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.
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.