SRAM S40 V2

getinfitr

I see on here that the review of the original S40's only recieved 2 stars but wondered if the improvements made in the V2 made them a wheel now worth consideration??

I am looking at buying a set of SRAM S40 V2 and wondered if anyone had a good word to say or whether i should steer clear in favour of a set of Shimano (7900) C35's or C50's

getinfitr

The lack of response says a lot, not too many SRAM fans out there then

Shimano Dura ace c35 or 50's is it then

Thanks
Getinfitr

racingcondor

I'm not aware of Shimano making any wheels recently that had durability issues. Compare that to my SRAM AL 30 Race wheelset which has spent more time in the shop that on my bike and I'd recommend Shimano.

The rims on my SRAM are great, remarkably light, hold speed noticably better than my shallow rim wheels but there is a big flaw in the way SRAM built them. The spokes had Alu nipples with an Alu washer on them to make a pivot point inside the rim (concave washer, convex nipple), the problem is that the Alu washers cracked over time and did it so quickly that I broke two spokes in about 1,500 miles (I haven't broken a spoke on any other wheelset ever). I think I've fixed it now that I've rebuilt the rear wheel with a new hub, brass nipples and no washers but that's a bit of an extreme fix (also went 2 cross both sides since the original lacing seemed odd to me).

Hopefully with version 2 SRAM have learnt the lesson (brass washers would probably 90% fix it), upping the spoke count to 20/24 would also help the flex.

I know I'm a sample of 1 so may have had some bad luck (bought from a bad batch perhaps) but my experience hasn't been good. It's a shame, I love SRAM groupsets but it's their wheels that convinced me to go to handbuilts.

sungod

sadly i had spoke trouble on the sram al30race as well, imho sram isn't building them correctly, after about 6 months i had a spoke just go under low load on the flat, looked closely and the hub had crazed around the spoke holes, they just replaced the whole wheel under warranty, but now i'm reluctant to ride them again

the s40 is a different construction, the earlier version seemed to have some problems, but towards the end of this thread it's suggested they imroved it...

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum ... =3&t=77144

...no idea if it worked out though

shimano wheels seem to have a much better reputation, i think i'd go with them

Dadmo

Same as racingcondor and sungod, I've not had good experiences with SRAM wheels - in six months of using AL30s I had two broken spokes in the rear wheel and failed bearings in the front, and the wheels never stayed true for more than six weeks at a time. I switched to Kysrium SLs, and have had no trouble since.