FSA RD 400

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
These wheels are the worst. I have never had such a bad experience with this wheel set. I would never recommend them.

Strengths:
Lightweight

Weaknesses:
I have sent these wheels back to FSA three times. I have broken spokes on them on ten occasions. I am not a heavy rider (165lbs).

Price Paid:  $400.00 at Bikeman.com

Favorite Ride:
Giant TCR Composite

Bike Setup:
Giant TCR Composite, 9sp Shimano Durace Ace/Ultegra mix, FSA Gossamer crank, FSA C-16 F Derailleur.

Summary:
I purchased the RD400 wheels, in late 2003, based on FSA's good reputation at the time. $400 is a good mid-range price for the average cyclist.
Within 3 months of use, the rear wheel started breaking spokes. I returned the wheel to FSA , who replaced it under warranty. Now both the front and rear rims have developed cracks which are up to an inch in length. The cracks are spreading outward from most spoke clearance holes.Luckily I noticed this before the wheel weakened too much. When reporting this to FSA, they know about the cracking rims and the spoke breakage problems. However, they will not extend their warranty to cover my wheels which have the above mentioned problems they they are aware of. The wheels perform adequately, but not spectacular.

Strengths:
Low price, low weight, they do look great too.

Weaknesses:
Noisy, creaking, sqeaking. Questionable durability; spoke breakage and rim cracks.
Worst of all is the poor customer service.

Similar Products Used:
performace fuego,mavic sup wheels built by Colorado Cyclist

Price Paid:  $0.00 at Performance

Favorite Ride:
Anything over Usery Pass

Bike Setup:
Carbon frame with full Dura Ace groupo except for Truvativ Giga X Pipe crank.

Summary:
Purchased as part of complete bike. I am 6 foot and 185 lbs. I put just under 6000 miles on these rims in the first 15 months I owned them. The only problem I had was when my cassette cogs had gotten torqued into the freebody hub at the 8 or 9 month mark. Another review mentioned this same problem. I replaced the freebody hub for with a new/better one for $40 and had no other problems since. The first time I had to have these wheels trued was at the same 6000 mile, 15 month mark after I hit a deep hole - bad enough to take me down and separating my left shoulder. Even after that they weren't terribly out of true and could still be ridden.

Strengths:
Light, durable spooks, holds tru

Weaknesses:
Freebody hub soft

Price Paid:  $0.00 at used

Favorite Ride:
open road will gentle rollers

Bike Setup:
'02 Klein Quantum Pro, campy record, etc.

Summary:
After shopping for a new (to me) used bike for months, I finally found a great one. The only thing I was uncertain about were the FSA RD-400 wheels which I knew nothing about. So I came here to read reviews.

I was pretty leery, after reading that some people had problems with these wheels. So I went to fullspeedahead.com and posted some questions to their tech support team. This review is about what I learned through that experience, and in the several hundred miles I've put on the wheels since I've owned them (they had ~5,000 miles on them when I got them):

* Earlier versions of this wheelset did have problems. Those problems (skewers, rims) have been solved. Period.
* FSA tech support were fantastic! Ric, in particular, was wonderful. He was patient, and answered all my questions to my total satisfaction. I couldn't have asked for better support.
* After following the instructions on the FSA web site, the freewheel on my wheel went from being very loud to rather quiet.
* These wheels are fast, and I love the way they ride (I have Continental Grand Prix mounted).

As I said, these wheels had about 5,000 miles on them when I got them. I know the previous owner never had them trued, but there was an owner before him and I don't know if he ever touched them with a spoke wrench. I've only put a couple hundred miles on them so far, and with no issues. I'm a big rider at 235 lbs.

On the negative side, I'm not a big fan of the hidden nipple design. They look great, but what a pain to true them! But I called several local bike shops, and all said they would true these wheels for the same price as any other wheel.

In summary, I strongly encourage others to give these wheels consideration. Keep in mind that some low ratings were probably with an early version of this wheel that had problems. FSA have fixed those problems. To reflect those changes, they will be changing the model number of this wheel in the future. In the meantime, give them a try!

Strengths:
* comfortable, yet responsive ride
* fast (hey - I weigh 235, so it's all relative, but they feel fast to me
* they look great on my Klein!

Weaknesses:
* a hassle to true (must dismount tire)

Similar Products Used:
Old school wheels on my Cannondale commuter

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Although I initially had problems with the wheels when I purchased them (2 years ago) when the spokes began to crack the rim, I've had nothing but good luck with the replacement set FSA sent.

Strengths:
I am fairly rough on wheels, lots of dirt road and heavy pothole riding, racing, ect. They have about 10k miles on them and I have had to touch them with a spoke wrench ONCE, and barely any truing was needed at that.

Weaknesses:
Well the initial pair was crummy but FSA remedied that. They are not super light either, I think when FSA updated their rim design to solve the problem they put little braces in the rim where the nipple sits, which adds weight.

Similar Products Used:
Mavic (awesome), Bontrager (terrible), spinergy