Lightweight. Trueness. Price point.

Slightly flexy.

This wheelset came with a bike I bought on clearance at Bikesdirect online. At the time I weighed about 165 and have since brought myself down to about 158. Throughout this time frame I've used these wheels for training rides, criteriums and cyclocross.

As I'm currently using them for cyclocross I have never encountered any issues with them such as spoke breakage. I've been fairly happy with them and their weight. If there are concerns about spokes on any wheel set I recommend having them checked out for trueness and tension.

If I were to claim any weakness on these wheels, it would be the feeling of power transfer. It feels like that the spokes could be a bit more rigid.

Similar Products Used:

Easton, Mavic Krysium (Trainers)

zero dish
stable - stay true
reliable
track well at high speed (49mph highest so far)

Have the sense that the flat spokes catch a cross-wind more - but that's anecdotal at best

These Ritchey WCS Zero Dish Protocols (20/24) came equipped on a Kestrel RT-700 from bikes direct. I'm 155lb and on a 20 mile/1000ft ride average 18-21mph depending on wind and 100 to 150 miles per week. Roads are generally smooth with occasional good pounding when crossing railroad tracks, etc. These are the only wheels I've had on this bike - which is much faster than my other cyclo bike - so I don't have a good point of comparison as to performance. But as to reliability, I've had no problems. No broken spokes, no cracking, no hub problems. After my initial setup, I've never had to re-true. And I'm not an easy-going rider. I jump curbs and stay aggressive on rough roads. Can't say why others have had problems - maybe a batch of bad components or maybe after >1000 miles mine are still yet to show up...but so far I'm pleased.

Similar Products Used:

None on this bike

Seem light and fast. I like the concept of the design.

uhm, the spokes break. Unreliable.

I'm training for the California deathride and I bought the Immortal Spirit Carbon from BikesDirect.com - great price, great bike. Ironically, after reading several worrying reviews about spoke problems with these wheels, I had a spoke blow out on me this morning. I don't know if it's the nipple or what, but I only had 140 miles on the rear wheel. I'm 185pounds, but I don't think that should matter. I can't afford a questionable wheel set now. I'm hoping Ritchey will warranty it.

Light and stiff. Pretty.

Long term durability is dire

This review is for the Ritchey WCS Protocol clincher wheelset.

Wheels came with a Bikes Direct bike. They performed well initially, light but reasonably stiff and stayed true over some big bumps. After 3mo/1500miles I lost my first spoke on the rear, basically the nipple cracked, spoke was fine. Replaced and retrued -all was well. Happened 3 more times, always broken nipple, never the spoke head breaking, last time the spoke got chewed up in the driveline. On taking off the cassette to replace the spoke found the freehub body to be chewed up, either the metal was too soft or cassette not tight, but I had a heck of a job unseating the casette so I think too soft.

Anyway, rebuilt&retrued I was off again when the rear bearing essentially failed, very stiff with graunching noises. Not user serviceable as far as I could see.

At this point contacted ritchey for warranty service, they responded that wheels bought mail order were not covered by them, so I was essentially SOL.

I wasnt going to put any more into paid rebuilds in order to continue with the regular broken spokes, so wheels done within 9mo 4000miles.

Similar Products Used:

Replaced with Mavic Aksium as a stopgap thats turned into a longer term thing. More durable by far.

Light, stiff, aero.

They break far too easily.

I purchased these wheels purely for racing, and if I were to be honest beacuse the Ksyrium SL's were so expensive but seemed the same weight. These wheels are very stiff, but don't seem to make a great contact with the road in rough condition ie they tend to skip around a fair bit. After only about 2 000 km of use I was shocked to see that virtually every rear spoke hole and several front spoke holes had multiple cracks. They basically then had to be thrown in the bin.

Similar Products Used:

Mavic Ksyrium SL, equipes.

Light, aero

They break after minimal use.

These wheels were purchased as race only wheels, and for this they functioned reasonably well. They were aero as advertised, nice and light, and fairly responsive. The trouble is, after only about 1 000 km I was shocked [although shouldn't be after reading the other reviews] that virtually every rear spoke hole had a substantial crack through it. Even a number of the front spoke holes were cracked. I initially bought these as I couldn't afford Ksyrium SL's, but I guess light - strong -cheap --pick two certainly applies to these wheels. I guess there is a good reason these wheels aren't used by pros. By the way, I weigh 75 kg.

Similar Products Used:

Mavic Ksyrium Equipe [20 000km before rear rim cracked] & Ksyrium SL still going strong.

None

Poor lateral stiffness, early spoke failure, poor tracking at speed. (Note: it's the wheels, not the frame. With a different wheelset, the bike tracks fine at speed.)

These wheels came on a recent purchase, 20 1 cross front, 24 two cross rear. On high speed descents, they track funny and are not felt to be safe. Eight hundred miles of use, and a nipple sheared off 15 miles from home. The spoke was fine, but the nipple was broken off at the head. I'm very disappointed in these wheels. I weigh 165 pounds and ride on good roads. There is no good reason for the rear to fail like that.

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Over 30 years of handmade Campagnolo wheelsets.

Price point
weight
style

if you thrash these wheels hard - you will know it - or if your a little on the heavy side - stay away.

...First off I think People who posted a bad review for this wheelset are a little on the heavy side ;) this are the Best bang-for-the-buck going right now,

bladed spokes, light weight, decent hubs...

Similar Products Used:

Mavic, shimano

Strong, light, great build quality - also inexpensive compared to higher zoot brand wheels in the same weight range.

none

This is a review of the new Protocol WCS wheels. I'm using them for both training and racing, and can't say enough good about them. They are light (under 1500 gms/pair), come with excellent titanium skewers (no kung-foo moves necessary to tightly close), bladed spokes, spin smoothly, are nice and stiff, and so far have stayed true over lots of riding on rough spring roads. Light enough for racing, strong enough for training - what else is there? I'd buy them again without hesitation.

Similar Products Used:

Mavic, Weyless, usual assortment of rims built to Ultegra hubs,Matrix.