Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Aerospoke-- practical investment of trendy fad?

I recently invested in a Bianchi Pista and I'm slowly replacing most of the parts, including the wheel sets. It seems like having the Aerospokes just guarantees that your wheels will stay true (?) and be easier to lock up quickly.

So, basically, my question is: are Aerospokes that much tougher than regular spoke wheels or is their popularity mostly a fashion trend?

This is my first post on this amazing website; I'm very excited to see what kind of feedback I get here...

Aerospokes are so tight man, you should get both of them, put a really short stem on your bike, then some risers. That would be so fresh and dope! Man, nothing looks tighter than a sweet pista with arrowspoekzzzz!!!

Anyone else?

I test-rode a customer's bike that we had just put two Aerospoke wheels on a few months back. All I can say is that they were clunky and heavy. I personally would not ride with them if they were given to me for free.

From what I've heard here there popularity is soley a fasion trend, much like pista.

Waste of money unless there is some look you are going for. I would rather put my money into a hand built wheelset with the rims and hubs of my choosing.

http://90.media.vimeo.com/d1/5/21/01/00/21010082/21010082_200x150.jpg

I'm very excited to see what kind of feedback I get here...

I'm sorry.

http://www.brakeless.ca/images/news/18.04.082/01.jpg

Those are the coolest kids I've ever seen. If you're related to them zip I'm jealous.

Haha, no relation -- though, to provide my opinion on your initial question, I must first say that I haven't ridden aerospokes myself. I understand that while they do tend to stay completely true, it may be possible to get them out of true at some point and then never back into true (but that sounds like a sorta catastrophic crash). Also the weight is somewhat of a detriment, but I agree that they look pretty good in most cases.

how are they easier to lock up quickly?

http://www.brakeless.ca/images/news/18.04.082/01.jpg

b itches love tarck

how are they easier to lock up quickly?

I guess it would be slightly easier to throw your u-lock through in the large space between the arrospoks that between the spokes of your laced wheels...

?

You didn't 'invest' in a pista, and aerospokes are not an 'investment'. I think your a bit confused about that word.

arrospoks look cool. thats it. theres really no noticeable performance gain with it. stop trying to convince yourselves that arrospoks have some type of advantage over regular spoked wheels. theyre heavy, you cant true them(and yes they go out of true over time), and you save maybe half a second locking up. i know this, because i used to have one. end of thread.

Deep V's are the new Arrospoks.
Be different, get them in pink! So HOT!

http://www.brakeless.ca/images/news/18.04.082/01.jpg


Why isnt this in the FG girls thread?

If you buy a decent wheel that is properly built it shouldn't go out of true very often at all. Aerospokes are a fashion item, not something that people buy for durability. 36 spoke wheel sets are things that people buy for durability.

Joe, you are right. I purchased a bike, and I'm thinking of purchasing some wheels. Thank you.

Thank you lookout for ending the thread for us. For a second there we thought we could form an opinion without you.

If you buy a decent wheel that is properly built it shouldn't go out of true very often at all. Aerospokes are a fashion item, not something that people buy for durability. 36 spoke wheel sets are things that people buy for durability.

I'm going with you on this. Thanks for the frank, sensible response.

Waste of money unless there is some look you are going for. I would rather put my money into a hand built wheelset with the rims and hubs of my choosing.

This is Very Good advise, Get some custom built Wheels with Solid rims and hubs, Mavic's or DT swiss rims, hell even high end Sun or Alex rims. Laced to formula's or < hubs, would be a much better "investment".


Or even Cane creek/Mavic have nice track wheelsets for less than the price of some areospkoes

Haha, no relation -- though, to provide my opinion on your initial question, I must first say that I haven't ridden aerospokes myself. I understand that while they do tend to stay completely true, it may be possible to get them out of true at some point and then never back into true (but that sounds like a sorta catastrophic crash). Also the weight is somewhat of a detriment, but I agree that they look pretty good in most cases.

Yeah, that's about what I thought, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something. Thanks for the advice.

A lot of people on here and other bike forums talk about them being trendy and heavy. I'm fat, old and ugly and I also wanted aerospokes since I first saw them as a kid in the 80's so on my new bike build I bought a set (unfortunately the bike won't be done for a few more weeks) so I can't comment on their performance. I also bought a set of Mavic cxp 33 with Phil hubs for the same bike so I can play around with things. It should be another 2-3 weeks but I'll post my observations and it won't be based on what's trendy or not.

This is Very Good advise, Get some custom built Wheels with Solid rims and hubs, Mavic's or DT swiss rims, hell even high end Sun or Alex rims. Laced to formula's or < hubs, would be a much better "investment".


Or even Cane creek/Mavic have nice track wheelsets for less than the price of some areospkoes

Makes sense to me, thanks.

A lot of people on here and other bike forums talk about them being trendy and heavy. I'm fat, old and ugly and I also wanted aerospokes since I first saw them as a kid in the 80's so on my new bike build I bought a set (unfortunately the bike won't be done for a few more weeks) so I can't comment on their performance. I also bought a set of Mavic cxp 33 with Phil hubs for the same bike so I can play around with things. It should be another 2-3 weeks but I'll post my observations and it won't be based on what's trendy or not.

That would be awesome man. that's precisely the type of rational feedback I'm looking for. Look forward to hearing what you think...

From everything that i have heard, seen, and tried, there are arguments both ways. the biggest things against aerospokes are:
you might get flamed by people who have them (if you care about such things)
some people claim that they are less sturdy (more inclined to catastrophic failure) than traditional spoked wheelsets (unsure of the accuracy of this)
they are a lot heavier than a comprable spoked set which is good for fairly consistant cadences on fairly level ground, but not so good in the city/hills
the increased aerodynamics of them don't really appear in street riding.
if they go out of true, you need to get a new wheel pretty much (i have heard that there are very limited truing possibilities, but there are some)
i am sure that there are people that have plenty of other reasons that they are bad.

in their favor:
they do look really cool.
they are very aerodynamic, which on longer flatter rides might help.
they sound good if you are on a quiet enough street to hear them
plenty of people ride them so they must be good enough for them
there is more space between the spokes for a lock if your lock really needs the room,


personally i would go with the majority of others and go for a nice handbuilt track wheel set.
That being said, you should go with whatever gets you out and riding, be it drop stem and risers with aerospoke front and traditional rear (know as the SF style) or a subtle bike that gets you going and lets you have fun doing it. It is your bike, do what you want and get out and ride.

Huge discussion on this from like three days ago:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=453601

Trendy fad, and currently turning into "Thats so yesterday" :rolleyes: I remember when they were $200.00 for the set on Flea Bay! :lol:

Huge discussion on this from like three days ago:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=453601

Oh, good... I thought I was going insane.

:D

thread/

Huge discussion on this from like three days ago:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=453601

I guess some of us missed it, hence all the replies to this "new" posting on the subject ;)

Well one thing about them failing is that if they do break they'll replace them for like $100 or something like that.

It is a practical investment if you bought one for < $300 and sold it for almost $400. ~30% ROI

You didn't 'invest' in a pista, and aerospokes are not an 'investment'. I think your a bit confused about that word.

If you wanna get picky about words, that would be "you're" rather than "your." Give the OP a break...

plenty of people ride them so they must be good enough for them

Plenty of people do lots of stuff that makes no ****ing sense. That doesn't give it a good quality.

Take milli vanilli for example. Or trendy retro bikes.

Take milli vanilli for example.

Aerospokes have WAY outlasted Milli Vanilli. :)

Zip0082, I think you forgot one other photo:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3040/2779683510_fa4c62317a.jpg?v=0

you could just light your cash on fire, it would be about the same.

plenty of people ride them so they must be good enough for them

Plenty of people do lots of stuff that makes no ****ing sense. That doesn't give it a good quality.

Take milli vanilli for example. Or trendy retro bikes.

in all those examples, it might not be good enough for most people, but it is certainly good enough for those that like them.

same thing with aerospokes.

There is some reason that a lot of people ride them. If that is just because they are "fashionable", then that makes the wheels good enough to use for the people that are all about fashion.

i am not saying that they are good, in fact i think they are a waste of money, but that is what i think, and i am not going to try and tell people what to do with their own money.
furthermore, i was trying to be diplomatic, and that was one of the few positive things that i could think of to say about them.

In other words, there are enough people that like them, that there has to be some reason be it fashion or function. This reason is what makes them good enough for the people that ride them.

http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/appeal-to-popularity.html

Aerospokes are tired, corney, sh*t*y, and played the **** out. End of story. Enough of this already.

Oh yea and, Fallacy: Appeal to Popularity...is dead on.

Isn't this kind of "the pot calling the kettle black"? This is an argument about a TREND within a TREND. If you like em buy em who gives a **** what other people think. You bought the bike already why stop now?

Isn't this kind of "the pot calling the kettle black"? This is an argument about a TREND within a TREND. If you like em buy em who gives a **** what other people think. You bought the bike already why stop now?

You have a great point about it being a trend with in a trend. I'm really getting a kick out of these riders who are so bent on proving their "authenticity" to strangers through a computer screen by actually getting angry over a very simple and logical question.

In response to your comment-- I'm not sure that I do like them, that's why I'm asking about their performance and general reputation. I agree with your general sentiment though, and find the people on here who get mad about bike spokes to be so pathetically insecure that it's almost cute.

Aerospokes have WAY outlasted Milli Vanilli. :)

Extremely good point.

you could just light your cash on fire, it would be about the same.

Except if I lit my cash on fire, I wouldn't have new wheels.

Aerospokes are tired, corney, sh*t*y, and played the **** out. End of story. Enough of this already.

Oh yea and, Fallacy: Appeal to Popularity...is dead on.

Oh **** bro, you just totally trampled my dreams of acceptance by fixie jocks, damn this stings...

in all those examples, it might not be good enough for most people, but it is certainly good enough for those that like them.

same thing with aerospokes.

There is some reason that a lot of people ride them. If that is just because they are "fashionable", then that makes the wheels good enough to use for the people that are all about fashion.

i am not saying that they are good, in fact i think they are a waste of money, but that is what i think, and i am not going to try and tell people what to do with their own money.
furthermore, i was trying to be diplomatic, and that was one of the few positive things that i could think of to say about them.

In other words, there are enough people that like them, that there has to be some reason be it fashion or function. This reason is what makes them good enough for the people that ride them.

I was almost convinced that I don't want one (or two) of these Aerospokes, but if they actually have the effect of making idiots throw adorable little tantrums, that's a plus as far as I'm concerned.

Quit looking for validation and get your stupid wheels already.