I’m with you in hating FedEx. I used to purchase a lot of car mods and the number of damaged goods was much higher than the number of clean packages.
UPS always gets my business when possible.
I’m surprised by the poor showing some of you have gotten from FedEx. Aside from great domestic experience over the years I e ordered two wheelsets from two different Chinese vendors over the past year and was very pleased with the speed and care as both boxes arrived in perfect condition with no import duties to be paid, as did a friend who ordered from Panda Podium. UPS on the other hand had proven to be less reliable for me. I did have another friend order a set from 9 Velo (one of the sets I ordered also) and did get charged duty. Could be a matter of luck good or not.
But back to the original question, I feel this is a great time for consumers with Chinese carbon wheels. Never before have we had so many high quality choices at still affordable prices.
FedEx can f%$@ right off. Absolute worst shipping company that exists. I literally have more delivery problems than smooth deliveries from them. I’ve seen their trucks do a circle in my driveway then mark the package as “address doesn’t exist.” I had one package delivered, with a proof of delivery picture, to a random address in a different state. I’d say 25-30% of the packages get marked with a “error in address” or something saying my address doesn’t exist, but UPS, DHL, USPS never have issues finding it. Or they’ll claim it requires a signature one day but deliver it a few days later without one. It’s gotten to the point that if I have two sellers to buy from and one uses FedEx, I’ll buy from the other one. I’ll even pay a higher price to avoid FedEx.
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Was gifted a pair of Zipp 353’s before that was on Black Inc. 30’s before that stock dt swiss steel wheels. My KOM on descents between the steel $250 wheels and the $4,500 Zipps are one second apart (over a 5 min run topping out at 53mph). The Zipps have been in for warranty issues twice in six months, first time the rear hub second time the front rim buckled (they blamed it on over inflation, I ride them at 60 psi and am 160lbs). I know they have a lifetime warranty but it still cost $110 in shipping (I’m in the U.S).
This plays heavily into why I source whees from reputable Chinese brands now. I’ve had my own issues with Zipp 404 Firecrest’s and seen problems with Enve. While I don’t mean to say Chineses wheels do not suffer from issues and it is indeed nicer to deal with warranty work domestically but the cost savings is nearly impossible to ignore. I can say with 100% confidence that through experience with 7 different sets from China over the last 15+ years none have given any problems. And then there are also reputable middle tier companies like Hunt and Scribe that offer nice wheels with a bit better brand recognition and possibility better warranty support.
Hey @Power13 and all!
Nextie is using this HTS code’s;
Wheelset/Rims：8714.92.1000
Spokes：8714.92.5000
Hubs：8714.93.0500
Frame：8714.91.3000
I am uncertain if we in fact will get hit with costs associated with importing wheels from them.
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Doing a quick Google search brings mixed results and unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of time today to dig too deeply.
I did find this Customs Ruling letter to DT from 2019, which states
Products of China classified under subheading 8714.92.1000 , HTSUS, unless specifically excluded, are subject to the additional 25 percent ad valorem rate of duty. At the time of importation, you must report the Chapter 99 subheading, i.e., 9903.88.03, in addition to subheading 8714.92.1000 , HTSUS, listed above.
If wheels have been coming in since then under the $800 threshold for de minimis exemptions, then the tairffs would not apply. If the tariffs have had exclusions put in place (as my products have had since COVID), then my guess is that they will soon expire and there will be a 25% tariff coming soon, plus the additional 10% tariffs just put in place (again the 10% tariff is cumulative).
If you are planning on buying any wheels direct from China in the short-term, I would recommend talking to a freight forwarder or import consultant to get an “official” answer. You don’t want to get hit with a surprise 25% tariff.
All of this just sounds like I won’t be buying new carbon wheels anytime soon. Or bike parts. Good thing I loaded up on tires and chains.
Depends on the Country of Origin (COO). The industry has moved a lot of stuff our of China already either back to Taiwan or to other Asian nations.
Now, whether the trade war escalates to include those other countries is a question no one can answer…but for now, check the COO before placing any D2C orders.
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Looking for advice and recommendations here:
I’m preparing for a 400km/5’500mD+ ride in June and I’m looking to improve the bike before getting into that event. For now, I’m running Parcours Ronde (1’400grs, 30mm deep front, 39mm back, hooked 22,5mm internal, 32/30mm external) set tubeless with 300mm Pirelli PZero Race. While I’m happy with the wheelset in general, I was wondering if there is any noticable gain to find with switching to a Yeoleo 50mm or a Scribe Superlight+?
I was also looking for a set of custom build lightbicycle turbo 50 with DT Swiss 240xp hub made by r2-online but those are wide internally (25mm) so the tire will be quite large on it.
My thinking is the following: newer wheelset are lighter (approx 100grs), and this could improve aero efficiency of the bike (+20/10mm compared to my current setup). What is your opinion? Which wheelset would you recommend?
Other general info: I’m looking for steel spokes for confort, and the wheels will be put on a 2020 Roadmachine.
Yeoleo:
Best Carbon Wheels - Best Affordable Carbon Wheelset for Road & Gravel – YOELEO
Scribe:
CORE SuperLight+ 50 Disc Carbon Wheelset – Scribe Cycling
Parcours Ronde:
Ronde (35/39mm) from £1,099 - Parcours Wheels – Parcours Velo
I’d go with the yeoleo 50 or 60mm personally. I might be ordering a C60 set…
Just wanted to add an anecdotal experience with Reserve wheels……had an “incident” on my 2nd ride on them and managed to damage them both. Made a claim online on Sunday, Monday morning got a call, and they shipped out new rims that day, and are providing a credit for a local shop to rebuild the wheels using the original spokes and hub.
So very impressed with the customer service and warranty aspect at Reserve/Santa Cruz/ Cervelo.
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Glad they’re taking care of you!
An update on the Farsports, which is not much of an update - I love riding them, noticeable stiffer than the previous alloy hoops I had. had a rather windy ride today and noticed a bit more instability due to the deeper front. Nothing to do with the wheel or brand but rather the depth. Would highly recommend.
I have the Yoeleo wheels and they are pretty hard to beat for value. Can highly recommend.
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Put an aero111 tyre on the front.
It’s a pretty small crowd that know this, but they HUGELY increase front wheel stability. To the extent that you can now run a much deeper front wheel. Gamechanger.
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Thanks for the tip, i’d not heard of this before. Any thought to having one on the rear as well?
It is designed to be a “front only” tire, i believe.
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For those who are interested in the Conti 111 tire, here a wind tunnel test by Parcours: Aero testing race tyres - which is fastest? – Parcours Velo
I’m waiting on my Yeoleo now. In the meantime, I put some old scribe 21mm internal, 50mm deep, with 28mm tires on it. It’s crazy how I’m less confident in the corners with that set compared to my parcours ronde with 30mm tires on it (31.5 measured).
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I’m with you in in the confidence department. 28mm (current) is the narrowest i’ve run and i’m looking forward to fitting 30 or 32 if I can get it to fit. I’ve no reason to not take the advice of the 111 tire either.
You can run it in the rear, but I don’t think it’s meant to be a difference maker there as the wheel does not move with the cross-wind. I would personally run a 111 in the front and S TR in the back.
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