Mavic Open Pro/Campy Record Wheels from Performance Bike

The plastic lockring on the Centaur is VERY prone to cracking. I'd
recommend going up one step on the Campi ladder to get the Al lockring.

packmagician said:

The plastic lockring on the Centaur is VERY prone to cracking. I'd
recommend going up one step on the Campi ladder to get the Al lockring.

Hasn't been our experience.
Like AheadSet nylon top caps, the cover's just there to
_adjust_ the bearing, no reason to lean on it.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

rmhcyclist said:

... Mavic Open Pro/Campy Record wheels from Performance Bike.

Any opinions about this wheelset?

Hi, I built my "summer" wheels last year with this combination (as
hundreds of readers here have done as well) - OP, Campag Record, plus DT
Aerospeed, for fun. 32h is fine for me, as a 73 kg (160 pounds?) rider.
I occasionally crush a rim because I use 20 mm tyres but I'm sure that
you'd be perfectly fine if you use 23 mm tyres.

A word of warning if these wheels can be bought with the ceramic braking
surfaces - you may find that the ceramic will chip if the tyre bottoms
out on e.g. a rock. Use the regular or CD variants to avoid this.

As for choice of hub, I have wheelsets with both Veloce (a grade down
from Centaur) and Record. I find both of these to be excellent in terms
of build and maintainability. But, if you like to take stuff apart every
now and then, get the Record! It's a sheer joy to see the precision with
which the innards are built, as well as their finish; these hubs are
very maintainable and designed to go forever as long as they're torn
down every couple of seasons. Buy them if you can possibly afford them.
High and deserved "mystique" factor here :-)

/Robert

rmhcyclist said:

I am looking for a new set of road wheels. I am a 180lb recreational
cyclist. I do a number of centuries each year (I would also love to

do

Quoted message said:

some racing, but doubt I will have time for that). I am considering
the $299 Mavic Open Pro/Campy Record wheels from Performance Bike.

Any opinions about this wheelset?

I am looking to spend about $300, but might be willing to go as high

as

Quoted message said:

$400.

Would I be better off getting less expensive hubs like Centaur and
having the wheels custom built?

Buy them. The parts add up to more than the $300 cost if bought
separately. Best to wait for a 10% or 20% off coupon from Performance.
Every month or two or three these appear. I considered buying this
set of wheels sometime last year with a 20% off coupon but couldn't
quite justify having 4 sets of wheels for 2 bikes.

I bought a set of Record/Open Pro/Reflex wheels from Excel about 5
years ago. Broke one spoke on the rear after 1,800 miles. Put in the
new spoke myself. Retrued myself. No other problems. I wouldn't be
afraid of any regular wheels from mail order places.

Quoted message said:

Buy them. The parts add up to more than the $300 cost if bought
separately. Best to wait for a 10% or 20% off coupon from Performance.
Every month or two or three these appear. I considered buying this
set of wheels sometime last year with a 20% off coupon but couldn't
quite justify having 4 sets of wheels for 2 bikes.

I bought a set of Record/Open Pro/Reflex wheels from Excel about 5
years ago. Broke one spoke on the rear after 1,800 miles. Put in the
new spoke myself. Retrued myself. No other problems. I wouldn't be
afraid of any regular wheels from mail order places.

Hi, join Team Performance, before buying. You'll will get upgraded
shipping and 10% towards your next purchase. It costs $20, so you will
be up $10 just using it to buy the wheels.

Life is Good!
Jeff

On 10 Feb 2005 11:36:18 -0800, "rmhcyclist" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I am looking for a new set of road wheels. I am a 180lb recreational
cyclist. I do a number of centuries each year (I would also love to do
some racing, but doubt I will have time for that). I am considering
the $299 Mavic Open Pro/Campy Record wheels from Performance Bike.

Any opinions about this wheelset?

I am looking to spend about $300, but might be willing to go as high as
$400.

Would I be better off getting less expensive hubs like Centaur and
having the wheels custom built?

The price that Performance is charging is less than the component cost
even. The Centaur hub is equally good to the Record but, even if you
have a set of Centaur hubs and Open Pro rims built elsewhere, it will
still cost $300+. The spokes usually cost $50 and rims $130+. You
can't get a Centaur hubset and a build for the $120 left.

"The Bicycle Wheel" and a spoke wrench will enable you to get the
Performance built wheel up to high quality.

Velo Psycho said:

Anyone know of anyplace else with a smilar deal? These wheels are on
back order until April.

Chucksbikes.com has Open Pro/Ultegra wheels for $195.

--
Scott Johnson / scottjohnson at kc dot rr dot com

Anyone know of anyplace else with a smilar deal? These wheels are on
back order until April.

The performance Campy Record / Mavic Open Pro wheels appear to be "too
good to be true" - and they are!! The trouble is, you cannot get them
at a price anywhere near the price you see in the catalogue. First,
you get hit with extra shipping charges because they are pre-built
wheels. And second, because performance now has bike stores in almost
every state, you get hit with sales taxes on top of the extra shipping
charges !! ugh !! So your $300 wheels become $345 wheels !!

I talked to some people at the local performance store and they said
that perhaps they could order a wheelset through the "red phone" which
is what they use to order stock from the main performance warehouse.
That may allow you to save on shipping. The trouble is, then you may
not be able to use the 20% internet discount coupons on such an
order!! ugh !!

MAVIC uses price fixing to keep the cost of Open Pro rims artificially
high. Read all about it in www.bikepro.com. So I'm never impressed
when I see a set of pre-built wheels with MAVIC parts advertised at a
discount price. I have purchased mavic Open Pro rims as cheap as
$42/each from Bike Nashbar, so I know the profit margin on these rims
is enormous ...

The Performance wheels use heavy 14g unbutted spokes and i don't
think that's appropriate for a pro-quality set of wheels.

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

Velo Psycho said:

Anyone know of anyplace else with a smilar deal? These wheels are on
back order until April.

Try nashbar or Excel Sports (www.excelsports.com). They are usually in
the same price range. Excel even has a wheel builder page, so you can
customize a little. It came to less than 375 when I just did it. Don't
know about backorders though....

Les

Donald Gillies said:

The performance Campy Record / Mavic Open Pro wheels appear to be

"too

Quoted message said:

good to be true" - and they are!! The trouble is, you cannot get

them

Quoted message said:

at a price anywhere near the price you see in the catalogue. First,
you get hit with extra shipping charges because they are pre-built
wheels. And second, because performance now has bike stores in

almost

Quoted message said:

every state, you get hit with sales taxes on top of the extra

shipping

Quoted message said:

charges !! ugh !! So your $300 wheels become $345 wheels !!

Shipping is $10.50 plus $15 for a wheelset. $25.50 total. No
Performance bike store in my state so they would not charge me sales
tax. Yes I know I am supposed to report it. But the credit card would
only see the $299.99 plus the $25.50.

Quoted message said:

I talked to some people at the local performance store and they said
that perhaps they could order a wheelset through the "red phone"

which

Quoted message said:

is what they use to order stock from the main performance warehouse.
That may allow you to save on shipping. The trouble is, then you may
not be able to use the 20% internet discount coupons on such an
order!! ugh !!

Performance sends me a post card for 20% off about once a year. And
occassionally I see the 20% off codes on the internet too. The post
card Performance sends me clearly states internet, telephone, store,
etc. Does not matter where or how I order. The codes I sometimes find
on the internet site I have used on telephone orders sometimes. And of
course Performance does have its Team Performance. Get 10% rebate to
use on future orders. Have to pay $20 to join but its well worth it if
you wait until you get a 20% off post card and lump lots of purchases
together. Well worth it. I've saved many hundreds if not a thousand
dollars using this technique compared to full 100%+ retail price if
bought locally. I considered getting these wheels last year or so. I
ended up just getting a plain Open Pro rim and rebuilding the rear
wheel I already had. But I figured it would cost me ($300*80%*90%)
$216 plus the $15 shipping. And of course a bit of allocation for the
regular shipping charges plus the $20 Team Performance membership.

Quoted message said:

MAVIC uses price fixing to keep the cost of Open Pro rims

artificially

Quoted message said:

high. Read all about it in www.bikepro.com. So I'm never impressed
when I see a set of pre-built wheels with MAVIC parts advertised at a
discount price. I have purchased mavic Open Pro rims as cheap as
$42/each from Bike Nashbar, so I know the profit margin on these rims
is enormous ...

$42 from Nashbar? When? If you combine the 20% off Performance coupon
and 10% rebate Team Performance you can get Open Pro rims for $43.20
given the current retail price of $60. I rarely ever see sales on Open
Pro rims.

Quoted message said:

The Performance wheels use heavy 14g unbutted spokes and i don't
think that's appropriate for a pro-quality set of wheels.

Per the Performance website these wheels are built with DT 14-15-14
spokes. I suspect if they sent you wheels today with 14 gauge straight
you could complain to customer service and get a good resolution.
Maybe when you bought these wheels in the past they had 14 straight
gauge, but not today. Of course I really doubt anyone riding a bike
can tell if the wheels are built with 14/15/14 or straight 14. But
maybe some folks are extra sensitive.

"Campagnolo Record 10 hubs with Mavic Open Pro Silver rims. Rims are 32
hole. DT Swiss 14/15/14 gauge double butted spokes with brass nipples.
3 cross lacing. 130mm rear axle spacing. Includes skewers. *Shipping
charge is 15.00 per wheelset."

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile_combo.cfm?SKU=18877&estore_ID=&subcategory_ID=5321&CFID=32905547&CFTOKEN=31970782

Quoted message said:

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

packmagician said:

The plastic lockring on the Centaur is VERY prone to cracking. I'd
recommend going up one step on the Campi ladder to get the Al
lockring.

Is HB-DA019 plastic? If not, what part do you mean?

http://www.campagnolo.com/pdf/spares05_B.pdf - pages 15 & 16

thanks
~PB

On 11 Feb 2005 12:21:13 -0800, [email hidden] (Donald Gillies)

Quoted message said:

MAVIC uses price fixing to keep the cost of Open Pro rims artificially
high. Read all about it in www.bikepro.com. So I'm never impressed
when I see a set of pre-built wheels with MAVIC parts advertised at a
discount price. I have purchased mavic Open Pro rims as cheap as
$42/each from Bike Nashbar, so I know the profit margin on these rims
is enormous ...

The Performance wheels use heavy 14g unbutted spokes and i don't
think that's appropriate for a pro-quality set of wheels.

Although fair trading items is not liked by many buyers, it is
supportive of local merchants. The enormous profit margin on Open Pro
rims is similar to the regular margin on most bicycle parts.

Although I agree that butted spokes would be nicer for this quality of
wheels, straight guage spokes will yield very high quality and durable
wheels. IMHO the value of butted spokes for conventional wheels is
overvalued in R.B.T.

Quoted message said:

packmagician said:

The plastic lockring on the Centaur is VERY prone to cracking. I'd
recommend going up one step on the Campi ladder to get the Al
lockring.

Pete Biggs said:

Is HB-DA019 plastic? If not, what part do you mean?
http://www.campagnolo.com/pdf/spares05_B.pdf - pages 15 & 16

It's a black nylon on Daytona/Centaur hubs. I've
sold/serviced a few hundred without seeing a broken one.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

Velo Psycho said:

Anyone know of anyplace else with a smilar deal? These wheels are on
back order until April.

http://cambriabike.com/
Look for wheel deals... 🙂

--
Rich Kim
[email hidden] (Remove NO@SPAM)

rmhcyclist said:

Hello All,

I am looking for a new set of road wheels. I am a 180lb recreational
cyclist. I do a number of centuries each year (I would also love to

do

Quoted message said:

some racing, but doubt I will have time for that). I am considering
the $299 Mavic Open Pro/Campy Record wheels from Performance Bike.

Any opinions about this wheelset?

I am looking to spend about $300, but might be willing to go as high

as

Quoted message said:

$400.

Would I be better off getting less expensive hubs like Centaur and
having the wheels custom built?

Thanks,
Ryan

I just got a pair of wheels that I am VERY happy with from Colorado
Cyclist. Mavic CXP-33 rims (black), 36 double butted spokes, Campy
Record hubs, velox rim tape, delivered to my door for $400.

This was $100 more than the Performance/Cambria deal. The reason I
decided to blow the extra Benjamin was:

* 36 spokes - determined on another very contentious thread to be
sufficiently stronger to warrant getting them.
* Strength of rim - CXP-33 is stronger than the open pro
* Bike [censored] -- I wanted black rims to look nicer on my bike.
* Handbuilt -- the $299 campy record wheel deal is a mass lot that was
produced and imported. I dont know if it really matters that much, but
the wheels I got have not needed re-tensioning at all.

Bike wisdom says: Light, Cheap, Strong.... pick two.

I decided that I wanted strong -- as I want something that will last.
Given the past performance and rebuildability of Record Hubs, they
seemed worth the premium.

Light -- I didnt care what they weighed. Nevertheless, with my eyes
closed, each wheel in a wheelbag, I can't tell the difference between
these wheels and a set of campy nucleons. Maybe the nucleons aren't as
light as they should be for the MSRP.

Cheap - I was willing to spend what it took to get the job done. That
being said, I think I got a pretty inexpensive set of wheels here.
Sure, it was $400, but the per-mile cost of these wheels is likely to
be pennies to the mile.

I do notice that it takes a little more horsepower to spin these up
than it takes to spin up my Nucleons. But, as they were purchased for
commuting and training, I don't care how difficult they make the ride.
I wanted wheels that could take a lickin. I got them. I'm pleased.

Quoted message said:

I just got a pair of wheels that I am VERY happy with from Colorado
Cyclist. Mavic CXP-33 rims (black), 36 double butted spokes, Campy
Record hubs, velox rim tape, delivered to my door for $400.

This was $100 more than the Performance/Cambria deal. The reason I
decided to blow the extra Benjamin was:

* 36 spokes - determined on another very contentious thread to be
sufficiently stronger to warrant getting them.

Sufficiently stronger? Stronger, yes. Sufficiently? Many, most, find
32 strong enough.

Quoted message said:

* Strength of rim - CXP-33 is stronger than the open pro

Determined how? It is heavier.

Quoted message said:

* Bike [censored] -- I wanted black rims to look nicer on my bike.
* Handbuilt -- the $299 campy record wheel deal is a mass lot that

was

Quoted message said:

produced and imported. I dont know if it really matters that much,

but

Quoted message said:

the wheels I got have not needed re-tensioning at all.

Where did you get this nonsense about mass produced, imported wheel
deal? Did you invent it to rationalize your purchase? Performance has
had the $300 Open Pro, Record, 3 cross, 32 14/15 DB DT spoke wheels for
several years now. How could they have a mass produced, imported wheel
deal for several consecutive years?

Colorado Cyclist and Excel were fairly close to $300 for Record/Open
Pro until about a year ago. Now CC charges $354 plus $10 roughly for
double butted spokes for the same wheelset Performance is selling for
$300. CC is about 20% more expensive. Given the vastly greater size
of Performance/Nashbar/Supergo, I suspect they get a better deal on
volume and can sell for 20% less than CC. There is no wheel deal to
it. Just normal business.

But when Performance is having its 20% off sales and its 10% Team
Performance rebates, then you get a deal.

And as for importing the wheels, where did they import them from? The
rims are made in France, the spokes are made in Switzerland, the hubs
are made in Italy. Do you think these western European parts were
shipped to a cheap labor place such as southeast Asia, assembled into
wheels, then shipped halfway around the world as complete wheels to
North Carolina (Performance's home)? That would be a hard way to get a
wheel deal.

Quoted message said:

I do notice that it takes a little more horsepower to spin these up
than it takes to spin up my Nucleons.

🙂

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

* Handbuilt -- the $299 campy record wheel deal is a mass lot that

was

Quoted message said:

produced and imported. I dont know if it really matters that much,

but

Quoted message said:

the wheels I got have not needed re-tensioning at all.

Where did you get this nonsense about mass produced, imported wheel
deal? Did you invent it to rationalize your purchase? Performance

has

Quoted message said:

had the $300 Open Pro, Record, 3 cross, 32 14/15 DB DT spoke wheels

for

Quoted message said:

several years now. How could they have a mass produced, imported

wheel

Quoted message said:

deal for several consecutive years?

I got this "nonsense" from the salesperson at Performance. Who told me
that if I wanted hand-built wheels, that these weren't the wheels for
me. They were really polite and up-front about it.

"Most people" think 32 spokes is fine... well then why do they
manufacture 36 spoke hubs and rims? Maybe for us 190 lb guys? Maybe
for those of us who want extra durability.

Why is the CXP stronger than the open pro? Jesus... do we need to open
this can again?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Sufficiently stronger? Stronger, yes. Sufficiently? Many, most, find
32 strong enough.

I don't think I'll ever understand this. 4 spokes weigh 28 grams. 36 is
stronger than 32...
Strong enough?. Most wheels are perhaps just this side of 'strong
enough' for the standard 175-200 pound rider. Would you get a frameset
that is 'just strong enough for most situations but may break 2% of the
time?
What do ya suppose you 'buy' with 4 less spokes on a wheel?