Any info on the Rev X? I have heard of the cato breaks, but other people swear by them and say they are bomb proof. Any ideas on why there are such a large discrepency?
While I have not actually seen a broken Rev X wheel in person, I have seen photos of a shattered wheel. I owned and raced on a 2000 set of these several years back and they worked great. The story goes, this wheel was effectively banned by the UCI when a spoke requirement went into effect in the early 2000’s. Since the Rev X only has 8 spokes per wheel, it did not make the requirement, thus forcing Spinergy to abandon the highly popular model.
If I still had mine, I would ride them without hesitation.
Because of the design, if they go they can go big. There were a bunch of discussions a few months back. It seems almost everybody had heard about a big time failure but almost none had actually seen one. It seems there was an old version and a newer "improved’ version. I think the newer design had the rivets added. I ride rev x’s and never even think about a failure.
Check this out, more then you wanted to know.
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=251856;search_string=spinergy%20x%20failure;#251856
Dave
I’ve loved my 650c tubular Rev-X wheels. They’ve stayed in great condition and are perfectly true. But despite Slowman’s insults to my intelligence I’m switching to a 700c tri bike, so I plan to sell them. Definitely a fast wheel.
Because of the design, if they go they can go big. There were a bunch of discussions a few months back. It seems almost everybody had heard about a big time failure but almost none had actually seen one. It seems there was an old version and a newer "improved’ version. I think the newer design had the rivets added. I ride rev x’s and never even think about a failure.
Dave
Ditto mine (with the rivets). Lots of crits & TTs & triathlons, never a problem, over the course of 10+ years. I’m only selling mine because I’m going to all clinchers for my wheels.
I have trained and raced on mine for seven years and they are bombproof. I have switched to Zipp tubulars for racing merely for the weight savings.
check out roadbikerevies.com
There is a lot of info on there about the rev x and which model year the problems were with.
8 years later, I still race on mine. Although it’s hard to quantify, my times are so much faster with the spinergy wheels that they must be pretty aero. My bike shop tells me to check the rivets every time I ride, which isn’t a problem before each race. Other riders have put many thousands on them so in general they’re durable. A used pair would be a a good buy if you were positive they had low miles, in my opinion.
I think that there may also have been a safty issue with the Rev X Wheels. The edges of those carbon fibre “spokes” was/is razor sharp. I personally have witnessed two incidents of people being cut badly enough to have to go to hospital to get stitched up.
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One guy was pumping up his tires. Hand slips off the pump handle and he grazes the wheel and it makes deep cut on the palm of his hand.
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In the ohter incident a top woman contender at IMC was taken out of the race when she tripped in transition( T1) and fell awkwardly with her foot caught in another guys wheel. Her leg was cut open on the side near the shin right to the bone. 15 stitchs. Doc asked if she had been cut by a scalpel!!
Fleck
- One guy was pumping up his tires. Hand slips off the pump handle and he grazes the wheel and it makes deep cut on the palm of his hand.
Sor tof been there, done that. Finished pumping up the wheel on a cold, Texas morning and the cuck was being finicky as I tried to remove it from the valve stem. Suddenly whatever seal that had formed and was preventing the chuck fro release let loose, and my hand grazed off the lead edge of one of the spokes which created minor but iritating gash on the back of my hand which required the use of a bandana as a bandage to stem the flow of blood. Like others have, I raced on Rev X’s in crits, road races, and time trials and never had a problem nor have I ever seen one fail - on its own. While racing in the 2000 BMC Grand Prix, on the last lap about 500 meters from the finish line, we had to make a near 90 degvree left hander and with a breakway of 5-6 riders off the front, I was sitting 5th or 6th back in the chase/bunch (woop a top 20 finish) and the two riders leading our group were dualing each other pretty hard for the inside liine on the corner as we approached the finish. The street was 3 lanes wide and we could easily have ridden 4-5 abreast through that turn andl not had any problems but that does not happen in that type of event.
Needless to say the two guys bumped and the inside guy who was slightly leading the other, clipped his pedal on the street and found himself in a controllable power slide causing the ‘sea to part’ so to speak as racers altered lines to avoid the spill. I am suddenly in a front row seat and watch in amazement as the inside riders left pedal (he had unclipped) somehow found its way into contact with the other riders front wheel which was a Rev X. The next thing I know the guy on the Rev X wheels is wondering why the fornt of his bike is so low to the ground as he tucks and rolls while carbon spoke blades from front wheel are flying in all directions! I got through that mess unscathed but I tell you what, after that I stopped using my Rev X wheelset for mass start events simply because I did not want to take a chance of ending up in the same boat. Ironically I saw something similar happen to a guy on Zipp 404 tubulars last year while sprinting for a prime during a circuit race. In that instance, although there was a lot of noise as numerous spokes broke, nobody went down and although totally toasted, the 404 continued to roll which allowed the racer to make it to the wheel pit for a spare wheel along with a free lap!
I was in the same boat as you thinking about buying a used pair of Rev X’s. But I started doing research (like you are) and decided that sure there are people who love em. But, why not spend my money on a wheel that I am not going to have to think twice about. Another issue is the company doesn’t make em any more. Sure its cause they found better ways to make em technology marches on yada, yada, yada, yada… It sounds to me like Spinergy has washed there hands of the wheels.
I think I would rather go with a manufacturer who still stands by their product (technology marching or not) and one that doesn’t have horror stories attached. I mean sure, ask around and you will find stories of cows being decapitated by flying 32 spoke wheels, but I think per (de)capita you hear it a lot less.
Maybe I have been scared off by all the 3rd hand stories with no photos to back them up, but bottom line, there are too many good wheels out there for me to get one that I am not sure about. For people who have Rev X’s and swear by them, that’s cool. I just wouldn’t be able to build the trust after hearing the stories.
You feel me?
Bassey O.
the discrepancy you find is due to the large number of people who got them and resulting variance in maintenance/care, use, and a bunch of other factors.
the folks who have legitimate gripes also tend to yell a tad bit louder than the rest of us.
as much as i like mine, i would not buy any used. and i’m looking at 8 full seasons and a ton of miles on mine.
too much risk associated with an item like that and not knowing the prior owner’s level of care, and the history of that wheel or set. you can get a lot better deal on another wheel set, new or used, without the issues associated with the Rev-X.
I think that there may also have been a safty issue with the Rev X Wheels. The edges of those carbon fibre “spokes” was/is razor sharp. I personally have witnessed two incidents of people being cut badly enough to have to go to hospital to get stitched up.
-
One guy was pumping up his tires. Hand slips off the pump handle and he grazes the wheel and it makes deep cut on the palm of his hand.
-
In the ohter incident a top woman contender at IMC was taken out of the race when she tripped in transition( T1) and fell awkwardly with her foot caught in another guys wheel. Her leg was cut open on the side near the shin right to the bone. 15 stitchs. Doc asked if she had been cut by a scalpel!!
Fleck
Fleck,
I am one of the victims of those wheels. I had a pair. To sum this post up in as few words as possble: I have two scars on my fingers and one on my wrist from the razor sharp blades. The wrist scar came incredibly close to the artery! The front wheel collapsed on me while I was travelling at speed. The result was torn shorts and shirt and skin abrasions - I was lucky. I sent the wheels to Spinergy and was basically told to bend over while they shoved the wheels up my ass- in other words, the customer service was not there.
'nough said.
Adrian
I am no technical expert or guru. However, I have had the opportunity to cruise the aisles at Interbike for many years. The great thing about the bike business is the innovation that goes on and much of it is on display at Interbike every year. However, as you stand there in the booth at look at some hot new( or so they say) product all kinds of question marks are running through my brain.
I remember my first exposure to the Spinergy Rev-X whell at Interbike years ago. I recall running my finger allong the edge of one of those “spokes”, and thinking, wow, that is sharp. It would be like a moving and mobile Cuisenart on the bike out on the road!
Fleck
Interesting that the Spingery rep who lurks this forum has had nothing to say … very interesting.
SM