Re: Spinergy Tilium Clincher wheels

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I posted this to rec.sport.triathlon, thought I might post it here too...

"Gemma Kernich" <gemm@holon.net> wrote in message news:...
>
> "RLIrwin" <rlirwin@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:20040407231829.21912.00000872@mb-m13.aol.com...
> > Has anyone tried these - they seem to be a good value.
>
> Short story:
> Yes, I have, IMHO they are crap.
>
> Long Story:
> I got a pair of new clincher Krysiums Sl's from the shop, a few days later
> the shop rang, bring them back in, try a pair of new Spinergy Tiliums
> instead, if I didn't like them I could have the Krysiums back. I did the
> swap, and rode out to the evening crit. By the time I had done the 9km on
> smooth roads to the race the front wheel had developed a wobble (side to
> side) and so I had to open up the brakes, by the end of a 40min crit the
> back one had just as bad a wobble as well as a 'hop', with brakes rubbing.
> On closer inspection the front hub had been machined with an eccentricity
> (the flange had a 3mm wobble on one side) and the back had a couple of
bent
> spokes (from shipping) - these were the s tainless steel spoke model (SS).
>
> Went back to the shop, and they gave me another pair straight out of the
> box. 20km later two spokes had come undone on the rear wheel, it was
> getting badly out of true. Additionally, between the 2 sets of wheels
there
> was a lot of difference on the freehub drag, one set would almost wind
your
> legs backwards when coasting.... anyhow, went back to shop to have them
> trued, the best wheel guy in there was complaining how hard they were to
> true, was shaking his head and cursing. Took them for about 50kms more
> riding, and as as they were going out of true again, I swapped them back
for
> the Krysiums at the shop. Shop owner said he wasn't going to get any more
> in.
>
> Couldn't understand that someone could build the first front wheel up
> without seeing the hub had an eccentricity in it! Must have been late on
a
> friday after drinks, either that or their quality control is terrible all
> the time. Either that, or they send all the rejects to Australia...
>
> FWIW I'm 5'11", female, 80kgs and have ridden 32spokes conventional
wheels,
> 16 spoke shimano wheels, 16 spoke shamals, 24 spoke Zipps and have NEVER
had
> any trouble with wheels before. These ones were almost unreal.
>
> If you can stand constant truing and want a cheap carbon deep aero rim
then
> they're for you. I couldn't afford to trade in the reliability issues.
> Note you can't true the wheel without taking the tyre and tube off, and
you
> need to carry the special tool. The best thing going for them was that
they
> looked good, and the brake surface was pretty nice, well, it woull have
been
> nice for braking if the brakes weren't waving from wide to side...
>
> I note they're going cheap now here in Oz too, about A$1250 a pair,
compared
> to A$1350 for Krysiums.
>
> Cheers
> Gemma
>
>

I have a set of these and they have been great, I am a big guy at 6'2'"
tall and 230#'s. The trick is ti stress relieve them and retrue straight
out of the box. This has to be done or every set will do just what you said.
Chris

Chris-<< The trick is ti stress relieve them and retrue straight
out of the box. This has to be done or every set will do just what you said.
>><BR><BR>


WTF...so a brand new set of $800 wheels and you have to finish what the
'builder' didn't do? Amazing..

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

You got it!
Chris

"Gemma Kernich" <gemm@holon.net> wrote in message
news:4074e286$1@duster.adelaide.on.net...
> I posted this to rec.sport.triathlon, thought I might post it here too...
>
> "Gemma Kernich" <gemm@holon.net> wrote in message news:...
> >
> > "RLIrwin" <rlirwin@aol.com> wrote in message
> > news:20040407231829.21912.00000872@mb-m13.aol.com...
> > > Has anyone tried these - they seem to be a good value.
> >
> > Short story:
> > Yes, I have, IMHO they are crap.
> >
><SNIP>

My advice to run away from any Spinergy products. A few years ago I got
hooked into the SPOX trap. The wheels were nice for about 1500 miles then I
started breaking the spoke nipples at the hub. Spinergy was horrible for
support. One time it took over a month to get spokes...and I am still
waiting for the extra spoke wrenches. Unfortunately I had four sets before
I had the initial problem. I started purchasing extra wheels for parts on
eBay but finally gave up. The two LBS that I deal with most no longer carry
any Spinergy products.

Qui si parla Campagnolo <vecchio51@aol.com> wrote:
> Chris-<< The trick is ti stress relieve them and retrue straight
> out of the box. This has to be done or every set will do just what you said.
> >><BR><BR>

> WTF...so a brand new set of $800 wheels and you have to finish what the
> 'builder' didn't do? Amazing..

But Peter, they're made of Tilium - they must be good!

Tilium is a little-known element which is even lighter and stronger
than Scamdium. It is so named because it was discovered in
1970s-era kitchen tile, being the alloying element which makes that
tile both nearly indestructible and horrendously ugly.

On 11 Apr 2004 00:55:00 -0800, Benjamin Weiner <bjw@mambo.ucolick.org>
wrote:

>Qui si parla Campagnolo <vecchio51@aol.com> wrote:
>> Chris-<< The trick is ti stress relieve them and retrue straight
>> out of the box. This has to be done or every set will do just what you said.
>> >><BR><BR>
>
>> WTF...so a brand new set of $800 wheels and you have to finish what the
>> 'builder' didn't do? Amazing..
>
>But Peter, they're made of Tilium - they must be good!
>
>Tilium is a little-known element which is even lighter and stronger
>than Scamdium. It is so named because it was discovered in
>1970s-era kitchen tile, being the alloying element which makes that
>tile both nearly indestructible and horrendously ugly.

Wow, thanks for the new information! The only new matierial I've
found recently is Unobtainium.

Michael J. Klein