Chinertown
Chinese Carbon Road Bikes => Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components => Topic started by: lidation on February 28, 2025, 02:55:10 AM
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I am building a new bike and looking for a wheelset. But I found that there are SO MANY suppliers out there. I'm literally overwhelmed.
How do you decide which supplier to go? They all seem to be more or less the same.
I am looking for a wheelset of about 1300 - 1500g weight. 30 - 40mm deep, 21-22mm IW and 28-30mm OW. With a ratchet hub that I can easily service and swap later.
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Look for PeterXu (carbon speed) on the forum. Can't go wrong with him :)
https://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,5260.0.html
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I go with Elitewheels for positive review online in different blog, forums, website
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Everyday there is a new wheel brand popping up in China.
You could take several paths in deciding on a new wheelset.
- You've seen a wheelset or brand that has your interest and found some positive reviews from influencers (who likely don't know what they are talking about, or got the wheelset for free) -> you decide to buy that wheelset and 9/10 you will be happy about the performance.
- You enquire your specs at some reputable chinese wheel brands and they will offer you something at a good price. My top 3 Chinese wheel manufacturers: Light-bicycle, Farsports/Wheelsfar, and Xiamen Carbon Speed (the vendor from XCS, PeterXu is also on this forum).
Light-bicycle I don't know, but both Farsport and XCS have their own branded hub with the DTSwiss style ratchet system.
I don't know your budget, but for 700-800USD you can have top notch wheelsets. In my experience XCS has an unbeatable price/quality reputation with Farsport and Light-bicycle having a little bit higher performance wheelsets.
In any case, don't go too cheap (400USD aliexpress wheelset) to avoid any issues later on. Also there is no need to pay more than 1000USD to have great wheelsets from China. Wheels from XiamenCS, LB, Farsport are "install and forget about it". I never had issues with those even while abusing their wheelsets in races.
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I am building a new bike and looking for a wheelset. But I found that there are SO MANY suppliers out there. I'm literally overwhelmed.
How do you decide which supplier to go? They all seem to be more or less the same.
I am looking for a wheelset of about 1300 - 1500g weight. 30 - 40mm deep, 21-22mm IW and 28-30mm OW. With a ratchet hub that I can easily service and swap later.
Read the XM Carbon Speed thread which was put up by Peter from XM Carbon Speed—it's very positive! I have some Craft 50/60s, but I'll probably grab some from here. Since they’re a manufacturer and not a retailer, I didn’t expect communication and delivery to be super quick!
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I go with Elitewheels for positive review online in different blog, forums, website
same as this
I have three sets of elites as took a calculated risk on AE over 5 years ago - bog standard rim brake set 50mm for road bike- faultless and only fix since then was freehub bearing required update.
since then i got a TT set (88 & full carbon disk - rim brake) and a gravel set (35mm disk).
I would buy from official AE store in the morning if i needed(wanted) another set.
bulletproof wheels - not the lightest or heaviest but in between.
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I might get flamed for this but I will say a lot of the wheels elite farsports crw are really splitting hairs these days. The weights and specs are quite similar. I would say don't skimp on price but get what fits ur needs. Weight Depth internal x external width. I have ridden so many wheels its hard to tell the diff sometimes. I still ride 19 internal 21 external wheels as I like light wheels and don't race so don't need a wide contact surface.
Just my two censt.
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Thanks y'all for the input! I just placed an order with Peter (Xiamen Carbon Speed) for carbon wheelset. 21mm IW/ 28mm EW, 38mm depth, XDR drive body with their in-house 36T hub, without access holes so I don't need to worry about rim tapes. 12-15 days lead time. we'll see how that goes.
The only thing I am not sure is their in-house hub. Been wanting the DT Swiss 350 but it's $200 more so I cheap out and get their in-house hub. we'll see.
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Thanks y'all for the input! I just placed an order with Peter (Xiamen Carbon Speed) for carbon wheelset. 21mm IW/ 28mm EW, 38mm depth, XDR drive body with their in-house 36T hub, without access holes so I don't need to worry about rim tapes. 12-15 days lead time. we'll see how that goes.
The only thing I am not sure is their in-house hub. Been wanting the DT Swiss 350 but it's $200 more so I cheap out and get their in-house hub. we'll see.
Their hubs are really just as good as dt swiss. Very often you even find the same TPI bearings in them. You wont have any issues for sure.
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Their hubs are really just as good as dt swiss. Very often you even find the same TPI bearings in them. You wont have any issues for sure.
Also, the in-house hub is 80g lighter than DT350, while saving $200+. So I just give it a shot. DT Swiss patent expired so it's a copy. At worst I'll just buy the DT Swiss parts and put it back in. LOL.
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Also, the in-house hub is 80g lighter than DT350, while saving $200+. So I just give it a shot. DT Swiss patent expired so it's a copy. At worst I'll just buy the DT Swiss parts and put it back in. LOL.
I think that the pricing of DT swiss stuff is largely due to inertia and "because we can". You can absolutely find bad hubs, especially ultra light ones, exotic stuff with weird carbon spoke designs and so on, but having used non DT swiss hubs on chinese wheels for donkey years, i really wouldn't recommend anyone buy DT swiss hubs (or wheels), just because the value is bad. What you get from them performs, sure, but it's overpriced for what it is, and it's been easy for many years to find hubs that are just as capable, for less money.
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However, I wouldn't necessarily say that all of the copies are good. Unfortunately, I had problems with the ProX copy (I think the ProX C68DB Disc Hub) because the springs lost power after a few rides and the freehub no longer gripped and the chain jumped (the solution was to buy original DT Swiss springs). I had a similar problem with the EliteWheels EDGE copy. You have to be very careful about what kind of copy it is. Petr (Cyclist Hub) had a similar problem on YouTube with his superteam. To understand, watch his video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkJKlsuYPNU
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I am building a new bike and looking for a wheelset. But I found that there are SO MANY suppliers out there. I'm literally overwhelmed.
How do you decide which supplier to go? They all seem to be more or less the same.
I am looking for a wheelset of about 1300 - 1500g weight. 30 - 40mm deep, 21-22mm IW and 28-30mm OW. With a ratchet hub that I can easily service and swap later.
Not read anyone else's reply so maybe repeating simple answer is XM Carbon speed. Read the thread below and email peter.
Xiamen Carbon Speed 10 years anniversary special promotion
https://www.xmcarbonspeed.cc/
https://www.xmcarbonspeed.com/products.asp