Crank Bro's cobalt wheels.

scale20

These will be mine in the new year at some point.

Was in my LBS today getting my joplin looked at by the Crank bro's rep (turns out I know him well) and I thought I would pick his brains about the wheels. Just so happened that he had the cobalts and iodene wheels in his van, wow :shock: :shock: they are very very nice in the flesh, lovely and light and beutifully made.

I have the breaking strain of a kit-kat when it comes to stuff like that and usually buy it and worry about how I'm going to pay for it after, however I managed to hold back

he wouldn't do mates rates though

_Ferret_

I would love a pair but they are sooooo expensive!

Sarnian

I would like to know how much stick they can take.

dave_hill

If they're anything like the pedals I'd be staying well clear... :shock:

scale20

The rep was saying they will take a good hammering, but he would wouldn't he!

In the hand they felt really strong and stiff, its a lot of money to pay though to find they bend easy!

dave_hill

scale20 wrote:

The rep was saying they will take a good hammering, but he would wouldn't he!

"Well, no, they're a sack of sh!t son, better off buying Mavics!"

Not going to happen, is it?

GHill

Iodine, stiff as heck, bit noisy, some reliability questions. I was tempted but probably heading down the pro II/flow route.

DamonC

They look mega and made me feel all funny when I saw them.

But the weight is higher than the Hope Pro 3 and Flow wheels at double the price.

trekhead

scale20
I`ve had the iodine all mountains since early May and haven`t had any probs at all. Yes they are expensive ( by the way - what price was the rep talking about?) but they are light, very strong, spin great and are an absolute work of art.

There are several reviews about, one that said they hammered a pair for a year and they didn`t even go out of true, they definatley don`t bend easy.

I love mine even though they are a bit bling, it`s the first thing that gets asked about when we met knew riders.

Go on - treat yourself. You only live once.

Oh yeah, no matter what you put them through they always come up like new 8)

GHill

Does the regular Trek ABP skewer fit through the Iodines? Have to admit they look ace on the root beer.

trekhead

Good point !
The regular Trek skewer does fit through, but the Crank Brothers split skewer that comes with the wheels doesn`t fit. I had to cut and lengthen mine.

ads4

No probs with mine Had the black XC Cobalts for a few months now and they are still true. I don't ride anything too hard but they get ragged round Swinley every week and they haven't put a foot wrong yet! Nice and light and great pick up when you put the power down

ads4

And Hans Rey rides on them on his 160mm travel GT and doesn't have a problem!

Uncle Peter

Get him riding in the UK for a year and I bet they'll need at least a blooming good service.

Crank Bros is designed in California for California

scale20

trekhead wrote:

scale20
I`ve had the iodine all mountains since early May and haven`t had any probs at all. Yes they are expensive ( by the way - what price was the rep talking about?) but they are light, very strong, spin great and are an absolute work of art.

There are several reviews about, one that said they hammered a pair for a year and they didn`t even go out of true, they definatley don`t bend easy.

I love mine even though they are a bit bling, it`s the first thing that gets asked about when we met knew riders.

Go on - treat yourself. You only live once.

Oh yeah, no matter what you put them through they always come up like new 8)

Looks sweet mate, He had those exact wheels with him, the colour didn't really suit my bike otherwaise I would have probably walked away with them! The rep wouldn't give any other price other than the RRP, I got them down to about £660 on wiggle though 8) 8)

I've never had any issues with crank bro's kit, I've been running Candy's for years on all my bikes and they are still going strong.

I must admit, the black cobalts on gold hubs were very nice 8) 8)

loltoride

They are very nice although for the money I would have to go with the Mavic SLR never used a better wheel and can take whatever you throw at them.

benneally

ADS4

Why on earth would you buy the black ones?! The only reason you buy the cobalt wheels is because they are the most bling thing you can get, and you went and got black ones?!

Mind you, they do look nice whatever colour. And you black/red theme does work and is the classic.

benneally

...just been looking at them myself. Why are there only 3 colours available now?

Salsa

Can't see the point of them myself, you can build lighter more well proven wheels for less money. Heck you can get Kings for less or even something really exotic. I have to say though that I hate the look of that type of spoke pattern & really can't see any benefits from spoke builds in that style.

Torres

Salsa wrote:

Can't see the point of them myself, you can build lighter more well proven wheels for less money. Heck you can get Kings for less or even something really exotic. I have to say though that I hate the look of that type of spoke pattern & really can't see any benefits from spoke builds in that style.

It's just for bling value, like you say, you cn get a top end hope/king wheelset for less, but will it turn as may heads?

ads4

If we all bought the same wheels/liked the same clothes etc it would be a very borring place now wouldn't it?

@ Benneally - I really don't think the blue Cobalts would have suited mine at all!

Father Faff

Spoke to Crank Bros and they are thinking of doing red cobalts soon - apparently they are going to be supplying red cobalts to Ibis?

Father Faff

In fact just checked Ibis's website and they are doing red cobalts with the 2010 Mojo - now that would be a real expensive set of wheels!

milfredo

They look nice when they are not lary clours, otherwise I think they will be the next purple accessoy of 2009 - 10. Gold will look crap in no time and all the best bikes (IMHO) are subtle. Frame can be loud as it's a frame, every other component must be black no matter what.

Just like my Blur LTC with black stuff on it.

Father Faff

Eh? Don't you think Trekheads Trek photos above look amazing with those orange Iodines? Fab.

delcol

mark and jonny @ bearbackibiking were running them on a few of their bikes this year..

a season in whistler i don't think they had any trouble with them...

LoUiS1985

dave_hill wrote:

If they're anything like the pedals I'd be staying well clear... :shock:

+1

the pedals are utter dog shi.t

trekhead

arrrrrrrgh - but the wheels ain`t
C`mon how nice are these straight out the box

bails87

How much do they weigh?

trekhead

Dunno, I`m p1ssed

bails87

Fair enough