Anyone ever been brave enough to buy the REALLY cheap carbon wheelsets on ebay?

russboy
russboy Posts: 436
edited May 2016 in Road buying advice
You know the ones, like here:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Carbon-Wheels ... YUJCeGJsnw

I'm not volunteering by the way to be a guinea pig!!

Just wondered, surely they're an absolute load of rubbish................. arent they?

Comments

  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    Bulk buys from China and then sold over here. There's nothing inherently wrong with them. There's a massive thread on chinese carbon wheels on here somewhere - probably useful to have a read of that...
  • bendertherobot
    bendertherobot Posts: 11,684
    £50 postage, POSSIBLE customs, not a lot of back up.

    So, for £100 more, a warranty etc http://www.zuus.co.uk/zuus-carbon-aero- ... ly-399-99/

    30 day replacement policy, crash replacement.
    My blog: http://www.roubaixcycling.cc (kit reviews and other musings)
    https://twitter.com/roubaixcc
    Facebook? No. Just say no.
  • russboy
    russboy Posts: 436
    bendertherobot wrote:
    £50 postage, POSSIBLE customs, not a lot of back up.

    So, for £100 more, a warranty etc http://www.zuus.co.uk/zuus-carbon-aero- ... ly-399-99/

    30 day replacement policy, crash replacement.

    Nice those, although i'm too heavy for them :oops:

    Not actually in the market for them I just wondered if anyone had taken the chance on them, there are loads on there, quite a few say they are UK based but taken with a pinch of salt!!
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    Thousands of people are riding around on chinese carbon wheels - like I say, there's no inherent issue with them...
  • paul2718
    paul2718 Posts: 471
    I would be nervous about clinchers, but I have a pair of cheap Chinese carbon tubulars that are adequate. And the problem, if there's a problem, is with the braking surface which is a bit crumbly. I've ridden them loads, a week in the Alps including the Etape, the UCI worlds in Denmark, 85 miles of Welsh mountains last weekend. They're still true and the bike still stops. For less than £300 after shipping and customs.

    I have 25mm deep rims, the reasoning being that they strictly meet the 'standard' wheel definition of the UCI. So very cheap, very light, legal for racing, if they get trashed it's not the end of the world and the Novatec hubs are usefui post trash. Other's priorities might differ.

    Paul
  • trailflow
    trailflow Posts: 1,311
    Imposter wrote:
    Thousands of people are riding around on chinese carbon wheels - like I say, there's no inherent issue with them...

    Not all chinese wheels are made equal. Arron-bike (also known as Diy-bike) have some of the highest reports of issues/failures if you do the research. Infact ebay chinese wheels in general have the most reported problems.

    I took a punt on some 38mm's from ebay from a seller called 'CNcarbon' (probable it's Arron-bike under a different name- but didn't know at the time.)

    Performance wise they are the best wheels i've ridden in terms of lightness,stiffness,responsiveness and feel. Mine weighed 1340 grams.
    They were reasonably true and felt well built.
    Braking performance was much better than expected. Very good braking and modulation in the dry with wiggle blue pads.
    The bad part is after a few months of hilly peak district riding,the basalt brake coating started to crumble and became abrasive. So would rapidly eat through my brake pads. Forcing me to retire the wheels and scrap the rims.
    The rim edges looked very rough and tatty very quickly. DurabilIty was non existent. They did not look even remotely close to a professional looking product you would expect from a branded wheel. The construction of my rims looked very amatuer. There was alot of excess resin in the inside of the rim and some areas of the brake track looked like it was repaired in places with more resin.
    Dismantling the wheels i discovered odd size spokes.

    I'd avoid ebay and buy from Farsports or Yoeleo if must have chinese wheels. Visually comparing their wheels with ebay wheels they look to be built way better. And feedback from those venders is mostly good.

    Farsports or Yoeleo do not sell on ebay. Probably to distance themselves from the crap.
  • colinsmith123
    colinsmith123 Posts: 579
    For all the reasons given above in the end I purchased my my wheels from Farsport via Aliexpress. Great communication with Sindy of Farsport to make sure I got what I was asking for. Waiting for delivery from EMS. Hopefully they will arrive this week as my Mavics really are on their last legs.
    Live to ski
    Ski to live

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