Pantah

I had a rather less than stellar recent experience with The Pros Closet. I purchased a used carbon wheelset off their website a week or so ago. Shipping was prompt, so initial impressions were good. I needed to make some changes to the shipping address part way through and after 4 days of two unanswered emails (still never got a response on those), I called them. Thankfully, I got to a real person right away and they were able to help me out immediately, so that was nice. However, I got the wheelset and, simply put, neither wheel was trued like the listing claimed. The rear wheel not even remotely so. I was able to get it slightly more in true, still nowhere close enough and stopped when I discovered two twisted (bladed) spokes, one of them twisted 90 degrees, and other spoke nipples which didn't want to turn. Checked spoke tensions and it was bad news, some had no tension at all.
Needless to say, I am returning them and getting a full refund, which at least they're providing a full refund. The whole deal has left a bad taste in my mouth for The Pros Closet.

So, what has been the experience of others with The Pros Closet? Has it been good, bad, kind of okay?

urbanknight

There was a recent thread on this in the road bike section.
https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycl...-feedback.html

urbanknight

I'm curious, since everyone's tolerance is different, what was the runout on the wheel that was "not even remotely" true? How about the spoke tension ranges?

Rdmonster69

So you got a wheelset that wasn't as advertised and after getting someone right away when you called (after 2 unanswered emails) you are getting a refund. Doesn't sound that terrible. It does suck that the wheelset wasn't as advertised but you are getting a refund. This is why I mostly buy new stuff.

Pantah

Thank you for that, I will check it out.

I didn't actually measure it precisely but it was in the neighborhood of 3-4mm. It would have rubbed both brake pads unless I had the caliper set very wide and loose, not exactly ideal. Had this been a disc brake wheel, might have let it slide.
Spoke tensions ranged from 0-70kg. Several were at 0, a few were in the 25-50 range and the rest 50-70.The spokes with no tension needed to be looser and the spokes with the highest tension needed to be higher to get the rim where it is supposed to be. It wasn't good. One of the higher tension spokes was the one that was twisted 90 degrees near the head, not a great sign.

Totally fair, you're right, it wasn't terrible. I do give them points for excellent customer service on the phone and a prompt return label. Their email customer service was just non-existent. What I'm really miffed about is the statement in the ad that the wheel had been trued by a professional mechanic. I'm not even a professional bike mechanic and I could tell right away, without even putting it in a truing stand, that it was out of whack. Didn't take long to find the twisted spokes either. If it had been just very slightly out of true, like less than a millimeter runout, I wouldn't have minded. Or if there was some unusual hidden damage or shipping damage, those are honest mistakes. It's just the degree to which this was out of true leads me to believe it was either never in a truing stand or a very inexperienced mechanic worked on it.
And yeah, I got a new wheelset right after realizing this was no good.

Rdmonster69

I see what your getting at. Hope I didn't seem like a jerk !! Nice that the customer service was good but not cool that the product seemed way off its description. Im glad they made it right for you but you do have a legit complaint. Hard to make up lost time.

Pantah

No worries, no harm no foul. You made a good point and then I just elaborated on it. Thankfully, the time lost was surprisingly negligible. I got it shipped to my work, took it the next day to my brother's bike shop a mile away, used the truing stand there, took it back to work, put it back in the box and shipped it right out of my stall the following day as I was smart enough to keep the box they were shipped in.
My brother was then able to hook me up with a brand new wheelset shipped in under 24 hours and it's already on the frame I'm building up.

I was a little salty about it for a day but I'm over it and moving on. Such is life, we don't always get exactly what we want, so find a solution and move on.

Stiffknee

I did not know anything about The Pros Closet when I ordered a pair of Mavic Bib Shorts, which arrived with a chamois pad that was poorly designed and abnormally wide for a road cyclist. I returned it and The Pros Closet promptly processed a refund. They responded quickly with the refund.

urbanknight

That does sound pretty bad.

blurcovenky

I was looking to buy a frame from them. I'm guessing I'll have to look elsewhere. You get a refund, yes, seems like too much trouble.