Submitted by
Longdog
a Weekend Warrior
from Hong Kong
Date Reviewed: February 10, 2011
Strengths: Looks, weight,
Weaknesses: Lateral strength is horrible on the rear (24 spoke). need to tru the rear wheel almost everyother ride. lost the wrenches sadly and Cant find the tools at any Shop. 3 shops have refused to work on them, this weekend I'll make a 2 hr trip to the nearest Spinergy rep. wish me luck!
Bottom Line:
Look good, feel good (when true). I've read alot of horror stories in this site, but I have not experienced any. No broken nipples or spokes, frozen bearings or creaks. I've used them since 03 on at least 2 good semi-hardcore rides a month and I have had no serious trouble. These days I would not recomend buying a used set because of the Age. This was a new technology back then and it seems to have been lucky draw if it worked or failed. Mine worked, but I dont know for how much longer. I constantly worry on downhills, if this will be the day I shear a spoke and have it lock up my old school V brakes.
Weaknesses: getting people to work on them. not willing to move on to newer parts, cant let go.
Bottom Line:
I haven't had to deal with customer service with these wheels ever. In fact, when i bought these wheels from the previous owner, he assured me he had 1200 miles on them. since then i've put close to another thousand and have had to true them once, never replaced a bearing, and never make any adjustments. To me thats bomb-proof. i weigh 170, ride over anything, take regular rides down flights of stairs, and never ever have any trouble with these things. if you are having bearing trouble, strength troubles, or any troubles you or someone else is doing something wrong.
Submitted by
Steve
a Cross Country Rider
from Pennsylvania
Date Reviewed: August 8, 2006
Strengths: Very cool looks. I get a lot of comments on the yellow spokes and overall design. I bought this SPOX wheelset new. They were very smooth for the first few hundred miles. They do absorb a lot of the road "bump". Very fast wheel.
Weaknesses: Very difficult to adjust. The two wrenches that Spinergy supplied with the wheelset are the smallest. They are almost impossible to get into the tight space on the rear hub. I've had 3 of the "barrel" nuts crack and snap. Nobody in my area will service or carry spare parts for these wheels, so make sure you are a very patient person. The rear hub completely seized up on my out on a ride. It felt like being on a stationary bike with the resistance turned to the max. I was able to free it enough to get home. I've never encountered a problem like this before. It basically desintegrated. Amazing. I wasn't going to spend top dollar to rebuild not knowing how long a rebuid would last. I basically cannibalized the rear wheel and have been selling off the parts. If you need any yellow spokes and nuts, or a spare rim for a rear SPOX wheel, contact me. I am also selling the complete front wheel.
Bottom Line:
You'll love them when you first get them. You'll think they look and feel great....for the first few hundred miles. I've never had to deal with Spinergy customer service, so I can't say "yay" or "nay" there. I have just read all of the horror stories surrounding Spinergy and thank God that I didn't put myself through that. I got mine on an end of season clearance throught Colorado Cyclist. The price was decent. Regular price is outrageous. I will give a value rating of 3 because they are a fast wheel. My overall rating is a two due to the product not holding up.
Submitted by
Tiemo Brand
a Cross Country Rider
from Toronto
Date Reviewed: June 28, 2006
Strengths: I cracked 3 Cannondale frames and not needed any repairs to these great wheels over the past 5 years. I've heard that the hubs were sensitive but I've not encountered such problems.
Weaknesses: Spoke wrenches suck. If you have to adjust your spox, you've done something really bad - get somebody who knows how to set the tension right
Bottom Line:
I just blew out the sidewalls last weekend. Am looking for another set when I buy a new bike but the reviews below are almost scaring me off.
Can such a good concept and product be so poorly managed?My only complaint is the price. If they dropped the price, dealt with their quality issues, they would sell more and make more profit - like any business should. Non?
Strengths: Basically anything you throw at them. they stay true always
Weaknesses: They are addicting. Oh thats a stregth, sorry, what weakness???
Bottom Line:
I got my hands on the first set to come into the shop back in 96. I have not let go of them since. I have raced and used them daily. I freaquently jump them and they stay true always, very minimal trueing. Cant say enough good things about them... I Love them. The overall buyer for these is anyone with a bike. SPOKs are stronger than steel, lighter and cheaper than ti. You will not only see the difference but feel it in your ride. You will ride longer and faster. I almost didn't believe it until I threw a leg over my ride with them installed. Like I said before and I will repeat always, I LOVE THEM, SPOKs rule.... Oh and by the way, they kick butt!
Strengths: Strong as an ox, super cool looks, great acceleration & even faster stopping.
Weaknesses: Rear free hub body!
Bottom Line:
These wheels are most awsome. It did help that I lost weight (from about 190 down to about 165). They are fast as h*ll, stop on a dime. They're really stiff and corner great. Hold a line really well and look super cool. I set mine up with all black spokes - Oh, Baby!
Oh, the poor rear free hub body. I've gone through about 3 of them so far. I figure I'll have to replace it once a year. Fortunetly, my LBS is an authorized dealer, so they are familiar with the set and work on them.
I hate to contradict my fellow riders, but my experience with the customer service has not been that bad. Perfomance really sucked, but I ditched them quickly.
At Spinergy, try to call Ben Bowers (sorry, dude...but I'm putting your name out there!), he's cool and took care of me in a timely manner. His number is: 760-517-4500 (ex# 111). I hope he gets a raise from this!
Favorite Trail: Any & all singletrack in East Bay & Marin
Duration Product Used: 2 Years
Price Paid:
$800.00
Purchased At: Performance
Similar Products Used: Mavic, KK, Ringle & all Shimano
Bike Setup: Airborne Ti Hardtail, Rock Shox SID WC, mostly XT (some XTR) carbon post & bar
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Chad Wojahn
a
from Coon Rapids, Mn. USA
Date Reviewed: February 20, 2005
Strengths: verry forgiving, super quick, lite as hell, jaw droping looks.
Weaknesses: bearings what bearings? mine fell apart after my first mud bath.
Bottom Line:
I use to have my rides set up with the spinergy rox but Itried to true a wheel on a trail on day and broke the screw Spinergy replaced the set with a set of yellow and blue spox for a mere $150 more. They lasted a month and the bearings went to hell after a mud bath. Fortunatly I own a costom welding/fab shop and called one of my suppliers and found some class 5 sealed bearings that fit for under $5 each!! I replaced all..including front with these never a problem since!! that was over 6 years ago In fact I like the spox so much I have 4 sets,two for each ride one winter and one summer set !!! Ride on
Bike Setup: Mountain Cycle San Andreas and Mountain Cycle shock wave 9.5 both have XTR shift/brake setup. Cris King head set Hell bent Titec bars, WTB titianum seats, My shock wave has a soft ride stem
Submitted by
Bill
a Cross Country Rider
from Omaha, NE
Date Reviewed: July 24, 2004
Strengths: Bulletproof
Weaknesses: None that I have found
Bottom Line:
I have read a lot of bad reviews on these wheels but since I have owned this set I have not had one problem. I ride at about 190lbs so I am not a light rider. I have hit all kinds of debris on the trail baby heads, log crossings, you name it and they have remained aas true as the day I bought them. I have never had to deal with Spinergy customer service so I consider myself lucky. I guess I got lucky and got a good set.
Submitted by
Peter
a Cross Country Rider
from Oakland, Ca.
Date Reviewed: May 15, 2004
Strengths: Light weight, smooth ride
Weaknesses: Everything else. Poor design, weak bearings, impossible to true with inferior tools, no parts available, even at extortion pricing, crap for customer support,
Bottom Line:
My wheel set came straight from a factory rebuild to me. The bearings were set up horribly, they came out of true after one short ride on pavement, then got ugly after another ten mile ride on smooth gravel roads in Marin. My last outing on city streets, the spoke blew through the rim like a .45 magnum, tore a hole about three quartes of an inch in the rim and destroyed the top of the spoke too. Thank god I was just riding around town and not out on a trail or racing!
Click on the links to buy from them. Up comes a window. Click on Service? Not available! Don't look surprised. If they answered all the service issues, they wouldn't have time to build and sell any more of the crap they produce.
Dealers listed on their own page won't get tools or parts for you because they suck so hard.
Anyone need a recently rebuilt SPOX front wheel? Available cheap.
Strengths: I have the 650c road version. I really like these wheels!!! Not very stiff, but the ride is silky smooth.
Weaknesses: The hub is funny looking, but works pretty good. Difficult to true.
Bottom Line:
I am impressed with the 650C road version of this wheel. It is fairly light and durable. The ride is very smooth and fairly maintenance free. You have to take good care of these wheels, but the performance has been very good.
Weaknesses: The design or lack thereof. They literally fell apart. Oh and just for a couple hours of torture try to rebuild one. The two spoke wrenches are made from the softest metal known to man. Real Genius.
Bottom Line:
These wheels are the biggest piece of @$%! they are overpriced for what you get, unless you like to pay through the nose for @$%! The smartest thing they did was save money on R&D,"We'll just put them out there and see what happens." Notice this (I refuse to call it design)was fazed out. Anyone who says these wheels are great, good or even o.k. have lost too many brain cells. If you are even considering spinergy,don't. If everyone operated under the spinergy business model we'd still be killing our own food.
Strengths: It looked nice, pretty yellow and blue spokes, and pretty light.
Weaknesses: They are not made to actually be ridden, at least the rear one isn't. The rear freehub is a very poor design. The fact that a company can have such poor customer service and still be in business is amazing.
Bottom Line:
I got the rear wheel for super cheap from a friend who owns a shop, if I had paid retail I would have really been pissed. The wheel lasted for 3 whole rides before the rear freehub came apart, and the rides where just comutes to work the wheel never even saw any dirt. Anyway Spinergy refused to replace the part, trying to claim it was misused. They are the worst company I have ever delt with, and I used to work in a shop, and I used to think Rock Shox was the king of poor customer service but their crown has been taken, and Spinergy has redefined poor customer service. Please do not support them!! While I'm on customer service let me name some companies you should support Smith or Spy sunglasses I've seen both of these companies warranty things that they shouldn't have. And Hadley, they used to make hubs for GT, there hub wasn't the best design but they stood behind it. I had a customer whos rear freehub quit working and Hadley sent me a complete rebuild kit via Fed-X overnight. So to sum things up Spinergy SUX!!! I mean they really, really, suck. Smith, Spy, Hadley Good.
Similar Products Used: Hand built wheels just lx hub with sun sub 0 rim, dt spokes. On road Mavic Cosmics, Specialized tri-spokes, Velomax Orion Comps, and many hand built wheels (Sun Venus rims rule!)
Bike Setup: Schwinn Project Underground
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
tom
a Cross Country Rider
from strongsville ohio
Date Reviewed: August 3, 2003
Strengths: look good hold true well absorbs shocks well
Weaknesses: bearings people at spinergy bearings um service did i say bearings
Bottom Line:
rims are well built but the bearings must be from a taiwan reject
Bike Setup: cannondale cad4 with full campy record minus rims with poor bearings
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Chris G
a Cross Country Rider
from Charlotte
Date Reviewed: June 24, 2003
Strengths: Light, good looking
Weaknesses: Poorly designed
Bottom Line:
DO NOT BUY SPINERGY. Spinergy Customer Service is the worst that I have ever dealt with in any industry! Spinergy Sux. Bikeline in Charlotte Sucks. I rode maybe 30 miles on the new Spinergy Spox (R1) wheel, the rear axle cone disintegrated. I put the wheels away for a while disappointed. Finally, I got motivated to warranty fix and Spinergy would not fix. $600 wheels and $150 to fix a $10 part! Bikeline bike shop in Charlotte did nothing to help me and actually called me a liar saying they had to be ridden more - as if it mattered, but they were wrong anyway and did not help. 20 miles after the repair - the same problem. I now have a local bike shop I will not deal with and Spinergy who insists on working wiht a local dealer. DO NOT BUY SPINERGY. Spinergey Sucks. Customer Service is the worst I have ever dealt with in any industry!
