We bought three sets of Superstar wheels between us as they seemed a bargain. Remember what the bloke said about cheap, strong and light? Well Superstar wheels are cheap and light but they ain’t strong – we had to have two rim replacements in the first couple of months, done quickly and cheaply enough, but they simply didn’t last like, for example, a Mavic wheel would. A false economy, as it turned out.

My dealings with Superstar and the wheels they made failing went pretty much like this:

Me: My wheels you custom made for me 2.5 years ago, the rims have lots of cracks around the spokes. Seemingly this is a known problem with the Stans Arch Mk3 rims as there’s lots of things on the net about it. What can I do to change them?
SS: Pay for a crash rebuild, roughly £200.
Me: But I haven’t crashed them and if the rims are known as having manufacturing issues (please check the internet if you don’t believe me) then is that still my only option?
SS: Yes
Me: Is it normal for wheels you build to have such failures with the rims cracking so much (I can send photos) after such a short amount of time?
SS: We can’t comment on that.

I emailed Stans in the states who told me they were very concerned about the level of service I was getting from my Stans dealer. They sent me a set of rims for free as they acknowledged the faults in the manufacturing of them.

I then email SS asking If I supply the rims, can they be used in the crash rebuild so I’m not out of pocket. Got told where to go basically. Paying was my only option and I must pay top whack for the rims, they wouldn’t even price match them from elsewhere.

Have SS done anything wrong? No, unless you want to speculate over whether the wheels where built properly (Stans were curious after seeing the photos I sent). Have they done anything to help either? Not at all. Compare their response with Stans basically. One acknowledged a fault and was very helpful, one told me to get lost.

It’s not the fact they were out of warranty that bothers me, that’s my tough luck. But why make me pay top whack for new rims in the crash rebuild scheme when the manufacturer sent new ones for free?! They even offered to send them to Superstar but they still weren’t having any of it.

Anyway I’ve gone on for too long here but you can make your own mind up about how they treat customers.

Crikey! Have Dave Hinde and the Superstar man ever been seen in a room together at the same time?

Conversely, 10 minutes after that last post, the DPD man arrived with a set of Essentials road wheels ordered off the back of this thread in a fast, easy transaction. Wheels seem fine: spinning smoothly, spoke tension ok, rims true. Come back in 2020?

I’ve got a few sets of SS wheel. The only issues I’ve had have been crash/tyre failure related.
Done a couple of Megas on EX 23 rims without issues.
Done more than one lap of Swinley red on my road bike with 25c tyres when I’ve been bored of a road ride. The Pave road rims stayed straight and true.

In reply to Painey who has postedbthe same thing twice. I’m going to be straight and honest with our simple policy explanation.

In your case it’s simple. You were out your 2year warranty as you say. Because of this we offered you the lifetime crash rebuild offer where you buy whatever rims you want and you get FREE delivery, labour, nipples, spokes. So basically we make a loss every time we do this as our goodwill policy. Any other brands out there do that for you???

Stans seems to be the most problems of the rims we stock but it’s still minimal, they are ultralight so yes things crack and wear out when your chasing grams on a mtb. if it’s in your warranty period we replace them for free and then argue the toss with stans to try and get a replacement. But again it’s a fresh build with new spokes and nipples which we have to cover the cost of even if it’s warranty stans don’t pay for it if their product fails. After 2 years it’s Very unlikely to be a product fault and therefore not warranty.

If stans replace them good for them, and you can get them built up. But we don’t offer a lifetime spoke replacement and Free wheelbuilding service, and I’m not aware of anyone who does.

Correct me if this isn’t entirely fair?

Neil SuperstarComponents

Painey, you got a free set of rims from the manufacturer (because their product was a bit shit) after 2.5 years of use, and you’re annoyed because SS wanted you to pay to have them rebuilt? You know that they’d pretty much have to use new spokes, which would take as much time as new build right? My LBS charges about the same for building wheels.

I think you need a bit of perspective.

I’ve a set of bargain Supertstars on the rigid, bought 4 years ago, still strong & true. Maybe I was lucky but I give ’em a thumbs up for what they delivered for my needs

Got to admit I’m with SS on this after 2.5 yrs they wouldn’t have got a pair of rims of Stans or the cost of building them up. What are they supposed to do ? Sell a set of wheels and prove warrenty cover themselves for life !!

OK so I’m maybe being a bit harsh, and I made it clear they haven’t done anything wrong. What I can’t share are the replies. Short shrift etc. No acknowledgement of any potential issues with the product when there’s overwhelming evidence otherwise. No offer to contact the suppliers to help sort what is clearly a defective component part of the wheel build, hence me having to go direct. “Not our problem guv'”. That sort of thing.

I get they’re a small-ish UK company putting out stuff at a very competitive price point. I’ve got lots of their kit on my bikes and never had any issues. Maybe because they’ve always been so good (to me) I was mistakenly hoping for better. Then again there is plenty of other stuff about their customer service before…

To be fair to them I’ve had nothing but good experiences when it comes to Superstar and their customer service, and my only issues with their products are their absolute cheapest products. My last set of wheels were absolutely amazing, and I wish I could have kept them, I’ll still almost certainly buy my next set from them too, but probably go for the V6 hubs and better rims.

Got a few sets of SS hubbed wheels, usually on Stans rims, but at least one pair on SS branded ones. Only issue I’ve ever had was the internals of Tesla rear hub going pop halfway round an Edale loop. After a long walk / scoot / coast back to the car, I sent it back two days before the warranty expired and got a new (updated) hub built into the wheel with no quibbles. No issues with SS at all in 10 years or so of dealing with them.

Had some really good pedals followed by some redesigned not as good ones. The NW chainrings were alright when at the right price. TBF they all seem to be trying to make 25-30 the lowest price norm for a single chainring!

Had a set of cheap and a bit nasty wheels. The front was ok, the rear hub poor quality and spoke tension all over the place on both.

A mixed bag and bit of a gamble IME.

I have had some DHX and AMX wheels for years, I am harsh on them and they have been true without issue.

That said any customer service I have had has been pretty shit.

The CS contact seems to take everything as a personal insult.

I had some Pacenti dl31 rims on the switch evo hubs (i think). Great wheelset, just ordered a 142mm axle conversion kit. Emailed SS asked how to do the axle swap and they sent me a simple email reply, perfect.

Had countless chainrings too, sent one back as the chain didn’t fit the narrow-wideness properly, sorted no dramas.

What’s the difference between the v3 and v6 hubs?

Less machining, pawls and cheaper bearings. Bearings not as well sealed.

V3s are basically the same hub but without the hugely expensive SKF bearings. The high fill ones are pretty good but obviously not as sexy. 3pawls for half the engagement and the odd bit of detail machining deleted. Same seals and basic components as the expensive one.

But actually a lot of the cost difference is stepping up the production volumes by ten. Even with that we are struggling to make them fast enough….

Neil SuperstarComponents

I’m needing some burly new wheels at the moment.
Reading Neil’s reply has made me go elsewhere. Heck, even OnOne sound more understanding and customer focused….

Reading Neil’s reply has made me go elsewhere.

I thought his reply was very reasonable

He comes across as someone who is always right, won’t/can’t see that at times they have had QC issues or that some customers feel they were not looked after, even with new things.

He comes across as a moaner – things like ‘can’t win’ statements. It’s not about winning.

It comes across as “stop complaining, I’m right, you didn’t pay much, what do you expect?”

Im about to pull the trigger on some v6/wtb wheels for a cheap xc home I have. I’ve been unable to find a review of long term reliability of the hubs. Can only find about loose end caps and freehub body’s which it’s my understanding that’s been sorted.
The replies from superstar seem very to the point, seems like a guy who cuts out all the bullshit. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not

I’m quite impressed by his replies. You can never please everyone / get it 100% right, but at least he’s proud of his company and seems to have a very reasonable warranty attitude etc.

People moaning on here will always exaggerate how bad their experience was, so I always take those with a pinch of salt.

Cheers Rich, wasn’t even looking for any f3ckin’ wheels until I saw this !
The SS now has a new set of wheels for the winter 😉

He comes across as a moaner

And nobody does that ever on here 😂😂😂

I’ve bought 2 sets of wheels.

Had problems with both sets.

Really bad customer service.

Difficult to get spares as they didn’t keep many spares.

In the end I used the rim and rebuilt with a Hope hub.

If you do buy, buy some service parts and get the diagram or part numbers.

I thought the old Ss hubs were just re branded novatec hubs?

Now they are making their own I would assume the qc would improve and spares and diagrams easier to get hold of.

Maybe Neil could comment?

As you ask yes as we design our hubs and manufacture them all in-house, so we have lots of everything. When we make a new version we try our hardest to make it reverse compatible. When it’s impossible we usually have extremely generous offers to upgrade.

It’s the main reason why I sacked off taiwan made parts. They just kept changing things without telling us so holding spares was impossible letting down our customers. Also lots of other brands knew we were one of the few with spares so most of the time we ran out of stock “supporting” other brands customers because they couldn’t be bothered worrying about spares at the expense of superstar customers. In fact this got so bad to the point we had customers of other brands complaining and posting bad reviews because we had run out or didn’t stock this other brands spares… then said brand had the cheek to email us asking when we were restocking so they could tell their customers!

We used several factories and most of them still have the spares available but sometimes they are expensive. We don’t deal with them any more so we can’t buy any more. Plus it wouldn’t be cost effective to buy OEM numbers of them or to remanufacture for the odd person with a 8 year old hub.

It’s nice to finally make a clean break and do it all ourselves. It was a 7 figure sum spent on machines, materials, tools, R&D etc and almost broke us but it’s done now, and I have a queue of brands wanting for us to make their hubs/wheels as we are one of possibly 2-3 factories in the uk with the capabilities to manufacture thousands of hubs a month.

The current range is just the starting point…

Neil SuperstarComponents

Well done Neil. It sounds like you have really worked hard to move your business in a positive direction. I wish you every success in the future and it will be great if UK bike companies opt for your products on their bikes.

Thanks for the reply!

Are the v3 and v6 hubs #madeinbritain 👍

Are the v3 and v6 hubs #madeinbritain

Yes. Everything made and assembled in-house in Lincoln. Check out http://www.superstarmanufacturing.com

Neil SuperstarComponents

I’ve never been anything but impressed with SS both from a product longevity or support standpoint.

Have had several sets of wheels/rotors/parts over the years, raced them out on the Superenduro series and all wheels were fine and needed only the usual tickle with a spoke key that you’d expect with hard use.

The one time I had an issue (whatever the KT based free hub it was that failed more frequently than the others), I got a prompt reply to my email with pics, an FOC rebuild to a different hub (as that model was out of stock at the time) and all was good.

I’ve said it many times – you have to look at ratios of failure/problem to unit sold, not number of problems. And definitely don’t be sucked into noise online from a vocal few who complain. I’m also a massive believer that your approach when raising a warranty concern shapes your experience…..

I’ve had 3 sets of road, 3 mtb.
One of the Pacenti road rims failed- cracking around the spoke holes, about 18mnths in.By this time the Internet said this was not uncommon. SS acknowledged this and rebuilt it on to a Stansroad rim. I was delighted. There was nothing else to it, couldn’t fault the Cx service. The initial communication wasn’t fast but it all got resolved in decent enough time.
Even if I suddenly become rich I can’t see why I wouldn’t continue to buy SS wheels.

I ordered a set last night. V6 hubs on wtb i23 rims for my voodoo bizango. Only reason I’ve spent more on the v6 for £240 over the v3 hubs at £160 is I’m a sucker for coloured parts, v6 hubs in blue where as v3 is only shown in black. Guessing this is to keep the price low.

Are superstar making onone’s new wheels?

Hmm my  rear 12mm bolt thru will not go thru my brand new hubs, they go in one side but not the way I need to attach to the frame 🙁

Postierich. Drop me some photos on Facebook Or email and I’ll try and understand.

The endcaps and axle are made with a 12mm fancy drill from Germany and will be bang on 12mm and straight. Your axle should be 11.90-11.95mm and drop straight through. If it doesn’t it’s bent.

I’ve seen a lot of brands drill axles from both sides to save money bit they never line up so they oversize the hole to make up for the sloppy machining. This then bends axles and makes the hub shift in the dropouts

Neil SuperstarComponents

Rich, just use a big rock to bang it in 🙂

Postierich

Hmm my rear 12mm bolt thru will not go thru my brand new hubs, they go in one side but not the way I need to attach to the frame

I got a 12mm bolt thru (non RS)… nothing to do with the hubs but it fits one Pike and not the other …
(won’t even go in through the hole, not it or the fork is bent the forks have slightly different diameter holes)

I’ve seen a lot of brands drill axles from both sides to save money bit they never line up so they oversize the hole to make up for the sloppy machining. This then bends axles and makes the hub shift in the dropouts

Same problem with BB30 bottom brackets, drill from each side to save cost but they don’t line up properly and hence you get creaking….