Well I just won a set of American Classic 350's from ebay. I have seen many people with all opinions about rider weight. The website says 190 on the standard build, which these are. Others say 180 or even 175. Actually one stated as low as 155. That one scared me. I run a set of Neuvation M28 Aero's right now. 1725g 16 front and 24 rear. The front has enough side movement on sprints to make the rim rub the pads and hit my comp sensor.
I weigh 180 and race mostly crits with an occasional road race. Will these wheels stand up or should I just resale them and shoot for something else? I would hate to have one fold up in a tight high speed corner. It will hurt for one, and second it would be a big waste of cash.
Well I just won a set of American Classic 350's from ebay. I have seen many people with all opinions about rider weight. The website says 190 on the standard build, which these are. Others say 180 or even 175. Actually one stated as low as 155. That one scared me. I run a set of Neuvation M28 Aero's right now. 1725g 16 front and 24 rear. The front has enough side movement on sprints to make the rim rub the pads and hit my comp sensor.
I weigh 180 and race mostly crits with an occasional road race. Will these wheels stand up or should I just resale them and shoot for something else? I would hate to have one fold up in a tight high speed corner. It will hurt for one, and second it would be a big waste of cash.
Unless they are damaged they won't fold in cornering. However, the hubs are not the greatest. At 180, light wheels with low spoke counts are going to have significant deflection.
Unless they are damaged they won't fold in cornering. However, the hubs are not the greatest. At 180, light wheels with low spoke counts are going to have significant deflection.
Well I have spoken to the owner of my LBS which is also the sponsor of our race team. He knows about the American Classic wheelsets. He has said that the 350 set will work fine for me as a race only wheel, but is not recommended for training or rough roads due to the micro hub on the front. He also stated that they will need regular maintenance to keep them in nice working order and to extend thier life. I have already purchased a set from ebay that is less than a year old for 250.00 which is a great price. The wheelset weight is 1331g. So I'm going to find out real soon about thier strength and reliability. I will post up here with more info on them. And they are 28 spoke fr and 32 rear.
Taxman: Please try them in a race that isn't too important to you. My experience with the 350 wheelset is very mixed. I'm a 140-lb 55+ Master. I had a rear bearing freeze in one race, and a rear rim taco in another (rough road, steep climb, sharp turn - essentially the worst case scenario for putting stress on the rim. AC is a wonderful company to deal with in terms of customer service. They replaced the hub bearings for free, and rebuilt the wheel with the stronger Classic (or is it Sprint?) 350 rim (it is a little deeper in section than the original 350 rim, which Bill Shook said was right on the margin in terms of strength vs. weight). The new rim has held up fine for training, but I lost faith in the wheels for racing. At 180, if you generate much power, I suspect you will feel a fair amount of lateral flex, and will have to make your own judgement about how reliable the wheels are, at least in a criterium case with a lot of acceleration out of turns. I'll be interested in your experience.
Taxman: Please try them in a race that isn't too important to you. My experience with the 350 wheelset is very mixed. I'm a 140-lb 55+ Master. I had a rear bearing freeze in one race, and a rear rim taco in another (rough road, steep climb, sharp turn - essentially the worst case scenario for putting stress on the rim. AC is a wonderful company to deal with in terms of customer service. They replaced the hub bearings for free, and rebuilt the wheel with the stronger Classic (or is it Sprint?) 350 rim (it is a little deeper in section than the original 350 rim, which Bill Shook said was right on the margin in terms of strength vs. weight). The new rim has held up fine for training, but I lost faith in the wheels for racing. At 180, if you generate much power, I suspect you will feel a fair amount of lateral flex, and will have to make your own judgement about how reliable the wheels are, at least in a criterium case with a lot of acceleration out of turns. I'll be interested in your experience.
I sent an email to AM as well. Here is the actual email. But I will test them slowly at 1st anyway.
Hi Johnny,
You can ride the 350's in your races. Have fun!
Ellen American Classic
I have a quick question. I just bought a used set of the 04 model Sprint
Quoted message said:
350's. They are the standard build that came on a Fuji superlight I think.
I weigh in at 180lbs. I will race mostly crit's and some Road Races. I will only use them for racing so they wont get too many miles on them. Are they a safe wheel for me? I currently run a set of Neuvation M28 Aero's that are supposed to be ok for my wieght and even more. But the front wheel rubs the pads and hits my comp sensor when hiting a hard sprint. I just dont want to ruin the wheels or worse, crash.
I had a rear bearing freeze in one race, and a rear rim taco in another
Yikes, and I was going to throw my highly (self 😉 ) regarded opinion in and say that they aren't going to fold, but you may want to get something stiffer if it is flexing as that is a sign of REAL wasted energy. For what it is worth Campy wheels are a bit heavier but bulletproof and super quick accelerating (stiff) and I am 200lbs.
Wow, they folded and you didn't crash, just going around a sharp turn while climbing??? :eek:
Yikes, and I was going to throw my highly (self 😉 ) regarded opinion in and say that they aren't going to fold, but you may want to get something stiffer if it is flexing as that is a sign of REAL wasted energy. For what it is worth Campy wheels are a bit heavier but bulletproof and super quick accelerating (stiff) and I am 200lbs.
Wow, they folded and you didn't crash, just going around a sharp turn while climbing??? :eek:
I'm bigger than that and I find my Campy Protons to be very sturdy. Ksyrium Elites are another pretty tough wheel that I've raced on and found to hold up well to high speed turns and accelerations. You can get a really nice set of Mavic Open Pro's built with a DA or Record Hub for $300-350. They aren't the lightest wheels in the world, but they are durable and very serviceable.
