Nearly half price carbon wheels from carbonzone.

[russy01]

Evening,

A friend has highlighted a deal on ebay. Carbonzone have their wheels at cost price to celebrate their anniversary.

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/carbonzone/category206973...

I am sure some of you will turn your nose up at any cheap Chinese replica products without any experience of them. But I'm genuinely looking for PH'ers who may have experience with these wheels etc. Whilst I'd like to go sink £1000 on a nice branded product, I can' justify it at the moment and wondered whether these would be worth a shout.

You can get a pair of 50mm clinchers with hubs and skewers for £220 delivered. 60mm for £235 and 88mm for 260mm.

Cheers.

[russy01]

Dizeee said:

Quote - "Look forward to coorperating with you"

Avoid, avoid, avoid.

Fair enough, but if they didn't attempt to speak English and put everything in mandarin I'd have even less of a clue.
(Don't get me wrong things like this drive me wild, but I understand I'm dealing with a cheap chinese seller here so expect the odd minor detail.)

Do you have any experience with the product?

[russy01]

pablo said:

There are a few huge (50+ pages) threads on Chinese carbon products, those who have bought them have had very few issues so read the threads before basing your a decision solely on grammar!

Incidentally, they are Novatec hubs and Gigantex rims, the exact same spec same used by a few UK wheelbuilders and a pair from them will cost you £700. If you get a pair and are concerned about build quality, run them for a week or so, then get a local shop just to give them a once over.

They are tubs not clinchers, otherwise I'd have a pair!

Yea I had a gander through a big thread elsewhere, however I value a PH'ers opinion more than some completely random chap from the web.

I have an urge to buy some, however thinking harder its purely going to be for the aesthetics (I think they look cool!)
I don't plan to race or anything this season so I think I'd be better off buying a half decent set of Alu wheels I could use on a daily basis.

Cheers anyway.

[russy01]

duff said:

I ran a set of these in clincher guise for about 1k miles. They're very light and look nice enough but are too flexy (I am 96 kilos though!) and the bearings needed replacing within 1k miles of maily dry use.

I don't think they're quite up to the quality of the big brands, however many of these have problems of their own. If they're cheap and you're not too heavy I guess they're ok for race/tt or whatever. For general riding I think the longevity and braking are questionable.

I'm lighter than you but not so light at 86kg, plus will want to use regularly. I may give a miss this time, thanks for your input.

[russy01]

okgo said:

As somebody said above, there are threads that have been going for year about these wheels, and James above races on a set and is a better rider than most, I think to totally write them off because the english isn't spot on is ridiculous.

The whole mentality that something simply cannot be as good because its cheap is what keeps places like De Rosa in business flogging their pricey frames that Ribble do for a quarter of the price (many other brands do the same I'm sure, but that springs to mind). Sometimes snobbery over products is probably a good way to think, but when it comes to things like this that many many people have used with good effect, I think its totally silly to write them off for reasons such as listed above.

"a decent set of UK built wheels" LOL they're the same wheels and the same hubs, just that Wheelsmith bangs on another £400 for the sake of thinking anything straight from china must be st.

Edited by okgo on Monday 13th May 09:24

I agree, whilst the grammar is annoying (surely they must have UK contacts who could help out) - it really does come with the territory, so to write them off because of that is ignorant.

I have read further about the products on other forums and its completely split, half of the comments are from keyboard warriors who have never used the product but still say they are st. The other half have actually used them and they say they are half decent for the money.

As for your comment on UK built wheels - its sad to admit but im sure you are correct for the majority of cases. Whilst its nice to think its all hand crafted out the back, its just the same bits put together in the UK.

This time I have decided against purchasing as my man maths has not persuaded the OH (and me TBH) - I don't really need them, its purely just wanting them as I like the look. My money will be better spent elsewhere.

[russy01]

Andy OH said:

IroningMan said:

Andy OH said:

I must admit people replying to a thread with absolutey no experience of the product should really crawl back under their stones, sorry but please do not comment on something you have no knowledge of.

I've ordered a set of 50mm carbon tubs from China for my son's racing. I did consider buying from a wheel builder and also from Planet X ( I believe Planet X carbon wheels are from China anyway but re-branded by them), but after considering all points made by the wheel builder I contacted (cost was £800), people on forums and an ex pro rider I bought the wheels from China. The spec of the wheels from China are identical to that of the wheel builder here in the UK.

I admit the wheels haven't arrived yet as they are with customs in the UK, but they should be with me shortly, they were sent from China last Wednesday, so not a bad service really and the seller's communications were excellent. For £300 if they last a season or two they were worth the punt.

At Elveden Races on Saturday there were plenty of unbranded deep section carbon wheels in all the races, so I wonder where they came from

I'll let you know how they are once we get them and he's raced on them.

I ride on Planet-X all-carbon tubulars. Notwithstanding that I don't have a great deal of time for E-Bay, I'd sooner rely on the expertise of a reseller who has a great deal of brand equity to protect than on my own.

I agree entirely and I appreciate the Planet X product is very good and yes it's easier to deal with them should one have a problem rather than someone in cyberspace on the other side of the world, but when you have just forked out £3,500 in a couple of months on a bike, Mavic Ksyrium SL's and various other kit for a 15 year old, you have to start saving somewhere. I've taken the gamble, it may work it may not.

£3.5k, good effort. Hows he doing? Let us know about the wheels.

[russy01]

duff said:

As far as trust goes, Carbonzone are fine - I sent them about £700 directly (not through eBay) for a set of wheels and a frame, both arrived as described and reasonably quickly. I had an issue with the frame in that there was excess material in the hole on the fork for the front brake meaning the nut would not reach the caliper bolt. I didn't fancy taking a drill to it so I contacted them and they said if I returned it they would inspect and replace it, however with the cost of sending it back and the time delay, I ended up buying another fork at a reduced rate which was OK. Not the ideal solution and perhaps I was unlucky but it's worth bearing in mind if there is a problem there's really nothing you can do about it (or it's going to be a major pita to sort out)

I would be put off buying a car from someone with a badly worded ad, I just find it irritating, however you're buying something direct from another country so can't expect perfect English!

You need to be realistic about what you want - the aero benefits are lost on a 6'4, 96kg rider like myself - I got them because they looked cool, no other reason. They're not an all-round wheel, I wouldn't use them for long alpine descents unless you're going to take it easy due to heat build up and the risk of de-lamination or a tyre popping (maybe less so with tubs). I rode them in Majorca and the squeal and burning smell did not inspire confidence! I ended up buying a set of Fulcrum Racing 3 for £310 and I'm very happy with them.

Oh and if you do get a set, don't put Bora or Cosmic stickers on them

I hate to abuse such systems but if you purchased via ebay you would have had something to lean back on with your issues. Whilst I understand you were trying to be reasonable by buying the new fork, really you've been screwed over - return postage for a faulty product is their responsibility. But these are the sorts of risks you have to accept when buying in such a way.

But if anybody is holding back buying as they feel the product won't arrive then fear not. Buy through ebay and pay via paypal - they'll cover your ass if anything goes wrong. The seller will know exactly how it works so will do everything they can to make sure it gets to you.

Back to the wheels, thanks for the feedback. Whilst they look and sound good value for money I still think I'd be better off getting a decent set of Alu wheels like the fulcrums you mention.

Cheers.

[russy01]

duff said:

russy01 said:

I hate to abuse such systems but if you purchased via ebay you would have had something to lean back on with your issues. Whilst I understand you were trying to be reasonable by buying the new fork, really you've been screwed over - return postage for a faulty product is their responsibility. But these are the sorts of risks you have to accept when buying in such a way.

I'm not sure I'd have had much more in the way of protection using eBay, perhaps I could have pushed to get them to arrange collection. It was as more of a time/hassle issue for me, with customs delays each end I'd probably have had to wait a month or so for a new fork and I figured for the sake of £50 or so this really wasn't worth the hassle. As you say it's a risk you take buying from the other side of the world, I knew there was an element of risk on my part. I wouldn't think there's an issue with a wheel that couldn't be sorted out locally.

Yea like we agree it comes with the territory.

But back to eBay they'd be banged to rights if you opened a case saying the product was faulty or not as described. Unless the seller sorts it out and you are satisfied you merely have to report the case to ebay customer support and you'll end up with a refund. eBay will do anything to keep a buyer happy and they know the sellers cant do without them so its tough for them. (I work for/run a couple big ebay shops and have experienced exactly this from the bad end too many times.)

[russy01]

Sounds good. I do wish I had bought some now, but I've kinda spunked the cash elsewhere now!!

Would love to see some decent pics.