Gyeswho

I've been eying around for a lighter pair of wheels and Cane Creeks may have my interest. I'm wondering if their claim of quick acceleration and handling, due to the nipples located at the hubs, are true. It makes sense you can't really compare static weight of wheels since rotation is involved so by decreasing the weight at the most important part of the wheel, you'll have a more responsive wheelset. Specifically, I'm looking at either the Track Vs or V-33 wheels (assuming I can find a good deal on them). Has anyone heard any feedback on them or can give their own experience? Also can you talk about a wheelset you've ridden to compare them to?



Another wheelset in the thought process are the American Classic wheels


Track V = 2066 grams
V-33 = 1923 grams
Amer Class = 1585 grams

trons

american classic all the way...

peabodypride

I've heard mixed reviews on the Volos but nothing but good stuff on the American Classics.

Gyeswho

details? Why them all the way? Are they stiff, really noticeable in cross winds, stay true?

chase.

AC touts their standard spokes/nipples (sapim lasers?) as an advantage, vs. CC's straight pull hardware.

Gyeswho

What are the pros and cons of straight pull vs. j bend? I can't find what I'm looking for when searching for that answer other than:
easier to replace straight but more difficult to find replacements
straight pull builds a stiffer wheel (thought this is debatable)

darksiderising

Well, they are designed for the track, so you probably won't find much info regarding this issue. That said, they are going to blow you around more in heavy winds than wheels with shallower rims would.

trons

the biggest thing is they are a pound (give or take) lighter...

Gyeswho

Thanks so far. I would want to use them for both since they have a brake surface and are meant for track as well

Gyeswho

We have an outdoor track here so it will definitely be something to think about

jmio

I just want that bike!

zwish

When I was looking for a wheelset to upgrade from the stock Alex set that came on my bike I was looking at the same wheels as you with the addition of the Cane Creek Volos clinchers, and the Am. Classic Hurricanes. First of all, they are all very nice wheelsets. I've been using my wheels exclusively on the road, no track use. I just wanted something lighter and tougher which is sometimes a bit of an oxymoron. The Am. Classic 420's were very light and felt pretty tough, a friend of mine let me ride his set for about a month and I had no issues with them. The Am. Classic Hurricanes felt about identical, not as deep a profile but still very light weight and no bladed spokes (which do make a noticeable positive difference). And lastly what I ended up with, the Cane Creek Volos Clincher. They're just slightly heavier than the Am. Classic set. The benefit that I felt with the Cane Creeks was that they feel incredibly solid. I'm not very rough on my wheels, I avoid potholes, I don't hop curbs, but I'm about a 200lb rider and I put tons of miles on these wheels. I've had them for about 7 months now and they're still spin perfectly true. I don't want to say that the Am. Classics are rickety by any means, they just didn't feel as solid to me as the Cane Creeks did.

The differences between all of these wheels to me were so slight that if someone had just swapped the wheelset on my bike while I was gone with any of the other 3, I would probably just shrug it off. The hubs on the cane creeks just felt a little burlier to me and when I would sprint on the cane creeks the wheels felt very stiff and responsive. It feels like all of the energy I put into them actually translate into speed. Although I can't speak to the Cane Creek Track V's or V33, I would suggest checking out the Volos and Hurricanes as well. Volos get my vote, but they're all great.

rduenas

I wonder if being a bit rougher with a wheelset (heavier rider, crappier streets), but riding less miles creates the same result as babying them a bit and riding many more miles.

Waychel

I have the American Classic wheels (on my Sonik) and have ridden the Cane Creek Volos clinchers. I do think that the Cane Creek wheels are slightly stiffer, but I don't consider them to be a lightweight wheelset.

If you laced low-flange Dura-Ace hubs (even Formulas!) to Open Pros with CX-Rays, that wheelset would be significantly lighter than the CC wheels.

Personally, I find the AC wheels plenty stiff, but I have talked to at least one person who found them floppy and traded them for Ellipses.

As I said, I like my AC wheels (haven't ridden them a ton yet though, FYI). Still, the pricetag is a bit too hefty, in my opinion. I never would've bought them for anything close to MSRP.

hillzofvalp

THe volos spoke arrangement translates to speed and very quick acceleration. I'm not an expert on wheels, and they're the only other wheelset I have besides the alex solos that come with bianchis... Alll I can say is that they are pretty awesome, and some say the Volos act lighter than they appear.

Just my two cents (I'm actually looking for another pair for my Singlespeed. I use the VOlos Road versions on my road bike. )

Gyeswho

yea that's what I heard about the Cane Creeks (they feel lighter than they are), but I'm holding out until I find a good deal on one or the other since I do think they are both overpriced.

Gyeswho

if building that wheelset it'll still be around the same weight as the Volos.
Dt swiss RR 1.1 - 415g(x2)
Cx Ray spokes - 280g (for 64 spokes)
DA low hubs - 200g f, 300g r
nips - 60g

t = 1730g (volos weigh 1766g)

* minor weight weenism is so annoying

I'm just about seeing which would provide a better wheel response since my current wheelset is 5lbs: a 4-4.5lb set which claims to feel lighter due to lower rotational mass or a 3.5lb set which will be a much noticeable difference (in bike weight and response) but may provide the same feeling as the cane creeks

Waychel

Haha, sorry for being an annoying weight weenie, but I think the total weight would be 1670g (or do the nips weigh 60g per wheel?). Also, I was thinking about my friend's wheelset, but I forgot that he uses a road Dura-Ace hub up front with a bolt-on skewer. So that shaves off almost another 100g.

Anyway, I live in Brooklyn, if you ever want to stop by and take a ride around the block on my AC 420s, shoot me a PM.

hillzofvalp

Idk.. the volos stay true really long.. pretty freaking stiff. I want to build my own wheels someday.

BTW I got my volos sterlings new for $240. Craigslist. If it can be done that way-- go for 'em.

andre nickatina

Hey, about wheels feeling lighter than they really are... that's how I felt when I rode my buddy's Ellipses. It was weird. They're a 2000g wheelset, which is rather piggish, but they seemed to get up to speed rather fast and felt nice accelerating.

Gyeswho

haha you got me. I forgot about dividing the nips in half. with the road hub, that makes sense it'll kick it down a bit more

thanks for the offer. i'll shoot you a line some time

dookie

+1 on the volos, but with no exposure to the AC track wheels. i have a set of volos that are a couple years old now...'sterling' clinchers, basically polished silver CC hubs with rebranded silver aerohead rims. i use them on a road trainer exclusively, run a front brake, and have thousands of miles on them. claimed 1766g is light but not featherweight, still ~200g less than the v / v-33 pictured above.

as has been said, stiff, tough, quick. mine had a slight kink in one front spoke from shipping damage, and that spoke broke shortly after i started using them. replaced it and not a single issue since. i paid ~$225 shipped, barely used. very happy with them. nothing particularly unusual about straight-pull sapim spokes.

also, a friend was using AC road wheels as a meaty cat2 crit specialist...lots of problems with the freehub bearings/pawls. can't say if this is indicative of anything on the track wheels. too many graphics for my taste anyway (my volos rims look nothing like the ones pictured...maybe they were debadged by the previous owner?)

hillzofvalp

My volos are from 06 I think.. off of a new fuji.. They still have the decals intact. I'm having trouble adjusting the axial play on them, actually.. and I haven't ridden them both, together, for more than a mile. I've only ridden the front wheel on my Single speed Bianchi Fremont (500+ miles). One needed a little truing.. must've been sitting around loosing tension in the previous owners garage.. probably. (I don't know if wheels loose tension when sitting around, I guess it would depend on how/where you store them-- all i know)

Does anyone know how to adjust the axial play properly? I'll tighten it.. but the play seems to come back. There doesn't seem to be an exact "sweet spot".

Furthermore, Why are the hubs so loud? do I need to re-lubricate if these have been sitting around for a couple years?

Also, I noticed that there's a slight "blip" (jump) in the spinning of my rear wheel. It seems it might be because of the rim joint that is connected with electricity often gets a little bit off... idk anything about it... loooking to get further diagnosis by lbs in spring. I'm not particularly worried about it-- and it shouldn't affect your decision.

Will try both out in spring on road bike. not going to lie: they look good Especially because the bladed (Sapim? Is that what they're called?) spokes aren't too ridiculous with respect to fatness. Fatness isn't bad.. functionally (except for maybe cross winds), but it sure is aesthetically offending on a "classic" (if you will) steel frame. in other words, The volos keep an appearance close to that of normal-spoked wheels.

Ken Cox

I weigh 235 all up and have ridden CC Volos for over two years and 10,000 miles.

They remain as tight and true as the day I first rode them.

Straight pull spokes allow more tension than j pull spokes.

I would consider a wheel with DT Swiss rims, Sapim CXray spokes and nipples, and a Dura Ace or Phil hub comparable but different.

Wind and bladed spokes?

I can feel it, but no more than I feel with fatter tires.

In the end, I think the Volos cost less and have less inertia.

mihlbach

the limiting factor for spoke tension is generally the rim, not the spoke.