Description Within the stellar racing careers of Team CSC riders, there's an astounding number of individual experiences. All of them were brought to bear on the creation of one ethereal wheelset that takes all t...
Summary: Coming off Ksyriums SL's these wheels have turned out to be stiffer, with smoother rolling bearings, soak up the chip seal road buzz better, spin up faster and hold speed all better than my Ksyriums. 1800 miles and counting.
Strengths: DURABLE on nasty road surfaces.
Weaknesses: none so far
Similar Products Used: ksyriums SL's
fulcrum 1's
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Summary: Best to avoid these wheels. I've had quite a bit of trouble with them a year plus. Original freehub lasted a full year then the soft aluminum pawls wore through. Bought a brand new one, which promptly died and would not engage. Spokes have spontaneously broken with no crash or impact. Even after being rebuilt. These wheels have no place on a race bike or for serious training.
Strengths: Lightweight, feel pretty good when operational
Weaknesses: Durability
Similar Products Used: Zipp 404, Easton Ascent II, Mavic Ksyrium Elite
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Bike Setup: BMC promachine, easton carbon EC90, dura-ace gruppo, speedplay zero ti pedal.
Summary: This wheel set was excellent off the shelf. Fast, lightweight, rapid acceleration. Addition of intense intervals and hills proved too much and the wheel began to ping and creak. I am equally surprised as noted in other reviews that CSC uses this as their primary training wheel.
Strengths: lightweight, fast acceleration on hills, smooth rolling.
Weaknesses: After putting in ~500 miles on the wheels a loud ping and creak began to radiate through the bike. The LBS noted the cross over points on the spokes were sticking and rubbing together. Use of a small dab of oil on these points resolved the ping but a creak persisted. The spokes were found to be out of tension and each of the spokes frozen to the nipple. They are currently in route to Zipp for evaluation and warranty. I weigh only 145 lbs and expected this set to withstand normal intense training. Confidence in these wheels for racing and intense training is lost on this cyclist.
Bike Setup: Cannondale Dura Ace 10 speed, Currently using Mavic wheels.
Summary: These wheels were great, spun up fast and road smooth until the road went up. The bearings felt smooth as butter until I climbed some 15% grade hills. I'm not sure where they came up with an every day training wheel for CSC. I'd think they could tear these up pretty quickly.
Strengths: Smooth, light, rode well on the flats, seemed to spin up nice, not affected by the wind so much. This is what I noticed after about 600 miles on them.
Weaknesses: After having these wheels less than a month and only maybe 400 miles the rear wheel started making spoke noise. I took them back to the LBS and they said the they were out of tension. They sent them back to Zipp and there was no problem getting them repaired. I got them back after about 3 weeks. Did 100 miles the following day they were great! (however the route was very flat) The next Saturday we went out for a hilly ride. (my Mavic SSC SL's have been doing for 4 years) the third hill into the ride and there were 2 loud bangs within a couple seconds of each other and I fell over. The freehub now spins both directions. The rear bearings now feel like they are full of sand too. We're waiting to hear from Zipp but I think I'll get a different brand wheel. I don't think I could trust them again.
Similar Products Used: Mavic SSC SL's for 4 years, Mavic CXP33, and a set of 32 spoke ultegra hub training/bad weather wheels
Summary: My Kysrium SLs (rear wheel) significantly failed after three years. In looking for a replacement, I wanted a performance wheel (hill climbing) that was durable and more comfortable for centuries. After my first century, I'm very happy with the Zipp CSC wheelset. It spins up faster, feels quicker than the SLs, and is more comfortable.
Strengths: Light, fast, compliant, repairable, and comfortable
Weaknesses: None yet - maybe price point
Similar Products Used: Kysrium SLs
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