American Classic CR 420 problems ?

[Adam_83]

I have just bought a new pair of 05 American Classic CR 420's, and I noticed that they have small dimples at each nipple on the rims side wall, like they are pulling through the rim, This is on every spoke and is on both the front and back wheels. there is a gap in the rim between where they have been pinned and can be felt and seen all the way from the braking surface aswell as on the nottom (narrow) part of the rim which makes a shudder when braking.
Also they are meant to have DT New Aero spokes, but they have a bladed spoke which has a 'P' on them, and are not DT's. Also i notice that they are part of the recall due to the serial starting with 's'

I just want to know if these 'dimples on the side wall are normal with these wheels ? and also if the joint should be able to be felt (i can stick my finger nail in it)

 

[jmurray89]

I have the American Classic 38mm Carbon, and I can see this only the slightest bit. I have been told its not a problem. If you look at some of the zipp older carbon wheels you notice this a good bit. If its pretty bad and your overly concerned with it take them to your LBS.

 

[HardCoreRacer]

I have the American Classic 38mm Carbon, and I can see this only the slightest bit. I have been told its not a problem. If you look at some of the zipp older carbon wheels you notice this a good bit. If its pretty bad and your overly concerned with it take them to your LBS.

Do your wheels have the dimples in them also ? i am waiting for a pair of AC420's to arrive and hope they dont have these problems. I would have theought the dimples were from the wheels being tensioned to high and pulling the niple into the rim creating the dimples ? maybe im wrong

 

[jmurray89]

Mine are 2003 versions that weigh in at 1096 grams on my scale. they have been raced on, crashed on, and have over 2500 race miles on them. never had to true them. but to answer your question, yes, if your in the right light theres a dimple here or there, but not at all noticable when just 2 feet away, you really have to look for them. like i said, the carbons have better chances of this, and havent been a problem. its said to be just the carbon settling in around all the spokes and all. I have a coach with some zipp 440 and 330, and you can definitely see the dimples in them from far away, and they seem perfectly fine. maybe this is true for SOME of the aluminum version too, as i have a few friends and teammates that have the CR420 and havent had any sort of this problem.

Anyone else who knows about the rims dimpling, inform this thread better if you can.

 

[stevfenton]

I have just bought a new pair of 05 American Classic CR 420's, and I noticed that they have small dimples at each nipple on the rims side wall, like they are pulling through the rim, This is on every spoke and is on both the front and back wheels. there is a gap in the rim between where they have been pinned and can be felt and seen all the way from the braking surface aswell as on the nottom (narrow) part of the rim which makes a shudder when braking.
Also they are meant to have DT New Aero spokes, but they have a bladed spoke which has a 'P' on them, and are not DT's. Also i notice that they are part of the recall due to the serial starting with 's'

I just want to know if these 'dimples on the side wall are normal with these wheels ? and also if the joint should be able to be felt (i can stick my finger nail in it)

Be very careful, the rim is too soft, these guys build their wheels in Taiwan and have jumped from supplier to supplier as they cannot be consistant with the product. They are always trying to do tings on the cheap and when anyone has a problem they always come up with the excuse of " oh we have not heard of that before and no one else seems to have a problem )

The reliability is terrible.

Look at the Ritchey saga recently with a total recall.

The P on the spoke means they are from Shadar Taiwan.

The bulges means the alloy is too soft and its been built too tight for this rim.

Any gaps - just dont ride them.

I think you should be getting your money back ASAP

 

[buckybux]

I bought a set of AC CR-420's back in May on Ebay. Around Labor Day I broke a spoke an took it to the LBS. After quite a bit of investigation, contacting the dealer and American Classic, I found out that:
1. American Classic (US) said they were not their wheels and that they were made by a Asian Manufacturer.
2. The wheels were only authorized for sale in the Far East, and not in the US.
3. The spokes were made with an inferior brand, and had a history of breaking.

So I had the wheels rebuilt with DT spokes. I used the aerolite (which are better than the new aero's), cost me just under $200. I am really happy with the wheels. With the low ebay price, I still saved over $200. However, I would be a whole lot more careful about a purchase like this on ebay.
--Jeff

 

[stevefenton]

what a load of bollox.

This is typical of this company.

one and half years ago we bought a load of wheels off them and they shipped them with the wrong freehub bodies on. We needed 10 speed and they sent the old old 8 speed and claimed this was correct for 10 speed. They did everythig they could to flob us as they already had our money. They shipped the hubs without QR's and then claimed although they had charged us for them and we had paid for them we didnt make it clear enough on the purchase order that we definately needed them ????

The Taiwanese partner they had got so ****** off with the nutcase who runs things for them in Taiwan they parted company last year. This guy is a first class excuse maker and just sticks his head in the sand everytime there is a problem.

My mate is Australia had 300 sets of wheels built by AC and he had to recall everyone as the hubs were failing and the spokes failed on every wheel. Guess what - they never heard of that problem before and my mate is seriously out of pocket with these guys.

BEWARE

 

[buckybux]

what a load of bollox.

This is typical of this company.

one and half years ago we bought a load of wheels off them and they shipped them with the wrong freehub bodies on. We needed 10 speed and they sent the old old 8 speed and claimed this was correct for 10 speed. They did everythig they could to flob us as they already had our money. They shipped the hubs without QR's and then claimed although they had charged us for them and we had paid for them we didnt make it clear enough on the purchase order that we definately needed them ????

The Taiwanese partner they had got so ****** off with the nutcase who runs things for them in Taiwan they parted company last year. This guy is a first class excuse maker and just sticks his head in the sand everytime there is a problem.

My mate is Australia had 300 sets of wheels built by AC and he had to recall everyone as the hubs were failing and the spokes failed on every wheel. Guess what - they never heard of that problem before and my mate is seriously out of pocket with these guys.

BEWARE

Are you in Australia? Did you deal direct with American Classic in the US, or with the Far East licensed manufacturer? When I talked with AC, they indicated big differences between the Far East and the US operations. Are you saying this is not true in your experience?

--Jeff

 

[jmurray89]

Ive been with the US relations....I havent had 1 problem with these wheels after 3000 miles and crashing at least 5 times.