Nearly half price carbon wheels from carbonzone.

[shouldbworking]

KeithR said:

Not necessarily.

This is an article on Chinese carbon wheels from the blog of a very reputable wheel builder on BikeRadar. Some of you may know of him. Suffice it to say, I think you get what you pay for with these things.

http://paolocoppo.drupalgardens.com/content/chines...

I'd hardly call that a damning report. So, wheels rebuilt.. costing what? £40 each maybe, and now fine. How much of a saving does that leave?

[KeithR]

I know it's not damning, but it goes some way to illustrate why they are so cheap. Poor build quality. At the very least, I think it's relevant information for this thread and anyone looking to make an informed decision on whether to take the plunge. For me personally, no.

[Birzzles]

I bought carbon wheels from light-bicycle.com in china. The rear developed a crack parallel to the rim on the second outing. It was during descent of a hill in Devon. I weigh 70kg, and braking was gradual with releasing to allow cooling, as I was being careful. Cork pads in use. Here are some photos

HTTPS://plus.google.com/photos/1083658993069031357...

[HowMuchLonger]

Birzzles said:

I bought carbon wheels from light-bicycle.com in china. The rear developed a crack parallel to the rim on the second outing. It was during descent of a hill in Devon. I weigh 70kg, and braking was gradual with releasing to allow cooling, as I was being careful. Cork pads in use. Here are some photos

HTTPS://plus.google.com/photos/1083658993069031357...

Have they offered to replace them, as the failure is only part of the story. Just as important is the customer service/warranty.

[duff]

I would guess they'll want the damaged one back first so you've got the hassle and cost (£40+) of posting it back - of course this would be the same as a UK based order but you've got much longer transit times and less chance of getting your shipping charges refunded. Even if they do send you a replacement, the delivery is likely to be 14+ days with customs clearance and possible import charges on top. So that's probably 6-8 weeks to get it sorted.

[Raven Flyer]

There are no duties to pay on warranty exchange parts.

Other reports of Chinese warranty claims stack up ok, but yes, it does take a while to ship out and get a replacement.

The alternative is spending £1k more and buying a wheel warranted in the UK.

[Justin S]

Not wheels, but have Carbonzone bars on my road bike. Er, that's it, there on there and don't creak, pretty light. May change them soon as the curves are a bit tight for my Clydesdale hand, no other reason. Easy to deal with, here in 2 weeks including customs. Parcelfarce stung me £30 for it too. For wheels, it would be a better bet. I would buy some if I needed them.

[Mr Gear]

I was tempted by carbon wheels from China recently, but I was unprepared to take a gamble.

Luckily, I spotted some shimano rs81 carbon laminate wheels on planet x for £350 which I think were the safe bet. I'm sure you can beat that if you go to China, but the pace of mind was important, and I find shimano very reassuring.

[HowMuchLonger]

duff said:

I would guess they'll want the damaged one back first so you've got the hassle and cost (£40+) of posting it back - of course this would be the same as a UK based order but you've got much longer transit times and less chance of getting your shipping charges refunded. Even if they do send you a replacement, the delivery is likely to be 14+ days with customs clearance and possible import charges on top. So that's probably 6-8 weeks to get it sorted.

Lots of guesses nd assumptions. I would rather hear the OPs actual experience.

[duff]

HowMuchLonger said:

Lots of guesses nd assumptions. I would rather hear the OPs actual experience.

Why are you only interested in the OPs experience? Ive bought (and had issues with) both a frame and wheel set from Carbonzone. My "assumptions" are based on:

I was asked to send my fork back for inspection, perhaps if the fault is very obvious they wouldn't ask for it back (unlikely)

I haven't got an exact shipping quote for a wheel but my forks were around £40 iirc.

You shouldn't have to pay import duties for temporary exports/warranty replacements etc, however this is dependant on them filling out the paperwork properly and including the original export paperwork from the uk - I'm not entirely convinced this would happen and could therefore lead to delays in customs clearance or additional payment.

Either way, problems are not unheard of and much more hassle/time consuming to sort out when you're dealing with people on the other side of the world. Pay your money, take your choice - I'd buy from Wheelsmith if I wanted carbon wheels again.

[HowMuchLonger]

duff said:

Why are you only interested in the OPs experience? Ive bought (and had issues with) both a frame and wheel set from Carbonzone.

Because your experience is based on one shop, the other poster from another.
I wanted to know what his experience was regarding the warranty claim with the shop he bought from.
I did not want to assume that all Chinese wheel sellers are the same when it is feasible to get actual feedback.

So thank you for the information regarding carbonzone.

(The bit where you started your post with "I guess" is what made me want to find out what actually happened.

[Woody]

Anyone had an MTB frame from them?

[nammynake]

Far Sports seem to get good reviews. These look pretty good - 30mm deep, 23mm wide, U-shape (like Zipp) and just over 1300g a pair:

http://www.farsports.com/product/detail.php/id-192...

[okgo]

He is quite the character on BR. He is a nice perfectly normal chap in real life, though. I've used him a few times for bits. In fact he's written damning reports about many wheels, that zipp 404 on his blog was mine, he wasn't impressed.

[TKF]

His character on BR means I'd never want to buy anything from him.

[option click]

Really? I quite like FF's posts, especially in the '2014 kit' and photo threads.

anyway FWIW, I have a Carbonzone road frame (FM015). They were fine to deal with and I'd use them again. Can't comment the quality of their wheels though.
The frame has been commuted on, raced and smashed all over the cobbles of Paris Roubaix and Flanders.
It's a good frame.

Edited by option click on Thursday 12th June 09:04

[okgo]

Bedford Rascal said:

He knows his onions though, that much is obvious. What I don't get is whether it's a business or a hobby for him. I think he seems alright.

"French Fighter", if you want to loathe a European bi7keradar member surely that's got to be the one.

He does it from home, I think some things perhaps get lost in written word, he is Italian and in person he isn't like that at all. Agree re Frenchfighter, almost single handedly he makes me unable to like Contador. None of the photo's are his, all he does it trawl the web, apply some wk filter and pass it off as his own work. I hope froome batter bertie just to see what he has to say if nothing else.

[Rouleur]

frenchfighter is an absolute tt, he's either hopelessly in love with Contador or a serial troll. Or both.

[TKF]

Bedford Rascal said:

He knows his onions though, that much is obvious.

He knows about some onions, the ones he sells, but he mercilessly slags off every other onion and tells everyone they have got the wrong onions.

He's one of life's "experts" with an opinion on everything. He's right, everyone else is wrong.

[counterofbeans]

TKF said:

He knows about some onions, the ones he sells, but he mercilessly slags off every other onion and tells everyone they have got the wrong onions.

He's one of life's "experts" with an opinion on everything. He's right, everyone else is wrong.

^ This

Whoever made him a mod on BR wants shooting