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04-14-07, 02:42 AM
Since they're finally on my bike, I figured I'd write my first installment of my thoughts on my new (to me) wheelset, the Spinergy Stealth PBO that I bought from LowCel.
Appearance. Up close, the carbon weave is not perfectly even. Of course, it's way easier to get brushed aluminum to look perfect. But hey, the paint and clearcoat on the R3 leave that much to be desired, too, so I'm not going to complain about the slightly rough look of the wheels. The wheels look gorgeous on Vivian. While the silver Elan Aero has a showy look on Vivian, the Spinergy, with its deep carbon rim and its really thick spokes, has a menacing all business look. I think they'll look even better once I desticker them, which I plan to do as soon as I'm absolutely sure I intend to keep these wheels. (If for some reason I don't like them, I'd sell them.) It's amazing how different the bike looks with the wheelset swap.
Also, I'm not a big fan of Spinergy's QR skewers, so I'm running my Spinergy with the Rolf Prima titanium skewers. Besides, those Rolf Prima skewers are lighter. I use that set of skewers on all my wheelsets.
Mounting tubes/tires. Since my new tires haven't come in yet, I borrowed the tires on the Elan Aero. Probably a good thing anyway, since it allows for an apples to apples comparison. Mounting the tires on the Spinergy was really easy compared to on my other wheelsets. That was a pleasant surprise. Specialized long valve tubes are barely too short (as I had expected), being long enough that my Road Morph can pump them up, but my floor pump can't. I found that out when I accidentally stuck a long valve tube instead of an extra long valve tube into the wheel. The extra long valve tube is plenty long. The bad thing, though, is that the lighter, more compliant Specialized Turbo tubes aren't available in that extra long valve length, so I'm running the Specialized standard road tube.
Pre-ride impressions. These wheels are heavy. Of course, my reference point is the rediculously light Elan Aero, which makes most anything seem heavy. They feel about right for their claimed weight. The full carbon clincher that Spinergy now sells is 2 mm deeper and about 200 g lighter, but I'm not about to pay an arm and a leg for a wheelset that probably won't be my primary wheelset thanks to my gravitating toward hilly rides.
The rim is narrower than the Elan Aero rim, so a big adjustment in the brake setting is needed. No big deal. The wheelset is a bit out of true, as LowCel had told me it would be (and as he told me they came from the factory). Not much, mind you. Perhaps 1-2 mm. I guess I'm spoiled by the absurd level of true of the Elan Aeros. (My QA sheet claims the front wheel shipped 0.2 mm out of true. The rear, 0.1 mm. I can't actually verify that, but it's believable.)
The hub also doesn't seem as freely rotating as on the Elan Aero. On the Elan Aero, set the front wheel at any position, lift the bike, and the wheel will rotate on its own until the heaviest portion (directly opposite the valve stem) is facing down. On the Spinergy, set the front wheel at any position, lift the bike, and the wheel doesn't move at all. Likewise, the rear wheel on the Spinergy doesn't really move, but on the Elan Aero, as long as it's in the direction where it can freewheel, it will rotate on its own.
Yet to be determined. I have little doubt this wheelset will be more aero (with a 41 mm rim) than the Elan Aero (24 mm rim). I assume the wheelset will be stiffer, being heavier and deeper than the Elan Aero. My measure of this will be whether the brakes rub when set really close (as I'd like them to be). On the Elan Aero, I had to open up the brakes a bit past where I'd like them since otherwise, the front would rub a bit in corners and the rear would rub a bit when pedaling hard.
This wheelset is supposed to be really comfortable. dog hair tells me it makes his Blue ride like a carbon bike. LowCel tells me it's more comfortable than his Zipps, which Vireo says are quite comfortable. We'll see. With Vivian already being really comfortable, I suspect I might not be able to discern much of a difference.
I hope to ride tomorrow morning to get on the road impressions, but given the late hour, that may or may not happen.
Appearance. Up close, the carbon weave is not perfectly even. Of course, it's way easier to get brushed aluminum to look perfect. But hey, the paint and clearcoat on the R3 leave that much to be desired, too, so I'm not going to complain about the slightly rough look of the wheels. The wheels look gorgeous on Vivian. While the silver Elan Aero has a showy look on Vivian, the Spinergy, with its deep carbon rim and its really thick spokes, has a menacing all business look. I think they'll look even better once I desticker them, which I plan to do as soon as I'm absolutely sure I intend to keep these wheels. (If for some reason I don't like them, I'd sell them.) It's amazing how different the bike looks with the wheelset swap.
Also, I'm not a big fan of Spinergy's QR skewers, so I'm running my Spinergy with the Rolf Prima titanium skewers. Besides, those Rolf Prima skewers are lighter. I use that set of skewers on all my wheelsets.
Mounting tubes/tires. Since my new tires haven't come in yet, I borrowed the tires on the Elan Aero. Probably a good thing anyway, since it allows for an apples to apples comparison. Mounting the tires on the Spinergy was really easy compared to on my other wheelsets. That was a pleasant surprise. Specialized long valve tubes are barely too short (as I had expected), being long enough that my Road Morph can pump them up, but my floor pump can't. I found that out when I accidentally stuck a long valve tube instead of an extra long valve tube into the wheel. The extra long valve tube is plenty long. The bad thing, though, is that the lighter, more compliant Specialized Turbo tubes aren't available in that extra long valve length, so I'm running the Specialized standard road tube.
Pre-ride impressions. These wheels are heavy. Of course, my reference point is the rediculously light Elan Aero, which makes most anything seem heavy. They feel about right for their claimed weight. The full carbon clincher that Spinergy now sells is 2 mm deeper and about 200 g lighter, but I'm not about to pay an arm and a leg for a wheelset that probably won't be my primary wheelset thanks to my gravitating toward hilly rides.
The rim is narrower than the Elan Aero rim, so a big adjustment in the brake setting is needed. No big deal. The wheelset is a bit out of true, as LowCel had told me it would be (and as he told me they came from the factory). Not much, mind you. Perhaps 1-2 mm. I guess I'm spoiled by the absurd level of true of the Elan Aeros. (My QA sheet claims the front wheel shipped 0.2 mm out of true. The rear, 0.1 mm. I can't actually verify that, but it's believable.)
The hub also doesn't seem as freely rotating as on the Elan Aero. On the Elan Aero, set the front wheel at any position, lift the bike, and the wheel will rotate on its own until the heaviest portion (directly opposite the valve stem) is facing down. On the Spinergy, set the front wheel at any position, lift the bike, and the wheel doesn't move at all. Likewise, the rear wheel on the Spinergy doesn't really move, but on the Elan Aero, as long as it's in the direction where it can freewheel, it will rotate on its own.
Yet to be determined. I have little doubt this wheelset will be more aero (with a 41 mm rim) than the Elan Aero (24 mm rim). I assume the wheelset will be stiffer, being heavier and deeper than the Elan Aero. My measure of this will be whether the brakes rub when set really close (as I'd like them to be). On the Elan Aero, I had to open up the brakes a bit past where I'd like them since otherwise, the front would rub a bit in corners and the rear would rub a bit when pedaling hard.
This wheelset is supposed to be really comfortable. dog hair tells me it makes his Blue ride like a carbon bike. LowCel tells me it's more comfortable than his Zipps, which Vireo says are quite comfortable. We'll see. With Vivian already being really comfortable, I suspect I might not be able to discern much of a difference.
I hope to ride tomorrow morning to get on the road impressions, but given the late hour, that may or may not happen.