deep carbon road rims

[flippjf2]

i am looking at buying some deep carbon rims for general road riding/training.

they are 3k weave, 500mm front/60mm deep and made with ceramic bearings in novotec hubs and flat blade spokes.

they are unbranded, so im guessing the builder buys them in from somewhere and builds them up.

ive had loads of testimonials and he has nothing but good feeback on his ebay account for the wheels.

he can do a pair posted all made with rims, hubs, spokes, rim tape, carbon dura ace pads, spare spokes, extended valve inner tubes for £465.

im new to carbon rims so after advice on if this is good value as i dont need zipps/eastons etc for what i do but equally i dont need them folding up if it hit a stone in the norfolk countr roads!

heres a link to the wheels

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI. ... TQ:GB:1123

 

[red_riviera]

That's about 50% more than the cost of buying similar wheels direct from the manufacturer. Nowhere in that auction does it say the guy builds them himself or that the Novatecs have ceramic bearings.

FWIW I bought a 88mm deep carbon front with a better hub & spokes direct from China on ebay for £185 and it took 6 days to deliver. Very happy with it at that price.

 

[flippjf2]

no, correct it doesnt say it in the listing but ive had a long email conversation with him stating those are the specs.

this aside, i was really after feedback on the quality of these rims compared to me buying directly from china/taiwan at a lower price.

i know the old saying 'you get what you pay for'...but is there much difference?

i cant find any negative feedback from ebay or his testimonials?

 

[ugo.santalucia]

Problem is you can buy the same product cheaper from planet X, which is the reason I never got into building high profile carbon rims. Check their website, 350 I seem to recall... Planet X hubs are novatec rebranded and the rims are likely to be Gigantex

Ps: ceramic bearings are much much worse than decent quality steel ones...

 

[bm0p700f]

Also novatec hub hubs come with steel bearings normally.

Planet X gives you some come back. He is charging alot for those as well and nor does he say what spokes are used. I ould build the gigantex tub rims, novatec A291 and F482 hubs with Sapim CX-rays and alu nipples for the money he is charging.

You do know for general riding a set of 30mm deep alu rims such as kinlin XR300 with novatec hubs and Sapim CX-ray spokes will be a lot lighter and alot cheaper. For general riding you are probably not going to see the aero advantage deep v rims can offer unless your average speed is 25 mph+.

 

[Wingmanrob]

no, correct it doesnt say it in the listing but ive had a long email conversation with him stating those are the specs.

this aside, i was really after feedback on the quality of these rims compared to me buying directly from china/taiwan at a lower price.

i know the old saying 'you get what you pay for'...but is there much difference?

i cant find any negative feedback from ebay or his testimonials?

99% of all carbon fibre comes from the Far East, the 1% is from F1 and Aeronautical/Space Industries. Only the Far East can mass produce it, so those nice Pinarello carbon frames, they're not made in Italy, they might be designed there, but they're very much Chinese/Taiwanese

 

[Tel]

I received a bike in a bike box that previously contained a carbon Colnago, on the side of the box it said "made in Taiwan"

 

[NeilM]

Easton make their own, and I suspect Zipp do to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxTWSTo2_4Q