Campy's $2800 disposable wheels

[Scarpelli]

I'm an old Category 2 and I own four sets of high end carbon wheels; three sets of Zipps and a set of Campagnolo Hyperon tubular wheels. The Hyperons are fabulous; light, smooth, stiff yet comfy, and durable. There's one problem. If you damage a rim and have to replace it, you can't. I have a 2003 set, and I have a small crack in the rear rim from a rough road, and I was quoted (by Excel, a good place, BTW) $1150 for just the REAR RIM. If I had a newer Hyperon, the rim cost alone was $1395. The minimum wait for the replacement was quoted at 90 days. Now, I am in upper management at a mid-sized manufacturer of high end products, so I understand sales, support, and service. I currently own five Record 10 gruppos. This is cynical and laughable. Not to mention that I'm a fellow dago!!

On the other hand, getting a Zipp 404 or 303 repaired is quick and simple. They (no pun intended) jump through hoops. I paid $175 for a replacement 303 rim two years ago, and I had it back on my bike in a week in midseason. I'm now considering rebuilding the Hyperon wheels with new spokes and Zipp 202 rims, for a lot less. I'll continue to ride and race Campy because I love it, but this is shabby treatment of a customer who has spend tens of thousands of dollars on their product for decades.

I'm not angry, but I'm sure glad I didn't get that Campy tattoo on my left ankle like I was going to do a few years back...

 

[mark higgins]

Could be worse. I know a guy who has wrecked two disc wheels in two weeks. He stripped the thread on a Hed track disc last week and punctured on a Zipp 950and didn't stop totally wrecking the rim this week. No chance of any spares there!

 

[Scarpelli]

The difference is Hed and Zipp will most likely respond in a positive way to help him. Still...that's a tough break...

 

[p38lightning]

I'm not angry, but I'm sure glad I didn't get that Campy tattoo on my left ankle like I was going to do a few years back...

Good decision. Never get a tattoo when you're "smitten". I once knew a gal who had a list of men's names tattooed on the left cheek of her butt. All but the last one were crossed out!

 

[Doctor Morbius]

Good decision. Never get a tattoo when you're "smitten". I once knew a gal who had a list of men's names tattooed on the left cheek of her butt. All but the last one were crossed out!

Ahhhhh, just like the girl that married dear old dad, eh? By any chance did she every say "Professor Gilligan tought me how to walk, and how to talk, and how to be a regular lady he did!" in a strong cockney accent and then blow her nose??!!


Don't feel too bad Scarpelli, there's some guy on another forum who has $2800 tied up in a Trek 1000!!! Not kidding either.

 

[CampagnoloBora]

I have heard that Corima makes the carbon rims for campy... I opted out of Boras for Corima Aeros at half the price and only a tad heavier. I think Corima sells their hoops seperate.

www.corima.com

 

[wilmar13]

I have heard that Corima makes the carbon rims for campy... I opted out of Boras for Corima Aeros at half the price and only a tad heavier. I think Corima sells their hoops seperate.

www.corima.com

Looks like MSRP for the Roue Aero clincher is about 1100 Euros, but surely they can be found for cheaper. I agree, I would go that route rather than spend almost double for Boras... but hey shouldn't you change your name from CampyBora to Corimacheapskate?

 

[Wurm]

It is pretty disgusting, Scarpelli, and I'm a big lover of Campy including their wheelsets. I've voted with my wallet for 3 different Campy wheelsets and 3 different grouppos over the past 5 years.

I think the only thing that would snap them out of some of their ridiculous and frankly, disrepectful pricing/availability habits is if certain products just didn't sell well anymore. But that's probably not going to happen with their wheelsets, because they're so damned good.

However, we're seeing a (slow) change in their CF crankset situation, thanks to mfg's like FSA.

 

[Scarpelli]

I'll check out Corima, but the superior service from Zipp over the past five years makes me want to stay with them. I had a conversation will Bill Vance at Zipp three years ago and I suggested they come out with a lighter, low-profile road wheel. They could call it the "202" sez I, in all my marketing brilliance. Two weeks after I ordered my Hyperons, I saw the new Zipp 202s in the Excel catalog, and I had to kick myself...

I love my Hyperons, but Campy hasn't provided respectful service, IMHO.

BTW, I also own Campy Record Carbon bOTTLE Cages. An interesting feature is they are "self-serve." Whenever you hit a small bump, the bottle burps right out onto the road or between your spokes and chainstay...("BPBPBPBPBPBPB!!!")

 

[CampagnoloBora]

Looks like MSRP for the Roue Aero clincher is about 1100 Euros, but surely they can be found for cheaper. I agree, I would go that route rather than spend almost double for Boras... but hey shouldn't you change your name from CampyBora to Corimacheapskate?

Hahahhaha yeah guess I should actually now that I think about it!!!

 

[CampagnoloBora]

BTW, I also own Campy Record Carbon bOTTLE Cages. An interesting feature is they are "self-serve." Whenever you hit a small bump, the bottle burps right out onto the road or between your spokes and chainstay...("BPBPBPBPBPBPB!!!")

I've got Record Carbon cages on my Pinarello Prince SL and have never had this happen... are you using the bottles supplied??

 

[Scarpelli]

I've got Record Carbon cages on my Pinarello Prince SL and have never had this happen... are you using the bottles supplied??

I tried using the supplied Campy bottles as well as Specialized, and they all float out on any bump. I switched to (you guessed it) Zipp cages and they hold the bottles securely. It was an annoyance having to stuff both bottles back down every five minutes or so after spending $230 on two freaking cages. I guess I'm a sucker.

 

[Wurm]

Oh, and while I'm kicking my fave cycling company in the teeth, I might as well give the ErgoBrain a shot. What - $170. for the way that thing works? Never will I buy another!!

 

[Scarpelli]

Oh, and while I'm kicking my fave cycling company in the teeth, I might as well give the ErgoBrain a shot. What - $170. for the way that thing works? Never will I buy another!!

That reminds me of Campy's first Record downtube index shifting stuff from the early '90s. I was an early adopter, and I tried adjusting the shifters to actually shift only one gear at a time, and not chatter between two gears. In desperation, I got someone from Campy on the phone asking him what the secret was for adjusting the indexing. "Oh, the index shifting doesn't work. Put it in the friction setting." At least I had those one-pound-each Delta brakes...

Am I starting to crank the rant up too much??

 

[p38lightning]

That reminds me of Campy's first Record downtube index shifting stuff from the early '90s. I was an early adopter, and I tried adjusting the shifters to actually shift only one gear at a time, and not chatter between two gears. In desperation, I got someone from Campy on the phone asking him what the secret was for adjusting the indexing. "Oh, the index shifting doesn't work. Put it in the friction setting." At least I had those one-pound-each Delta brakes...

Am I starting to crank the rant up too much??

Gee I guess that I ought to knock on wood as I write this but I obtained an early 90's Serotta 2 years ago with this system (C record, Delta brakes, 8speed index on down tube) and while it took me a few tries to get it adjusted right it works just fine. I heard somewhere that Indurain used delta brake in competition but I always wondered about the weight. For me the weight isn't a factor but their exceptional stopping power is, and for looks......sheer beauty.

 

[IronDonut]

Yeah my local shop just got in some Bontrager carbon wheels. Of course they tried to get me to buy them. Cause apparently I look like a big walking wallet to the shop owner.

This and he knows of my general distaste for all things from carbon fiber suckersville.

That got me to thinking, what kind of chouderhead actually buys carbon fiber wheels. Yeah it's light blah blah blah... but compared to metal it's lacking in a lot of really critical durability areas. Great for seatposts and forks... not so good for wheels. And they cost like 5 times as much for some miniscule weight savings over metal all the while having a tiny fraction of the durability of metal.

How many rides in the rain with road grit rubbing on that carbon surface before those wheels look like Buckwheat?

Is that a hairball you're riden' or a set of worn the **** out carbon wheels?

 

[Tyrail]

Yeah my local shop just got in some Bontrager carbon wheels. Of course they tried to get me to buy them. Cause apparently I look like a big walking wallet to the shop owner.

This and he knows of my general distaste for all things from carbon fiber suckersville.

That got me to thinking, what kind of chouderhead actually buys carbon fiber wheels. Yeah it's light blah blah blah... but compared to metal it's lacking in a lot of really critical durability areas. Great for seatposts and forks... not so good for wheels. And they cost like 5 times as much for some miniscule weight savings over metal all the while having a tiny fraction of the durability of metal.

How many rides in the rain with road grit rubbing on that carbon surface before those wheels look like Buckwheat?

Is that a hairball you're riden' or a set of worn the **** out carbon wheels?

lol.... that must suck

 

[Scarpelli]

Well, years later, and I'm still riding on those Hyperon tubulars. In fact, I have two sets now. The "crack" turned out to be part of the decal. It turns out these are the most rugged wheels on the planet. I ride rough chipseal with cattle guards, and one set of Hyperons has 40,000 miles, with no broken spokes, no truing, and no broken rims. I cleaned the bearings once, and they looked new. I take back what I said about them being disposable. While most carbon wheels are fragile, these are bombproof. I apologize to the Campy gods. Too bad Hyperon tubulars are now well over $4,000 a pair, but they're well worth it.

I've sold all my Zipps (202s, 303s, 404s) except for the 404 front and 808 rear for my time trial bike, and my Zipp disc. Although the service was great...it was too frequent.

And for you carbon haters, I've broken more aluminum rims than I've broken carbon. A lightweight rim is more prone to break, regardless of material (unless it's a Hyperon.) And I like carbon. I have two identical Look 585s with carbon-laden Campy Super Record 11-speed. And even the front fenders of my Corvette Z06 are carbon. Done right, it's a great material.

 

[steve]

Originally Posted by Scarpelli .

Well, years later, and I'm still riding on those Hyperon tubulars. In fact, I have two sets now. The "crack" turned out to be part of the decal. It turns out these are the most rugged wheels on the planet. I ride rough chipseal with cattle guards, and one set of Hyperons has 40,000 miles, with no broken spokes, no truing, and no broken rims.

40,000 miles on a set of wheels without even a broken spoke is pretty damn good!

 

[AlanG]

Glad your wheels are ok. I wonder if the list of guys' names tatooed onto that girl's butt has spread to the other cheek by now?

As long as the type isn't too small, one cheek's worth of names doesn't really raise an eyebrow these days unless it was from just one wild weekend.