Folding Bikes - Has anyone tried this chinese wheelset??!

Just curious if anyone has dared to pull the trigger on these:

http://i572.photobucket.com/albums/ss163/zljoyce/wheels/IMG_0092.jpg

Mind sharing your experience?!

Here's their website:

http://www.steelbikereviews.com/k/?view=item&id=110535377991&name=STARS+DAHON+20+Folding+Bike+Wheels+Wheelsets+ZJS610

http://www.stars-rim.com/english/product1.asp?id=87

They are supposedly light and strong, but then again I prefer to hear some feedback!

I have been vaccilating on buying some of these for ages. I may go ahead pretty soon.

My take on these wheels are the hubs are copies of American Classic. The rear hub have been a problem for AC but they did resolve this issue in 2005. Hopefully these did not copy over the mistakes.

The rims and lacing pattern look like Rolf copies. All in all, these are a copy of the Dahon wheelset except for the front hub which is standard width (I assume).

I think this set would not have the same quality of a Rolf set but since the price is lower it would be unreasonable to expect same quality.

Due to the low spoke count, it is absolutely important that the spokes are tensioned up correctly or you would find it breaks spokes.

So make sure of the front hub width.

Thanks for your reply Jur! I think I might give it a go if I end up not buying one of my friend's bikes that has similar kinetix wheels :)

By the way Jur, since you are/were here, may I ask how would you rate the Marathon plus 20x1.35 in terms of speed, value, and comfort? I wanted to give them a try but I read on a different post that you were not so pleased with them. Is that right?

I wonder what spoke wrench you need to fix these if they get knocked out of true.

I wonder what spoke wrench you need to fix these if they get knocked out of true.

yes. i noticed also that there is no nipple on the spokes......

They're internally adjusted spoke nipples. I can't recall exactly, but I think my Dahon Mu SL was using 3.2mm square headed nipples for adjustment. I would recommend a Park Tool SW-15 if you plan on buying a set of wheels like this, its got slots for the most common sizes of internal spoke nipples.

As for "Stars Circle", i've had a few of their rims through my shop and have worked on a few wheels with those rims. None like those above, but some more vanilla double walled 26" rims with MSW and eyelets. Looked pretty normal for the price range, quality was fine.

I am a bit confused as to the specs on that one particular page, I may be reading it wrong, but it seems to indicate that the front hub has an OLD of 85mm, which would be bizarre. I'd definitely agree with Jur's take at any rate, check out what that hub is and make sure its right for your bike.

These are heavier than the Kinetix Pro by a fair bit. In fact, they're in between the Comp and Pro wheelset in weight. These don't have butted spokes apparently, they're straight 14g. The really cool thing about the Pro wheelset is that the spokes are so spindly that the rim simply seems to float as you ride, and this would ruin it :p

My personal verdict is:

Meh. You're going to spend a fair bit extra over that price to ship them in, unless you live in Asia in relative proximity. I wouldn't bother, personally.

By the way Jur, since you are/were here, may I ask how would you rate the Marathon plus 20x1.35 in terms of speed, value, and comfort? I wanted to give them a try but I read on a different post that you were not so pleased with them. Is that right?
See this thread for lots of info:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?654150-Schwalbe-Marathon-Plus-tyres-for-a-Dahon

I didn't like mine, still got punctures on the 1.35" width, and there were heavy, expensive and wallowed/squirmed terribly in cornering unless pumped very hard. I doubt I would buy another. Speed-wise I can't honestly say much either way.