May be attractive to really heavy people on gravel bikes and for touring bikes: extra comfort, and weight/stiffness/aero matters much less.
I feel that the serious touring crowd isn't likely to be a large market wanting to spend top dollar on such stuff, but dentists who go touring once and feel compelled to spend fortunes in the process may be good targets. Narrow market though.
always the Joker Serge you crack me up
Zen got back to me with a price— the wheels would be around $1,261 USD.
What I didn’t realise is that Berd recommends a tension check after the first 100–220 miles, which adds a layer of hassle.
Around $200 USD of that total is just for shipping the wheels back for inspection, and then shipping them out again.
Also worth noting: the spokes are the most expensive part of the build. So while $1,061 USD for the wheels themselves is reasonable, you'd still need to find a local wheelbuilder to do the tension check if you want to avoid the shipping costs.
I was genuinely interested at first, but now… not so much 😅. It’s a bit too much hassle, especially considering steel and carbon spokes can achieve similar weights and are much more straightforward.
That said, the price might still appeal to the dentist crowd looking to save a few bucks while keeping things boutique!
There still seems to be a trend emerging for these wheels regardless so will keep an eye.
