Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - cane creek volos vs. dura-ace

first off i have to say that i am one hell of a fan of reduced spoke wheels.

i am looking at either the cane creek volos track wheels (tubular) or dura ace hubs, laced to 32 hole sun mistral tubulars with some sort of fancy spokes. the dura ace wheels would be a bit cheaper ( i work at a shop) but i am leaning more toward the volos. does anyone have any experience with them? i can't even find out whether they are sealed bearing without calling someone at cane creek. i don't know, i just want opinions. i think 32 spokes is pretty overkill for the track.

-jason

You'd better practice your proprietary spoke truing. If there's one thing I hate, it's having a special tool and skill to true a friggin wheel. Mavic, Cane Creek, American Classic, Shimano, Campagnolo and even Bontrager have this crap going on with some of their paired spoke wheelsets. It's quite a pain in the ass to go somewhere with an oddball wheel and not have the tool handy when a spoke needs a little retensioning.

i'm not terribly worried about that. i work at a shop and like knowing/learning new things.

i'm not terribly worried about that. i work at a shop and like knowing/learning new things.

What about roadside maintenence?? Convenience?? Sensibility?? Lack of hype??

I too work at a shop, but I value things that I can count on to be
a. ****ing tough
b. serviceable when the interval comes up

There's a lot of hype in the bicycle industry and wheels are one of the worst next to frames. Just look at the flanges on the Volos. I bet the rim extrusion on that set is pretty flimsy, so I'm sure they don't recommend taking it on the road.

This Volos and other wheelsets just remind me of the headache that the American Classic 350 presented with its 350 gram (!!!) rim extrusion and its poorly designed hubs. It's all about 32/36H 3x for me, unless of course the manufacturer uses regular spokes, flanges, and nipples that can be trued at the inside of the rim and they give a lifetime guarantee and no rider-weight limit.

there will be no roadside maintenence. perhaps track apron maintenence, but that can be put off, if something happens that you'll need to be playing with your wheels, your day is pretty much over anyways. the cane creeks are radial in the front, radial on the non-drive rear and 1 cross on the drive side. definitely NOT road wheels.

-jason

overkill for the track.


does not compute

There are actually a few glowing reviews of the Volos on here, and at least some of the reviewers rode them on the road. Ken Cox said they were great for climbing and strong if I remember right.

Cane Creek says on their website "...the Volos Track gives you raceability with extra durability for training and fixed gear road spinning."

It sounds to me like they recommend them for road use.

I've heard that since the nipples are at the hub and the spokes are straight pull (not bent at one end) they are less likely to break, but I don't know if that's true.

does not compute

i'm not tiny, but i'm not huge. seems like a while ago everyone was riding 36 holes on the street. i don't think i've ever ridden 36 on the street. always 32 or 28. i'd think track wheels see less abuse (no?) it just seems like there is too much stock placed in a high spoke count for a tough wheel. seems to add weight (and rotational weight at that) for no good reason. maybe it's just me. perhaps not. i'm not trying to argue, just get opinions.

(quote) There are actually a few glowing reviews of the Volos on here, and at least some of the reviewers rode them on the road. Ken Cox said they were great for climbing and strong if I remember right.

perhaps, but i would not at all feel comfortable skidding/skipping on them. unless they come in different lacing patterns.
-jason

the volos are designed with road training and track use in mind. the rear hub is fixed/ss flip flop.
the rear wheel can be trued with a 3/16" open end wrench, the front traditionally. from what i've gathered, they are plenty tough for daily street use, plenty stiff for track use and really quick to spin up. these use high tension sapim cx-ray bladed spokes. these can be found for ~$400 and weigh in at 1766g

on the other hand, you could build up:

36h dura ace high flange hubs - $300 - ~615g
lightweight 36h tubular NOS rims - $60 - ~600g
72 DT Aerolite spokes & Prolock nipples ; - $75 - ~330g

for $425 (+ building charge, if any) and ~1545 g.

The dura ace will likely spin up easier than the volos, while being just as stiff. however, this wheelset would not be suitable for daily street use.

the volos are designed with road training and track use in mind. the rear hub is fixed/ss flip flop.
the rear wheel can be trued with a 3/16" open end wrench, the front traditionally. from what i've gathered, they are plenty tough for daily street use, plenty stiff for track use and really quick to spin up. these use high tension sapim cx-ray bladed spokes. these can be found for ~$400 and weigh in at 1766g

on the other hand, you could build up:

36h dura ace high flange hubs - $300 - ~615g
lightweight 36h tubular NOS rims - $60 - ~600g
72 DT Aerolite spokes & Prolock nipples ; - $75 - ~330g

for $425 (+ building charge, if any) and ~1545 g.

The dura ace will likely spin up easier than the volos, while being just as stiff. however, this wheelset would not be suitable for daily street use.

and that was pretty much exactly what i was looking for. thank you so very much. i was just going to go with the volos and upgrade to disc/tri-spoke if i got good enough to warrant it. i'm totally going to get the 32 hole dura-ace and kick it with that as long as i can. thanks again.

-jason

The dura ace will likely spin up easier than the volos, while being just as stiff. however, this wheelset would not be suitable for daily street use.

Why would you run tubulars on the road anyway if you were looking for the ultimate in durability?

Why would you run tubulars on the road anyway if you were looking for the ultimate in durability?

well it's not about the ultimate. a good deal of people set up track bikes that are going to be used on the street at least half of the time. tubular rims that would be suitable for the street like mavic gp4's, velocity escapes and campy omega strada hardox are closer to 400g a rim, which would build up to a 1700g+ wheelset - equivalent to the volos

Oddly enough, the Cane Creek wheels really don't use that many proprietary parts. They're pretty bulletproof under normal use, though I did manage to destroy a rim in a pothole on the way home from the track a couple of months back...but since the rims on the Volos track set are just plain ol' Velocity Aeroheads, or the corresponding tubular (forget what it's called), replacements are pretty easy to find anywhere. The spokes seem to be Sapim CX, again, not that difficult to find, and Sapim sells a nice little plastic gripper for aero spokes which is easy enough to carry around in a pocket/seat bag/mess bag/whatever. You do need a wrench for the straight-pull spokes, but I haven't found it to be a big deal to carry that around.

ok, but how about the ride? i gather stiff, but do they spin as well dura-ace hubs? or campy/suntour/what have you? we'll see. i guess i'm just looking for a reason to NOT get those over dura-ace.

-jason

Yes, I ride the Volos track wheels.
They came with tools and everything a person might need, including a very high quality lock ring.

I weigh 235 or so with gear, and I ride aggressively.
These wheels have held up remarkably well and feel much lighter than their actual weight.

If I wanted to build up another fixie, cost no object, I might look at the Dura Ace wheels, simply because I have no experience with them, sort of a curiosity thing, but I know I'd get a good performing and good looking wheel from Cane Creek.

Actually, I don't think I'd go Dura Ace unless I did the whole bike with Dura Ace components.
I saw a nickel-plated lugged-steel fixie in Ashland with all Dura Ace components, and it looked beautiful.

In aviation we say, "if it looks good, it flies good."
That probably holds true for bicycles, too.

My bike flies good. :)