I live around 30 miles from ss ,im sure I sore the guy the other day on a unbranded frame with loads of ss tat bolted on. his ginger hair was hard to miss with the lack of helmet , the unit they work out of is all on one level, it has a small office attached to a small warehouse there can't be many more than 5 to 10 people that work there id not be convinced the guy you spoke to on the phone knows nothing of the issue
I appreciate what you are saying jono but I did write 'did not seem to know either or know much about the issues.' That implies more than 'nothing' but a lot less than having anything concrete/solid to say.
They did say about another week, so at least that is a step in the right direction!
hope it gets sorted, its a shame to hear about there lack of customer service the guy seems a bit bi polar to me ive had good dealings with him and bad on the plus side when you eventually get your wheel back you might end up with a good one this time
I had a problem with a tesla freehub, they rebuilt the wheel for me, cost me for postage, took longer than I would have hoped, but replacement hub functioning OK.
Not a disaster, not brilliant, had a lot worse customer experiences with other popular names in the bike industry
The only time I had to send something back to Ss I got a replacement very quickly.
To offer some counterbalance... I genuinely prefer superstar Switch hubs to hopes. They are just rebranded novatech, and have so far been flawless for me. When I bought some 2nd hand dh wheels and had a problem with them, they were really supportive and helpful, and sorted me with the tight part in 24 hours for minimal cost.
Some of Superstar's stuff is OK, other bits I wouldn't touch with a double-bagged barge pole.
Things that can't really go wrong (brake adaptors, skewers, etc.) all fine; brake pads I've found generally OK although I have had one pair separate from the back plate. That siad I've had the same with EBC pads.
The bearings that they use though are completely atrocious - I have one of their headsets on my Alpine 160 which has been fitted for 12 months and is on its third set of bearings. When they go, it's being replaced with a Hope.
A quick scan of the product reviews on their site (especially things like BBs and headsets) is a real eye-opener...
Just had an email from SS today... wheels are in transit! Can't wait to see if they work.
Well looks like they replaced the hub body and free-hub but used my old bearings. See how it rides soon.
Well looks like they replaced the hub body and free-hub but used my old bearings. See how it rides soon.
really?
that's mad if true, they might as well have just given you a new one for all the faffage involved.
That's what I was thinking when they told me last week 'waiting for parts, stuck at customs.'
However, they did throw in a massive roll of tubeless rim tape which is nice.
they did throw in a massive roll of tubeless rim tape which is nice
Between that and the cheap sweets, they do all they can to distract you from the quality issues.
Still yet to go on a ride but been getting everything ready and decided to pack the labyrinth style seals with grease.
I saw a washer which sits on the drive end side bearing of the hub, which when looking at it from the drive side of the bike, the free-hub slides over the axle and then the quick release adapter threads onto the axle. What I noticed this time compared to the first wheel was that adapters were done up very tight! On the first wheel they literally fell apart and if I tightened them, the free-hub would be very stiff to move. This time I can nicely tighten up the adapters and the free-hub is lovely smooth to spin freely. The bearings do not need 'loading' (like a headset) as they are all sitting in there housings and spaced correctly and the axle can be tightened up. I wish I checked more closely now, but I think my original wheel did not have the washer in the hub, which contributed to the failure.
I could be wrong, but if anyone does have the wheel it would be worth checking.
So finally been on first ride, just a ride down the coast, nothing taxing. The hub jerked slightly about 4-5 times in total... just slightly though, nothing major, but enough to let you know it is there!
Trail centre tomorrow, see how it goes there.
I really hate to revive this thread, but its happened again... second one failed. I do see that Superstar are introducing a new Tesla hub though. Extract from the email:
"
Thank you for replacing my rear wheel at the end of July 2013. Unfortunately, the warranty replaced rear wheel has been causing issues and is imminent to complete failure in nine and a half months of moderate riding. The previous rear wheel had the same amount of riding albeit with a three month break in-between.
I have had very poor shifting issues. My local bike shop inspection found the rear wheel drive side axle drop out adapter to be bent. I stripped down the wheel to find that the adapter had been cross threaded, see Images 1 and 2. Also, the inspection revealed considerable damage, worse in condition than the original hub failure, to the freehub housing. Deep gouges have been cut into the inner periphery, no doubt causing damage to the hub teeth, see Images 3 and 4. This confirms my recent experience of intermittent slight slipping from the hub during power strokes but as of yet not complete failure. Image 5 shows the freehub teeth condition.
Once again, I have had no issues with the bearings themselves and no harsh cleaners, chemicals or jets of water have ever been used in the cleaning of the wheels (or any other components on my bike).
This entire fiasco is wasting considerable amount of my time, money and resources. Mechanical issues with mountain bikes, especially trail bikes are expected but not on warranty replaced parts. The failure of this hub is also effecting my riding schedule. The last wheel took two weeks to return. In that time there was little to no communication from yourselves. Any communication that I did have was after spending multiple hours engaged on the telephone and the calls being sent to an answering machine.
... ...I have also recommended yourselves to multiple friends. However this hub and therefore wheelset is completely and wholly not fit for purpose. I do not want another warranty replacement like for like or otherwise, as I have lost all confidence with your hubs.... ... .
"
Pics:
[url= 
]Axle 1[/url]
[url= 
]Axle 2[/url]
[url= 
]Hub 1[/url]
[url= 
]Hub 2[/url]
[url= 
]Teeth 1[/url]
I carefully got apart the axle and took a fine thread file to chase the threads... got that back together. Just waiting for Superstar to get back to me and then ship them off.
Just ask them for a steel free hub not alloy.
Its not the free-hub... well, it is the freehub eating itself into the hub-body, which is obviously wrong. Any axial force and the free-hub teeth are gouging themselves a new home to live in the hub body. I thought my rear mech was bent initially, turned out to be this BS again.
You say you don't want a warranty replacement so what do you expect Superstar to do?
For what reason are you shipping them off?
Just buy new wheels. Whatever you want.
I sent my 4 month old Tesla / Tactic rear wheel back to superstar with a failed freehub, and they are sending out an upgraded Tesla Evo in its place :-).
Here's how it goes, the freehub wobbles on the axle, the back of it grinds the hub inner, swarf from this gets everywhere and destroys the seals, water gets in and ruins the bearings.
Buy a Chris King or a Hadley or a Hope hub the next time and don't be leary with the hose pipe or the GT85.
to iolo: my money back....
dantsw13 - I think they will do the same for me (I hope), although a full refund would be nicer!
Mechanical issues with mountain bikes, especially trail bikes are expected but not on warranty replaced parts
I'm sorry, what?
So all bikes if built of warranty replacement parts would never fail?
Personally, I'd get them warrantied, sell them and buy some Hope Pro2 Evos.
They may fail, but Hope will bend over backwards to sort it. Plus they answer the phone. Actually, its usually an engineer who answers the phone.
Your email is too wordy, they're a budget company, they couldn't give a monkeys how you figured out what went wrong, just tell them the hub is slipping, and the axle is bent. Think objectively, what do you want them to do, and ask for it. In a couple of sentences.
Telling SS how you *feel* isn't going to help anything.
to rickon: Superstar knew they had that issue, I asked them at the time if they had anything in the works to 'engineer out' the problem. No reply. Instead, they sent me the same hub again and it has resulted in the same issue again... Sort of explains itself, just a total waste of time this turns out to be. Customer satisfaction is perceptive, not scientific... Budget company or not, the stuff needs to work.
Yep, so tell them, my wheel has failed, and ask for a replacement. They're not going to fix their QA issues because a customer has a failure - they're too budget to turn their ship around.
Get the brand new wheels, sell them, take the cash, buy some Hope. Ride for the WIN.
Looking at the freehub and the teeth, do as I said above. New wheelset, sell it, cut your losses. That looks like very soft alu.
Cheers for the advise Rickon. Not sure I will get much for the wheelset though, but as you said might be best to cut my losses with this. If they upgrade the hub to the new Evo version... I am niggling to give it a go, although it will be like taking another bullet to the head if that does the same. The Evo hub and another two year warranty (on just the hub) might be good.
I think it's reasonable to give Superstar one more chance to sort it, though I'd be raging too. If they can't put it right [i]then[/i] look for replacement or refund but I think you'd struggle to make a case for that at this point.
Nope. What rickon said. Cut your losses, **** them off and never use them / him again for anything other than brake pads.
Hang on, you think it makes more sense to walk away than it does to get the wheels fixed? Even if he's never happy riding them again they're worth something in working condition, worthless as they are.
The Tesla freehubs are total rubbish. I had 2 failures, the first after just 40 miles the second after about 200. Each time the warranty work meant a 2 week turn around. I sold the bike the wheels were fitted to a coupke of weeks after the 2nd replacement freehub and shortly afterwards it failed again. Total rubbish.
Btw, if you speak to them before returning the wheel they will arrange collection from you at their cost.
interestingly I picked up a post from SS on facebook recently and I commented about the poor quality of the Tesla freehubs. There response was that warranty failures on the Teslas were very rare and they sell many thousands of them each year. They also said their turnaround on warranty work was now only 2-3 days not 14 days.
.I have also recommended yourselves to multiple friends
Do you not want to keep your friends?
Find a skip for your crap Superstar wheels. Buy some Hopes. Ride bike.
It's not rocket surgery. You've made an error; time to put it right.
The problem with superstar is that they originally started as a bit of a 'smash and grab' type operation. Undercutting (legitimately and correctly) the major brands on components that are not complicated, brake pads and the like. This creates two 'problems'. Firstly, they tend to regard the transaction as irrevocably finished the second they send the item. Secondly, they are not geared up for dealing with items where there are tens of things that can go wrong, and the associated complaints.
If you buy a simple and cheapish component from them and don't need to send it back, you will think them excellent. Ask them to go outside of their model of 'take payment, pack, send, forget' then you are bound to encounter problems. Someone who has made money out of mass importing of 'grey' items is unlikely to want to deal with complex warranty issues on high ticket items. Every minute he has to spend on this is costing him money in his mind.
The other end of the spectrum is Hope. They have built a 'brand' and want to keep it.
You pays your money and takes your choice, but remember that initial purchase price is not always the only thing to consider. Mountain biking wears stuff out and breaks stuff. You will probably need after sales on at least some purchases.
Buy cheap, buy twice.
Dannyh, spot on. A lesson to us all. Wholelife cost is more than just initial cost.
I have some chris kings on my bike that have travelled from bike to bike over the years, I guess after 12 years of being there and never missing a pick up or squeaking once I ought to maybe look to treat them to a service or something just in case.....ditto rickon, expensive outlay but wholelife cost and residue value better than an e-class merc...
I was told by someone who had been to visit they machine their own stuff now and had lots of Haas machines whirring away as opposed to being just an import box shifter.
Catschroedinger.
Yes, that may be, but it doesn't alter the original ethos and feel of the company.
I would (and do) use superstar for brake pads. There is nothing to choose between 'pukka' branded pads and superstar. I have had one superstar split on me, and one 'branded' one. The charges that 'brands' make for generic components are untenable versus retailers like superstar. You could argue that the same applies to (May god forgive me) Hope in terms of replacement bearings.
But on high ticket and more complex stuff like wheels with freehubs etc I would want some fallback if it doesn't mean an excessive premium on purchase price. My wheels are hand built jobs from Merlin with Hope hubs. I got them at a cracking price, and am reassured that both those companies would treat me well if I had any need to call on them. I haven't needed them in nearly four years anyway as the build and components are of such quality! Besides knocking in and out a few bearings and getting busy with a spoke key a few times, I haven't needed any more advanced support.
I wouldn't trust superstar in this way. Either on the initial quality or the potential after sales. As before, I am happy to use them for smaller ticket items that I am unlikely to need any customer service on, but on larger items I would rather pay an apparent premium for better quality, both in the initial hardware and the after sales service.
[i] Like looking at a car and seeing a Halfords oil filter; you know it's not been done right.[/i]ummm not really, that sounds like nonense,
No, it's an opinion. Fair enough if you don't share it, but you shouldn't dismiss it.
There is nothing to choose between 'pukka' branded pads and superstar
I disagree. Brake pads are very much different. Superstar are bottom of the heap; Brake Authority slightly better; Manufacturer better still. I find Goodridge pads top of the heap. All IMHO, of course.
I got some spare Superstar pads with some Avid XX brakes and they ruined them. With real pads they were good brakes.
Maybe there is a place for Superstar selling headset spacers or other non-moving parts. Anything more complex and it's worth spending a little more and buying the real deal.
I had a hope pro 2 hub crack. Hope sent me another but the rebuild cost was up to me.
Superstar replaced the first wheel. OP, have you spoken to them about this or do you like to puff your chest out online? I see you only post on here to bad mouth them.
You'll probably end up getting an Evo hub as a replacement - read somewhere else that someone got that.
The new Evo version has a bigger 17mm axle and 36 points of engagement and an improved ratchet ring.
For balance, SS had an ad recently which showed they'd sold 30k+ hubs and wheel sets since inception. On a statistical basis, you'd expect some failures. Interestingly, the same KT manufactured hub is also branded as Nukeproof and others, and they too had some issues, but it's only on this site and only towards Superstar that there's any significant griping.
Anyway, back on track. Send your wheel back with a POLITE letter, asking them to upgrade to an Evo as it will protect both parties from hassle, expense and time cost of another potential failure.
my superstar wheelset is now 2 years old, with no servicing and still going strong. 2 years of 4x, hooning about in the woods and a few trail centres thrown in for good measure.
Maybe I'm lucky?
Maybe you are unlucky?
I got some spare Superstar pads with some Avid XX brakes and they ruined them. With real pads they were good brakes.
How did they ruin them?
I use Superstar pads all the time in my Avids have done for a few years, they're still working.
Pads ruining brake systems? Sounds like cobblers to me. How exactly?
Unless they boiled the fluid (which still shouldn't ruin the system) or disintegrated to the point where they did physical damage to the caliper, I really cannot fathom this. Maybe they did not perform well, but that's hardly [u]ruining[/u] brakes.
The basic point is use grey importers for high volume low cost consumables and you should, mostly, get better value for money. If you consider lifetime costs (and the ball ache of bike downtime), then I would choose a 'quality' brand for higher ticket items. Merlin combined with Hope have been where the smart money is spent for a long time in my opinion. The reason for this is quality builds with quality components and great customer service. There will be good long term stories about superstar wheels out there, but what percentage of the overall amount of these wheel sets will result in a good long term outcome I cannot say. But I will hazard a guess it is less than the aforementioned combination.
It's a while since I used Superstar pads but they seemed fine compared to the original Avids. However I've found that Hope OEM pads last for so much longer than other pads I've used (even the organic ones) that the extra cost is cancelled out. I have Superstar grips on one bike and they're a disappointingly hard compound - a shame because they're one of the few suppliers that sell refills rather than having to buy the whole grips and clamps.
To Iolo: 'OP, have you spoken to them about this or do you like to puff your chest out online? I see you only post on here to bad mouth them.' I generally read STW and other sites, mainly pinkbike... just because I do not post that often on other topics (well never), does not mean I am here just to 'bad mouth' SS. If you read the thread, you will see that if they did not want my hassle and misery, then they should have thought about that before sending out another duff hub. I am just sharing my experience with the collective. Please see that how you will. Also I have spent ~£750 (inc these wheels) with SS. I really like their tools because of their price and *dare I say it* quality. I also use their Ultra Mag Pedals with Ti Axle... and I have not had any other issues with them what-so-ever. SO I am sure you can conclude that this is not a single purchase rant.
to Naffa: Cheers, I requested the pickup service from reading the t+c's and Superstar already sent me the ticket using UPS, so I will send of the wheel tomorrow.
I did find SS pads to be not that good, single ride and wiped out on the pads that were supposed to be for wet/mud conditions (they were bedded in properly). Best pads to date I think are the Enduro/Gravity pads from Nukeproof on CRC. Last a long long long time and the performance is noticeably better than any other pads, even the stock pads supplied by oem's, imho. The Nukeproof pads are a lot more expensive but I found that they last 4 times as long and I have never had them howling on me.
I doubt they sent you a "duff" hub as you describe it deliberately. Unfortunate but one of those things and definitely not something I'd rank as worth being upset about. Granted I have Vulcan-esque levels of logic and composure though! 😉
