Cost, but you get what you pay for.

Bought a new Cervelo three years ago that came with these wheels. In just over 2000 miles, I've had five broken spokes on the rear wheel.

Five broken spokes is not satisfactory. I weigh 160 lbs so I'm not big. I expect a Shimano product, even if not expensive, to hold up better than that

Strong, great on claims and descents and durable breaking walls.

Boring looking

These came as Stock wheels on my Ghost race 5000 and can honestly say these wheels are incredibly hard wearing to the point that over 2000miles in all weather conditions and lots of breaking, there is no sign of rim wear. I've hit pot holes had blow outs and they still roll true. They are like an indistructable wheel that are comfortable rolling on the flats, good acceleration, great on climbs and descents with speeds of between 39 and 45 mph. With confidence these are an underestimated wheel. I've had some expensive branded equivelants such as fulcrum racing quatro' s and mavic Kysrim ssc and equipe and I would say with confidence I will always revert back to these any day.

-Indestructible. Seriously. I mean, dropping the bike out of a three story building..... They're strong.
-So, SO maintainable and easy to work with if it does break.
-I've never had a wheel so easy to straighten in my WHOLE life.
-They roll insanely well, and I'm no racer.
-You know that feeling you get on a new bike? Yah know, the feeling that everything is in perfect condition and makes you feel like you could go a million miles an hour? Well, that's how it felt as soon as I got these wheels.

I'm not getting any good resale value any time soon, but even then, that doesn't bother me out of the hundreds and hundreds of miles I've gotten out of these.

Where can I start with these wheels?

Well.... I'll list out the riding these have to put up with; Commuting, Charity rides, Training rides, Off-Roading near docks, Skids and wheelies, More wheelies, Trials riding, a few more wheelies, Crashes, Multi-Bike transport in the back of an old van and more Wheelies. Did I happen to mention more wheelies???

-Commuting: I work about two miles from where I work, which isn't much. But what my bike has to go through? I think I should have gotten a soft-tail mountain bike for it, or at least a Cyclo-cross bike, but I put my bike through what others wouldn't dream of doing on a £2,000 mountain bike! Pot holes, rocky terrain, stairs, gritty sand area (this concerns the braking surface) and plenty and plenty of kerbs (which I hop over, but the hops concern the wheels and wheel axles.) Basically, this bike will take everything I've thrown at it to get to my work.

-Charity rides: Ahhh, the charity ride; the routes that some of us don't know, or the roads that you'd never pick yourself. Pitted and bumpy roads that make you want to get a car, and even then, you'd never put your own car down it. The wheel held up so well though.

-Training rides: I think I do training rides for a few hours on most days of the week, usually in the dark. Do you see where I'm getting with 'dark'? I only have a set of consumer bike lights, not those super-bright retina-burning lamps designed to illuminate the floor, just some normal white and red lights, which means I can't see the floor. That can sometimes mean hitting a rather surprizing pothole or deeply-fitted manhole cover. They just don't care what I do to them. If you're a clumsy nut, these are the wheels for you.

-Off-Roading near docks: Mud, grass, thorns, rocks, sand, random 'items' that can only be described as 'wheel landmines', random shopping trolleys, stairs, broken parts of boats, broken parts of cars, glass bottles and large, misfitted concrete block, and you've got everything you need to break down a set of wheels, with many days-worth of time spent in there, at least 100 hours going through those bumps.

-Skids and wheelies: Yes, I admit it. I'm not the only one, though!!! I wheelie at many a junction for about two metres, not much. At all. But on the days I wake up super-early (about 1 every two weeks) I go to the local supermarket carpark and just spend two hours doing wheelies for as long as possible. They handle the whole weight of me and the bike on one wheel really well.

-Trials riding: Yep. Bet you didn't think you'd hear that. Once a month, you'd see me jumping up walls, jumping down walls, going up and down stairs, balancing along metal railings, playing with benches and making a mess of the local council grass. Where do these wheels get their immense strength? I'll never know.

-Crashes: I learnt how to use clipless pedals once. Yeah. I did fall a couple times. I stopped riding them because after I snapped a spoke, I realized it wasn't for me. Don't get me wrong, the spoke snapped in an unusual way, of which I fell over onto a nearby grass verge, and the spokes acted as a pivot because I got too close. Snapped ONE spoke. Just the one. I thought it should have been more, but it was just the one.

-Multi-transport in a van: Bahahhah. Oh, what a tale to tell. No, this one's true. My mate owns a van. A very small Vauxhall Combi. It isn't designed to carry a bicycle. At all. You want to know how we put our bikes in there? Well, we lie 'em on top of each other. The bikes have their pedals in each other's wheels, handlebars wrapping in each other, and my mate takes a couple of spokes with him, just in case his spokes snapped... Which they inadvertently did each and every time. Mine? Nope. They were the R500s!

Overall? They're wheelie good. If I had to have one wheelset for the rest of my life, it'd be these.

Disclaimer; These ARE susceptible to normal problems that any other wheelset are. These are fourth-hand to me, and I need to have the bearings replaced, the freehub body replaced and maybe even one of the wheels. But can I honestly complain? Nope. They're fourth-hand. They were £15 quid off a facebook page. I'm not going to 'upgrade' because anything else would be a downgrade.

Similar Products Used:

The rather flimsy AlexRims DA22's.

Strong

None

I have ridden about 50,000 Kilometers on these wheels with no problems. I keep the hubs greased and maintained. No need to say any more about such a great commuting wheel

- Indestructible
- Cheap
- Fits perfectly 28mm tires, could fit slight wider ones
- 20/24 spokes looks nice

None

I've been riding these wheels for 3,000 km so far and it is like brand new. I have a friend who is using the same pair of wheels, he is a big fella as me and NP so far. I'm 85kg now (I lost some weight) but I was 97kg (I was bulking to gain strenght) when I bought it yet the wheels are still okay. On hard pushes I even broke one BB and had my frame broken (maybe fatigue, I dont know) but wheels are perfect. Way better than the stock wheels on low range road bikes (Allez, Caad 8, S50 etc..).
Feeling good with Schwalbe Ultremo ZX 25mm

These wheels came with my now 6 year old Giant Defy. They have performed every-day riding duties well, no issues. About six months ago I started racing, and although not designed for racing, when shod with light-weight race tyres these wheels have performed well for a newby racer. They do flex and lose power under very high power loads, so ideally keep them for training.

None when you consider the price point and intended purpose of the wheel.

Reliable, good value for money. They won't impress experienced racers, but for every-day riding and training they do fine.

Rock solid and reliable.

Weight... But that is relative.

I bought these wheels to replace the original ones on my B'Twin Triban 3. Reviews of the bike said that the wheels should be upgraded and they were right. No point spending a lot on wheels for a bike the cost less than £300 though. These wheels transformed it from a very good bike for the money, to just a very good bike. They roll pretty well, and they improved the braking performance immediately.

I use the bike for commuting and occasional leisure rides. I have ridden these wheels over 4500 miles now, over many a pothole and even off road a few times. Longest single ride about 60miles. I have hurtled down hill at well over 35 and even 40 mph at times and never had cause to doubt them, they haven't gone out of true or lost any spokes. I'm really surprised others have had that happen to theirs. I originally had 23mm Luganos on them, but now have 25mm Gaitor Skins; the wheels are happy with both.

I'm a bit of a lump of lard at 15.5 stone, so a few extra ounces on the wheels isn't going to make a lot of difference to me.

Robust. Strong. Nice looking straight pull.

Slightly heavy.

Bought as standard wheels on my Giant crx2 6 years ago. Had done 4000 kilometers including touring with rear panniers. They were good, had not break a spoke till now. The wheels are still true, I had never send it for truing since bought. The hubs have been serviced twice by bike shop mechanics and each time only clean and greasing thats all were needed. I weigh 60kg.

Mine were supplied with my 2011 Pinarello FP2. My bike is serviced at least twice a year. These wheels have been good for in the region of 8,000 miles. Not a single spoke has broken. I weight about 70KG. I recently used them on the Deloitte Ride across Britain (931 miles) without any problems. Trust me the roads in the UK are not great! You'd have to spend a fair bit of money to take off any serious weight. The rear wheel now needs replacing which I'd say is good service by any measure. The front wheel will be 'retired' to lighter duties on my commuter bike shortly.

None

If you want a pair of cheap do it all wheels for the whole year then these will be fine if you are a fairly light rider like me. Shimano might not be the sexiest but they know what they are doing.

Cheap

Flimsy

I weigh about 190 and I've had these wheels for less than a year and I've replaced 3 spokes.I can feel them flex and egg as I power up a hill. Total crap.