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Light Bicycle Rims - never again!

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#22 ·
If they threatened me like that, the five year old in me would come out and I would post the funniest negative review I could muster. What are they gonna do?

Anyway, I've built lots of wheels with LB until one instance during Covid they did something with a shipping surcharge that turned me off. I checked out Nextie and they were straight up and even upgraded me to Fedex shipping for free. Done a handful of those now and haven't had any comebacks.
 
#23 ·
Bummer but like, stuff happens.

There are plenty of people who pay out the wazoo for ENVE and other high end hoops/wheel sets that fail (and get ignored or worse).

I built up an LB carbon wheel set in 2014 and they continue to be fine. Some jackwad from Stan's who I saw at an MTB event in 2015 or 2016 side I would DIE on them [emoji23]

I also have 6 Stan's wheel sets with hoops from 2008 to maybe 2015 or so that are all fine as well.


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#24 · (Edited)
My experience is like OP. I had three sets (6rims) one died in a weird way that looked like a manufacturing defect.

They don't stand behind their product and 10% isn't worth it.

My other two sets have been completely fine with no issues.

Buy them with the expectation of zero support if anything goes wrong.
 
#26 ·
Complete zombie thread (Started in 2019) but newsflash: Most of our carbon products (frames, wheelsets, etc.) are made in China. For example, all Santa Cruz carbon frames are made in China and have a LIFETIME WARRANTY on them. Economically, it would make zero sense for Santa Cruz to have this policy if the quality was substandard. I have had 4 sets of Light Bicycle carbon rims with zero issues.
 
#27 ·
SDMTB'er said:
Complete zombie thread (Started in 2019) but newsflash: Most of our carbon products (frames, wheelsets, etc.) are made in China. For example, all Santa Cruz carbon frames are made in China and have a LIFETIME WARRANTY on them. Economically, it would make zero sense for Santa Cruz to have this policy if the quality was substandard. I have had 4 sets of Light Bicycle carbon rims with zero issues.
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right ! news flash, MTB'rs break stuff. So sick of reading negative hit-and run reviews and someone revives a 3 year old dead thread. DUM ! FWIW, I have a set of LB carbon wheels purchased in 2018, no problems ever.
 
#28 ·
SDMTB'er said:
Complete zombie thread (Started in 2019) but newsflash: Most of our carbon products (frames, wheelsets, etc.) are made in China. For example, all Santa Cruz carbon frames are made in China and have a LIFETIME WARRANTY on them. Economically, it would make zero sense for Santa Cruz to have this policy if the quality was substandard. I have had 4 sets of Light Bicycle carbon rims with zero issues.
Click to expand...
Most carbon OEM frames are made in Taiwan, some are made in China. Santa Cruz frames are made in Taiwan. Santa Cruz has their own manufacturing facility in Taiwan that only produces Santa Cruz products.

All high-quality OEM's have comprehensive design and quality assurance standards that have to be met regardless of location of manufacturing. Because one (or more) quality product(s) is produced in China, does not mean another product produced there meets those same standards or material specifications.
 
#29 ·
Cleared2land said:
Most carbon OEM frames are made in Taiwan, some are made in China. Santa Cruz frames are made in Taiwan. Santa Cruz has their own manufacturing facility in Taiwan that only produces Santa Cruz products.

All high-quality OEM's have comprehensive design and quality assurance standards that have to be met regardless of location of manufacturing. Because one (or more) quality product(s) is produced in China, does not mean another product produced there meets those same standards or material specifications.
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FYI My wife's Santa Cruz Blur V4 frame is made in china
 
#30 ·
BillyBicycle said:
FYI My wife's Santa Cruz Blur V4 frame is made in china
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How have you identified that? None of my Santa Cruz bikes have anything that identifies country of origin other than the carbon prefix code.
I can not remember the carbon stamp prefix codes, but I seem to remember that PS and PYS or something close to that identified The CC frames and the Taiwan manufactured location. There was another carbon prefix code for the C frames that might have been a different location.
 
#31 · (Edited)
Cleared2land said:
How have you identified that? None of my Santa Cruz bikes have anything that identifies country of origin other than the carbon prefix code.
I can not remember the carbon stamp prefix codes, but I seem to remember that PS and PYS or something close to that identified The CC frames and the Taiwan manufactured location. There was another carbon prefix code for the C frames that might have been a different location.
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It literally says on all four of my Santa Cruz bikes “Made in China.” Those would be a 2018 Blur, 2019 Hightower, 2021 Bullit, and a 2022 Bronson. All say "Made in China" at the bottom of the seat tube. They are all CC models (which is the upper tier carbon layup). There are carbon fiber manufacturing sites in BOTH Taiwan and China and neither have any sort of quality advantage over the other.


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#36 ·
This is more a purchase direct from China thread compared to made in China and with local service agents.

The tyranny of distance made direct purchases products from china a lot less convenience even if the Chinese company is good.

I hot good ( but slow) sevice out of btlos when I smashed a carbon hoop. But the freight and lead time made it very slow and quite expensive.

My lesson learned for next time. Buy a spare rim when you buy the wheelset. That is the cheaper option than having to import a replacement rim.
 
#38 ·
Cleared2land said:
Unfortunate that you need to consider buying a spare to cover the anticipated future issues and problems.

good luck!
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I'll admit I do have a rim-smashing lifestyle. My alloy rims are nearly square with all the dents. I love carbon they can take a bike hit. But there is a limit to how much i can pulverise them.

To put it in perspective. An nz build wheel with a warrantee is $3k + Btlos carbon build cost me $1300nzd. I've spent an additional $500nzd on a replacement rim. So i cam still just a touch over half price local supply.
 
#39 ·
My experience with LB over the past eight years on LB rims. I used their B650 AM933 for two years, then transitioned to 29er AM933 rims for four years until 2020 on multiple trail bikes and they were as strong as ibis rims, in fact one of my riding buddies broke one ibis rim and I didnt, we are close in weight, same bikes, and same ability, so the LBs rocked on Downie, Demo, Mailbox, Moab,… you name it. LB used to sell a heavy duty option that I put on the rear. Then they released the Recon Pro m935 the 40mm wide external width, which I added to both my Ripley and my Ripmo and after 12 months two cracked at Skeggs on the Ripley, on the same trail I have ridden for years, and both rims cracked on the same rock, the rim flaked in the layers. LB didn’t warrant the rims but gave me a sweet replacement cost, so I replaced and rebuilt. All good support imo. This weekend I cracked a third rim, seriously, arrgh, same trail, same rim model, same flaked damage, so I believe the Recon Pros are built with weight in mind first and strength second, meaning great for XC, but not for trail/enduro. I have two of the AM933 still so will convert the Ripley, and cross my fingers my Ripmo’s Recon rims don’t follow suit! They are cheaper, so I dont expect the same strength as the bigger brands. I do like the LB team, really been good to deal with.
 
#40 ·
usdansker said:
My experience with LB over the past eight years on LB rims. I used their B650 AM933 for two years, then transitioned to 29er AM933 rims for four years until 2020 on multiple trail bikes and they were as strong as ibis rims, in fact one of my riding buddies broke one ibis rim and I didnt, we are close in weight, same bikes, and same ability, so the LBs rocked on Downie, Demo, Mailbox, Moab,… you name it. LB used to sell a heavy duty option that I put on the rear. Then they released the Recon Pro m935 the 40mm wide external width, which I added to both my Ripley and my Ripmo and after 12 months two cracked at Skeggs on the Ripley, on the same trail I have ridden for years, and both rims cracked on the same rock, the rim flaked in the layers. LB didn’t warrant the rims but gave me a sweet replacement cost, so I replaced and rebuilt. All good support imo. This weekend I cracked a third rim, seriously, arrgh, same trail, same rim model, same flaked damage, so I believe the Recon Pros are built with weight in mind first and strength second, meaning great for XC, but not for trail/enduro. I have two of the AM933 still so will convert the Ripley, and cross my fingers my Ripmo’s Recon rims don’t follow suit! They are cheaper, so I dont expect the same strength as the bigger brands. I do like the LB team, really been good to deal with.
Click to expand...
Good info. I'm considering both LB and Btlos for my next set.

btw, curious... what trail and part of trail at Skeggs? The chunky parts of Manzanita or Resolution? Or unnamed?
 
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