USA Made FLIT Wheels Letica Wheelset Review



MrKook

New Member
Oct 31, 2010
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I purchased a set of FLIT (Pronounced 'Fleet') wheels on October 22, 2010 from FLITwheels.com. This is a small company in Michigan that produces wheelsets for the average consumer that wants a set of wheels comparable to high end ZIPP or Mavic and doesn't want to spend $1000-$4000. There are a few different models on FLIT's website for different purposes. I have been building a touring bike so I went with the low profile (32mm rim depth) Letica set. The website claims them to be very light (1315 grams for the set) and plenty strong for everyday group training. For $499USD and no shipping cost that sounds amazing, in theory. I hadn't found a comparable wheelset for any near that price. They have a few other carbon options with deeper rims for a stiffer wheel and better power transfer. The Zephyr model has a 50mm rim depth, a total of 1383 grams and is $999. I would say Zipp's comparable model would be the 404 Carbon Clincher weighing in at 1557 grams, a rim depth of 58mm, and costing nearly $3000 for the set. If you are just starting out riding, FLIT is a really great option. Another great thing they offer is a "group buy." In the past they have offered a substantial discount if you get a team of riders to buy the wheels in bulk.

So, with all of that said, my personal review of these wheels comes with some downsides. The product itself (Letica Wheelset) is amazing. 100% true out of the box, strong wheels with good power transfer yet a shallow rim for little to no crosswind, and an overall good looking wheel.

However, as I said before I purchased the wheels on Oct 22, 2010 and didn't receive them until Dec 17! Almost two months. And in that two months I got only one form of contact, an e-mail a few weeks after I bought them and had sent a few frantic e-mails wondering where they were at. So finally on Nov 26 I got a notification from fed ex telling me of the wheels' shipment. Long story short, there was a complication with the labels and no one, including Fed Ex, could get a hold of FLIT Wheels to get the problem fixed. Finally, after nearly a month of one sided e-mails the wheels finally showed up. Now, in this time, there were Fed Ex tracking numbers that showed the packages and their progress, and I even talked to the Fed Ex Office Employee and he confirmed "Yeah, I'm looking at the packages right now, I just need the original owner to come make the adjustments to the labels." So, it was pretty frustrating.

The other issue I had was, I chose a Shimano freewheel with the intent of putting a SRAM cassette on it. But, they sent me a Shimano Deep Spline freewheel that only accommodates deep spline cassettes. This wasn't that big of a deal, I bought a compatible and very fair priced 105 cassette and it fits.

The moral of the story is, the long wait and replaced cassette was well worth the $499. I can't imagine spending that at a local bike shop and getting anywhere near the quality I got with FLIT Wheels. Just know if you buy from them, that there won't be much communication and it will take them a while to be sent out because they are made to order. You probably won't have the same problem with the wheels getting stuck in MI for almost a month anyway. Also, keep in mind the deep spline Shimano freewheel they use by default.

So anyway, look em up and buy em.
 
A touring bike and you looked for light wheels? BTW-A decent bike shop could build you a set for that $, thay 'may' be more proper for loaded touring. Like a shimano hub, proper touring rims, built well. The wheels you mentioned seem more for training, group rides, occasional racing..not touring.

IMO
 
As of July 2011 I believe that FLIT must be out of Business- I ordered a set of Wheels from them and paid via PayPal on their online order site- Never got a confirmation so I tried emailing their customer service number and left numerous messages for Brent- they all went to voicemail- I NEVER HEARD BACK- I then contacted PayPal and reversed the charges- this took and additional 13 days before the money was back in my account- Now I don't know about anyone else but just don't have the finances to keep ordering ewxpensive wheels- it also begged the question that if it was this hard to get in touch with the company when I was trying to give them money how tough would parts/service/warranty be? Totally opposite with Williams, Keith is an unbelievable businessman who really cares about his reputation and customers- I have a set of his Carbon 38mm clinchers and they FLY!!!
 
Yeah, you can 'stick a fork' in FLIT. I purchased a set of Zephyr's second-hand (maybe third-hand for all I know) off eBay several months ago. The rear had a bad bearing and I wanted to obtain the part number. Sent several emails to FLIT and never heard a word back. Subsequently got the part number, but with no thanks to FLIT.

Wheels are nothing special - Taiwan sourced carbon rims and hubs, and can be had with the option of good Sapim CX-Ray spokes. The wheels roll very nice and for the price I paid with Zipp Tangente tires glued on, even with the bearing replacement, I'm still way ahead on the deal versus paying for a high-priced brand name set 50mm tubs...
 
sorry for resurrecting an old thread,

Tonyzackery, I have the Flit Zephyr which I purchased new. Would you please let me know the part # of the bearings as I would like to purchase a set in case mine fails ... which seems to be a common problem. Where did you purchase your bearings from?

Thanks
 
Part no. - MR1526LLB
Suggest you replace those weak hubs with these sold through bikehubstore.com. Same outer dimension as the rear hub in the FLIT wheel, but twice the pawls - 6 vs. 3. It was actually the engagement pawls that died in my hub - not the bearings.
 
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Thanks for the info. Tonyzackery

I'll replace the hubs as a last resort after replacing the bearings. I may reevaluate at that time whether I should just replace the wheels if the pawls fail. To date, the Zephyr has treated me well and I love the wheels. They are light and responsive and have remained true since 2009 when I bought them through the group buy.
 
Forget to ask ...

When you replaced your hubs, did you reuse the Sapim CX-Ray spokes or acquired new ones?

Thanks
 
Removed and replaced rear hub. My wheels came with the Sapim spokes, so unnecessary to replace.