Campagnolo Neutron

Price Paid:  $600.00 at e-bay

Favorite Ride:
The last double I finished

Bike Setup:
These wheels have been on 2 bikes.
A) Ritchey Breakaway Camp Triple
B) Merlin Extralight Camp Record Double

Summary:
I've beat the crap out of these wheels. I don't pay attention to pot holes. I weigh over 200 pounds. I've never had to true the rims or service the bearings.

Strengths:
Strong. Good on hills and flats. At the same time they are smooth enough for long wides, like double centuries.

Weaknesses:
coasting is a little noisy

Similar Products Used:
Mavic Ksyrium SL
Ritchey Pro
Easton Vista

Price Paid:  $0.00

Favorite Ride:
Anywhere with hills or mountains

Summary:
This is for the 2006' wheelset.
Price in euros : 450€.

I wanted a light but reliable wheelset for climbing, as I live 2h from the French Alps :-)
That means light, but not too much: Not one of these fragile, short lived 1300g wheels that you have to sent to manufacture's repairing service every 2 months and that does not break under the rain. I wanted real wheels for the real road.

And that is exactly what are these Campa "neutron": OK not the lightest on the market, but quite light anyway, well designed, responsive and stiff enough.

I have made something like 2500kms with them last summer, on various roads: Comfort is decent.
I have rode stiffer wheels, but these were hard-like-concrete aero wheels that I used for racing on flat races few years ago. They are stiff enough for most utilisations, I think. I don't race anymore but I wouldn't be afraid using them on a hard race.

They are not "aero" but I guess their very clean design (no external nipples, thin spokes, simple rounded hubs etc) makes them as aero as some heavier wheels with high-profile rims.

You can ride on rough roads, have a safe breaking at 80km/h down a mountain etc...

They are easy to clean and the Campagnolo guide explain all the maintenance/lube/montage operations in details when time comes to do that.

I found hubs a little bit tight at the beginning but they became smoother after few rides. Now they are OK.

I don't know how durable they will be but other users seems to have them for a long time. I'm quite confident on that point.
I'm not a "Campy forever guy" at all but I have to admit that all their products I used so far were reliable and well built.

On the bad side, they are quite expensive (that's why I found the 2006' version, that where on discount).
And... mounting the tires for the first time is a pain, that's true. Well, not a big issue if you change your tires once or twice a year.

In conclusion, I do not regret buying them. They deserve a good 4/5 in their category, which is good grade for me.

Strengths:
-Polyvalent,
-Quite light,
-Responsive, stiff enough and quite comfortable,
-Intelligent overall design / quality built
-Not bikeshows, fancy wheels: You can trust it in the real life.

Weaknesses:
-Expensive,
-Mounting the tires is not fun,
-Could have been a little more aero (with just more rounded rims)
-Replacement parts/spokes could be expensive (but I don't think I'll brake a lot of spokes on them)

Similar Products Used:
Nothing similar.
Various training wheels (mavic cosmos and a bunch of handbuilt wheelset) and some old-school stiff aero wheels.

Price Paid:  $0.00

Favorite Ride:
Rancho Santa Fe Loop

Bike Setup:
2002 Litespeed Tuscany
Campagnolo Record 10-speed drive train, Chorus shifters and brakes

Summary:
I weigh 150 lbs so I can ride most any wheel without issue. For many years I rode conventional 32 spoke 3x wheels and the last set I had were still good after 20,000 miles or so. Then I bought a Rolf Sestriere wheelset which I really liked for performance, but they were a little delicate even for my weight. I bought the Neutrons and I love them - light, strong, comfortable and very low maintenance.

However, I just noticed the front rim is developing hair-line cracks, about 1/4 inch long radiating down the center of the rim on both sides of every spoke hole. So while they are still true, the front wheel needs to be rebuilt - could be very pricey unless I can find a new Neutron rim on ebay at a bargain price.

Strengths:
I've got somewhere between 12,000 & 14,000 miles on these wheels and they are still strong and true. But they are also light enough for quick acceleration and responsive steering. In strong, gusty cross-winds they track much better than wheels with larger aero-rims and spokes. The freehub and wheel bearings are easily accessed for lubing

Weaknesses:
I broke several tire levers changing the tires on these wheels. Prying the bead over the rim on these wheels is tougher than any other wheeel I've used. I finally bought some Pedros tire levers and they are strong enough to lift the bead over the rim without breaking.

Similar Products Used:
Rolf Sestriere wheelset

Price Paid:  $0.00 at Sundance Cycles

Favorite Ride:
Mulholland Drive

Bike Setup:
Colnago Dream (all aluminum)
Full Campy Record

Summary:
My LBS is building up a set of 2x/3x clincher wheels for me on my old hubs and they gave me these wheels to use in the meantime.

I found these wheels to be stiff, responsive, extremely straight and well balanced. They were also harsh riding, and HEAVY.

Maybe if I had a carbon or steel frame the ride would have been tolerable. And maybe I am just used to the plush ride of my 3x 1350 gram tubular wheels, but these Neutrons really beat me up on my ride.

Strengths:
Responsive, stiff, absolutely true and extremely well balanced. Nicely aerodynamic.

Weaknesses:
Heavy, harsh ride.

Similar Products Used:
Campy Barcelona rims (tubular) with Campy Record Hubs.

Price Paid:  $545.00 at somewhere only i kno

Favorite Ride:
Zuid-Limburg, Amstel Gold Race, Marmotte

Bike Setup:
Scott CR1 lim., Record carbon, Look hsc5 fork, Zero gravity 06 brakes, kmc gold chain, thomson seatpost,arione, deda newton.

Summary:
I've bought the Neutron Ultra's 2007 and there also GREAT. A little lighter than the standards, also the carbon hub looks very nice. When riding it, i can't make up much difference with the standards, so i can advice you, only buy the Ultra's for the looks and the 80grams less...
Overall really really nice wheels, very strong and quite stiff.
2007 prices: neutron € 410,- (!!)
Neutron ultra € 454,-
Weight: neutron fabrik: 1550 (in reality 1560)
neutron ultra fabric: 1470 (in reality 1485)

Strengths:
For low-rim wheels they look very good. shock-absorbing. very smooth and durable hubs. weight is OK.

Weaknesses:
changing tubes is not as easy as on a mavic wheel. but the tube will stay on the rim when flat:)

Similar Products Used:
shimaNO r-600. neutron standard. campa eurus. ambrosio crono f20 dt-swiss240, dt aero lite (tubbies)