Crank Brothers Iodine Disc Wheelset: Durable All Mountain and Freeride wheelset (rim spine left intact for added strength). Welded, anodized 6061-T6 aluminum rim with unique "Y" cross-section.
Weaknesses: every thing about them worst wheels ever POS!!!!!!!!!!! my huffy had better wheels on it back in 1990.
Bottom Line:
If you want to have fun and not walk your bike back 12 miles because your REAR HUB exploded,do not get this wheel set. i have had to send them back to cb 4 times !!!!! with a replacement rear rim witch i paid $130 ,and the last time i talk to them at cb i got so much attitude that i had to say sorry that the rear hub broke for the to do anything about it.Most of all the wheels had problems with in 3 early season rides WTF!
Duration Product Used: 2 years and i wish i had not
Price Paid:
$990.00
Similar Products Used: mavic 819
Bike Setup: trek slash9
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Submitted by
nay-nay
a Weekend Warrior
Date Reviewed: March 15, 2013
Strengths: Stiff, stay true, styling, easy to go tubeless, front can mount to any fork with correct adapters.
Weaknesses: None that I have encourtered. I had Crank Brothers send me a new hub since mine was the original design. But I am still running the original with no problems as of yet, going into the 3rd season.
Bottom Line:
First of all, be aware that the SMALLEST tire you can run on these rims is a 2.3. I can only assume that the riders who flat spotted their rims ran a smaller tire then required. You need more volume to run lower pressure, so I have had 2.4's front and rear. I run them at about 28 psi, which works great for my local singletrack. I have tried lower psi but I get slower. If you want to run smaller tires then you need to get the Cobalts.
I have had no issues with the hub, but I do not ride in muddy conditions and I tend to tear my bike down frequently. I use Dumond Tech Freehub Oil to keep it running nice and smooth. The heavy grease is not recommened in these hubs. The cassette does come off rather easily, which can make things a pain as you will need to remove the cassete to reinstall the hub and insure the sealing o-ring is installed correctly. Avoiding this step will lead to mud, dirt and whatever other grime you ride in geting into your hub and wreaking havoc. Also, I use a torque wrench when installing the cassette nut to ensure that I get it to the specified torque. You'd be surprised how 40 n.m. REALLY feels. "Good-n-tight" is not recommended for this step, precision is key. It's a $950 wheelset, treat it like one. It's like buying an Audi and bringing it to a Jiffy Lube tech for repair/maintenance, then being upset when your car is damaged due to improper techniques. The hub likes SRAM cassettes, I have been using the PG-970 with no clearence issues.
I truly think this is a great wheelset, it improved my ride leaps and bounds. They are very smooth and fast rollers, they seem to pick up speed when you have the right tires on them. The hub noise is a bit loud, I personally like it. It's a good warning for other users of the trails and the horses hear me coming, so I don't spook them. As with anything, what you get out of these wheels is what you put into them.
Strengths: Looks, stiffness, durability, rim width, tough..
Weaknesses: expensive.............
Bottom Line:
Not sure why these wheels get so much hate........i've held off on my review until i got a few seasons in on these bad boys....I can honestly say ever since they rectified free hub issues the wheels are nothing short of stellar.....i've been on mine for 2.5 seasons with tons of abuse....Don't understand how some guys are flat spotting these...Must be serious clydesdales because i'm 200 with gear and i beat the crap out of these with no issues........Now the Kronolog !!!! Ha thats a different story.......Anyways!!!!!! these wheels are siackkkk!!!! despite what the haters say.......!!!!!!!!!
Bike Setup: 2011 blur ltc, iodine wheels, ks lev dropper, xt cranks, xo rear derail, xo shifting and breaks......iodine 3 stem, iodine carbon bars 740mm.......
Weaknesses: A freehub had to be replaced. Rear hub parts come apart easily.
Bottom Line:
I have two sets that use for rough trail riding. I liked the first set so much, that I bought the second. Seem to work fine. Very stiff (more stiff than any hand-built wheel), so much so that I do not like them on a hardtail. Had RD hanger break on me, which sent my RD into a spoke. Even though the spoke was bent, straightened and tensioned--still fine. I read about the freehubs, and one was going out on me, which CB replaced quickly (I check my all my equipment before there are problems). The other wheel has the "updated" hub, so I hope that is the end of it. Rear hub parts come apart easily (e.g., easy to pull off the cassette with the freehub). Overall, good set of wheels and I like the looks. Not certain I would use them for "freeride" though. They do not seem tough enough for that.
Similar Products Used: Handbuilts with Mavic/King/Hadley; XTR Trail
Bike Setup: Varies. One set on a Blur LTc.
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Submitted by
Al Mendez
Date Reviewed: August 21, 2012
Strengths: None known
Weaknesses: Hoops WAY too soft and dent too easily on none technical terrain
Bottom Line:
Iodine wheelset only ridden with UST tires at 32+ lbs and somehow the rims rolled over in several places within a month. Some loser named Tim Young at Crank Brothers told me that it was due to rider error. Rider error, GMAFB!!!!! I am not an agressive rider at all and it occured on a non technical trail. It is due to poor design and craftsmanship sir. I will never purchase another CB product.
I have been riding ZTR Flows laced to Hadley Hubs without issue since tossing the pathetic one month old dented Iodines in the back of my garage.
First ride the rear hub broke in 1/2 and left me stranded 10 miles from a road. I'm mailing mine back for a full refund today. They were not even worth the $500 I paid on Chinlove.com. Very disappointed in how they performed on my first ride.
Weaknesses: hub body comes out too easy, some poor design flaws. price
Bottom Line:
I got these brand new from someone off craigslist for a great price. super sexy, i have the gold and black ones. I got a brand new xt cassette installed professionally and first ride out, bam, stripped most of the gears on the hub body. Took it back to the shop and another more knowledgeable mechanic told me these wheels are picky with cassettes, showed me how the xt cassette has these little black nubs on the back which cause it to interfere with the spokes and doesnt allow it to get deep enough on the hub. The previous mechanic probably just used a spacer to bring it away from the spokes but cause poor alignment. Thanks Bro, cool. switched the xt for a sram and they replaced everything that was broken and havent had a problem with it since. I ride these wheels pretty hard at the bike park/dirt jumps, xc/am type trails and still perfectly true after 2 years and running fine. I think Im gonna switch the front from 9mm QR on my FS AM bike to 20mm and run them on my new dirt jumping frame. since i have the adapter I can just switch them over when i want. Cool wheels, i get lots of looks and compliments and they seem to ride great too. Someone else said they flat spotted theirs while running like 28psi...i havent had a problem, but then im usually running close to 50psi...less than 45 feels like im moving slower than dirt.
Been running these about 1 year. Loved them at first, but rear hub crapped out about 4 months into last season. I'm no expert in hub construction but seemed like a poor design where return springs got hung up and did not spring back out to re-engage. Will give crank bros credit for shipping me out replacement hub parts quickly that could be easily fitted into the hub. But did not like how easily the rear hub seemed to come apart....not sure if this is normal or just mine. Occasionally hub would come apart when I had the wheel out of the frame, like if I was replacing a rotor or something. Seemed to come apart way to easily. Final straw came 2 weeks ago when I dented the rim pretty badly. Used a rotor truing fork to pull if back some, but it can never be run tubeless again. Not worth the $600 I paid on clearance, never mind the $900+ MSRP.
Bike Setup: Ellsworth epiphany, RS pike, formula R1's, need new wheelset.
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Submitted by
Guesswho117
a All Mountain Rider
from San Francisco
Date Reviewed: April 6, 2012
Strengths: Looks cool
Weaknesses: Rim dents easily, Replacement spokes are impossible to find in any local shop.
Bottom Line:
GARBAGE! ABSOLUTE GARBAGE! These rims dent so easily. 6 dents pulled out thanks to the rimrench. Broke a spoke last year at Downieville and could not find a replacement at any local bike shop in the San Francisco Bay Area. I've been mountain biking for over 15 years and have never dented a rim or broken a spoke. My buddy had the same problem with the dents on his wheelset also. Apparently you need to run super high pressure in them to prevent dents. Kinda defeats the purpose of going tubeless. I would not recommend these crappy wheels to anyone unless your plan is just to cruise around to look pretty.
Similar Products Used: Chris King with Mavic rims, Hope with Mavic Rims, WTB
Bike Setup: Santa Cruz Nomad Carbon
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Submitted by
mtbhead
a All Mountain Rider
from San Jose, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: March 12, 2012
Strengths: Strong, very laterally stiff (no flex), maintenance free, I dig the bright orange bling, kick-ass design...
Weaknesses: Busted a few spoke nipples at around the 1-year-old mark.
Bottom Line:
Awesome wheelset - I've got an early set, and have had no issues with them racing DH (Sea Otter, CCCX DHs, Kirkwood 6-hr Super-Ds) and all-around trailriding including up to 4-5' hucks. I've had to replace a few of the spoke nipples when they were between 1 and 2 years old, but for the abuse that these wheels have had (including sticks in the wheels), it's no biggie. Only one at a time. I know others that have had issues with the freehub, but I think that may have been a production issue that only affected some of them - mine has had no issues.
Similar Products Used: WTB Dual Duty, Mavic Crossmax, Bontrager wheelset
Bike Setup: Giant Reign 1
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Submitted by
Bike raider
a Cross Country Rider
from Hayward, california, USA
Date Reviewed: May 12, 2011
Strengths: Perfect look, very stiff, Excellent design.
Weaknesses: None.
Bottom Line:
All around great wheels, I sold my Chris king wheels to get this awesome wheels they look better, feel better, and cost about the same but lighter and stiffer, I see many complaints but what can you do, if you like to ride hard then pay the price.
Submitted by
the plank
a Downhiller
from Auckland, New Zealand
Date Reviewed: April 20, 2011
Strengths: Good looking, super light-weight, stiff, tubeless
Weaknesses: Very weak rear hub (have destroyed two in 12 months!), lack of support, super expensive
Bottom Line:
These wheels complete 'the look' of my rig particularly on the Mojo HD. I amabig fan of Crank Brothers kit, but they have let me down with thus wheelset!
Pros: They are noticeably stiff. Light-weight all round free-ride wheels, and would probably be better off on my XC racer. The Iodines are more heavy duty than the cobalts for sure. The range of rim and spoke colors are unmatched, so if you're more into turning heads than turning cranks, they're the way forward.
Cons: big issue with rear hubs. Twice I've broken them, and it's a long wait to get new ones! I'm now waiting on my second set, and now they're outta stock!
I give 2 flamin' chillies for the wheels, and 4+ for most of their other products
Submitted by
rzalewski6
a Weekend Warrior
from USA
Date Reviewed: February 7, 2011
Strengths: Stiff, tubeless rim, best looking all mountain wheelset ever.
Weaknesses: Rear hub?
Bottom Line:
Wheels are very stiff and have held up great so far to heavy duty/rough trail riding, small jumps/drops, and rocks. Run them tubeless at around 28 psi and they are perfectly true. I don't know how anyone could flat spot these wheels on a fire road, I mean c'mon? No problems w/ freehub yet either. Makes me think there was a batch of these that were poorly built, because mine are great so far. Crank Brothers has been great to me on pedals and other products, I say don't be afraid to buy these wheels.
