Cant offer a huge amount of experience in this field.
But as I am still squeezing as much life out of a 2018 Giant Propel with Rim brakes as I can, and the stock Giant SLR wheels starting to run out of braking surface I needed a new set of wheels for TTs this year.
Opted for Elite ENT 82s as spending huge amounts on deep rims from western brands is simply not an option given the age & value of the bike, plus rim brake offerings are few and far between now.
Rims arrived in perfect condition & look great.
Used a more reputable rim tape and added the valve etc to make it tubeless. Currently going through the sealing process of overnight deflations but paired up with Vittoria Corsa Pro Speeds, I am excited to test these out when it warms up a little.
Don’t think I’ve seen these mentioned yet. Anybody have thoughts/opinions on the Magene Exar wheels? Since their turbo trainer and power meter are respectable I was curious about these. Got hip to them from a promotional email from blackheart and from what I’ve been able to find they seem to be good, though not necessarily the cheapest. Gp llama had good things to say amongst others.
wheelsfar.com is imo the best option.
I also dont understand how “US” brand wheels are so heavy compared to these wheelsfar carbon spoked i got. It’s actually insane how light they are. I saved a whole pound swapping from shimano 105 wheels to wheelsfar with the same depth and added tpu tubes.
They cost the same, although id bet the shimano will be more bombproof but I dont care. It’s not like I ride my bike in a way that I want to treat it so harshly that I need a part to be BOMBPROOF
Yep, I love my rovals but would not buy them as a standalone option. Too many excellent wheels that test basically the same but are 1-300g lighter and run what is essentially a dtswiss hub.
My point still stands, you can find cheap wheels and expensive ones, just depends on what you need. But price/performance Chinese wheels win over western brands imo.
Where did you find 500$ wheels with dtswiss hubs and cx ray spokes? That is less that what I have ever seen for those specs.
I bought them from Farsports with 350S hubs which was an upgrade. They would have been even cheaper if I stuck with Bitex or Novatec hubs.
As I said previously this was like 6 years ago. I’m not trying to twist anyone’s words. My point was that Farsports used to be several times cheaper than comparable name brand wheels. They are still cheaper but not 3x cheaper.
You answered your own question… Companies based/registered/licensed in the US and Europe are able to be sued when their product breaks and results in injury, so they need to invest in ensuring that doesn’t happen. The same can not be said for the Chinese direct brands that we all love. I’m not saying that it justifies all of the price difference, but it’s a large part of it.
Add to that salary differences and r&d. You can iterate far quicker when you are working at/Nextdoor to the factor compared to overseas. Saves quite a bit of costs when building out a new product.
That is not entirely the case. Hunt Aerodynacist with carbon spokes are 1210 gram wheels currently selling for just over $1K and would be basically a 1 for 1 comparison for wheels coming from many well known and trusted Chinese brands. Interestingly enough is personal and shared experience with Zipp and Enve and associated failures that had me look very seriously at Chinese wheels. 6 sets of Chinese later with zero failures have convinced me that I can comfortably put confidence in the quality and durability. Speed of replacement would be the biggest downer but thankfully that has not been necessary.
Not sure where you’re seeing that price for Aerodynamicist(I see $1800)… But even if thats the case, you’re still kind of making my point… Lets say even at $1200 for a 21mm internal width, 32mm deep wheel, with their generic branded hub, you’re paying a couple hundred dollar premium by purchasing their product, which gives them the margin to cover the cost I mentioned, and others.
disclosure, I own 8 wheel sets, 7 of which are Chinese direct… LB, BTLOS, Nextie, and Farsports
Yes, that was an oversight on my part but the wheel specs are not. The Hunts are as lightly built as what is available from China and in theory should be on par from a durability and safety perspective. Not necessarily calling right or wrong but think there are points to consider.
