American classic 420 wheels

Frank the tank

LBS owner loaned me a pair of these to "test ride" today.

Must say they're an excellent wheel set, the only thing holding them back was the Kenda rubber (not bad, but not the best) and the rider.

I have some easton ea 90's and IMHO there is nowt to chose between the two, but the 420's are a bit more "bling" and cheaper.

andyp

Are they the 2009 version with the new hubs? I had a pair bought in 2006 and the hub design meant you went through bearings like they were going out of fashion. I ended up getting them rebuilt with a pair of Tune hubs.

The new hubs are meant to be much better and have been redesigned to address the bearing problem.

I've struggled to find a UK importer, do you know who your LBS got them through?

Monty Dog

FWIW AM Classic have a new UK importer - there was a feature in the comic this week.
I've had a pair of 420s for about 18 months - Chain Reaction was clearing them out for £220 and for the money they're a bargain - needed a bit of a tweak with the spoke key after a few months, but been good since. They are perceptably faster at high speed than a traditional rim too. The older model hubs has stupidly small cartridge bearings but the new models are considerably stronger. They aren't the stiffest wheel laterally though.

Frank the tank

andyp wrote:

Are they the 2009 version with the new hubs? I had a pair bought in 2006 and the hub design meant you went through bearings like they were going out of fashion. I ended up getting them rebuilt with a pair of Tune hubs.

The new hubs are meant to be much better and have been redesigned to address the bearing problem.

I've struggled to find a UK importer, do you know who your LBS got them through?

Spoke to the owner today, they're this years model. The hubs are on the skinny side but they seem fine.

It was only a short ride and I'm not the heftiest or most powerful rider in the world so it's not beyond the realms of possibility the wheels could be made to flex, but I couldn't do it on the 70 odd mile ride I took them on. I did give them some stick though and they seemed sound.

Sorry about the late reply but due to hols I've not been able speak to the proprioter 'til today.