Monday, March 8, 2010

The Angry Bees Have Landed





Mavic TN719 rims, Chris King ISO Disc hubs, black DT Comp spokes and red alloy nipples.
I must be out of my mind.
Well, that's pretty obvious.
The quest for new wheels began like any other quest for new bicycle bling.
It started off slow, then it escalated until it grew a mind of it's own.
By the time I was done, I was foaming at the mouth and blinded by red and black shiny thingies.
I can't really give you a review; today the wind was blowing pretty hard so I pretty much tanked halfway through my ride.
I'll say this though, I did feel a difference in the way the wheels ride. First impressions are that they seem smoother.
The King hubs are not as loud as I thought they would be. They did seem to get a bit louder as my ride went on, but it was so windy I really wasn't bothered by the buzz at all. To tell you the truth, I'm actually disappointed that they are so quiet. The engagement is instant. This is not really a factor for me since I am always on the road.
Besides, I never stop pedaling.
Okay, I coast sometimes.
I also dig the red:



I'm putting Evil Universal Cycles Wheel Builder on the evil list because ever since I ordered these wheels, I can't stop going back to see what other combinations might look like.
Remember, I still have the Barn Door.
Then again, the anti gravity wheels that bike needs haven't been invented yet.
Anyways, Evil Universal Cycles was top notch. When you first order, they send you an email explaining that your wheels may take up to five days to build. Well, mine were built and sent off the next day.
I did some shopping around and they had what I wanted for the best price. In fact, if you order all the same parts, the price is the same. You do get fifteen percent off of that, so I just considered the fifteen percent a labor charge for the build.
Included with the wheels are three spokes and nipples, just in case.
I was close to going with DT Swiss hubs, but they were about fifty dollars more. I also hemmed and hawed over the rims; no one had the DTs I wanted so I went with the Mavics. I was going with Velocity Aerohead rims, but I changed my mind at the last minute thinking the wider rims might be better for what I do.
The Mavic rims come with eyelets, which was somewhat important to me:



One small peeve: the Mavic sticker is positioned at the nine o'clock position in relation to the valve stem. What this means is that if you align your tire label to the valve, the labels are ninety degrees from each other. It would be great if they were aligned one eighty apart. I'm moving the tire to make it so. Or I may just peel off the sticker.
I'm pretty stoked to be riding on these even though they are way too much wheel for me. My reasoning for getting them is that they were the only cure for I could think of for upgraditis fever.
I just knew that if I got a cheaper set, I would eventually be thinking about a set like this anyways.
It was a "pay me now or pay me later" sort of thing.
Full ride report and pictures to come.
I got a buzz on.

2 comments:

John Romeo Alpha said...

Sweet. Those hubs make my engineer blood burn. I was hoping you would tell us why they are "cloak wheels" though. Pls?

limom said...

I knew I'd get in trouble for that one and I was hoping it would go away quietly.
At the time, my use of "cloak wheel" as a segue made perfect sense.
In my convoluted mind.
Or perhaps there is no explanation at all.
I must consult the Jones Cream Soda bottle cap oracle for advice.