I have been having trouble keeping these wheels true. They are the stock wheels that came with my Cervelo Soloist. They seem to need truing every few weeks. This is not a slight wobble; they get to the point where the rim rubs against the break pad.
Is this inherent in the wheelset due to low spoke count? Have others had similar problems? Opinions and solutions are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
I’ll tell you, we’ve sold a ton of these on Cervelos and then started selling them as aftermarket wheels also we liked them so much. Of all the wheels that have gone out of here (probably 80 wheels in the since November) we had one front wheel go out of true severly. We rebuilt it with thread locking compound in the spoke nipples and it has been fine ever since. As luck would have it, that one front belonged to Michael R. Rabe, a trusted advisor and member of our inner circle here at Bikesport. He rode it on very rough pavement in Florida at the Walden School of Cycling. Not one problem with the rear (or any of the rears, for that matter). Also, Michael R. Rabe has since used this wheelset as his primary training wheel set, including cyclocross training off-road with cyclocross tires. So, to make a long story short (too late) I think they are fine and it sounds like you got a bad one that may just need rebuilding. Once the wheel is “relieved” then you can put spoke-prep on it (a weak thread locker) and then re-assemble it up to spoke tension and you’ll be fine. Good Luck!
It seems like you just may be hard on wheels. So am I and I ditched my stockers for a set of Mavic cosmos and have been super fine. Sell those stockers to someone a little nicer on equipment, they are still good wheels, just not for you.
With about 2000 miles on the wheels I have only had one problem–a spoke came loose on the front wheel and the wheel immediately went out of true. Of course, it happened during a race but I was able to continue by releasing the brake.
Since then no more problems. I weigh around 175 and do ride on some pretty rough blacktop.
I remember a discussion a while back regarding this subject. Maybe Gerard can help out, but I seem to remember there was a bad batch of Ritchey wheels that got sent out with the Cervelos at some time. I have had no problems with mine thusfar.