Weaknesses: Will they last...? Not a weakness, is it, just a concern.
Bottom Line:
I'm only giving these 4/4 because I can't rule out that there might be a better value out there, otherwise no complaints. I weigh 70kg / 154 pounds (important to know for wheel reviews).
I have about 300 km on a pair of late 2010 Super-Lites. They relegate my 2006-ish Mavic Ksyrium Elites to 'winter wheels'. Previously, I had bought a pair of cheaper Vuelta Zero-Lite clinchers for the GF, but was not terribly impressed with them myself (the GF loves them, however), except for the EVO bearings, they spin forever!
I didn't weigh the Super-Lites before mounting, but believe the're around 1500 g as advertised, about 300 g lighter than the Mavics.
Wheels arrived visually dead-on true. No problems with mounting tires, cassette needed only slight adjustment to the limit screw.
We have flat to rolling hills here, nothing big. The roads can be patchy, but not really too bad, paved and chip/seal. From a stop or when attacking, my '08 SuperSix is noticeably quicker to accelerate. The rims are not so rigid as the Mavic's, so road bumps are better absorbed, like dropping your tire pressure 10 pounds. But, there wasn't any noticeable loss due to wheel flex while climbing. At speeds up to mid-50s kph, I've had no handling issues (no big hills around here) - I can't speak for them at ~70 kph. I imagine there's some aero benefit over the Mavics, but I know it can only be a few watts.
The EVO bearings spin infinitely better than the Mavic's bearings, this adds to the sense of reduced effort. After a few runs on two separate 30 - 50 km routes, and under various conditions, I note my average speeds are up 0.4 to 0.7 kph and I can often now carry an additional gear, it just makes that little bit of difference.
Cosmetically, they match the Cannonball nicely, but up close the stickers look cheap, I might peel them off someday. You can get these benefits from many similar wheels, but so far, the Super-Lite delivers!
Strengths: Lateral Stiffness great
Rolls excellent, makes up for the heavy weight
Weaknesses: Thin rim strips, Vuelta should not even bother installing rim strips. They should send extra spokes and stickers instead of those thin strips.
Heavy, which tech weighted these wheels?
Skewers are nice, but consider them boat anchors.
The cone sounds like I am riding a fishing reel.
Bottom Line:
Out of the box:
Had to true
Install rim strips, Velox, install the best and your finished
Smooth rolling wheels, I was impressed.
Strengths: Weight. Not the lightest in the group, but gram for dollar, these can't be beat. Spin up quickly, and seem to hold speed well. True out of the box, and haven't changed in 1000 miles. Hub sounds very mechanical, like a Porsche motor.
Weaknesses: Lateral deflection during steep leans, but it could be my frame twisting under load. I will update when my new Pina arrives.
Bottom Line:
I thought I would wait until I've ridden at least 1000 miles on these wheels until I rated them. Anyone can build a light weight wheel, but one that stands up after time is a different story. First impressions of this wheel were slightly disappointing, I didn't notice much (much, not none) aero advantage on a straight road. However, when I got to my first climb, I was blown away. These wheels were so responsive to my input that climbing has become much more enjoyable (I also changed from a 12-27 to 12-25 at the same time, and still climbing is easier). This made the wheels worth every penny, placebo or not. However, once I reached my first descent, I realized these wheels exhibit quite a bit of lateral deflection. I could actually hear the rim rubbing on the brake when the bike was leaned over at aggressive angles (I only weigh 165 lbs). After dismounting, I found it quite easy to move both front and rear wheels side to side with very little finger pressure. Haven't noticed any issues with the rim tape as other reviewers stated, and despite the manufactures website, my Shimano 8 sp cassette fit just fine (shop installed).
Weaknesses: 1. Hard to remove/replace tire.
2. Rim tape. Oh, please.
3. QR.
Bottom Line:
The wheels themselves? I like ‘em. Nice and light; noticeably better for quick starts and hills than the Xero’s I replaced.
Caveats:
1. Tires are hard to put on & off. I used to do it by hand on my old wheels; with the Vuelta’s, I have to use a stiff tire tool (they broke my lightweight one). This is a problem, because…
2.The rim tape that comes on the wheels is useless. I ground through about five tubes, and only noticed on the last one that the punctures were on the INSIDE of the tube, not the tire side (I’m not the brightest bulb in the chandelier). Do yourself a favor: get the 17mm-wide Velox rim tape while you’re waiting for delivery, and, before you install the tubes, rip out that cheesy Vuelta rim tape and put in the Velox.
3. The quick release for the rear wheel kept loosening up. This was not a problem with the front release, nor have I heard this complaint anywhere else, but I almost wiped out halfway through a club ride (there was some warning; I heard a rub and felt some wobbliness that wasn’t a flat tire, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. Like I said, not the brightest bulb…). I replaced with some standard inexpensive QR’s, and have not had a problem since. It’s kinda too bad, because the Vuelta QR triggers are cool-lookin’.
Weaknesses: As mentioned in earlier review, stock rim strips are garbage. After my first ride on stock rim strips wheels seemed fine. When I went to ride on them the next morning, the rear was completely flat. I replaced with cloth rim strips and haven't had any issues yet. Can't comment on durability yet - have about 100 miles on them with no issues, but still too early to tell.
Bottom Line:
Picked up a pair of these as a backup set. Figured I'd bring them for use in wheel pit / wheel vehicle at races. Tried racing them in a crit yesterday and was impressed. They are extremely light for the price, but are also reasonably stiff. I was impressed with stiffness while cornering. I have an early set of Neuvation R28's that are a little sketchy in high speed turns - these felt solid. They feel far more like my Ksyrium SL's than like Neuvations.
hi guys.
having some thoughts to built-up a complete steel rig.
the frameset i'm having in mind is the Cinelli SuperCorsa or the Colnago Master X-Light.
been reading some Read More »
