CRC are now selling 2013 Easton Haven Carbon wheels so reduced I could afford to buy a set. But should I? They’re still not cheap but £650ish the pair is £300 cheaper than Superstars AM’s and loads cheaper than anything else not Chinese. As I’ve been on 26ers since before most on here were born I’m a bit old school and think 650b makes virtually no difference but I do worry that I (or my bike anyway) will become obsolete.

Suppose I just want some comforting words of encouragement but would listen to genuine reasons not to.

Thanks,

Andy

Don’t worry about the wheel size, worry about the hub reliability instead.

No, no you shouldn’t.
They’ll let you down when you most need them or you’re the furthest point from home.
Then when you need to replace the free hub body ay £90+ you won’t be able to find one anywhere!
Best avoided IMO.

I’ve the alloy rim ones, they are light, fast, strong. The hub bearings are shockingly bad, wearing out after a few months. They went back under warranty and the importer was very slow so the LBS mechanic cornered them at a trade show and spoke loudly at them. I got a new wheel and the other got new bearings.

I’d rather get Crank Brothers.

I’d rather get Crank Brothers.

wow – that bad huh

I’ve got 2 pairs of alloy ones

They’re great when they work but I’ve been trying to get a Freehub and a 15mm adapter for probably 3 months now – parts are virtually impossible to get for these

Sounds like Fulcrum wheels i.e. impossible to get parts.

Hope hubs on Stans for me forever.

I would consider Chinese, I’ve got two sets of light bicycle ones and the quality is superb. You get to chose a hub of your choice, I’ve got a set of pro II’s and a set of DT and both I got for reasonable money off ebay and off here. I haven’t ever totted them up but I would say both sets cost me less than £500 a pair, although I do have a brother in law I owe a favour to for building them…..

I’d rather get Crank Brothers.

😯

Cant you just replace them with some decent SKF bearings?
Or even lace them onto some Pro 2 and flog the hubs?

Could have something to do with Silverfish now dealing with Easton not Zyro anymore, so all parts have taken an age, they have all stuff in now so should be arriving soon (i got some bearings for a customer delivered the other day)

Thanks for the info James! Will get onto LBS

Mine are great and have been faultless. Think I’ve got An updated version though.

Spares did seem to be a big problem when I was trying to source 15mm end caps for my alu Havens. Worked out quicker to sell them and get a s/h set of Crossmax instead.

So I wouldn’t, personally.

Could have something to do with Silverfish now dealing with Easton not Zyro anymore, so all parts have taken an age, they have all stuff in now so should be arriving soon (i got some bearings for a customer delivered the other day)

Same problems here in Germany, took me over three months to get a 15mm conversion (from America in the end), it is very much an easton problem and not down to the distributor.

I also find the profile of the rims a bit crap, you don’t need to lose much pressure before the tire bead just falls into the channel and all pressure is lost.

They are very disappointing wheels, I wouldn’t touch an easton wheelset again.

if they are imported by i-ride (same people as Fulcrums above)I have never had problems getting Fulcrum spares direct from i-Ride

I bought a pair of alloy havens two weeks ago so I’ll find out pretty quickly how good or bad they are

I had the alu versions, they are great wheels, but hub reliability, spares availability and cost, has seen me do the reverse of Jedi, and go with some hope tech enduros…

I have a 15mm Haven front axle for sale. £28 posted.

this one:

http://www.silverfish-uk.com/ProductDetail/15787/16214/M1-12-Axle-F15x100mm

I changed from hope enduro. Hate faffing with tape to go tubeless

I’m on my second pair of Haven Alloys (sold first set with my last 26″ bike). First set had 2 years of fairly hard riding. I like them a lot: fairly stiff, light and hubs roll fast. Had a few dings in the rear rim of my last set but still sealed fine. Never had a problem burping. I’ve also had good bearing life. They have preload adjusters on the bearings which mean you **** up the bearings double quick if you over / under tighten them.

Phew – well that’s mostly negative then!

Been Googling a fair bit. It seems the the latest versions (and available as a free retrofittable kit for older wheels) does away with the preload thing. Does that overcome most objections on here – or are they still shite?

Ta 😀

If I wanted carbon wheels, I’d get the Light Bicycle ones instead – they come in quite a bit cheaper with the latest Hope Pro 2 hubs.

They got to be a pretty popular rim option at one point- buy the wheels, wait til the hub shits itself, put them on proper hubs. But I think lightbicycle etc probably make that a bad deal now?

charliemort – Member

if they are imported by i-ride (same people as Fulcrums above)I have never had problems getting Fulcrum spares direct from i-Ride

Then you, sir, must be rich! Something like £150 for a replacement alu rim for mine, or £5 a spoke.

Handyman, the new upgrade changes the way the rear preload system works: old versions tended to come loose leading to bearing wear. Not had a problem with mine since the upgrade.