RS80's = Best bang for your buck?

Smonks

As a wheel upgrade, currently available for £325 from CRC (cheaper but out of stock at merlin cycles at £315), what are peoples opinions of these as the best wheels available for the money?

£350 for a pair of wheels would be my budget maximum.

Is it also worth waiting to see what the price will be on the forthcoming RS80 C50 wheels, as yet no price has been published, but could their introduction see some good discounts on the current RS80's?

Gazzaputt

My advice is make sure they aren't 'grey' imports and the have a Shimano backed warranty.

Think you'll find both CRC and Merlin won't offer a manufacturer's warranty.

Smonks

What is the shimano backed warranty?


I can't see any mention of a warranty on CRC, how would I know if they are grey imports - contact the retailer?

dodgy

I've never heard this (grey imports) before about CRC & Merlin WRT to Shimano wheels! Got any more info?

Pretre

dodgy wrote:

I've never heard this (grey imports) before about CRC & Merlin WRT to Shimano wheels! Got any more info?

+1 - not sure it actually matters in any case as your contract is with CRC or Merlin I would think..

Gazzaputt

Pretre wrote:

dodgy wrote:

I've never heard this (grey imports) before about CRC & Merlin WRT to Shimano wheels! Got any more info?

+1 - not sure it actually matters in any case as your contract is with CRC or Merlin I would think..

That it is but if it isn't backed by the manufacturer then sourcing spares and replacements becomes very difficult.

bcss

i just had a front wheel, but was very happy with it, if you search the forum the RS80 is probably on the top end of what you can get for that budget

ride_whenever

I personally wouldn't buy grey imports purely because you can have all sorts of issues with internals etc. plus it will kill off your lbs.

Although as your warranty is through crc/merlin/etc then if they fail then they will just replace them.

bendertherobot

When my freehub went Merlin said they'd send back to Madison.

I resolved it myself but the above demonstrates they're not grey.

Mr Dog

I use RS 80s. Great wheel good price. The new version is bound to be £500+ 8)

ride_whenever

A lot of the stuff merlin sells is grey, the groupsets that are outrageously cheap for example.

Gazzaputt

All Mavic is grey at Merlin.

Mr Dog

I'm Grey... It hurts.

Bozman

A sound set of wheels, i used the word great once but as mine were out of true from the box, i was told they couldn't be! They're a better ride than my SLs and they feel no different than the 7850cls that i've used too. I agree with the comment that the price will increase big time.

softlad

the warranty is on Shimano, not Madison, so the fact that it is grey (or parallel) should not make any difference.

bendertherobot

No, the warranty is with the seller.

wicked

Shimano wheels are 2 year warranty. My wheels went back to madison and was offered a replacement or a refund, this was also through merlin cycles.

softlad

bendertherobot wrote:

No, the warranty is with the seller.

the contract of sale is with the seller - the warranty is with the manufacturer.

bendertherobot

softlad wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

No, the warranty is with the seller.

the contract of sale is with the seller - the warranty is with the manufacturer.

The seller warrants the goods as being fit for purpose.

If these are grey then there is no manufacturer warranty.

Also, of course, there is no "Shimano UK" effectively.

Try pursuing Shimano

bendertherobot

wicked wrote:

Shimano wheels are 2 year warranty. My wheels went back to madison and was offered a replacement or a refund, this was also through merlin cycles.

Indeed. Madison are clearly providing warranty support to Merlin. So unless Madison are providing grey imports then they are clearly not grey.

Effectively Madison become Shimano for the purpose of the "warranty."

bendertherobot

Oh, and, should you ever need this, it's interesting to note that Merlin quite specifcally, on their ebay store, claim that the warranty is with THEM.

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Merlin-Cycles- ... ained.html

softlad

bendertherobot wrote:

Oh, and, should you ever need this, it's interesting to note that Merlin quite specifcally, on their ebay store, claim that the warranty is with THEM.

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Merlin-Cycles- ... ained.html

That patently does not tell the full story though. If Merlin replaces an item under warranty, they would then seek to recover that cost from Madison, who would then seek to recover it from Shimano. The product's warranty is ultimately with the manufacturer of the product. To claim different is nonsense...

wicked

softlad wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

Oh, and, should you ever need this, it's interesting to note that Merlin quite specifcally, on their ebay store, claim that the warranty is with THEM.

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Merlin-Cycles- ... ained.html

That patently does not tell the full story though. If Merlin replaces an item under warranty, they would then seek to recover that cost from Madison, who would then seek to recover it from Shimano. The product's warranty is ultimately with the manufacturer of the product. To claim different is nonsense...

Indeed. Merlin told me madison had credited the amount to them so they gave me refund. The warranty is with the manufacturer but the contract of sale is with the retailer?

My merlin wheels were defininitely grey though...............with white logo's. And a bit of red.

bendertherobot

softlad wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

Oh, and, should you ever need this, it's interesting to note that Merlin quite specifcally, on their ebay store, claim that the warranty is with THEM.

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Merlin-Cycles- ... ained.html

That patently does not tell the full story though. If Merlin replaces an item under warranty, they would then seek to recover that cost from Madison, who would then seek to recover it from Shimano. The product's warranty is ultimately with the manufacturer of the product. To claim different is nonsense...

Well, quite, the warranty is part of the commercial suppliers relationship. Reference to the "warranty" is often made to re-assure the customer but really it's just bunk. The customer has the benefit of basic common and statute law. The warranty simply sorts the situation out between the commercial suppliers. The existence or non existence of a "warranty" is pretty much irrelevant apart from giving some degree of "ease."

AndyI

Buy a set of Pro-Lite Braccianos for £249 from Chain Reaction and save the rest or buy some bike bling with it! See here: http://road.cc/content/review/6577-pro- ... o-wheelset

fleshtuxedo

AndyI wrote:

Buy a set of Pro-Lite Braccianos for £249 from Chain Reaction and save the rest or buy some bike bling with it! See here: http://road.cc/content/review/6577-pro- ... o-wheelset

When they're £176 at Ribble?

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-t ... ROLWHFR280

unixnerd

I bout my Pro-Lites from Ribble, for 11 quid more before the put in extra discount! See my mini-review here:
http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... c&start=40

RS80s or Mavic Ksyrium Elites were on my hit list until I found the Pro-Lites for half the price.

incog24

Good wheels. Bit whippy though? I prefer a stiffer build for racing on personally.

Smonks

Doh! Those pro-lites sound great for the price!

I took the plunge yesterday and bought some RS80's from Absolute cycles on Ebay for £314 and they turned up first thing this morning, great service - very light and very bling

There's a little spoke magnet device that comes with them - what's it for? Could it be a replacement for my computer thingy (technical term I believe ) which attaches to the bladed spokes or am I way off mark?

Hopefully get them on and tested this weekend!

unixnerd

There's a little spoke magnet device that comes with them - what's it for? Could it be a replacement for my computer thingy (technical term I believe Laughing ) which attaches to the bladed spokes or am I way off mark?

It will be. My old one wouldn't fit aero shaped spokes, luckily I had another which did.