Blue Belly

The back story. I purchased a new set of Campagnolo Boras, a few years back. Rode them for a while until a chain failure (campy record, also)on a sprint climb caused a quick chain reaction which included the front rim buckling under the instant force. Campagnolo did not want to replace the rim but, for the price of a new wheel would rebuild it for me. Of course, that was rediculous. I half expected them not to warranty it. That wasn't a huge surprise but, would have been nice. Selling me a new rim, or even, rebuilding it at a fair cost would have been reasonable. Long story short... The wheel had been hanging in the basement, ever since. I finally decided(last month)to do something about it. I knew it was a gamble but, I purchased a Chinese made rim off eBay. The seller was good with communication & the reviews were favorable. No mention anywhere of a replacement for a bora, I felt it was my only shot & I moved forward, knowing that there may be a few kinks I need to iron out along the way. At +/- $150usd, I decided it worth the gamble. I have the spokes laced in now & everything is a fit. I'll post some photos & try to pass along any useful information, In the even that someone out there suffers a similar fate. I'll also give my personal review of the product( for whatever that is worth). Stand by...

fietsbob

Tuneups on old Maserati have an expensive parts list to do the job ..

Blue Belly

First on the list is the eBay listing & user. As stated, communication was good. They were able to drill the rim for 18 holes(internal nipple) & put a gloss finish on it. It even showed up before they had suggested. No complaints there. For the price, the rim looks great. it has a few weave abnormalities, these are small & should all be cosmetic. weight, hand in hand it feels slightly heavier & more substantial than the bora. That is to be expected & not a disappointment, to me anyway. The Bora is a weave of carbon & kevlar on the inside. Im sure this bolsters the strength & allows for a lighter, more compliant rim. Not to mention, a little higher cost(if nothing else, in sourcing ). Overall the difference from a visual standpoint in minimal enough to fit the bill. Will be interesting to see how it feels under the bike

https://r.ebay.com/3imFim

Panza

Its reason like these that I enjoy Enve products, nothing short of top shelf Campy but the warranty is designed to keep you with their company for good.

"ENVE offers a Lifetime Crash Replacement Program to the original owner for ENVE manufactured products. This catchall program covers accidents which fall outside of our warranty coverage for any reason.We design our products for aggressive riding on tough terrain. However, we can’t engineer carbon to survive a collision with your garage, exposure to your exhaust, or being pitched off a cliff. We’ve worked with carbon long enough to tell the difference.
Our goal is to keep customers in the ENVE family for life. No matter what the circumstance, as part of this program, the price of replacement ENVE product is 50% off the listed local MSRP. Please note that sales tax, freight, VAT/Import duties, shipping, and labor are not covered by ENVE. Additional replacement parts are not covered by ENVE."I think it's quite ridiculous that they offered to "repair" your wheel for the price of a new one. I've had similar treatment from Italian companies though. Love the bikes and products, hate the customer service. I think doing a Chinese knock off is a good solution because their customer service lead you to that option in the end.

Blue Belly

Here is the Bora rim removed & progress of lacing up the old rim. I numbered the spokes so that I made sure to get them in the right place. Heavier spokes opposite the tire valve.



These washers are taped into the bora & need to be removed with a pick of some sort. My rim was destroyed so, I cut it so they were easy to get out, once loosened .

Blue Belly

The tools I used. I ended up not using the scissors & double sided tape. Tried & proved to be too much trouble. i had to bore out the spoke holes to 3/32"(the reason for the drill bit & screw driver). 5mm spoke wrench & the awl did the brunt of the work.


Another laced up pic

Blue Belly

Ive heard great things about Enve. My local shop builds up wheels with Enve products & has nothing but good things to say.

Panza

Ride like a champion too and theyre stiff enough to support my 180-210lbs tub tossing it around without any issues. I don't ride in the rain with them, I have a disc brake bike for that.

It looks like a real hassle getting those imitation Campy's attached. Keep it up.

AnkleWork

But the positive correlation between expense and failure rate is widely understood.

fietsbob

Perfection in racing is just to get you across the finish line in first.

Blue Belly

I'll post more pics & info as I go along. I'm going to try to remove & replace the decals. Not sure how, or if, that will work out.

Blue Belly

So, here she is. Built up & ready for glue. The rim has a slight "blip" in it. Very minor but, should be noted. Other than that it is spinning smooth & should ride great. For the price, still a great replacement. As stated before, I didn't need to buy new spokes, washers or spoke nipples. Everything swapped over perfectly.
Next up, I'll get a tire glued up & put it through the paces, on the road.

Blue Belly

A couple delays but the wheel is finally in the bike & ready for a ride. The decals transferred over fairly well. One was damaged from the failure but, it still worked ok. A quick jaunt around the driveway felt ok. Full review/opinions soon.

AnkleWork

Campagnolo stickers on a no-namo cheap Chinese part from a seller that treated you better than Campagnolo -- but you give free advertising to Campagnolo. That's a very pretty picture.

Blue Belly

No name Chinese didn't have a logo/seemingly didn't care. They will get their positive review. We have to be fair & say I am not trying to slander Campagnolo, here. I would hope for a little more from them. However, I'm not able to (conscientiously) pay the price of a new wheel, for just a rim. I love Campagnolo products. I always have, probably always will. Just need to be a little knowledgeable about my purchases, going forward. Lesson learned.
Back to the purpose of the thread. Campagnolo Bora Replacement Rim. So far so good.

shelbyfv

Great that you were able to find a replacement rim that did not require new spoke length. It does seem odd to put the Campy labels on it. I understand wanting the wheels to match but I think it would have been better to remove the labels from the rear wheel to achieve that. Good job, other than that.

Blue Belly

Well, there's always that inner conflict. The way I see it. I did pay for a set of boras & it's only a rim separating that set from actually being a bora set, now. So, I choose to do the aesthetically pleasing thing & run them as what I paid for. As I also stated previously, I'd be happy to pay for a Campy rim. But I can't reasonably spend the price of a built wheel, for just a rim. If Campagnolo doesn't like that, they can work with me on it. I'd be happy to do so.

Blue Belly

Finally found the time to put some miles into the new wheel.
Been riding to work but, that requires a different bike, for several reasons...
The rim performed well enough. It doesn't quite have the supple feel of a Bora rim, I didn't expect it to. However, it feels nicer than the FSA 50mm carbon wheel that was replacing it. Probably right in the middle, feelwise, of the the Bora & The FSA. The wheel spins up nice & handled everything I threw at it. Was great out on the open road, nice & smooth. The only issue the wheel had is with the slight blip in the wheel. I assume where carbon fiber overlaps. It did cause a little shudder at high speed braking. Maybe that will smooth out? Anyway. As stated before, for the price, a great deal as a direct replacement.