[BrianT]

I've been doing some research and am very interested in these wheels. They get great reviews and are incredibly light weight, especially with the Sapim CX-Ray spokes (1145 grams).

Here's the problem: American Classic has shipped all of these wheels out to dealers and won't have more for quite some time. So in order to buy a set, I have to find a dealer with them in stock. Do any of you happen to know of a shop with these wheels in stock? For what it's worth, I've gone through the list of dealers on the American Classic web site with no luck, but I've been told that list only represents about 1% of their dealers.

And while I'm at it, does anyone had any additional feedback on these wheels? Anything I should know before making the purchase?

Thanks in advance!

 

[kbiker3111]

American Classic should have some sort of log of who they've wholesaled Mags to. If you call and <STRIKE>yell loud enough</STRIKE> ask nicely, I'm sure they'd give you someone in your area who might have a set.

I'm never ridden them, but I've heard they don't hold up well under bigger guys. I'd hope you weren't a clyde who was interested in these wheels anyway.

 

[trener1]

Try South Mountain Cycles in emmaus pa.
I know that they are big fans of that wheelset, and I bet they have some in stock

 

[Retro Grouch]

My Opinion on These Wheels

Having owned a pair now for approximately four months and logged around 500 miles on them, here are some of my observations:

THE GOOD :thumbsup:

The wheels are very light. However, my set, which I bought used off eBay, came in at 1220 grams with rim tape. My pair did come with the Sapim bladed spoke option.

I weigh 145 pounds and do detect some flex in the wheels when on standing climbs and sprinting. I can only imagine heavier riders may find this annoying.

The ride is very nice. I have two sets of carbon wheels (Token C50 clinchers and Nimble Fly tubulars) and the AM Classic Magnesiums are much more forgiving on rough surfaces and it does a good job absorbing road irregularities. This was a pleasant surprise to me.

Braking performance is very good. I run a set of Zero Gravity brakes, and grip is much better compared to my carbon rims. The wheels give me the weight advantage of carbon rims with a more conventional braking surface, which doesn’t squeal during hard application of the brakes.

THE NOT SO GOOD

The wheels are coated with a dull black finish that shows grease spots and is very susceptible to scratches. At least any scratch can be quickly covered with flat black paint.

You have a very narrow braking surface on these wheels. This means brake pad alignment is very important. One of my KoolStop salmon pads were a little off causing it to rub against the wheel decals on one side. Luckily, I was able to order a spare set from American Classic.

A finicky rear hub adjustment issue is causing me some frustration. If I tighten the rear hub too much, it causes a lot of drag. In other words, when I turn the cranks on the stand, the rear wheel free spins, but so does the crank. This is not the case on the set of American Classic Sprint 350s I also own. If I loosen the rear hub too much to eliminate the drag, this results in some side-to-side play, which I notice as a knock from the rear when on a standing climb. I suspect the loop spring in the hub body is bent resulting in too much pressure on the cam plate. I came to this conclusion since the identical rear hub on my magnesium wheels and far noisier when freewheeling compared to the hub on my Sprint 350.

Despite some of the shortcomings I pointed out, the wheel's overall performance is very satisfying