What are you hoping to achieve with these wheels? Gram shaving, an aesthetic update, performance, comfort or reliability?
- They score high on gram shaving and comfort, in fact they're off the charts on both accounts. There are simply no lighter-weight wheels out there for tandems (
nor for single bikes in most cases) and their ride qualities can provide a carbon-frame-like feel to what was (
at least before we took delivery of our Calfee) and already very comfortable Erickson steel tandem.
- Aesthetics are pretty subjective: I thought they were not all that attractive at first, but have since come to like they way they look on certain bikes, e.g., they really look great on our nude carbon Calfee tandem. So, if you want an eye-grabbing wheelset that is also quite high on the technology cool factor, they'll definitely make your tandem stand out from the crowd sitting still or while in motion with their their yellowish spoke blur. Conversely, if you prefer to be subdued.... well, let's just say you can't really turn down the volume.
- Performance wise, the unusually wide cross-section of the hybrid carbon & kevlar spokes put them on par with conventionally spoked 40h and 48h tandem wheels in terms of wind drag. I'm not not convinced the bearings are as 'free spinning' as the less expensive ones used by White Industries or Phil Wood's very nice but more expensive Swiss-made bearings. Then again, they could just require more wear-in time to 'free-up'; we've logged just under 800 miles on our Topolinos and the front wheel had to be replaced (see below), so the time clock was reset to just about zero on that wheel. Regardless, what we observed while riding is that we are consistently slower while freewheeling down steep descents when we use the Topolino wheels compared to several different sets of conventional wheels using White Ind & Phil Wood hubs and our Rolf Prima Vigor wheels which, coincidentally, also use White Ind hubs. The Topolino's also exhibited similar spin-down decay to conventionally-spoked deep-section wheels during some bench testing that I also address in Update #1 of our
Calfee Journal. So, if you're looking for "fast wheels", the Topolino's would not be my first pick by a long shot and despite claims to the contrary, the reduction in rolling mass is negligible: from a pragmatic standpoint it's a static weight reduction (period). All that said, the placebo effect from their light weight and vibration dampening is really amazing; they're a pleasure to ride on particularly on rough roads. Of course, rough roads can create problems of them own, e.g., tough on spoke networks and threaded spoke ends.
- Reliability: Let's see, where to start. If you acquire these wheels and plan to use them with Shimano 10 Speed cassettes, be sure to acquire a set of American Classic's adapter clips, otherwise the oddly splined Shimano cassettes will
damage the hard-anodized but still somewhat soft Topolino cassette carrier body; very cheap insurance vs. dropping $100 + shipping for a replacement carrier from Topolino. Although we haven't experienced a breakage, some of the other folks we know who acquired Topolino's tandem wheels back in 2007 and 2008 and who rode them hard ended up with broken spoke-end terminators... that's the small threaded end on the composite spokes that gets laced to the nipples. I also recall at least one, perhaps two reports of cracked hub bodies. Topolino was good about replacing them under warranty and I'm told the terminators have since been beefed up. Again, we have not had any spoke failures. However, we did have problems with our front wheel's hubs that caused us to return the front wheel to Topolino twice before the front wheel was simply replaced. The first was a problem with axle slippage during hard out of the saddle climbing, resolved with a new set of axle end-caps and then a persistent bearing noise (mis-seat?) that couldn't be corrected. Again, support from Topolino was very good and the front wheel was eventually replaced under warranty. The only downside to the support is the costs associated with shipping the wheels back to Topolino, not an inexpensive proposition when you consider the replacement value insurance number of $1,400. Finally, after our last tandem rally of 2009 I noticed that the rear wheel had gone out of true... something that I really did not expect to see given the various endorsements made by 'big teams' and in light of our somewhat more modest team weight of 280lbs.
I still need to get a nipple driver so that I can true my rear-wheel and we'll continue to use the wheels on special occasions or on our Erickson should we ever find ourselves with Calfee out of commission. But, in the big scheme of things, I would make sure I matched my goals with the actual features offered by the Topolino wheels, or any other wheels for that matter. Having spent a couple years playing with high end wheels I find that aside from the placebo effect on performance and their good looks, conventionally-spoked wheels still seem to be the best value, most reliable choice anyone can make for a tandem, even for those who are competing on their tandems. If someone truly has a need to boost their performance with some wind-cheating wheels, get ready to shell out for some of the wheels that actually DO provide more substantial aero drag reductions, such as the ones mentioned in other threads here on the forums.
So, for what it's worth, that's my assessment. Other's have reported no problems and are quite happy with their Topolino's, so your results may vary as well. As with any boutique wheels, I would still recommend they be acquired as a second set of wheels if you ride all the time, just so you have a back-up wheelset if there is a problem.