Heard of this wheelset?
 

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of the Django wheelset, by Topolino Tech? It has a good review in VeloNews. It's claimed to be lighter than the Bontrager Race X-Lite and the Velomax Orion (but without the weight restrictions). It is not a low spoke count wheel, but has what they call a "sensible spoke count". The spoke construction is Kevlar and carbon fiber enclosed in thermoplastic resin. They are said to be strong enough for ordinary use, and priced about in the range of a Ksyrium wheelset. There is a website: http://www.topolinotech.com/
This is a fairly new company with no local dealers. I'm interested but would like some independent info. Thanks

Certainly looks intriguing. I think this may be one of those infrequent times in life when you can either say no way, that's too radical, or get them and say I told you so after they have revolutionized the industry.

Cheers...Gary

Definately look interesting.. I've never seen them for sale at a local shop, what is the actual cost they are selling for?

looks pretty cool

Hmmm....new technology....no dealers.....no prices listed......where do you go if servicing is needed........sounds like buyers are going to be the beta testers.

Topolino has been around for about a year. I've seen one pair of wheels in a LBS. Not cheap and maybe an answer to a question nobody asked.

About 1/4 to 1/3 pound lighter than conventional wheels. Most of the weight is saved in the central mass, hubs and spokes, not in the outer mass, rims. If you are really interested in saving critical weight, you might be better served choosing lighter tires and tubes.

An interesting experiment to see what it takes to get a rear wheel accelerated, is to rig a standard cyclocomputer to the rear wheel, put the bike in a trainer and spin the pedals 1/2 a revolution with your hand. Done briskly, the speedometer will read 35~40 MPH! It doesn't take much effort to get any rear wheel turning.

Do not buy withou a reputable US distributor.

Problems is consumers will not know if done by reputable distributor.

That is why it is best to buy from the very few shops in the US that 'care; in a sense.

I 'care' in a sense that I will not offer anything to my customers that I know will not have warranty or service.

Beware as some shops may offer this 'incredible' deal but when problems arise there is no warranty. On paper you may have something but if the distributor is no longer around then the warranty is not worth anything.

Just beware and if interested target those small shops out there that are very knowldegeable. Stay away from the so many discount online shops.

Thanks, Xavier. Couldn't agree more! I'm fortunate that a friend of mine is also my LBS. He's gone to bat for me many times, and I give him all my business, no matter how large or small.

1350g for the pair. That's light. The idea looks good but it would be better to wait and see if it passes the test of time. If they are still around in a few years and still getting good reviews, then maybe it would be worth giving a chance but untill then just get a pair of tried and true wheels.

The Djangos have been road tested for about a year now. They are similar to the Spinergy wheels although the kevlar spokes remind me of Lightweights.

The inventors/owners of Topolino are the inventors of the Spiinergy Rev-X and some other cf/pbo technology.
I like the concept of threading the spokes so that there is no weak point at the hub. The wheels are light and may make excellent climbing wheels. I'm sure they will pop up at a local race somewhere. It would be great to see them OEM on some high end bike.

Hopefully they succeed as a new, American wheel company would be great. Maybe like Zipp or HED.

Poppasmoke - Is your friend the US distributor?

If not then he cannot do much for you. I doubt he will refund all your money if you broke the wheels.

If he is then let me know more. I am always looking for new products and help out the smaller distributors.

Problem with such products is they cause an internet hype (usually just hype by salesmen) and then hype mail order sites offer them at super deals. Then a few weeks later nothing. Now there is this cool product out there that is not reliable or should have not sold publicly and in the hands of consumers at their risk.

When time comes for service these hype mail order sites cannot do anything for you.

This is what I hate and fight everyday in the industry.

OK, It's been over a year... Topolino has Colorado Cyclist as a distributor along with many others...

They also got a good review by Cyclcying Magazine on August 2003...

So anyone got a set of these? What do you think?

I bought a set when Colorado Cyclist started to ship them. I've had to return the rear wheel because a wierd thing that doesnt normally happen... One of the sealed bearings froze up. I replaced it on the road with one from a spinnergy but that was a temp fix because the hub got damanged from the locking up...

Well on the good side, they fixed the wheel fast, unlike your indication,

The bad side is now the front wheel is beginning to go bad. The hub seems to be getting more and more play in it. Looks like the plastic hub is not able to handle the stress.

I just bought a pair but haven't received them yet.

For anyone interested: They are made here in the US in Connecticut.

I'm not sure if these are meant to be everyday wheels. I intend them for special rides only.

LJ,

I bought them on the fact that they say they are tough enough for everyday wheels.

They even have a guy on their web site saying he's got 6000+ miles on a set of them with no problems.

I've got around 3000 miles on the rear wheel before it suffered from a bad rear bearing. Granted that was not 100% their fault...

But now I've noticed that at 5000miles the front wheel is feeling more loose than it should. The inside of the hub is beginning to fail at the flanges holding up the bearings.

What's more is I had two sets of these wheels and I switched to the other rear while waiting for the first rear to be repaired. Not the second rear is starting to show the same signs of loosness as the original front wheel!

Yikes!

I am really happy with the handling and lightness of these wheels. I just hope that I'm only having a bad run on the set(s) I bought and hope that after getting them fixed that I won't have a problem!

I'm saving for a set. ($800/pair) I've got a friend that has been riding them all year and he's got about 5,000 miles on them and loves them. This guy has a reputation for busting stuff and has no problems with them so far....