I mounted the Tufo Comtura 4TR 28mm on over 15 different wheelsets, and DRIVE 2 were by far the most difficult (= I needed tire levers and used more force than expected). However, I could seat them easily with just a few presses of a floor pump. So no, you are not incompetent; the rims are just a bit tighter. :-)

Quote from: kbernstein on July 27, 2025, 12:10:11 PM
Is this not better than the L508 in your opinion? I get around that in radar only mode, flashing only on detection

I would say the SR Mini is better than Magene L508 or Gardia R300L, as it gave me fewer false positives. Basically, only about 3 within 20 hours of use.

Quote from: cramy on July 25, 2025, 04:53:43 AM
so will you recommend to purchase it? What was the battery life?
I am considering it over varia, as it is cheaper.

If you don't mind the short battery life (~8.5 hours in day flash), then yes.

Quote from: kbernstein on June 29, 2025, 02:12:22 AM
They've supposedly completely changed their detection algorithm since that video so it might be outdated? I hope Petr can give us an updated review soon. I don't hate my L508 but the battery life is poor, and since IME IGPSport puts magene to shame when it comes to GPS unit battery life I'm hoping the same remains true for their radars

I'm not sure if you are referring to me, but I've just finished the written review, which will go live next week. In short, I'm surprised that the SR mini was accurate and gave the fewest false positives among Asian radars. However, the detection occurs about as quickly as on Varia, meaning the 160m detection range was not achieved. Also, the battery life is a bit short. But overall, I'm mostly surprised (considering how bad the SR30 performed after one firmware update). :-)

I think the price is wrong (but still significantly lower than Western brands). According to the Czech distributor's website, the 105 Di2 version costs around $3,000/€3,000, and the Dura-Ace costs around $6,000/€3,000. It's likely this price already includes 21% sales tax.

Quote from: kubackje on November 21, 2024, 09:29:04 PM
Bro stop shilling your blog everywhere. You are basically the only one on the whole internet who thinks edges are soft. Maybe get a better bike and some good tires for your tests

While I don't understand why there is so much hatred in your comment, I do see your point. As someone who cares about content and spends a lot of time and effort creating it, I also try to get it to the target audience. I admit that the form I chose here was not the most fortunate.
Regarding the stiffness, I tried 15+ wheelsets (steel and carbon-spoked ones), and I rate them relatively, but not absolutely. This means that yea, they are soft compared to carbon-spoked wheels, but not compared to other steel-spoked ones. Maybe I did not choose the best wording and should write "relatively soft compared to wheelset X".

Quote from: Macedingle on November 22, 2024, 06:13:40 AM
Easy now kubackje. Peters articles opened the idea of Chinese bikes to me, with his build reports I read years ago. Dont insult, but let Peter know who he could improve his test. I doubt you have read "the whole internet" to know that he is the only one with that opinion, so be more kind!

Thank you. I would love to hear what I could improve. Before I started doing wheel reviews, I asked 30+ people what they wanted to read in them. It was 3 years ago, so maybe, the preferences changed.

Quote from: BeR on November 22, 2024, 07:17:34 AM
And to be honnest, I like his reviews.
But the best thing is that I understand perfectly his english  .

Lol, thanks. Yeah, I don't speak sophisticated English. Pronunciation could be better sometimes, but I'm glad people get the message!

Quote from: Sitar_Ned on November 22, 2024, 07:55:14 AM
kubackje: Slightly edited your post, sir. You have a fair point about him shilling his blog but no reason to insult his work. Looks like he's working hard on it and is improving. At least it's not AI-generated content which is so commonplace now.

Petr from Cyclists Hub: He has a point. Out of 17 posts you've linked your blog 5 times. You're free to promote it here and we appreciate your engagement with the community but maybe chill on pushing it so much and dropping links a bit. You've got 5 do-follow links here that I'll leave which should help your SEO. From this point forward, I think providing useful answers and having your blog promoted in your profile as you do should be sufficient.

Thanks for understanding.
-Sitar

Noted, and I apologize.

First, I would recommend you to use the search feature because the Elitewheels were discussed back and forth.

Second, here is one of my answers copied from one of those threads:
"I've tested EDGE, ENT, and DRIVE wheels. The ENT and EDGE differ mainly in weight, spokes, and rim profiles. I am not sure about the SLT and SLR. I will consider writing a comparison article about all these wheelsets. Anyway, the DRIVE wheels have carbon spokes and ceramic bearings.
Regarding ride feel, EDGE + ENT are pretty soft but comfortable. But for example, I didn't feel like riding 1350g wheels when riding EDGE. They are not as responsive as DRIVE ones, which are a bit lighter. The ENTs are much heavier and better for flats and steady efforts.
Having said that, I would recommend saving a bit more for DRIVE wheels. They are my go-to climbing wheels (45mm depth weighs under 1300g), and they are much more responsive than EDGE.
However, it also depends on your experience. For example, I would be happy if I was transitioning from ALU wheels to EDGE. But given that I've tried wheels costing over $1000 with carbon spokes, I'd opt for those instead."

Third, you can also check out my Elitewheels comparison https://www.cyclistshub.com/elitewheels-road-bike-wheels-compared/ or Elitewheels Black Friday deals where I listed the actual price and also the price from a month ago: https://www.cyclistshub.com/elitewheels-black-friday/.

I got the replacement ones from Elitewheels. I haven't had time to clean the old bearings yet. Maybe it will help. I guess I have a program for this afternoon. :-D

Quote from: nis240sxt on October 04, 2024, 09:27:22 PM
Hi, do you know if the same rims and hubs are used throughout their 2025 lineup? Is the difference in price just because of the ceramic bearings or does the Evo line has other bells and whistles? Looking forward to your review of the C5!

Sorry for the late reply; I didn't get any notification.
This is a good question, and honestly, I don't have the answer. But I think there is a difference, or they did a very good job with the rebranding. Wheels from wheelsfar.com come with "Wheelsfar" stickers and decals, while from Farsports.com, they come with "Farsports" stickers and decals. Anyway, we are going a bit off-topic here. :-)

Farsports has two websites:
1. Farsports.com is where you buy their Farsports branded wheels, which are a bit more expensive but a bit more premium. If you are interested in what the new lineup includes, I wrote a short article (https://www.cyclistshub.com/farsports-introduced-2025-road-wheels/) about it and how those wheels compare. I'm gonna test the C5 soon.
2. Wheelsfar.com is where you buy their "lower-end" Wheelsfar wheels. There are many more options, and some components can be customized.

With XMCS, just check out their catalog and message them via WhatsApp. They will guide you there.

I hope this helps.

Quote from: James dean on August 28, 2024, 03:07:59 PM
Hi

Really appreciate the response. I'm not looking for anything to be honest. I have only ridden very expensive wheels. I know it's all the same as cheaper wheels. I'm just wondering from the wheels you have ridden if there is any really differences manufacturer vs manufacturer. I know the brands I just personally have never ridden any of them. What would you say is the best lightest wheel. 45mm

Again thank you

Tough question, mate. I'd probably say the Lún HYPER 2023 (I've only ridden the SE since, but they're basically identical) due to the combination of stiffness, durability and design (butterfly-weave). If the HYPER 3 (which I ride now) had a butterfly-weave finish, I'd vote for them. I find them more comfortable, the wider spokes make them look cooler, and they have a wider inner rim width.
With DRIVE wheels, the quality of the bearings annoys me, and with Superteam All-Carbon Ultra 2023, I am not 100% sure if they solved all the manufacturing issues they faced in the beginning (when I got a pair for a review where the real hub failed). Then, they sent me new rear wheels, and since then, there have been no issues. Ride-wise, they are probably most well-balanced.

Quote from: James dean on August 27, 2024, 11:09:08 AM

Hi Peter great reviews by the way. In your experience what have been the best Chinese wheels you have ridden. Money not being a factor. Thank you

Thank you. I am glad you find them helpful. :-)
Well, no wheelset will suit all riders. I think it comes down to what you expect. For example, Elitewheels DRIVE are the best climbing wheels for me, Lún MEGA the stiffest (and the best for super smooth roads), wheels from Farsports are super easy to service and reliable... I could continue.
Maybe you can tell me what you are looking for, and I can recommend a wheelset. I also have a pretty in-depth article (6K words) summarizing the best Chinese wheels on my website, so I recommend checking that one, too.
There are also some wheelsets I haven't had the chance to try. There are so many options, and the differences between them are usually marginal. Most of the Chinese wheels are pretty good nowadays. :-)

I've been testing and reviewing Chinese carbon wheels from brands like Lún/Winspace, Farsports, YOELEO, Elitewheels, Superteam, and more. So, maybe my experience will be helpful to you.

From Elitewheels, I've tried DRIVE, ENT, and EDGE wheels. The difference between DRIVE and EDGE (which supposedly should be the same, but I don't think so) is relatively big. DRIVE wheels are much more responsive and stiffer. However, their bearing quality is not the best. Expect replacement after about 2000 km. Still, those are my favorite climbing wheels.
EDGE wheels are softer and, therefore, a bit more comfortable on rougher roads. They also use different hubs. So, the only "same" thing is probably the rims.

Regarding Superteam, I only have experience with the All-Carbon Ultra 2023 wheels. Not everything went smoothly during the testing, as the rear hub failed after about 800 km. I received one of the earliest batches, and it seems that some wheels from it had these issues, so it was not the best start. Superteam replaced the entire rear wheel, so I started testing it again. It has over 1000 km, and it is holding strong, so I assume they managed to fix all the issues. Anyway, the ride characteristics of these wheels were awesome – stiff, yet comfy, stable in crosswinds, and felt fast; this was very surprising to me, and honestly, they felt better balanced than HYPER 23 SE, for example.

You can check out my website for more details, videos, results of my in-house QC, and some discounts. 

Quote from: repoman on June 13, 2024, 08:10:47 PM
Can we make a list of these 700-800g +/- aero high dollar Chinese brand frames?

So far I see:

Winspace Agile (probably) 950g M $1980
Seka Spear RDC (probably) 850g M $2700
Seka Spear regular weight ?? $2158
Incolor Intropy Speedster regular (probably) 950g $1764 dunno availability in the West
Incolor Intropy Speedster Plus (probably) 870g $2592
Tavelo Arow Superlight (probably) 850g $2380

I write "probably" because all these weights listed are unpainted, figuring paint adds another 100-150g so I added 120g for the paint to the listed weight.

Owner of the Agile here; below are the pictures of the actual weights of the fork, seatpost, and frame in size 51. I had YOELEO R12 previously, and the Agile is much more comfortable and "lively." A full video review is coming soon; the written one is already on my website. 

Quote from: aliexpress_junkie on April 16, 2024, 08:44:28 AM
Lots of reviews I've read on the magene are older (8+ months every time) and they always end up saying it's not quite as good as the garmin radars. A few false negatives, several false positives, clearing up the alert way too soon etc.

This is also valid for all the other "clones" as well, from Bryton etc.

Anybody still have that experience with the latest firmwares? I had a friend tell me the magene is amazing a year ago but he never actually had a garmin one, in a group ride we had both and it was clear the garmin one was a lot more accurate. I really love having a radar but I hate having to buy a micro-usb one like the garmin if that's the only one that's working decently, so was wondering if the firmwares made them better now or if it's really a hardware issue for most of them.

I tested Magene, Bryton, Garmin, and iGPSport radars, and Garmin is still the most accurate (with the fewest false positives). None of these radars ever gave me a false negative.
Regarding L508, I tried it again a few weeks ago, and it feels the same as it did a year ago. It still gives more false negatives than Varia.
Basically all Chinese alternatives give about the same number of false positives - more than Varia. On the other hand, they offer USB-C, light customizability (Magene), better mount (Bryton), or battery life (iGPSport). If you want to dig deeper, feel free to check out my radar comparison article (https://www.cyclistshub.com/best-cycling-radars/), where I evaluate multiple features of cycling radars.

Quote from: kbernstein on April 16, 2024, 08:47:03 AM
This guy says the firmware is a lot better now
I agree it is a shame how many youtubers review products after one week, point out software issues and then never update us later once said issues have been addressed. And don't count on chinese manufacturers to give us a detailed changelog either

One of these "YouTubers" here (I don't like calling myself that way ). I understand your point, but we are in a pretty difficult position. If you don't release a review within a few days after the product launch, you are basically irrelevant, and nobody cares. Spending another 5-15 hours making a second video, which will most likely have a much lower reach, is not viable. If I update the firmware of the reviewed product and find a change in behavior, I try to update my written reviews or write a comment under my video reviews. But yeah, cycling is much more niche than technology like smartphones, where you get hundreds of thousands of views (if you are good), and each video pays for itself multiple times. 

Quote from: FullCarbonAlchemist on April 18, 2024, 03:54:54 PM
What are people's experiences with the Magene app for adjusting settings on the radar light? I'm on iOS and the reviews for the app in the store are absolutely terrible, almost all one-star. But a lot of those are from people using it for other Magene products.

I haven't even bothered to download it yet but wanted to try playing around with some settings like brightness, and wondered if anyone had tips for using it in English because a lot of the bad reviews are for the fact that a significant amount of the interface is untranslated.

My experience with it are mixed. Sometimes, I had to restart it multiple times because it was not able to find the device. If it did, then everything was pretty ok. But it's not as reliable as Garmin or Wahoo apps, for example.