They probably just read that the shark fin design on the conti gp5000 tires was aerodynamically beneficial, so they slabbed in on their rims and called it a day.
Nice and honest review! Love your content. I saw they have another type of wheel, 1395 grams, those wide spokes, no wave pattern or shark fin indents, for just under 600€/699USD. That sort of price makes it more attractive than their higher placed wheels I suppose.
Great video, I'm glad you point out the good and the not-so-good of these wheels. Having the side-entry hub and the mostly hidden nipples looks like a bad combination. The failure mode they added, where spokes can fall off the side of the hub, could be mitigated by checking and maintaining spoke tension. But now the spoke wrench has a 1/4 of the surface it's intended to work with, which makes it substantially more difficult to get purchase on. If those where my wheels, I'd at least put longer black brass nipples on it.
Good evaluation. The concern I have with the Superteam range as a whole, is the whole 'Form Over Function' approach they have to their design. They look fantastic, but there has been no real research into what effect the rim profile/design has on the aerodynamic performance of the wheel. Sticking a spoiler to your can can have a negative impact, and the same applies here.
I heard that they basically copy older carbon wheel designs from 10+ years ago, which is why many are V shaped. Many of the new ones are U shaped now which should improve cross wind performance. They also over built the wheels so weight isn't great. and they cheap out on the hub and spokes. They are still incredible value for money, but you'd probably only see about half the aero benefits compared to a newer name brand wheels like those form Lightbicycle.
I know you're a big fan of Hunt Wheels. I own 2 sets (44 Aerodynamicist disc and 40 carbon aero disc). Both freehubs gave me identical issues. I even sent a one back to Hunt and they found nothing. The problem is the pawls engaging the splines. I'd get mis-engagement 2~3 times during a typical 2~3 hr ride. Symptom is a loud clunk noise and a jolt in the pedals. After doing my own trial and error, I found that it is less likely to occur if I put more grease in the pawl/spline contact surfaces. You're right about the hubs! I also own a set of Elite Edge (Aliexpress) with ratchet freehub and it has been trouble free since day one.
What's that shirt! looks awesome! :) And also, thanks for the review. I don't ever see myself buying carbon wheelsets but your videos are always informative, unbiased and speak to the science part in me :)
Good review. However, I do disagree on the sentiment about budget name brand carbon wheels. For example, I got a set of the Zipp 303s open-box from a local pro-triathlete. They're fairly heavy at a bit over 1550 grams, they're hookless (I don't care, but it's certainly a cost saving measure), and the hubs started to have play after a year of riding. If these were AliExpress wheels, they would be comparable to entry level $400-$600 even though they carry a $1400 MSRP. I got a set of the Elite Drive gravel wheels with the carbon spokes for less than $1K when they were on sale. They come in at under 1350 grams, crazy stiff due to the carbon spokes, and hooked. To get something like this kind of performance from a western brand, I would have to look at something like the ENVE SES series, which is somewhere around $2.5K to $3K. When you talk about carbon wheels, there are tiers instead of just a generic term of "carbon wheels" these days and prices can be well more than double to go from budget to top-tier.
Velo Orange makes good ones, but if they are too pricey for you, look for Alex rims or Ryde Andra rims and pair them with a Shimano hub for a super affordable long lasting rim. Just built one with Alex Rims and Velocity hubs and they are proper fly
For you average road bike rider, expensive carbon wheels make zero sense. People like myself will never feel the difference between the brands simply because we don't ride for hours every day. So I think that budget carbon wheels are great for people like myself who can spend money on more important things in life.
Depends on what you define as expensive. Also mainstream Brand offers start sometimes at sub 1k Dollar. If you go with the high end wheels. The mainstream ones will be 3k and more whereas the chinese competitors are somewhere in the 1-1.5k price range. I would go with the craft crw wheels bc their internal is huge (25mm) and weight is crazy light (1290g). The magenes are also nice
I wish there was a supplier of carbon *rims* such as DTSwiss, HED, Easton in much the same way these companies sell excellent aluminium rims for custom builds. I don’t trust Light Bicycle rims
I would assume that you had no problem with these wheels in a few days. Would be strange if they would brake in a few days. But how will they be when you used them for some trails or two years? In general the thing with Chinese products is not that they were manufactured there. As you said a lot of stuff is build in China. The point is: Where is the person responsible for the safety of the stuff you bought and you life depends on? A lot of bicycle parts can kill you when they break without a warning. So did you purchase this product from a company in your country that you can make accountable in case something happens? Or do have to deal with Chinese laws from your country?
One of the biggest reasons that I have never bought “complete” wheel sets, especially carbon hoop Chinese wheel sets, is the poor quality hubs. Perhaps I’m snobbish and only want high end hubs and that’s apparent from my current collection of ONYX hubs on Stan’s Baron CB7 or my Chis King on my Zipp XPLR 101 rims. Back to the value proposition of complete Chinese carbon wheel, they’re light, they are literally close to the same price point of just a set of high end hubs from all the top brands we know. Plus they’re light and will make you climb faster “objectively” If you’re not concerned about the other nuances of the hubs, spokes,spoke nipples and random quality control concerns. Buy them! Personally I wouldn’t and absolutely prefer to seek quality with my choices over weight savings, plus I will never be a fast climber.
@@TheBikeSauceI mean, I get the annoyance and wrongness of a science nerd being “why 21?” I don’t even like 18 spoke wheels. Give me a number divisible by 4.
Are these wheels using an actual aerodynamic design or are they designed to look “aerodynamic”? The way the nipples protrude from the rim, as well as the straight spoke design, is concerning. I would be concerned about the quality control process with a lesser known brand. The DT Swiss style ratchet hub isn’t a big selling point for me. The price seems quite high as a value proposition.
To me, having 21 spokes seems just like saying, "This one goes to eleven." If they could point out an actual benefit of having 21 spokes over an even number, then, I guess, but I just can't see a reasoning. But then again, I'm just a sucker for traditional 28/32/36 j-bend spoked wheels. In silver, if possible. Easy to deal with all around, even if they're 0.5-1.0 pound heavier.
It’s absolutely wild to me that you don’t have a proper set of spoke wrenches. You have a respected RU-vid channel…what are you doing? Treat yourself; they’re not expensive. Anyway, keep doing good stuff.
21? How does that math work? The one closeup of the front hub looks like 7 radial spokes on the drive side. Are there 14 spokes on the brake side? Same for the back wheel? Seems odd.
