Originally Posted by
joe@vwvortex
I paid $1099 for my disc Rolfs back in 2011. They were pretty much problem free until the recent episode. My biggest problem is I couldn't just buy a new rim and fix the problem. I HAVE to send them to Rolf for a rebuild. Which is why I want to go to a set with a standard rim and spoke which can be purchased anywhere and I can fix myself.
I priced out the Enve's complete with hubs and spokes etc. the same as the other rims I'm considering from the same place - $2,380 for the set. How is less than half the cost almost as expensive? HED's would be around $1025 and the Kinlins just under $900.
I think I mentioned something in my post about the practice of Rolf wheelset users ($1175) having to purchase and equip a second, more reliable wheelset ($550).
Maybe the HED's or Kinlin's will be so reliable as to be used every day, all conditions, no problems. No spoke breakage at the most inopportune time. If so,
great. Tandem wheelset issues definitively solved for all time.
Because a redundant wheelset isn't particularly inexpensive, and require require tubes/tires ($100), a cassette ($100), a 1-2 rotors ($75), a bag ($50), etc. You've got to store it, transport it, switch it out, etc. That inconvenience is a cost, too.
If we look at a European tour, it would be costly to transport the extra wheelset, or costly to ruin the trip with wheel problems for lack of a back-up wheelset. The unreliable wheelset becomes
the horseshoe nail, for want of which the kingdom was lost. Its all got to factor.