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Not much experience of the brand - how are the hubs? Are these wheels durable relative to the likes of Flow, etc?
I ran a set of 29er American Classic All Mountains (same hub as Wide Lightening) on a Yeti SB95C for 2.5 years without touching the hubs. I got the hubs serviced just before I sold the bike and the guy who did the service said that the hubs were fine and the original grease was still pretty clean and the wheels were still true.
Other than sealing on the hubs, the other negative comment that comes up in reviews is that the hubs have less points of engagement than most other wheels in a similar price bracket and tend to be a bit "laggy" in comparison. I found them fine.
Winstanley's are/were doing some good deals on American Classic wheels.
Hope this helps
Youre not joking about bargains on Winstanleys. They've got the 27.5 carbonator wheelset for £599!!!!
George, I've had good times with American Classic hubs so I guess those wheels will be good.
If you like the idea of wide, don't you want a Derby carbon front though (IMO carbon front, Al rear is the ideal formula for wide) ?
See mine for sale here http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/650b-carbon-front-the-derby-wide-rim-revolution
I'm 100kg and these are 6 years old and working a treat.
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Can't comment on the rims as I had the the 'all mountains'...but I found the rear hub to be very laggy which was a bit of a nightmare on technical climbs
I have been running American Classic wheels for the last 4 yrs, different sorts older 26" ones 650b wide lightening, now got 29er wide lightenings and standard 29er ones, and I haven't had 1 issue, the axels are all interchangeable which is good, but really impressed with wide lightenings, light/strong and spin for ever, the rims are the best for tubeless as is the tubeless tape, I'd certainly recommend them
As I've said before, the pin that engages the freehub wears and causes the freehub to fail. Pin probably costs 2p but you have to buy a whole new freehub for £60.
I'm on my third now and wouldn't buy another set.
They seem to be very soft as well judging by the number of dents in them.
Shame, because they're light and look pretty good.
Nope, can't agree with you on that. 10 years ago my first AM free hub failed, but 5 mins with a file and it was back up and running again.
I still have those wheels and they're working fine with many more 1000 miles on them.
I looked at these, but I'm sure I read that the rims dented very easily.
Thanks all. They were a bit too good to be true weight wise
We have been running American Classics in various forms on various bikes for the last five years.
Other than the occasional user error enforced broken spoke, I have never spent any time or money on them. The hubs have been faultless, despite abuse and neglect.
I would think seriously before going elsewhere for wheels now. The Winstanley's prices are great - just bought a set of the 650B AM's.