As I was getting serious about riding this summer, phasing out running as much as possible, I finally broke a spoke on the rear wheel. Went to LBS and they set me up with this wheel, AT-400 rim with DT spokes and Tiagra hub. Even compared to the stock wheels, old Mavic rim with similar entry level hubs, this one seemed to drag off the start. It never really did improve or get worse. Then after 2000-2500km the wheel was well out of true -- I am 165# and ride on mostly very smooth roads. Two spokes broke while it was in the shop and were repaired. Overall, the wheel held up pretty decently for $85. You get what you pay for!

Light

Weak, goes out of true

I bought this last year to replace the even worse Alex rear wheel that came stock on my Fuji. It is the AT400 rim laced to a Shimano Tiagra hub. I bike commute about 80 miles a week from April to September. The hub is fine, but the wheel is constantly going out of true and I've broken one spoke so far. I upgraded my front to a Mavic Open Pro/Ultegra hub, and will be doing the same for the rear. If you ride these all I can say is have a backup wheelset at the ready.

Similar Products Used:

Alex B500, Mavic Open Pro

strength(32 spokes each wheel)

bearings
weight

These wheels came one my first road bike and let me tell you they are absolute junk. They weigh a ton and the bearings are a joke. Seriosuly these are not even worth using, you probably couldn't give these away

Similar Products Used:

Rolf Vigors
Neuvation R28 Aeros

Appearance

These wheels came stock with my 2006 Specialized Sirrus Comp. I'm a tad over 6' 1" and weigh about 210 lbs. I've had difficulty keeping these wheels trued ever since I got the bike. I've broken a number of spokes, and the spokes seem to flex a lot. I ride mostly on smooth pavement, perhaps 25% on rougher back roads. As others have noted, these appear to be a poor choice for heavier riders.

Durable and tough

Somewhat heavy.

Wow I am surprised at the reviews. This wheel set came on my Trek 1200. Since I purchased this bike new 2 years ago I have put somwhere between 5-6 thousand miles on them. I have never had any problems what so ever. They have been wonderful wheels especially considering that some of the roads that I ride on are horrible at best. Yes I have had to true them a few times but I don't blame the rims as much as I am always blaming the transportation department. To me they have been great wheels.

Similar Products Used:

none

Sorry, but my experience with the Alex 400's have been fine. I have about 1,700 miles on 'em now and haven't had a problem. Perhaps I'm not riding them as hard as the other reviewers but I'm 200 lbs. so it probably not a weight issue. Mine have stays true and haven't broken a single spoke. Go figure....

None

See review. A little disappointed that I can't rate these lower than a one.

I don't know where to begin. This wheelset left me stranded more than once. More specifically the rear wheel. I had about 400 trouble free miles then al H%$^ broke loose in the form of broken spokes on the cassette side. Replace spoke, true wheel, ride 15 miles break different spoke. The came on my Specialized Sequoia. The are now in the trash. If you bought a bike with these wheels and you weigh over 200 lbs I suggest you start shopping for a new wheelset!

They're great if you don't ride more than 25-30 miles/week.

See above.

THIS REVIEW IS FOR ALEX AT400 w/ STOCK SPECIALIZED HUBS. Here's my story, I'm a 240 pound mtn biker who started riding on the road for training. I spent a year and half riding only when I wasn't on the trails and these wheels did fine. a few months ago I started training for a local MS 150 ride and when I started putting in serious miles, the front wheel started coming to pieces. During the ride, 14 miles from the finish, I had two spokes break at the nipples. Only race or ride I haven't finished, ever!
They came with the bike, I'm hard on wheels (and heavy, I know), and lasted this long so I can't say too much, but I don't want someone who is putting real miles on a bike to pay for the same problems I have had or to have to ride across a finish line on 4 wheels with the bike on the rack.

Similar Products Used:

None, they came with the bike. Just got a set of Mavic Cosmos and will review after some miles. I hope to see alot of improvement.

Roll fairly well, i am talking about the rolling resistance, not the downhill stability, and they are fairly light

unstable on fast decents,flex under load example when you are sprinting to get your bike up to speed or going around a corner fairly fast. They go out of true fairly easily.

I have the alex 440sl they are light and roll fine but the wheels went out of true very fast. This is not a problem with me because i dont mind truing my rear wheel every 3rd ride. I am thinking about putting some locktight on the nipple and spoke but somehow i dont think it will solve the constant problem of the wheel going out of true all the time. But so far i am happy with them. I clean my bike after every ride and check the wheels for trueness. Caution they are flimsy especially in downhill decents. I weigh 185lbs and they seem to shake when going fast downhill. I can also feel them flex when i start up on the bike to get up to speed. They weigh 1580 grams for the wheelset. They are problably rated for a rider 200 lbs or less. I was pushed into a grate by another car and the rear wheel go caught made a dent in the side of the rim but it should be easy enough to fix.

Similar Products Used:

I just got back on a bike after 25 years. I used to ride a Nikishi sport touring bike. Average ride at that time was 70 miles a day.

light.

bad handling, weak rims

I won these in a prime in a crit and decided to run them for a winter and see how they went. First of all they are light but feel a bit too flimsy (and I'm 140lbs)- I had no problems with the breaking surface and they stayed in true. Acceleration wasn't noticably better than any other wheel. Handling was another matter - absolutely terrible. As soon as I changed wheels I realized how bad they had been.

The worst moment came on a very technical twisty descent after about 1,000 miles. I broke a spoke in the front, and because they are laced so tightly in a radial pattern it threw the rim into my front fork. I somehow stayed upright, but not without a fight. I'm just happy I didn't pay for them. I switched back to mavic open pros on record hubs. Perfection.