacted him for a refund.

He must have read the topic. But since then, he didnt replied, so im bringing that thing up again.

[Murphs]

That was as much compensation as I got too.

[mdeth1313]

My hubs were smooth when I got them. I should mention I'm still riding the rear wheel as it was built and it's worked quite well. I think it's the 155 or 175 hub (I can't remember anymore) w/ 28 holes. My nightmare was w/ the front hubs. 2 broken axles, then spokes pinging (I didn't have that hub long enough for the axle to break) and then after 2 or 3 rides I had the crunchiest bearings and metal on metal sounds.
The 1st 2 times Mark was responsive and got things done quickly. The 3rd time it took a really long time and I had to get nasty. The last time I went back to FWB and explained what had happened - they had me send the front wheel back and rebuilt it w/ a no-name hub w/ similar specs to the elf and I haven't had a problem since. But, that ended my interaction w/ c-4.

[tjwallace]

I'm in the middle of a terrible experience with C4 as well. I ordered a set of USL 3.0 wheels and this is the series of events:

April 15 - Order placed
May 1 - Wheels shipped
May 15 - Wheels received
May 15 - Cassette and tires installed. Rode up the street (maybe 200 feet) and noticed something was not right, rear wheel was wobbling. Took the bike back inside, inspected real wheel, found that the axle was bent.
May 16 - Confirmed at bike shop that the axle was bent - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGOZN1Mnchs
May 18 - New rear axle assembly shipped
May 25 - New rear axle assembly received
May 31 - New axle assembly installed
June 2 - Went for a 128 km ride (rain for ~30 km). When cleaning bike after, noticed wheel was not spinning smoothly and the same wobble was happening.
June 4 - Took wheel to shop, confirmed that the axle was bent, and the bearings were rough / seizing.
June 5 - Rear wheel shipped back to C4
June 8 - Rear wheel received by C4
July 10 - Rear wheel shipped to me
July 17 - Rear wheel received
July 20 - Cassette installed on rear wheel
July 25, 26, 30 - Rode to work: 45km round trip
July 30 - Took the rear wheel off the bike and found the axle to be spinning very rough, I assume the bearings are seizing.

Talked with Mark on the phone about two weeks ago and he wanted me to test a new hub, with a 17mm axle that is 30% stiffer than what I have. I politely declined and asked for a refund, which he reluctantly agreed to. I've since sent three emails, and one voicemail confirming the address to return the wheels to with no response.

[jimh]

My experiences with C4 Hubs have been pretty bad.

I've given up on the rear hub, after
1. Replacing hub body because it wouldn't freewheel properly (fixed under warranty)
2. Replacing bearings (after the first really wet ride)
3. Having a wobble develop in the hub which could not be fixed, it was bad enough to get the rim rubbing on the brake pads with them wide open (they are laced to A23's).

The front hub also had it's bearings replaced because one of them was very rough, it was getting a pinging noise every couple of revolutions - I've still got one of them which is very rough just spinning it in your hand. The axle on the front was also replaced (warranty) although I had to pay the local bikeshop to fix it.

Anyway as far as I'm concerned - I wouldn't recommend them, for what it's worth they were FH65 and RH215 hubs.

[dookie]

I don't even think he does it for the money.

This is hilarious!

I saw 'pathological' in a thread elsewhere.

Sigh...

[devinci]

after sending me an email saying he wanted to send a new hub, Mark doesnt reply anymore.

[HillRPete]

after sending me an email saying he wanted to send a new hub, Mark doesnt reply anymore.

That's exactly my experience from give or take 2 years ago. When I brought it up here he came back with an offer to settle, but that worked out just as "well" as the initial purchase.

[tjwallace]

Almost a month has gone by with multiple phone calls, voice mails and emails with no response. Has anyone been in contact with Mark?

[kac]

Once the issues of annoyance, time invested, cost and (most importantly) component safety are factored in, it seems like the entire C-4 enterprise is a bust. Plus, this seems to be the general experience on this forum and others. That's really too bad, because when I initially purchased a set of C-4 hubs (through FWB) I was highly impressed with the customer service of the company which was always good even though I had numerous problems with several iterations of the hubs. Finally, after yet another product failure (I think there were two per hub; front and back, including prematurely worn bearings, extreme lateral wheel play and broken axles), I gave up and bought Alchemy...a decision I've never regretted.

KAC