Originally Posted by RPK79 (Post 18007347)

Alias is drinking the Shimano Kool-Aid. It's ridiculous how much of a fanboi he is. You put the Dura-Ace name on any product and he'll buy it and rave about how great it is. I bet Rapha is drooling over you as a potential customer.

Originally Posted by Alias530 (Post 18007512)

3x the standard warranty speaks for itself. They don't just do that for fun. You could say you pay for it up front and maybe you do, but there's a reason most wheel warranties (besides ENVE) are only 1 year. Dura Ace at 3 years says something about the quality of the product.

Originally Posted by Dan333SP (Post 18007268)

They are. I have a Madone 3.1, I think it came with the same wheels as your Emonda. They're branded something like "Bontrager Race Wheelset" and weigh a lot. Somehow they also managed to go out of true within the first 5 or 6 rides. I already had a set of Vuelta Corsa lites on my older bike that were much lighter, so I ordered a new freehub from Vuelta (old bike is Campy, new is Shimano), swapped that, and put them on.

They're probably a pound lighter than the Bontragers, and at about 180 lbs I don't notice any flexing. 1 spoke broke in a race crash, another on its own, but that's in about 20,000 miles on these wheels with some bad roads. Great wheels for the price. I will say that I've had problems with the freehub. I guess a few too many rain rides degraded the cartridge bearings in the freehub body, and like others mentioned, my Ultegra 6600 cassette gouged the splines pretty badly. I ended up replacing the freehub entirely because you can get a new one for $45 online and the old one was making an intermittent grinding noise under load.

I know someone will chime in and say a truly high quality wheelset should last through some rain rides without needing a $45 replacement part, but when you pay $220 for a set of wheels that feel great and lighten the bike, there's gotta be some downside and I guess that's it. Still, if you're handy you can replace the freehub and front/rear hub bearings with a kit of higher quality ceramic ones for $30 and probably avoid that problem in the future. I just didn't have the inclination for that. I also got a backup rear wheel and cassette to use for future rain rides for $10 from a friend, so I imagine the Vueltas will last thousands of additional miles for me.

Originally Posted by Alias530 (Post 18007510)

I just think it's funny one of the first posts was "up your budget" and that's fine but I do the same and I get attacked from every direction.

Some people like nice things... if you don't, that's fine.

And spokes are not all created equal. In every industry on the planet, there are varying degrees of quality at every level. Spokes may be a simple idea in concept, but so are nails, screws, washers, etc. yet there are still pros/cons of each kind.

Originally Posted by rpenmanparker (Post 18007549)

If you want the best spokes made anywhere, they are Sapim CX-Rays. Are those what Shimano uses?

Originally Posted by rpenmanparker (Post 18007530)

On what planet does length of warranty equate to durability? It is a classic ploy to overcharge for goods while offering a superior warranty. The extra revenue easily offsets the added warranty liability with plenty of increased profit to spare. Length of warranty has absolutely no relationship to product longevity.

Originally Posted by Alias530 (Post 18007510)

I just think it's funny one of the first posts was "up your budget" and that's fine but I do the same and I get attacked from every direction.

Originally Posted by Alias530 (Post 18004935)

wheels under $500 are in general garbage. They may be less garbage than what you have, but not worth paying for to upgrade.

Originally Posted by rpenmanparker (Post 18007530)

On what planet does length of warranty equate to durability? It is a classic ploy to overcharge for goods while offering a superior warranty. The extra revenue easily offsets the added warranty liability with plenty of increased profit to spare. Length of warranty has absolutely no relationship to product longevity.

Originally Posted by RPK79 (Post 18007568)

Same thing my ass. You have the same elitist attitude for reasonably priced quality wheels as you do for reasonably priced quality groupsets. That is, everything below your arbitrary level is garbage and should be shunned.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you're willing to overpay and fund the companies so they can sell me the same stuff a few years later for 1/3 the price. I just don't want to hear how you think you think solid proven technology at reasonable prices is garbage.

Originally Posted by dtrain (Post 18007578)

Based on warranties (and his logic), Hyundai must be far superior to Honda.

Originally Posted by Alias530 (Post 18007566)

Have you ever taken a business class? The Bathtub Curve and Product Failure Behavior (Part 1 of 2)

Originally Posted by RPK79 (Post 18007604)

If I told you I had a business degree would you believe me when I told you the company offering a 3 year warranty does not necessarily have a higher quality product than the company offering a 1 year warranty?

It's more likely offered simply as a marketing ploy. Furthermore, they likely bank on people not taking advantage of the warranty, and the consumer is less likely to use the warranty (even if they are able to) as each subsequent year passes.

Originally Posted by cicatrize (Post 18007599)

Alias, is the continuous brash behavior necessary?

Originally Posted by Alias530 (Post 18007624)

Yeah, if people would stop being so rude to me that would be cool.

Originally Posted by Alias530 (Post 18007581)

I'm just going to assume you've never owned something nice and the reason you're all about Fuji, Vuelta, and other budget brands, is because it's way better than the Walmart bike you grew up with. Do you also think an Audi A8 is no better than a Ford Fiesta? I think it's funny how resistant people are to spend money on bike stuff that's "more than they need" when so is their house, car, wardrobe, etc.

Originally Posted by Alias530 (Post 18007620)

Of course it doesn't guarantee without a shadow of doubt, but no company in their right mind is going to offer a warranty that isn't profitable. Big companies like Shimano hire statisticians to figure this kind of thing out.

If it was as simple to remain profitable and bank on everyone not taking advantage of the warranty, why don't all wheel manufacturers do this?

Originally Posted by rmfnla (Post 18007944)

I bought a set of Vueltas a few years back and returned them because there was so much drag at the dust covers.

Perhaps these are better but the rear hub is backwards; radial spoking on the drive side makes for a better dish...

Originally Posted by cicatrize (Post 18004156)

Vuelta Corsa SLR:
Vuelta Corsa SLR Road Wheelset

They're $279 shipped for the set, under 1500g, and they look pretty nice IMO. I'm wondering if it's worth it to upgrade my stock wheels on my Emonda ALR 5 to these. The ones I currently have just have "Bontrager TLR" on them, which aren't even listed on Bontrager's site, and I can't seem to find any specs on them, but I imagine they're a little under 2000g, given the "Race TLR" are over 1700g.

I want something lightweight that's going to improve the ride quality when I'm on some rough roads. The stock wheels aren't too great.

Originally Posted by dtrain (Post 18007578)

+1. Based on warranties (and his logic), Hyundai must be far superior to Honda.

Originally Posted by Alias530 (Post 18006349)

Ok, let's compare to the Dura Ace C24.

Do a quick google search... thousands upon thousands of pages of people giving nothing but praise for the hubs. Can you say that about whatever no name hubs are on the Vueltas? It's funny because this guy on the local huge facebook cycling group for buying/selling parts/bikes has been reposting this Vuelta wheelset for MONTHS and nobody wants them.

Originally Posted by ravenmore (Post 18008267)

Resale value or the lack thereof doesn't equate necessarily to the quality of the wheels. Dura Ace will probably have a higher resale value because of the name brand recognition but doesn't mean they're a better wheel. Shimano wheels are usually nice but don't punch much above their price point. Best wheels I've had were some hand built Kinlin rims on Formula hubs. Probably around $300 to build, were under 1400 grams, and I beat the crap out of them for several years without issue until I sold them with a bike.

Also the light, cheap, strong argument doesn't hold any where near as much water today as it once did.