Roval Fusee EL28's??
 

Are you talking about the Roval Fusee EL 28's? if so then can you please have a look at these photos on Flickr Roval Wheel and tell me if your spokes broke in the same place? I have a two and a half month old 2010 Roubaix Expert and have broken numerous rear drive side spokes in less than 1500km of riding.

If Specialized are saying that the failure is due to incorrect threadlocker then I think they are trying to blow smoke up your you know what! :eek: Every time a spoke has broken on mine there has been about 1mm of thread left on the nipple and the failure point is right in the middle of where the spoke passes through the wall of the rim. To have threads in this section seems to be a poor design to me but I don't design wheels and are just starting to battle with my LBS and in turn Specialized on what they are going to do to resolve the issue.

Or the Stein Mini Cassette Lock. :-).

My Roval Fusee SL 28 spoke broke in the same place as yours.

I don't fully understand the problem with the wheel, but Specialized readily admitted a problem and warrantied the wheels. I don't think they would benefit by making up a reason for the failures.

I did opt for an upgrade to the Fusee SL 25 from the original equipment Fusee SL 28.

I received the new wheels yesterday. I am very happy with them so far. I have not heard of problems with the SL 25 wheels.

Will you share how much your out of pocket expense was to upgrade to the 25s, getting credit for the 28s?

A quick update on my experience with Fusee EL28's after the second round of broken spokes Specialized sent a new back wheel (the same Fusee EL28) to the LBS.
500km later in the middle of a ride I hear the familiar "Ting" sound as I ride away from a set of traffic lights and a rattling inside the back wheel. I stop and look and find another broken spoke, the loud that issued from my mouth "#$%@ " could be heard in the next suburb according to my riding mates!

Specialized Aus are now going to supply a set of Rapide SL 45's for me but I am not sure about carbon rims for an everyday bike?
The LBS is offering a set of Ultegra 6700's if I am not keen on carbon but looking at the spoke count (16f,20r) on the ultegras and the size of the rims (yes I know they are carbon laminated) I am thinking the Rapides may be the better of two evils for my junior clyde status (200lbs)
Any suggestions?

ausdb, Nothing spoils a ride more than anticipating something negative to happen. Use what gives you confidence. I tend to overbuild the wheelset, even after going from 205 lbs. to 185 lbs. because real world pavement might bite me in the butt 50 miles into a 100 mile ride.

Brad

I think I would ask for more options. At your size I would be looking for something with a few more spokes. Velocity is in AUS and I hear good things about their factory wheels. Will they give you credit toward something built custom?

I have been really happy with the Roval Fusee SL 25 replacement for the EL28. I am 185 lb and have had no issues with the SL 25 wheels. They are quite true and the spoke tension is near perfect. The bearings are exceptionally smooth.

My older bike had Mavic Kysrium Elites. They were a little heavier and less aerodynamic than the Roval SL 25, but I suspect they will handle a heavier rider quite well. I thought they were excellent wheels at a comparable price to the EL28.

ausdb:
Based on your experience, I am really happy I didn't have Specialized do a factory rebuild. If you get the Rapides, please post your experience with them.

If you can swing it- The Krysium elites are a good wheel. I have the cheaper Aksiums on one of my bikes that is out with my son-in-law and he is around 200. We did have a spoke problem after about 1,000 miles in the front but that was probably down to him catching some shrubbery in it about 100 miles before hand.

I personally have the Ultegras but I am light at 150 lbs so although I would recommend them- don't know about your weight on them

Cheers for the comments so far, I am not a fan of proprietary wheelsets full stop so will be giving the Ksyriums with their fancy spokes a miss.
The question of custom wheels has been on my mind as I really like the look of the Velocity A23's or the C-4 V22's and have been thinking of building a set up anyway in 24f,28r or 24f,32r depending on what hubs I use as I enjoy building wheels myself.
Looking at it from a financial perspective I can probably sell the Rapides for a decent sum, then buy the rims and hubs and do the build myself with a bit of pocket money left to go towards a Garmin 800! ;)

I like the way you are thinking. I like the wide rim idea, too. I''ve been considering those same rims for a future build.