Very light and spin up quickly while easily maintaining a very high cadence. Bought this wheelset used and quickly became my favorite set even more than my Mavic's and FSA's. That is until recently. I had them mounted on my road bike which is on a trainer for the winter. saw a small piece if silver metal on the floor and had no idea where it had come from. Started to ride the bike and the rear wheel locked up solid ! Looking down at the back wheel ti had locked up against the drive side brake pad. Looking closer at the rear wheel I realized that the piece of metal I found on the floor was a piece of the rear hub that had broken apart while I wasn't even on the bike ! If this had happened on the road or on a fast downhill this could have been a disaster ! Loved everything about this wheelset up until this, but I just can't bring myself to trust their reliability.

Unexpected and unexplained failure of rear hub. I strongly suggest that all current owner's of the Sestriere wheelset's check the hub/spoke and rim/spoke area's very carefully and check for hairline cracks.It's possible that the set that I purchased used may have had issue's beforehand, but it's something that I never thought would have happened on a high quality set of wheels.

Wish these were still in production, I would give a new set a chance. Not knowing the history of the set I have there is no way of knowing if they were abused or not. Reading a previous review of a post where the rider's front hub exploded while not even being mounted on a bike makes it difficult to put a lot of trust in these wheels.

Lightweight
Strong

Loud freehub

These wheels came with my brand new 2001 Trek 2300 USPS team model. I have been riding them ever since. I have used them on 3 different bikes, and currently they are used on my training bike, which is a 1978 Raleigh pro team bike. I am not a light rider (205lbs) and have never had any problems with these wheels. I have had to had them trued once a year. I am very surprised that they work so well given that they are 15 years old and have close to 20,000 miles on them. Now that they are on my training bike, I only use them 3 days a week and only average 700-800 miles per month.
I would buy these wheels again. I will keep using them until they blow up..at this point I feel that I have gotten my money out of them.

Very Light, Very Fast

Fragile

I am 125lbs and used these wheels for quite awhile..........loved them until the front wheel hub exploded when the wheel was off the bike and just sitting in the bike room. These are dangerous wheels and I urge anyone who has them to be aware. I feel very fortunate to not been riding them when the failure happened. I still have the rear and it looks in excellent condition.

Still lightweight in comparison to wheels today even though they're 13 years old, climb well, holds momentum on flats, sturdy, silky ride quality.

Don't feel as stiff or solid as heavier wheelsets off-road, on road they are just fine.

Bought a set of these wheels used for $90. What a great investment. These wheels are freakin' awesome everywhere! They are light (somewhere between 1400 and 1500 grams), accelerate quickly and hold momentum on any kind of ride. They are billed as lightweight climbing wheels and that is true, they allow me to push a gear higher than with my old wheels. I expected to only excel at climbing, but I was surprised at how well they hold momentum on flat rides, as I was consistently able to push my toughest gear (52-12) all ride long. What surprised me even more is their durability: I've ridden them on a few mixed dirt and road roubaix style rides and they have stayed true. It seems from reviews here that these Sestrieres are delicate, but that's not the case for me. Maybe the previous owner of my set had the rear re-laced with stronger spokes or something. Another thing is that these wheels have very good ride quality, they actually make my aluminum bike comfortable on those roubaix rides. The only downside is that these wheels don't feel as solid off road as say, a good Ksyrium wheel. But they are still strong and I guess that's the tradeoff for being lightweight and riding well.

Similar Products Used:

Easton Circuit, Mavic Ksyrium Elite, Rolf Vector Comp, Ritchey Aeromax, Mavic Cosmic Elite, Mavic Open Pro, cheap Alex wheels

I own a nearly unused pair of Rolf Sestriere's.
They are a great set of mountain wheels for a lighter rider. After I demo'd them years ago, I bought a set but had hip surgery and gained weight. I never road this set. The (9) cassette is: (13-14-15-16-17-19-21-23-26).
I live in Cape Coral, FL.
I am asking $300.00

Michael
239.829.0638 (H)
215.756.3628 (Cell)

Strong rim, light weight.

original spokes too light for the task

Very strong light weight rims. The factory original spokes were too light and I broke several in the first year. Had the wheels restrung with double butted spokes and have put about 10,000 miles on these wheels. The rims are crazy strong, I crossed wheels and snapped off 5 spokes and the rim stayed true!

light, fast, strong! Excellent all around wheel.

Might as well tape a poker card to the rear wheel, cause that's what they sound like. LOUD!

Bought these wheels 8 years ago. Raced them for 5, now I do my weekend warrior rides on them. Have used them for climbs, crits, TT's. Can't say enough good about them. Best wheel I have ever purchased. Have never broken a spoke, and only minimal tuning in 8 years.

Light, smooth, durable, common spokes

no part support from Trek or Rolf

So I read all the reviews here on RBR.com and thought I would give the Sestrieres a try. I watched ebay for a few weeks and tracked what a good set was going for and then bought a set. I paid $235 for the pair with an extra r hub and ti skewers. They were listed to have under 1,500 miles on them. Once received, I check them over in detail.....they looked great, clean, hubs rolled very smoothly, true as an arrow, and light! I have ridden them for another 1k in the last 8 months and have had very little issue. The rear rim became alittle rough in the brake track from using worn brake pads. After a call to Trek to see about a replacement rim and finding they no longer carry this rim and have no suggestion for replacement, I cleaned the brake track and replaced the brake pads and all has been well since. Overall, I love these wheels for the low weight, smoothness, have been very durable, and have yet to go out of any sort of true!

Similar Products Used:

Helium, Velomax Circuit, Ultegra/Open Pro,

- Light Weight

- High Maintenance rear hub - Rim has sharp edge which punctured tires - Soft freehub body makes cassette changing difficult - Feel cheap

In 2002 I was trying to put together a super climbing machine, so I bought the Trek 5900, equiped with a triple, and a set of Rolff Sestriere wheels. I loved my Vector Pros so I figured these should be good too, and at 300 grams lighter. I can't say they are lousy wheels but I'm sure glad I didn't pay a full $750 for them. The rear hub is always having problems. It's very noisy and just doesn't sound very...sound. I've had it overhauled about three times and I still hear metal against metal when I ride. I noticed I always got more flats on these than on my Vector Pros. Last year I discovered a sharp ridge on the rear rim which was, over time, cutting my clincher at the bead. I filed it down. Also, the rear freehub body must be made of a soft material, because it has so many gashes from the cassette, I have to pry the cassette off even after loosening it. Perhaps it's because they are so light, but they have never felt very solid. The constant loud noise from the rear hub, and the metal sound make me want to ride with my Vector Pros. I think the Vector Pros absorb shock better too. Don't ask me how but they just seem to, and they seem much better planted. I think I'd just rather have some good 32 spoke wheels with Dura Ace hubs and Mavic Open Pro rims.

Similar Products Used:

- Rolf Vector Pros