What Equipment Not to Buy

[Stendhal]

My advice is: do not buy square wheels. I say this as somewhat of an expert, as I recently had the opportunity to test a revolutionary new product in advance of its scheduled April 1 release.

Cycling buffs know that Cervelo’s Squoval added square concepts to formerly completely round tubes so as to pioneer the development of light and stiff frames. More recently, 3T squared off the tubing for endurance bikes through its Sqaero tubes. Some bike engineers heard about this and thought, “could it work for wheels as well?” I know you must be thinking “wheels have to be perfectly round,” but people used to say that about cranksets too and just look what Chris Froome has done riding Q-rings. His Grand Tour victories using those non-round cranks constitute what scientists call a “cause and effect relationship.”

The engineers thus built a prototype of what they called “Sqweels,” which like Q-rings are squared off (ellipses) rather than round. The front fork, seat stays, and chain stays are stretched to fit the longer side of the ellipsis, and there’s a rocking motion when you pedal as the short side of the ellipsis clears the pavement and then the longer side kicks in. I was pleasantly surprised with the extra boost in power this effect provides.

The problem, however, is that Sqweels are not aero, which of course is everything these days. An air pocket is caught under the shorter part of the sqweel and even though there’s an impetus as it is expelled, the turbulence created by the front sqweel upsets the aero flow. I suppose one could ride with a rear Sqweel and a regular front wheel, but that would look silly.

[alcatraz]

Don't buy this...

[wheelsONfire]

Enduro XD-15 bearings. Service is terrible and they left me hanging for months after promising to send me a wavy washer for Sram GXP cranks. The actual bearings couldn't last a year of light mileage and dry road usage, making it the most useless thing I've ever bought.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

Haha, best i've seen. I agree, i have tried 4 different brands and they started to run heavy quite fast.
When i took them out, i noted they were smoked.
I don't believe the hype at all now. I think the spin (when new) is good mostly due to low friction seals and grease.
I prefer dual seal steel bearings.

Not reliable stuff and very expensive stuff i would put on my list.
Also, brands with virtually impossible warranty.
Small custom brands, what can they really offer if something goes horribly wrong?

[jmocallaghan]

From a more general point of view, in my opinion:
1. Don't buy anything that you can't service by yourself / need crazy expensive tools for (excluding shocks and other obvious things)

I own a car. I own a stove. I own a boiler. I own a television. Etc Etc. I don't agree with this. Even on a bike. There is nothing wrong with not having the mechanical skills.

2. Don't buy anything that has a reasonable body of poor reviews
3. Don't buy anything that's just a straight up scam (just search this forum on certain brands...)
4. Don't buy anything that you don't like visually

I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say challenge yourself a bit more. There are some great products out there which may be challenging aethetically, but are actually superb and you will grow to love.

5. Don't buy anything that you really can't replace when you crash it

Go on.... live a little. It is fun. Buy something expensive. If you crash it, enjoy having owned it. You don't have to be able to replace it straight away / at all, but you will have had the original enjoyment that you will otherwise miss out.

6. Buy equipment from companies you have good experiences with and therefore trust when you need it most (i.e. my experience with BBB has been terrible, so thats never on my list again)

That's usually my list of things I keep in mind before picking new parts.

I'm not having a go at you. I just used to be very similar, but then opened up a bit and enjoyed things a bit more.

This response is probably the best advice yet.

[RTW]

Thanks!

[KotP]

My advice is: do not buy square wheels. I say this as somewhat of an expert, as I recently had the opportunity to test a revolutionary new product in advance of its scheduled April 1 release.

Cycling buffs know that Cervelo’s Squoval added square concepts to formerly completely round tubes so as to pioneer the development of light and stiff frames. More recently, 3T squared off the tubing for endurance bikes through its Sqaero tubes. Some bike engineers heard about this and thought, “could it work for wheels as well?” I know you must be thinking “wheels have to be perfectly round,” but people used to say that about cranksets too and just look what Chris Froome has done riding Q-rings. His Grand Tour victories using those non-round cranks constitute what scientists call a “cause and effect relationship.”

The engineers thus built a prototype of what they called “Sqweels,” which like Q-rings are squared off (ellipses) rather than round. The front fork, seat stays, and chain stays are stretched to fit the longer side of the ellipsis, and there’s a rocking motion when you pedal as the short side of the ellipsis clears the pavement and then the longer side kicks in. I was pleasantly surprised with the extra boost in power this effect provides.

The problem, however, is that Sqweels are not aero, which of course is everything these days. An air pocket is caught under the shorter part of the sqweel and even though there’s an impetus as it is expelled, the turbulence created by the front sqweel upsets the aero flow. I suppose one could ride with a rear Sqweel and a regular front wheel, but that would look silly.

*kisses fingers like an Italian chef*

[F45]

I own three nice mountain bikes, two nice cx bikes, and one nice road bike. I've been riding seriously for 15 years. I've been burned a few times but the one that really stands out is Finish Line sealant. They made claims that it lasted "the life of the tire". In my Vittoria TNT tires, using more than the recommended amount, it lasted less than four months. Finish Line refused to reply to my diplomatic pleas for help.

Anything made by Finish Line. They're a poorly run company that makes unfounded claims then leaves their customers to the dogs with no communication or support. I will never buy a product of theirs again even if I like it.

[wheelsONfire]

Well, Finish Line is hardly the only one or even one of few behaving like this!
This is not to say it's OK, i totally agree with you.
It's so easy being ignorant when a person is not face to face.