Description 420 Black Bladed is the best do-it-all wheels on the market and strong enough for racing or training. Responsive and smooth with a lightweight, deep aerodynamic profile. Lighter than most wheels since...
Bike Setup: cARBON eveywhere. Bars, stems, seatposts, bottle cages. Everything. The only very avearge thing I have on my bike is SRAM RIVAL. But you know what , its damn near flawless !!! I'll upgrade to RED soon, but the RIVAL just won't play up. SRAM is good if you have wrist problems, as all gear changes use the middle finger/forearm muscles. Shimano needs full wrist action. Get old, or have an accident with your hands/wrists, and you'll understand just how helpfull SRAM groups are. I'm a convert. But if you want fast light wheels - AMC !!!
Summary: This is my 3rd set of American Classic wheels. I've had 2 sets CR420, and now have MAG300. Other than the first set of CR420 having a hub problem ( part of the recalled hubs etc) which is kindly being attended to the great guys atAMC in the USA, all my wheels have been damn near fantastic. The CR420 with Campag hub I had was weighed out of the box and they came to 1475g ( Black / Bladed). I weigh 105kg, and all three sets I've owned have been bullet proof, and have taken the hammering I've palmed out!
Strengths: Alan out at AMC in the USA has been fantastic to deal with when it came to Warranty claims. Sending me ( to Australia !) the replacement hubs ( recall problem) quickly. All AMC wheels are light, fast and strong. In all honesty tho, if you can handle the boring looks ie: lack of deep dish, and over abundant skinny spokes; the MAG300 are the choice. So damn light it is crazy. They are simply FAST!!! And on a windy day, you'll leave ZIPPS and other crap like that for dead, cause they will have riders exhausted from having to fight the bike. And then on hills you'll killem as well. The CR420 is best left to training and hammering your bikes with the guys. Bit heavier, look a little cooler, and reasonably strong. But those MAG300 Mmmm. And did I say I weigh 105kg, and have legs like cancellara ( under the blubber that is). AFTERSALES SERVICE AND WARRANTY FROM AMC IN TAMPA USA WAS EXCEPTIONAL !!! ALSO HERE IN AUSTRALIA, CASSONS 9 THE AMC DISTRIBUTOR) WERE GREAT HELP AS WELL ( THANKS MATHEW). Overall, wud I buy another set of American Classics - HELL YEH!
Weaknesses: Weld / join on rim at braking section is always lumpy, and on all whells will give an intermitent rubbing sensation. No worse than any other wheel I've encountered, n I've had many. Hub bearings must not be over tightened at the two lock nuts, or bearings will be stuffed in no time. Leave just a poofteenth of freeplay n u'll be right.Also, at the factory they use loc-tight on the nipples to stop then from loosening. So if you need to adjust spoke tensions, it gets a bit hard and complicated, and you need to by the special tool to hold the spokes while you adjust the nipple. You can bodgey a set of vice grips to do same job , but u might scratch enamel on spokes. so be careful.
Similar Products Used: I've tried them all. The crap were the ZIPP Tubular 303's. Unless you weigh under 150kg, and only use them a couple of times a year they're just not strong enough. Strongest ( but heavy) were Mavi Elite. Shimano Ultegra were very average and flexed and pinged every time you got out of the saddle. Ritchy WSC , the hubs wont fit SRAM, and are boring as batsh#t to look at. I just keep coming back to the AMC's. Light hubs, light rims, spin crazy fast and you can ride them EVERYDAY.
Summary: im dissapointed in this set of wheels. Right out of the box they were covored in fingerprints and grease marks. Icleaned them up and then weighed them...1678!! Thats 200 grams over the weight i was told over the phone by american classic! I called to complain, and they told me that the campy wheels weigh more!?...200 grams more? i feel like i was lied to. Yeah, they ride ok, but no better than wheel sets i have purchased for half the price
Strengths: they look sorta cool
Weaknesses: price. The claimed weight was off by 200 grams!
Similar Products Used: mavic ksyrium, ritchey pro, zipp 404
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Bike Setup: NOW, a Scott CR1, Ultegra 10, these wheels, Arione saddle, Time RXS pedals (another damn recall product!)
Summary: So I loved my Giant TCR, light, fast, etc. But the Shimano wheels flexed enough for the magnet to hit the cpur sensor at times. Then I got these wheels, with the bladed spokes. OMG, I've never felt a bigger change in a bike's character so fast! I'm 165 lbs, so not huge, but still, unable to flex these guys. And when my Giant died in a crash in Montana (cracked top tube), the wheels only barely came out of true didn't bend
Strengths: Super light, very stiff and aero. Completely changed the feel of my bike
Weaknesses: The hubs had a recall, but AC took care of the change, and it was never really a problem
Summary: The silver version came stock with my 2006 Orbea Orca,Our excellent Canadian distributor arranged for American Classic to make me a black pair. To date communication with the distributor and AC in Florida has been great, I get responses to me maintenance and other questions the next day consistently. These are very light wheels that roll very well and have worked well for me as training and racing wheels. The front wheel is excellent, the rear wheel is good. I've assumed they were a bit laterally flexy but I now feel this is more an issue with the "play" in the rear hub. AC suggests that the wheel should have "next to no play" which seems to eventually become "more than enough" play. I'll be adjusting this to determine if this is the issue and the outcome will help me decide if they are really good wheels or just really nice looking wheels. I've noticed on the AC site they have made some changes to the hubs and they recommend "no" play in the most current hubs... congrats- wish I had those.
Strengths: fast, great looking, light, aero, great communication with manufacturer and distributor
Weaknesses: Perhaps the play in the hub- at this point because of that play they are very noisy and bothersome when sprinting
Similar Products Used: bontrager race lite, ksyrium sc
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