Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Superteam carbon wheelset from Amazon

Anyone have any experience with the Superteam carbon wheelsets? I see them on Amazon with decent reviews but was wondering if anyone in the forum have more to say about it? 

http://a.co/djKyEZG

http://a.co/al7uQdh

I have contacted the seller from the second link about Campy freehub option and they said they can do it but it will get shipped directly from China. Other options includes hubs: Powerway R13 ( paw version, not 3), Novatec 271 (cost less), Novatec 291-SL (cost more), any recommendation on hubs? 

 

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

Add new comment

23 comments

Avatar
jchau | 6 years ago
0 likes

So I have spent this year on my SuperTeam wheels. Around 1000km on it with some mix road and gravel and some bumpy roads. The wheels held up with no problem. R13 hubs seems to work fine and like to roll as described by others, so on the downhill coasting, I would actually pull away from people. 

The pads included are very sticky so it has a lot of bite...so much that the pads seems to melt or leave a blue residue on the rim surface. I have also tried another set of pads that are more cork like and it definitely stops worst than the stock brakes but leaves no blue residue. 

 

Should be able to provide a might more feedback in the next few wheels when I get some time to check the truness of the wheels.

Avatar
abedfo | 6 years ago
0 likes

I have had mine two years- 5000km later no issues at all. Ive even ridden them on gravel sections of the fosse way. The sommerberg which is an off road section of the melton mowbray cycle classic had no issues. Commuted in winter on them day and night. Im not light either at 84kg!

Avatar
matthewn5 | 6 years ago
0 likes

I've got some H Plus Son Archetype on Powerway R13s. Got them 'hardly used', was a bit skeptical about the hubs but they've been absolutely fine. They're also very light. Small cartridge bearings could be a criticism, but they are still perfect after 7 months riding every day, rain or shine.

Avatar
jchau | 6 years ago
1 like

Finally my set has arrived. Can't wait to try them. Quality seems ok. A pain in the butt to try and install Vittoria Rubino Pro on them. Not sure if it is the tire being tight or these rims are hard to installed on, has to let the bike shop help me install it after pinching one of them. Was told to use the Tacx levers instead because they are thinner on the ends. 

 

Going from 23C to 25C (with 23C tires), they seem so much wider that I need to adjust my brakes to fit them. But going with this tire and rim combo, I don't get the tire bludge so it is technically more "aero" with their U Shaped Tubeless rims. 

Avatar
roburb | 6 years ago
1 like

I got standard R13 as I figured that with 2 year warranty, they would get replaced if there is any issue, but I have read that upgrade ones are ceramic and very nice, so if you got those, you'll like them a lot. As far as cross wind goes, my second ride involved quie a bit of it and I have to say that the rims performed very well. I felt a couple of jolts in stronger wind gusts, but nothing alarming enough that would cause my concern. Also, my package did not contain any spare spokes (reviews mentioned getting them), but I wrote  a message to the seller asking whether they could ship a couple. I got a respnse within minutes from Joy letting me know they would be shipping spare spokes from China and I should have them in 8-12 business days which is fine with me. I have been very happy with this product so far and I remember that one of the reviews mentioned that the rim that someone had an issue with got replaced pretty quick as well, so it looks like the seller really cares which is a good sign.

Avatar
jchau | 6 years ago
0 likes

Which hubs did you get?  Standard R13? 

Hopefully the brake surface will last long. I guess you haven't tried yours in some decent cross wind?

Avatar
roburb | 6 years ago
0 likes

No problem. My rims have basalt brake surface as well and they do look pretty solid for $348 price, so I hope they will last a couple of years/12,000 miles. They come with 2-year (normal wear) warranty, so if I experience any brake surface issues, I hope the warranty will cover. If not, $348.00 is not a lot for a set of carbon rims, so I'll just get another one.

Avatar
roburb | 6 years ago
1 like

I just got these rims and looks-wise, they are excellent. I installed SwissStop Black Prince and Continental Ultra Sport II fold tires with 80mm valves. Took the bike on a 50 mile ride and my first impression is that the wheels feel much lighter and spin much easier than my stock Shimano RS10s. It almost is like day and night difference. The ride is also way more comfortable since the road bumps get absorbed much better now. Also, it is much easier to maintain speed on these rims and I rode long stretches at 22-23 mph without major effort. The bike feels lighter and more responsive, both on flats and climbs. My only real concern is how the braking surface will hold up over time. Based on my first ride it should be fine, but I am also very easy on the brakes and don't over use them, especially on descents, so I am not sure how these rims will perform in some serious mountains where overheating can become an issue. However, for someone who rides mostly flat sections, these should be fine. Time will tell, but I hope to have good luck with them.

Avatar
jchau replied to roburb | 6 years ago
0 likes

roburb wrote:

I just got these rims and looks-wise, they are excellent. I installed SwissStop Black Prince and Continental Ultra Sport II fold tires with 80mm valves. Took the bike on a 50 mile ride and my first impression is that the wheels feel much lighter and spin much easier than my stock Shimano RS10s. It almost is like day and night difference. The ride is also way more comfortable since the road bumps get absorbed much better now. Also, it is much easier to maintain speed on these rims and I rode long stretches at 22-23 mph without major effort. The bike feels lighter and more responsive, both on flats and climbs. My only real concern is how the braking surface will hold up over time. Based on my first ride it should be fine, but I am also very easy on the brakes and don't over use them, especially on descents, so I am not sure how these rims will perform in some serious mountains where overheating can become an issue. However, for someone who rides mostly flat sections, these should be fine. Time will tell, but I hope to have good luck with them.

 

Thanks for you feedback. I decided to pull the gun and made a purchase for a set custom for me so I am waiting for it to get built and shipped. Decided to order the 50mm, 25C Tubeless U Shaped rim, with basalt brake surface but will be running 23mm tires (since my bike can't handle a 25mm). Hopefully the 23mm on 25mm rims will be more "aero" and the U Shape will help with the cross wind (my old Cervelo Soloist is getting pushed around quite a bit in cross wind). Got the basalt brake surface hopefully that will solve some of your brake concern. 

Avatar
jchau | 6 years ago
0 likes

Seems like you are mostly only quote the first comment reply. But he was only referencing Novatec Hubs. But others doesn't seem to have issues to Novatec hubs. 

 

But if you look at the othe link I posted which was also SuperTeam wheels, there were other hub options including DT hubs also also different rim profile V, and U Shaped. The first replied has asked about V or U shaped profile of the wheels and I was able to get that from the seller and also posted the profile as a reference for people to comment on if it looks ok.  

 

Where I live is relatively flat so I don't need to worry about heating up on decends. And for the rain, I think think braking on carbon surface (doesn't matter what brand) is a good idea anyway so I was going to go back to my alloy wheelset if I was to ride in the wet. 

Avatar
alansmurphy | 6 years ago
0 likes

Apologies, I saw people mentioning that you struggle to get all 3 of cheap, lightweight and quality; people mentioning the hubbs, sidecaps, bearings et al. That must all be the not advice you saw.

 

You didn't seem interested in this but posted links to other products with no real clarity on why you'd think these were better, cheaper, more suitable...

 

 

Avatar
alansmurphy | 6 years ago
0 likes

You would suggest not, otherwise his marketing strategy is 'give people the opportunity to slate our product's. On the flip side, he/she hasn't seemed to listen to any advice.

As for the Chinese/Japanese thing, I think it's more the reputation of online retail that is the issue. I buy team replica kit from China, some is probably from the same factory and excellent, some is piss poor. Considering the wheels are much higher priced items and failure could be life changing, for me a reputation, warranty, even someone to shout at is worth the price...

Avatar
Team EPO | 6 years ago
0 likes

In the interests of transparency does  Jchau  work for the Company???

 

I have had some Chinese aero wheels and they were good in the dry but a shocker in the wet even with decent carbon brake pads.  Good value but so are Hunt wheels and you get UK after sales care 

 https://www.huntbikewheels.com/collections/road-disc-wheels/products/mas...

 

PS When I sold my chinese wheels I posted a short clip on YouTube for the buyer to see and now have over 2.4k views insane really

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4FFXju9Pnc

Avatar
jchau replied to Team EPO | 6 years ago
0 likes

Team EPO wrote:

In the interests of transparency does  Jchau  work for the Company???

 

I have had some Chinese aero wheels and they were good in the dry but a shocker in the wet even with decent carbon brake pads.  Good value but so are Hunt wheels and you get UK after sales care 

 https://www.huntbikewheels.com/collections/road-disc-wheels/products/mas...

 

PS When I sold my chinese wheels I posted a short clip on YouTube for the buyer to see and now have over 2.4k views insane really

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4FFXju9Pnc

 

No I do not work for the company. I am seriously considering the product or other Chinese carbon wheels along brands like Farsports and Yoeleo. 

 

I know carbon wheels in general would not be good for decends with hard braking due to thermal issues, and also the perform of carbon in the wet is not as good as alloy rims or disc. 

 

And there hasn't been a lot of "advice" to listen to, a lot more of people bashing Chinese product rather than constructive and from experience advice. 

Avatar
HarryTrauts | 6 years ago
0 likes

They've got "super" and "team" in the name.  They must be good! 

Avatar
kil0ran | 6 years ago
1 like

I love how "Chinese" is so often used as a pejorative meaning cheap, low quality, dangerous. I'm old enough to remember the same thing being applied to anything Japanese and here we are running around on bikes made in Taiwan with groups and wheelsets designed in Japan costing over £10k. Same applies to people who wouldn't look twice at a phone from Huwaei or one of the other Chinese manufacturers, despite the fact that all iPhones are built there.

Being a big lad I'm not sure I'd risk a set of carbon fibre rims even if they were from a name brand but if I was a 65kg whippet I wouldn't hesitate to buy Chinese.

Avatar
Canyon48 replied to kil0ran | 6 years ago
1 like
kil0ran wrote:

I love how "Chinese" is so often used as a pejorative meaning cheap, low quality, dangerous. I'm old enough to remember the same thing being applied to anything Japanese and here we are running around on bikes made in Taiwan with groups and wheelsets designed in Japan costing over £10k. Same applies to people who wouldn't look twice at a phone from Huwaei or one of the other Chinese manufacturers, despite the fact that all iPhones are built there.

Being a big lad I'm not sure I'd risk a set of carbon fibre rims even if they were from a name brand but if I was a 65kg whippet I wouldn't hesitate to buy Chinese.

It's quite amusing really. China is pretty much the leader in mass manufacture of carbon fibre - at least for the cycling industry. Conversely, there are a lot of cowboy carbon manufacturers in China.

I'm a proud owner of a Chinese carbon frame made by Quest Composites for Canyon Gmbh!

Avatar
jchau | 6 years ago
0 likes

Going with 25mm, the U Shape profile looks like this 

Clincher only

Tubeless

 

Any comments on the design? 

Avatar
Miller | 6 years ago
1 like

Novatec hubs are excellent, I have three or four sets on the go both for rim and disc wheels. They're sensibly designed, light and with a range of sidecap options to cover various dropout standards. They take an easily available bearing size should a bearing crap out. It's easy to swap the freehub between Sh/Sr/Camp. Note that there are lots of different Novatec hubs, in general the bigger the number designation the better, eg D772 is a posher hub than D352, to take a random example.

I've also had two frames and a pair of carbon rims direct from China, all solid products giving great service. 

 

 

 

 

Avatar
jchau | 6 years ago
0 likes

Looks like there are some options available. 

23mm V-Shaped or 25mm U-Shaped.  

 

Actually looks like there are more options here 

Avatar
Canyon48 | 6 years ago
0 likes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ID2MpcK8l0

Seems this guy hasn't had any issues.

Just be don't be surprised if they are to have a catastrophic failure.

Avatar
drosco | 6 years ago
2 likes

I've had two sets of Novatec hubs with no issues, the first set went for years and were still running smoothly. I guess it's more the quality of the bearings they come with.

 

I have a set of Chinese carbon wheels. Bitex hubs, yishun rims, pillar J-bend aero spokes. Pretty standard stuff. They very light, stayed pretty true, feel solid enough and have caused me no issues in the time I've had them. I can't quantify and aero benefits, but I'm certainly not any slower using them.

 

Maybe I'm lucky? I guess that's the risk. If you get a set of Zipps, you can be pretty sure of what you're getting, you pay to remove the uncertainty.

Avatar
Canyon48 | 6 years ago
1 like

Never used them.

They are cheap Chinese carbon wheels. The reason they are so cheap is that the quality control will be much reduced from an equivalent set of carbon wheels from a bigger name (which would probably be made in China too - just made to higher standards).

I'd also be interested to know the rim profile. Deep section rims that have been optimised for aerodynamics using CFD and/or wind tunnel testing will have a rounded U profile, rather than a V profile which you often see on cheaper wheelsets. A V profile performs poorly compared to a U profile (particularly in crosswinds).

I have had a set of Novatecs, all the bearings needed changing after 6 months, the spokes and nipples were made from a fairly soft metal and the rim easily bent. Very light though! The bike shop my other half works at stopped stocking Novatec as they had so many people come back needing a warranty on hub components (a quick google will provide lots of forums discussing the quality of Novatec hubs - the results are not all favourable).

The thing with cycling equipment...

  • Lightweight
  • High Quality
  • Cheap

You can only have two of the above three options when you make a purchase.

 

Latest Comments