List Price: $140.00
Sale Price: $125.00
Today's Bonus: 11% Off
These wheels look good, but are actually very poor:
* When I spun the wheel before putting on the bike, I could feel the bearings grind. Then, when I tried to re-adjust the cones, I found there was no channel in the axle and no lock-washer for proper fine tuning. The cones were stuck and I literally had to re-thread the axle in order to get the bolts and cones off.
* These rims are not sleeved, pinned, or triple walled (unlike the quality rims they're imitating).
* Spoke/nipple holes are just punched/ripped through, not precision ground, leaving ugly shards of metal inside (internal and just cosmetic, but really cheap, ugly and unnecessary).
* Hubs are only painted black, not anodized.
* Spokes are painted black (chips off very easily), not dyed.
* Axles are slightly larger than standard...enough that I had to grind them down to fit in my drop-outs.
CST tires and tubes are the only quality parts on this wheelset.
You want a low priced set of quality deep Vs?...get Origin 8. Yeah, you don't get tires, tubes or cogs but they're way worth the extra effort.
Anyone who gave these a high rating is either someone who just received them and wrote a review before inspecting/using them (a pre-teen mesmerized by the colors?) or someone with low to no standards.
Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>
I am highly impressed with these wheels for the value. I am currently converting my 21 speed roadie to a fixie, i wasn't sure if these would fit my bike since it is not a Retrospec but sure enough they fit perfect and look sick. i love the flip flop hub, freewheel when you just want to cruise around and have some fun, or switch it over to fixed for more speed and climbing power. They come with high quality CST tubes and tires, i have only had these wheels for a couple days but have already logged over 100 miles on them with no issues so far on some pretty trashy urban roads. I would definitely recommend these wheels to anybody with a fixie or looking to convert to a fixie.Best Deals for Retrospec Bicycles Super Deep-V Wheels with CST Tires (700C x 23)
I purchased the orange wheelset. Overall the product is as described, but some details are lacking.Packaging: Came in a large box, with a single piece of cardboard separating the two wheels. The outside bolts on each wheel had a flat plastic cover to prevent punching through the box, but the insides did not. Not surprisingly, the bolts punched through the single cardboard sheet and jammed into the spokes. Light scratches on the black paint of the spokes is probably due to this.
Tires and Tubes: No complaints here, seem good quality and properly installed on the rim. Apparently a well known brand but I'm not an expert on them.
Color: Orange paint on rim is mostly glossy and smooth, but there are numerous streaks with the gloss rubbed off, possibly due to packaging, or construction. I checked to see if it was just marks by cleaning the wheels but its definitely some scratched off clear coat. Black paint on spokes is fine, other than scratches from packaging. Based on this I don't think the paint is very durable.
Construction: This is probably the worst aspect of the wheel. On both wheels the Retrospec sticker is used to cover up a large, very noticeable seam running radially on the rim, on both sides. I realize this is how most rims are made, but better quality rims are brazed and sanded smooth, or put together with an insert and much higher tolerances. The seam is a gap in the paint and metal that can be seen from around 4 feet away. If you plan on installing brakes the seam causes a noisy bump each time the pads go over it.
Both wheels spin relatively true, but could use a truing. The hubs spin quietly and the flip flop up was secure and worked well.
Honest reviews on Retrospec Bicycles Super Deep-V Wheels with CST Tires (700C x 23)
These wheels are pretty nice, especially when you consider the price.The package they came in was completely destroyed, but (miraculously) the wheels were fine! Perfectly true right out of the box, but the cones were a but too tight... Nothing that can't be fixed with 30 seconds of wrenching.
The reason that I rate these 4 stars is because the fixed-gear cog is VERY difficult to remove. I wanted to swap out the 16t cog for a 18t because I live in a very hilly city. The lockring comes off no problem, but the cog seems to be epoxy-Ed on. Not loktite, EPOXY! After trying and failing with my chainwhip (even using a cheater-bar), I tried using the reverse Rotafix method... It took two people, even doing that!
Other than that, I love these wheels! Paint is great (the black spokes make te color really POP), bearings are smooth, and (mine, at least) came true, despite the package being shredded. I'd buy them again, and would recommend them to a friend.
No comments:
Post a Comment