So I panicked when I saw a sale and bought these - http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/WPSFSPCC/selcof-speed-c-carbon-clincher-wheelset
I wanted shallower clinchers to replace my PX 82/101 tubs and these seemed to fit the bill... any thoughts? Selling on the PX wheels to pay for them so I hope I made a decent choice! They come with a vague comparison to Zipp Firecrest so they can't be all bad right?
Comments
I am always a sucker for a decent clincher and at this price it is pretty good it seems. No lightweight but at 50mm depth, not bad at all.
Best 50s I could find that I liked were the Shim DA ones but they were zillions. I mean at a quarter of that, how wrong can you go?
Very much look forward to your review of them when fitted!
I'm a fan of Planet X and have some of their stuff, wheels included - but their marketing is always exuberant to say the least. Lada could say "comparisons with Mercedes Benz wouldn't be far off the mark"!! But then you're paying under 350 notes for wheels, QRs, brake pads and holders and padded wheel bags!
In all fairness they are probably a solid wheel but the comparison is b*llocks.
There's no indication of any aerodynamic data, they've not even listed the rim width! I'd assume therefore they're standard rims. This is the most significant part of the FC design, but most manufacturers are now catching up - was talking to the PX guy at Outlaw Half, which was the week they released their first wider rim (the Fat45 which is 23mm at the brake track).
Fair point, and the Firecests are ceramic bearings too. There, Engineer darling, you got me on my soapbox again!
Is it a carbon soapbox?
Its very difficult to find info online, which is surely not a great sign. I can't find the rim width anywhere but yeah how bad can they be. They do come with a campy freehub which isn't ideal for me.. I've asked the PX guys to switch it to shimano but I don't fancy my chances there. I think there's 2 options, either an adapter for shimano or else replace the freehub.
Third option would be to switch to campy components.. Nothing on my bike has been replaced since I bought it a couple of years ago so probably all could do with being upgraded anyway.. very expensive though
More recently I bought race wheels and went for the Flo wheels - I had a good offer of FCs at a price I could afford, but I'm not sold on carbon braking on mountainous courses. That's mostly my lack of balls though.
Yeah I mean if I was going to switch all the components anyway, then I could consider campy ones. Obviously not just for the sake of the wheels. I don't think I'd go for that though. I saw offers on Flo wheels before. Looked like a great deal!
The campag thing might be a pretty big issue actually... i switched for the alu/carbon 50mm wheels instead which come with shimano freehub.. sure to be heavier with the alu but at £280 reduced from £800 (apparently) i'm happy enough to chance them. The guy in sales did say they were estimated at 1,600g but I don't think that's going to be very accurate. Just about got in to switch the order as the wheels were on the way out to be dispatched.
The Flo set is about 2kg all up I think. Worried? Not in the slightest!!
I have read the thread and I am not sure if I understood any of it .... are they a pretty colour?
Generally the big gain is aerodynamic performance over a wider range of yaw angles.
You make 'em, I'll buy 'em
I've ordered a pair before I read this thread, hope they're ok.
Well, some of us are too old, fat and heavy to get up enough speed to make us even vaguely aero so rolling resistance comes to the fore.
Spoken like a true pirate!
Did you get them okay? Mine arrived and look good. Not sure they are any better than what i have really but hey, they look good!
Or can you get a refund and save a bit for these?
www.flocycling.com
I haven't been impressed with P-X customer service since I rang them to talk about buying a new bike and said I was concerned about riding on tubs.....
... and was told to get over it, all the best riders race on tubs and he put the phone down !
Might explain why I ride a Cérvelo on Mavic clinchers
Planet X do make some very good kit, but they have this really annoying tendency to over-egg their sales pitch. They sell tubs, so tubs are great. These Selcof wheels... they're the best thing since sliced bread, you can't ride better wheels - they're like Zipps... but they're 75% off and I've barely heard of them?!
For me they are fine, but it's very much buyer beware and don't trick yourself into thinking you're getting the deal of the century.
What did piss me off was not the 10 days, emails to customer service and the CEO (their auto response says email him) it took to find out they were out of stock, nor the near week to get a refund, nor that their initial customer service offer of an alternative was more expensive than a one day deal over Christmas. What did piss me off was the customer service guy said someone would call me to take payment for the pretty reasonable good will deal and when they didn't call he blamed me for not saying it was ok for them to call me. Their loss.
I'll get some from carbonzone on ebay or something.