I am thinking of buying a new front wheel and I am looking at the Easton EC90tt wheel that is 90mm deep. I have read some reviews and a there is some concerns about breaking spokes but it seems that most of the reviews on breaking spokes is the rear wheel and I am only looking at the front. It has 12 spokes with a 90m carbon section. Have you used this wheel and what did you think about it? Any pros or cons? What did you like or not like about it? Any issues with the spokes?
thanks
I just picked up this wheel for this season. So far I only have a 10mi TT under my belt, so my opinions are currently limited.
VERY light for a wheel of its depth.
Brake track stopped very well (2 180s during the TT)
It was a bit twitchy during my race, but for full discloser I was also on a new bike, with a new fit, only ridden outside twice, so much of that could be user at fault.
Looks badass and is a nice standout to the Zipps everyone is riding.
I am thinking of buying a new front wheel and I am looking at the Easton EC90tt wheel that is 90mm deep. I have read some reviews and a there is some concerns about breaking spokes but it seems that most of the reviews on breaking spokes is the rear wheel and I am only looking at the front. It has 12 spokes with a 90m carbon section. Have you used this wheel and what did you think about it? Any pros or cons? What did you like or not like about it? Any issues with the spokes?
thanks
Spoke count is over-rated. I put 60,000 miles on a set of Rolf’s that had 14 spokes on the front (if I remember correctly). Never even trued them. Lots of dirt riding as well. A hub flange finally broke on the rear and even then I rode them for a couple weeks thinking they just finally time for a truing. The secret to a bomb-proof wheel is a stiff rim that will distribute the load across a large percentage of spoke. Most deep rim are stiff by design.
I don’t see the new 2014 90mm available on easton website, any idea why?
I am not too sure why they are no longer made? Could you tell me about the set you sold? Did you like them? Obviously not too much or you would not have sold them? Did you have problems with them?
I owned this wheel.
The stand out worst wheel I have ever owned. I’m sure it was super quick if you can keep it in a straight line!
It was ridiculously skittish, unless you weigh around 80kg plus I’d say you are better off with something like a 404.
I use a firecrest 808 now and its rock solid.
I loved mine, had no problems. Just wanted a clean upgrade to 11 speed.
Nothing comes close to these for the price. They also come with an ok valve extender and Swiss Stop Yellow King brake pads. This wheel is on Nashbar, shipped to your door for $327 right now! The only reason the front wheel says “Campagnolo” is because it comes with Campy brake pads. Go buy the Shimano ones if that’s what you use. The actual wheels are the exact same. If you are running 11 speed and want a rear wheel too, buy the rear one! All 11 speed cassettes are compatible with each other. The freehub on the (Nashbar) EC90TT 90mm is Campy 11 speed. Any 11 speed Campy cassette will shift perfectly with any Shimano or Sram 11 speed group (assuming everything is adjusted correctly).
As a front wheel, buy the EC90 TT 90mm and never look back if you can glue a tubular or get somebody else do it (Don’t tape). I’m also rocking the 90mm front with a vittoria 21c. I’m curious about the new Schwalbe Ironman tubular, but many on this forum would scoff at somebody putting a 22c tire on a 21mm wide rim. Maybe they are already scoffing at the 21c? It’s really nice not having to do significant brake adjustment when swapping wheels. Switch your pads and go, because my training wheels are also 21mm wide.
As a rear wheel…ehh. The (narrow) bearings require adjusting here and there and there’s a little bit of flex. Good TT/Tri wheel but would never race them for anything else. Put a disc cover on your back wheel and you are set. The only problem is that you would likely be running a tubular front and clincher rear. I run sealant (2 oz each Bontrager TLR) in my tubulars because I know I will walk home before ever attempting to swap a tubular on the side of the road.
I haven’t had any other carbon braking surface wheels to compare braking to. I stop when I need to stop with those yellow pads and don’t use them in the rain. I do stop quicker with normal pads and aluminum brake tracks. Also, you can only true these wheels with the tires off and my rear wheel arrived slightly out of true. There is only one known spoke wrench in the world, some long handled Park Tools screwdriver looking one that took a while to source, so you may as well get your LBS to order that.
Sure the newer wider rims blow this one out of the water at wider yaw angles (greater than -10/+10 degrees) and are made for tires with better grip and less rolling resistance (23c). My opinion is that most riders are rarely seeing yaw angles outside of that 20 degree range. The rolling resistance (Thank you Tom A.) on that Schwalbe 22c Ironman tubular looks realllly low. If it has slightly (maybe) more grip and less rolling resistance for a minor ding in aerodynamics, it could be a killer front wheel combo for $400.
As far as handling, I don’t have anything negative to say. I have never been on a deeper front wheel. I have never raced under 185. I have a fairly long stem. All this means is that I have never noticed being “blown around.”
…and no broken spokes!
any idea why no 90mm tubulars on easton website?
Discontinued.
interesting, guess the 90mms are not a top seller anymore
just saw this other post too
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=5052509;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread.
**…**As a rear wheel…ehh. The (narrow) bearings require adjusting here and there and there’s a little bit of flex. Good TT/Tri wheel but would never race them for anything else. Put a disc cover on your back wheel and you are set. The only problem is that you would likely be running a tubular front and clincher rear. I run sealant (2 oz each Bontrager TLR) in my tubulars because I know I will walk home before ever attempting to swap a tubular on the side of the road. …
Or add a disc cover to the 90mm rear for matching +5 style points!
I’m rocking the covered rear ec90 as well. Taping it to the spokes can help prevent the cover from scratching the painted graphics off.
It’s discontinued because it’s nearly 5 years old. Nobody is still selling a wheel that old under the same name and/or as their top wheel.
where can i get one of those covers?
Mine came from WheelBuilder. It’s called an Aerojacket. There are also some DIY versions on these forums.
There’s a set of tubulars on Craigslist in Tucson. Good description of how old they are and how many times they were ridden, and for the tri-geeks out there, if you look at the picture in the online add, you’ll know exactly who owned them. Suffice to say they were ridden to two World Championships in the same year. Good price as well, and no, I’m not the seller and I don’t personally know the seller.
Worst carbon wheel I ever owned. There is a reason why BMC never used them when Easton was a sponsor for them. They don’t handle well, they look and feel very flimsy, straight up scary wheel. The decals are the only good thing about them, they look sharp, but as good as they look they handle equally as bad.
Take a look at aeroweenie.com in the wheels section if you want to learn more about this wheel.
i believe easton sports was just purchased.
I have a set (since 2010). I got a super duper deal (brand new), so, I couldn’t resist. I like them when racing on courses that don’t have long fast downhills. My first tire wasn’t glued as perfectly straight as it should have been and I would get speed wobbles such that the 12 spoke front wouldn’t handle. Braking just made it worse. In addition, the very aero but narrow hub doesn’t add stiffness. The current tire I have seems much better (perfect). But, I still won’t race on a fast downhill course with that front wheel. I don’t need any worries messing with my head during a race. I did Wildflower last week and borrowed a buddies couple of year old 808 front (clincher) and really LOVED the stability.
Next time I get carbon aero wheels… I will get clinchers and higher spoke count; something like 16-18 front and 20 (or so) rear. I’d consider Easton because I do like the quality of the individual components. Hed or Zipp would be a sure bet however.