So I went for a ride today with Dmitry S. from Saratoga towards Santa Cruz. The day started out kinda crappy.. Wasn't feeling too good and getting black smoked by some jackass in a truck didn't help.. but once I got warmed up I was ok. Made it from the Big Basin Hwy 9 to 9/35 intersection in 40 minutes.. not bad. The weather was nice and I had nice descent for about 10 miles. Then we hit Boulder Creek. Aside from the people making rude comments and the inability to understand how sharing the road works, I hit a pothole at about 25-30 mph and my rear tire blows. Whatever, **** happens. Goto repair it on the side of the road in a driveway, hoping some crazy guy wasn't going to come out and give us crap for being "yuppies" (The guy's old landcruiser had a sticker reading DIE YUPPIE SCUM). So I see my rear wheel is completely jacked.. great. Get the new tube in and CO2 it.. then I see my tire is completely ripped. We decide to press on a bit because we really wanted to get to Santa Cruz... well, we didn't make it. New tube blows out about 5 miles later. *sigh* I didn't expect us to but damn it was worth trying... So anyway. These wheels suck. I've had them about 6 months and have trued them like 5 times.. the rear one just wont stay true!! Does anybody have a decent set for sale?? Stay away from Boulder Creek. Oh and to the guy in the red Saeco jersey.. Thanks for stopping.. NOT!

My wife's Klein came with Bontrager selects, I always found them very difficult to mount/dismount tires on. She didn't have trueing problems, but over a year they got pretty soft. We did have them tensioned once, but I got here some FSA's from Nasbar, the same as my Litespeed has. Now the Bontragers sit in the garage hopefully never to be used. The FSA's were about 150.00 the pair. Best wheels I have owned, I thought they would be too light for my 210lbs.

These wheels suck. I've had them about 6 months and have trued them like 5 times.. the rear one just wont stay true!! Does anybody have a decent set for sale?? Stay away from Boulder Creek. Oh and to the guy in the red Saeco jersey.. Thanks for stopping.. NOT!
Sorry to hear that....At least the bad ride is out of the way, cause you know the next will be awsome! Murphys law.
I got hood winked on a crappy pair of shimano wheels, I won't say where cause I've been back since and they've been good to me, in fact bought a mavic wheelset that are awsome. I've never had a problem with Mavics. I've gone through 3 Bontragers, no lie! I hate them!. Maybe the top of the lines are better.

My wife's Klein came with Bontrager selects, I always found them very difficult to mount/dismount tires on. She didn't have trueing problems, but over a year they got pretty soft. We did have them tensioned once, but I got here some FSA's from Nasbar, the same as my Litespeed has. Now the Bontragers sit in the garage hopefully never to be used. The FSA's were about 150.00 the pair. Best wheels I have owned, I thought they would be too light for my 210lbs.
I had the stock Bontragers on my klein, yuck...

Does anybody have a decent set for sale??

I've got a set of Bontrager Race Lites for sale. Blue rims. I've been very happy with Race Lites. Stays true for my 188 lbs of lard. I'll make you a smoking deal if you're interested.

Yeah, not a very fun ride. Hwy 9 gets pretty crappy after Boulder Creek. Getting a cigarette butt tossed at me didn't help the ride either.

I've got a set of Bontrager Race Lites for sale. Blue rims. I've been very happy with Race Lites. Stays true for my 188 lbs of lard. I'll make you a smoking deal if you're interested.

hey thanks for the offer! I just picked up some Ksyriums so hopefully these will last..

hey thanks for the offer! I just picked up some Ksyriums so hopefully these will last..

Cool! Glad you got new wheels. Break them in in time for the Coastal Century! I'm counting on you doing some of the pulling!

You blame Boulder Creek for you hitting the pothole, or for the tire not withstanding the shock, or what? You're saying don't go to Boulder Creek because you hit something in the road there?

You blame Boulder Creek for you hitting the pothole, or for the tire not withstanding the shock, or what? You're saying don't go to Boulder Creek because you hit something in the road there?

Ya, from what I can gather, it was your fault you hit the pothole. It's not like the wheel/tire just gave out for no reason. Not trying to be a jerk or anything, just seems like you are blaming the street/area and the tire/wheel for a mistake that you made.

On my DH bike, if I case a gap and taco a wheel, I don't ***** about the trail or about how my wheel sucks. It was my fault I hit something that is beyond what the wheel is designed to handle.

That's my take on it.

So I went for a ride today with Dmitry S. from Saratoga towards Santa Cruz. The day started out kinda crappy.. Wasn't feeling too good and getting black smoked by some jackass in a truck didn't help.. but once I got warmed up I was ok. Made it from the Big Basin Hwy 9 to 9/35 intersection in 40 minutes.. not bad. The weather was nice and I had nice descent for about 10 miles. Then we hit Boulder Creek. Aside from the people making rude comments and the inability to understand how sharing the road works, I hit a pothole at about 25-30 mph and my rear tire blows. Whatever, **** happens. Goto repair it on the side of the road in a driveway, hoping some crazy guy wasn't going to come out and give us crap for being "yuppies" (The guy's old landcruiser had a sticker reading DIE YUPPIE SCUM). So I see my rear wheel is completely jacked.. great. Get the new tube in and CO2 it.. then I see my tire is completely ripped. We decide to press on a bit because we really wanted to get to Santa Cruz... well, we didn't make it. New tube blows out about 5 miles later. *sigh* I didn't expect us to but damn it was worth trying... So anyway. These wheels suck. I've had them about 6 months and have trued them like 5 times.. the rear one just wont stay true!! Does anybody have a decent set for sale?? Stay away from Boulder Creek. Oh and to the guy in the red Saeco jersey.. Thanks for stopping.. NOT!

I think he meant Boulder Creek sucks because of the peoples' comments and driving abilities... and I believe the bad experience with the wheels falls under the OP's title "Bontrager Select wheels suck even more". At least, that's how I read it. Oh, and my Bontragers don't stay true either...

I think he meant Boulder Creek sucks because of the peoples' comments and driving abilities... and I believe the bad experience with the wheels falls under the OP's title "Bontrager Select wheels suck even more". At least, that's how I read it. Oh, and my Bontragers don't stay true either...

Yep.

Perhaps the "rude" comments received there were the result of your riding style. Highway 9 is a mix of locals, tourists and commuters which makes if a dangerous road to ride, and disappointing for someone expecting civility. The "crazy" guy left you alone, didn't he? If you had landed in my driveway when I lived on Hwy 9 (for 9 years ending 11 years ago), you'd have had access to tools and a spare tire to get you home.

So I went for a ride today with Dmitry S. from Saratoga towards Santa Cruz. The day started out kinda crappy.. Wasn't feeling too good and getting black smoked by some jackass in a truck didn't help.. but once I got warmed up I was ok. Made it from the Big Basin Hwy 9 to 9/35 intersection in 40 minutes.. not bad. The weather was nice and I had nice descent for about 10 miles. Then we hit Boulder Creek. Aside from the people making rude comments and the inability to understand how sharing the road works, I hit a pothole at about 25-30 mph and my rear tire blows. Whatever, **** happens. Goto repair it on the side of the road in a driveway, hoping some crazy guy wasn't going to come out and give us crap for being "yuppies" (The guy's old landcruiser had a sticker reading DIE YUPPIE SCUM). So I see my rear wheel is completely jacked.. great. Get the new tube in and CO2 it.. then I see my tire is completely ripped. We decide to press on a bit because we really wanted to get to Santa Cruz... well, we didn't make it. New tube blows out about 5 miles later. *sigh* I didn't expect us to but damn it was worth trying... So anyway. These wheels suck. I've had them about 6 months and have trued them like 5 times.. the rear one just wont stay true!! Does anybody have a decent set for sale?? Stay away from Boulder Creek. Oh and to the guy in the red Saeco jersey.. Thanks for stopping.. NOT!


I have two Bontrager rims that came stock with my 2004 Lemond Zurich - they get mixed reviews from me. The good news is that after 2000 miles the front rim is perfect (20 spoke). The bad news is that I have trued the back rim (24 spoke) at least 10 times before one of the spokes cracked the rim. I made Lemond customer service honor the warranty on the rear rim. I asked Lemond if they had stronger rims and they said...no.

I don't use the Bontrager rims anymore. I purchased a set of Cane Creek Volos rims that are far superior - after 2,500 miles they are both perfect.

Yeah I just decided to get some Ksyrium Elites.. I dont want Bontrager wheel trouble again.