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Reynolds vs Williams vs Boyd carbon wheels for ~$1K

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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Reynolds vs Williams vs Boyd carbon wheels for ~$1K

Old 09-25-15, 09:12 AM
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Yes, I'm guilty of helping to derail this thread. Can we please get it back on topic for the OP's sake? Thanks.
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Old 09-25-15, 09:30 AM
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I can say I've had a set of Boyd tubulars for 2 years with no problems. They are not my everyday, primary wheelset but have been used probably 1.5k per year.
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Old 09-25-15, 11:52 AM
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Originally Posted by 69chevy
Just a little feedback from a potential customer..

I think we all understand that you have a business to run and have seemingly done a good job of making an extraordinarily expensive product more affordable. You seem open, honest and despite being fairly new as a company, also seem to have a good reputation. Eating the cost for a product that is out of warranty is hard to do, and in no way are you obligated to do so.

Even with that being said, you sold the wheel with a two year warranty, not a two year life expectancy. When I see a wheel with a Boyd sticker on it that delaminated from what the owner calls normal use, I see a product that wasn't properly designed or tested.

If I was the original customer and your product had failed me, I wouldn't send you more money to make it right. I would consider it an expensive lesson and warn others just like the person who posted the picture of the damaged rim.

Saying your new wheels are better and then bragging on them, IMO is in bad taste. You were able to make your new stuff better because of the money that came in from the people who took a leap of faith on your old stuff. You may be ok with your "old" wheels being disposable to some of your customers, but the early adopters who helped get you off the ground shouldn't be disposable to your company.

Again, this is just my opinion, and I may very well be in the minority here.
The wheels in question here were put into service in mid 2013. That's a tad over two years of usage. Mostly flat riding...very few hills in my area of the midwest so no "riding the brakes" involved here. No racing either. Just training miles. I also own a condo in Altadena, CA where I spend some time and train in the San Bernadino mountains. That includes Mt. Baldy, which you might have seen in the Tour of California. My So. Cal. bike has Zipps 303's in which I do ride the brakes on some of those hairy descents. 4K miles on the Zipps and still going strong. Those Zipps are long past their warranty.

I was offered the discount on a new set of Boyds but decided against it. I just didn't want to go through this again. Maybe his new wheels are new and improved. Maybe his 2012 wheels are good but I just ended up with a defective set. Who knows. There is no question about it that carbon is getting better as we move forward. My posting is to let you know that nothing is guaranteed. It's buyer beware.

Personally, when it comes to full carbon wheels, I am just going to purchase the big name products and pay the price. Less money in my pocket but less frustration to deal with. Well worth it to me.
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Old 09-25-15, 03:15 PM
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Originally Posted by KickinA
I'm looking at carbon wheels in ~1K price range and Reynolds, Williams and Boyd has come up in my research. Does anyone have feedback on these wheels? How do they compare to more expensive brands from Mavic and Zipp?

I assume Reynolds, Williams and Boyd wheels are all made in China but they may put the wheel together in the US. I'm a little wary of buying the no-name carbon wheels from China, as I don't know what quality control they have even though they may come out of the same factories.
hey i know all three make great wheelsets but i have some BOYDs right now and i have to say, awesome man i love them, stiff, LIGHT, fast rolling , smooth , i'm thinking of getting some BOYD 44mm clinchers ,, one of my cycling buddies has all BOYD wheels and he also loves them.
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Old 09-25-15, 05:52 PM
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Originally Posted by 69chevy
You were able to make your new stuff better because of the money that came in from the people who took a leap of faith on your old stuff. You may be ok with your "old" wheels being disposable to some of your customers, but the early adopters who helped get you off the ground shouldn't be disposable to your company.

Again, this is just my opinion, and I may very well be in the minority here.
To some extent I do agree with some things that you said and raised some good points, but this bolded bit I quoted pretty much sums up everything in the bicycle carbon wheel market.

Both Reynolds and the earlier Zipps had problems in the past and like what you said they produce the "newest" and "greatest" at the expense of the buyers who bought their earlier models.

Unfortunately, I do not know of any wheel company out there that will just exchange a defective product well over their warranty life. It's a big ask for the company and surely like what Boyd said, some people will abuse it.
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Old 09-25-15, 09:42 PM
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Originally Posted by KantoBoy
To some extent I do agree with some things that you said and raised some good points, but this bolded bit I quoted pretty much sums up everything in the bicycle carbon wheel market.

Both Reynolds and the earlier Zipps had problems in the past and like what you said they produce the "newest" and "greatest" at the expense of the buyers who bought their earlier models.

Unfortunately, I do not know of any wheel company out there that will just exchange a defective product well over their warranty life. It's a big ask for the company and surely like what Boyd said, some people will abuse it.
Beginning use was "Mid 2013". From then until today doesn't sound like way out of a two year warranty period.

I'm aware other companies have had past problems. I paid $1 a mile to ride Zipp 404s.

I'm not bashing Boyd. Like I said he seems like one of the most honest out there. I'm just throwing my opinion out there for him to see. If he doesn't agree, I'm not upset.
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Old 09-25-15, 09:58 PM
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He said put into service in mid 2013 not bought then. The warranty starts from date of purchase. While I would be pissed if that happened so close to the end of the warranty period I would understand. I would probably take him up on the discounted replacement set. I don't upgrade just for the sake of upgrading. Im still on a CAAD9.
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Old 09-28-15, 02:44 PM
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Originally Posted by Bluechip
He said put into service in mid 2013 not bought then. The warranty starts from date of purchase. While I would be pissed if that happened so close to the end of the warranty period I would understand. I would probably take him up on the discounted replacement set. I don't upgrade just for the sake of upgrading. Im still on a CAAD9.
Purchased and put into service mid 2013. And keep your CAAD9. Just as good as the CAAD10 or 12.

To sum this up, all products have a defective failure rate. Some higher than others. That's why we have product recalls.

I never requested nor expected a new replacement wheelset. As a matter of fact, the problem was with only one of the wheels. I explained my situation to Boyd and was just waiting to hear what type of solutions existed. All I got was the sales pitch for the new wheelset with a discount. In a follow up email, I explained that I wasn't interested in a wheelset since I only needed one wheel but also brought up the point that the Zipps I had were from the same year/era with twice the mileage and used extensively on climbs and descents. My question was how can this be? Was Boyd using inferior carbon? Was there a bad batch of his wheels that he was hush about? Do you know what his response was.....? Nothing. He never responded back. That said a lot right there.

Back in 2002, I purchased a set of Ritchey WCS DS wheels. It was one of their top offerings at that time. A couple of years later, there were some hairline cracks around one of the nipples on the back wheel. The warranty already expired. Ritchey had me send them the wheel. Three weeks later, a new wheel arrived along with a free set of their titanium skewers. Total cost: $23 in shipping. That's customer service.

All Boyd had to do here was have me send the wheel back for examination. He clearly would have seen that it was a low mileage wheel and something was defective. He could have laced the hub up to an old stock hoop that he has lying around or even a used one. I would have paid up to $200 for parts and labor which seems fair.

In conclusion, I believe Boyd has a good product. If not, he would have been out of business years ago. I just think he needs to look at these types of situations more carefully. Maybe even offer prorated warranties.

Not every transaction is going to be highly profitable from the monetary standpoint. But it can be very profitable from the reputation standpoint. I think he missed it here.

Last edited by Bob Steel; 09-28-15 at 02:57 PM.
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Old 09-28-15, 02:53 PM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by Bob Steel
Purchased and put into service mid 2013. And keep your CAAD9. Just as good as the CAAD10 or 12.

To sum this up, all products have a defective failure rate. Some higher than others. That's why we have product recalls.

I never requested nor expected a new replacement wheelset. As a matter of fact, the problem was with only one of the wheels. I explained my situation to Boyd and was just waiting to hear what type of solutions existed. All I got was the sales pitch for the new wheelset with a discount. In a follow up email, I explained that I wasn't interested in a wheelset since I only needed one wheel but also brought up the point that the Zipps I had were from the same year/era with twice the mileage and used extensively on climbs and descents. My question was how can this be? Was Boyd using inferior carbon? Was there a bad batch of his wheels that he was hush about? Do you know what his response was.....? Nothing. He never responded back. That said a lot right there.

Back in 2002, I purchased a set of Ritchey WCS DS wheels. It was one of their top offerings at that time. A couple of years later, there were some hairline cracks around one of the nipples on the back wheel. The warranty already expired. Ritchey had me send them the wheel. Three weeks later, a new wheel arrived along with a free set of their titanium skewers. Total cost: $23 in shipping. That's customer service.

All Boyd had to do here was have me send the wheel back for examination. He clearly would have seen that it was a low mileage wheel and something was defective. He could have laced the hub up to an old stock hoop that he has lying around or even a used one. I would have paid up to $200 for parts and labor which seems fair.

In conclusion, I believe Boyd has a good product. If not, he would have been out of business years ago. I just think he needs to look at these types of situations more carefully. Maybe even offer pro-rated warranties.

Not every transaction is going to be highly profitable from the monetary standpoint. But it can be very profitable from the reputation standpoint. I think he missed it here.

Are you done complaining yet?
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Old 10-07-15, 02:51 PM
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Need a fix?

Originally Posted by Bob Steel


I'd pass on the Boyds. This comes from personal experience. Less than 1,700 miles and already premature delamination. No help from the company on this.

Do you ride gravel on occasion? I had those same delam issues with Reynolds Assaults. It was my fault due to the terrain I choose. The bike paths in San Diego will do a number on carbon. Sand, dirt, sea salt, moisture are not carbon friendly.

Fortunately, there is a guy in San Diego near the convention center that specializes in carbon brake track repair. His main business is fiberglass repairs on boats and surfboards. He works on bike wheels as more of a hobby. It’s brake track restoration only. Hub or spoke issues? Forget it. Cost is $75 per wheel. You pay one way shipping.

I thought my wheels were toast after that Belgian Waffle ride in North San Diego County earlier this year. Ron took care of this in less than two weeks. It’s been about 1000 miles and no chipping, cracking or peeling. All wheel manufacturers and resellers will say this is impossible. It can’t be done, it’s not safe. Bullcrap. They just want you to buy a new set of their wheels.

Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll post contact information.
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Old 10-07-15, 04:25 PM
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So anyone riding Williams? I'm interested in the System 58 or the mixed 58/85's. I've been on a set of their newer alloy rims (31's) this season, nice wheels.
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Old 10-07-15, 04:28 PM
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Originally Posted by Voodoo76
So anyone riding Williams? I'm interested in the System 58 or the mixed 58/85's. I've been on a set of their newer alloy rims (31's) this season, nice wheels.
Generally well reviewed. I have a set of 38 carbon clinchers (from 3 years ago) which I am pleased with.
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Old 10-22-15, 03:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Voodoo76
So anyone riding Williams? I'm interested in the System 58 or the mixed 58/85's. I've been on a set of their newer alloy rims (31's) this season, nice wheels.
I have a new set of 58's arriving Friday. I will post up my review after the weekend.
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Old 10-22-15, 03:47 PM
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Originally Posted by Voodoo76
So anyone riding Williams? I'm interested in the System 58 or the mixed 58/85's. I've been on a set of their newer alloy rims (31's) this season, nice wheels.
I have a set of 58 clinchers. They roll like the business. First time I raced them I bridged up to a group of four and intended to latch on the back but had to brake because I was going to overshoot them. I took some getting used to them in a crosswind but that's the case with a lot of deep rim wheels.
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Old 10-22-15, 04:38 PM
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Originally Posted by caloso
I have a set of 58 clinchers. They roll like the business. First time I raced them I bridged up to a group of four and intended to latch on the back but had to brake because I was going to overshoot them. I took some getting used to them in a crosswind but that's the case with a lot of deep rim wheels.

What tire are you running on them? And how is the clearance on the Excal?
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Old 10-22-15, 05:26 PM
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This season I had Vittoria CX II in 25mm. Really supple, very round, but a little soft. I would call these race only tires, lots of nicks. They fit the frame fine, but they were a close squeeze on the brake calipers, so that could possibly be an issue. Right now I have Michelin Pro4 Service Courses 25mm on them. Also fit fine, nice tires and a little tougher.
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Old 10-23-15, 04:33 AM
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I recommend Boyd's wheels. I bought a set of 44mm clinchers almost a year ago and they are great. They are smooth, roll well, climb and handle side winds very well. Will be upgrading to the new version 44mm clinchers and the 28mm clinchers hopefully next year.
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Old 10-23-15, 12:16 PM
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Originally Posted by KickinA
I'm looking at carbon wheels in ~1K price range and Reynolds, Williams and Boyd has come up in my research. Does anyone have feedback on these wheels? How do they compare to more expensive brands from Mavic and Zipp?

I assume Reynolds, Williams and Boyd wheels are all made in China but they may put the wheel together in the US. I'm a little wary of buying the no-name carbon wheels from China, as I don't know what quality control they have even though they may come out of the same factories.
I had Williams 60mm carbons ($800) for 5k miles, not a single true needed or spoke tension, water, rocks etc. Sold them for $850
I had Boyd Vitesse (aluminum) $500, about 4k miles no single issue, sold them for $200.
Both offer one of the best customer service
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