Fixie/Flip-Flop Wheels $119 track wheels $99 for 24 hours

[hartleymartin]

Some promotional website with 24-hour sales that start at midday. Thought I'd pass it on if anyone here wanted a cheap set of wheels for a fixie.

$119 Fixie Wheels

(Available in Silver, White, Blue or Gold - Urban Hipster bling bling fixie kinda stuff - not for me though)

$99 Track Wheels

(16 spoke front, 24 spoke rear)

[LOUDERPLEASE]

Pretty sure I paid $70ish for a set of the "fixie wheels". They are crap and where made by 7 year olds in a starving province somewhere in asia ....

Ye get waht ye pay for. Cheers

[brauluver]

They'd make great anchors, at that weight!

[Zynster]

That's no special. They are $89 and $120 on Ebay. And they're always on there.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Track-Fixie-Free ... 5d27f6a9ce

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Track-Fixie-Free ... 5d27218b6b

[njbchapman]

That's no special. They are $89 and $120 on Ebay. And they're always on there.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Track-Fixie-Free ... 5d27f6a9ce

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Track-Fixie-Free ... 5d27218b6b

True, but this way you save $31.45 on postage. I wouldn't recommend these wheels (even though I've got them on my cheapie build), but if you were going to but them anyway it'll save you a decent whack.

[Kingfisher]

As a newbie these were the first item I bought for my rebuild. After reading feedback about them I'm resigned to the fact they are cheap and nasty and will have to do until I have more coin for something better. My LBS said they have had to do some tweaking with them to get them spinning better as they are a bit gritty when you spin them. Cheap and nasty is all I'll say, at least they're round

[Endo]

I wouldn't buy 'Stars' rims/wheelsets - last time I bought a pair from eBay, the rims weren't even joined properly. Only about 50% of the joint was actually contacting the other join! Light would easily pass though the gap. So I sent them back and got a refund, but still lost out on postage both ways... BEWARE!

[surfin' addiction]

I recently received my Stars wheels from an unnamed eBay store, and upon removing the stickers found that the rear rim was not joined correctly. But for the $80 I paid for them I figure they look good and I can thrash them until I can afford something better.

[ironhanglider]

I wouldn't buy 'Stars' rims/wheelsets - last time I bought a pair from eBay, the rims weren't even joined properly. Only about 50% of the joint was actually contacting the other join! Light would easily pass though the gap. So I sent them back and got a refund, but still lost out on postage both ways... BEWARE!

As a newbie these were the first item I bought for my rebuild. After reading feedback about them I'm resigned to the fact they are cheap and nasty and will have to do until I have more coin for something better. My LBS said they have had to do some tweaking with them to get them spinning better as they are a bit gritty when you spin them. Cheap and nasty is all I'll say, at least they're round

I think that both of you are making too much of an issue with regard to the join. Back when I was building a lot of wheels, rims that were considered to be high quality (Fiamme etc) would often have a gap of more than 1mm that would actually close up when you built them and put some tension on the spokes. Effectively they had a tang at the joint whose primary function was to keep the joint from moving sideways. Not forgetting that the pressure of the spokes pulls the rim together. Welded & polished joints are at best mainly for marketing, and at worst creating defects in the material due to the heat required. They are not the improvement that they are touted to be.

I bought a pair of the 43mm deep section Stars wheels as a cheap way of getting a pair of rims for my tandem. I pulled them apart and re-laced them onto my existing hubs. Yes the joint isn't perfect, (I even put a file onto it to smooth the brake surface) but I don't have any concerns about the integrity. Put some reflective tape over the join and don't worry about it. Pulling them apart did give me the opportunity to weigh the rims alone (880g each). They are no lightweights (compared to sub 300g tubulars that I used to race on) and as such would be best suited for constant speed type situations like a persuit. On a tandem I'm not fussed by the weight.

I chose these rims because I already had 32 hole road hubs, and with the 43mm deep section I am expecting them to be amply strong enough for my purposes (200kg all up, when ridden). I was even able to re-use the spokes, they wouldn't be my first choice but they will do the job. Stress relieve the spokes (refer to Jobst or Sheldon) and they will do good service for years yet. For the price (I won an auction and they were delivered for less than $81) they were much cheaper than the alternative I was faced with when I had to replace a Deep V rim.

As for the hubs, out of the box like many low end hubs the bearings were adjusted way to tight. A minute's work with cone and 17mm spanners and they spin just fine, and better than many of the cartridge bearing hubs since they don't have rubber seals dragging against the axle. (Boo hoo - you might have to pull them apart and clean them once in a while). Mine will make some perfectly good track hubs for someone else.

All in all these are cheap wheels that will certainly do the job for many, just leave the sticker over the joint in place so that your friends don't get hysterical, stress relieve the spokes and adjust the cones before use and they'll be perfectly fine.

Cheers,

Cameron