Originally Posted by
beicster
I have a set. They are on my Raleigh International. I stole those off my wife's Fuji Sagres mixte conversion because she is not currently riding due to a shoulder injury. She is feeling better so I ordered a replacement set just this past weekend. The shipping is tough but worth it, I think. I think the wheelset was $250 shipped to Kentucky. Still not bad.
beicster Thanks for chiming in here! Have you got a lot of miles on them? I just assume that they are a fairly no-frills machine-built wheelset with sealed bearings and straight-gauge spokes. Even with shipping, that's not bad at all. I've started to think that the premium one pays for components from more established brands is oftentimes unwarranted, especially if they are sourcing their components from the same manufacturers abroad as, say, wherever these CT wheels are made.
My LBS is rebuilding a wheelset for me currently, and they had to warranty two separate sets of Velo-Orange Enterprise rims due to quality issues. Horribly welded joints, certain nipples not allowing for adequate spoke tension/angle, etc. They basically came with radial "hops" built into their shape. The mechanic has 30 years of wheelbuilding experience, and was shocked to see this level of "quality" from an $80 rim, esp. when CR18s are much cheaper (though perpetually out of stock). We ended up sourcing some TB14s, so hopefully those will build up better.
My point is, I'm ready to look past the stickers on the rims and anodizing on the hubs as guarantors of quality.