PSA: 66% off Superstar wheelsets

Does this mean they are normally 300% overpriced?

200 Shirley

I meant to post this over the weekend...

Highlights for me were a 1550g road wheelset for £105 and a new road/cross disc wheelset 1650g for £125. Both built with Sapim laser spokes - there's a good £50-60's worth of spokes in each of those wheels, UK made hubs and decent rims.

Bonkers cheap. Past experience with SS wheels has been excellent.

I should add that delivery for me was by DPD next day.

a new road/cross disc wheelset 1650g for £125.

I think I've just bought the same ones. Unfashionably narrow rims at 19mm, but I'm sure I was riding MTBs with that kind of width and 2.3in tyres about 10 years ago.

Also impulse purchased an MTB wheelset for the same price.

but I’m sure I was riding MTBs with that kind of width and 2.3in tyres about 10 years ago.

probably narrower!

For the intended use of these I think 19mm is perfect tbh. Rim width is pretty over rated IMO.

Yeah, I don't think we're gonna die or anything 😀

The Isotope MTB rims are pretty decent at 29mm internal FWIW.

Are there any microspline freehub that would be compatible with their hubs?
My mate needs a new wheelset, but he's got shimano 12spd and a microspline cassette

Need to stop these PSAs just ordered up a couple of boost 27.5 wheelsets for £51 each which I didn't really need but they are cheaper than the hubs cost. Rims a bit so so but will probably replace. I think Superstar can't source spokes reliably / quickly enough so are no longer going to be in the wheel building business.

Bought a new set of road wheels

I think Superstar can’t source spokes reliably / quickly enough so are no longer going to be in the wheel building business.

When Sonder did that press release about (machine?) building wheels in the UK, I'm sure someone reckoned that they'd bought Superstar's wheel building machine. Get the feeling in general that Superstar is running down stock - no new product announcements since 2019. Probably finding that custom CNC is easier and more lucrative.

Great prices however I was not very impressed with my v6 rear hub.

First one cracked when I was away in the Lakes and nearly lost me a weekend riding. Just lucky I had a spare wheel with me to use.

Replaced no quibbles under warranty, bit it was only about a year old and quite lightly used in that time.

Unfortunately about 6 months later the freehub bearings collapsed while I was on cut gate, which then wrote the hub body off again.

By this point I'd lost faith in the reliability, didn't even try to warranty, and replaced with a dt350.

Front v6 still fine / going strong.

So just be aware that the v6 rear hub reliability is not great, at least IME, and that you may have to faff about with warranty and/or replace at some point in the not too distant future.

I had a detached engagement ring on my v6 hub. I never got round to sending it back due to the hassle and postage costs. I bought a v3 as a replacement hub when Superstar were selling them on offer and went about swapping the rim and spokes over to it. Over a year later the v3 is running fine. v6 up front is ok.

Damn! Do I feel unfashionable now... Stuck here on my 26" hoops and unable to get new shiny like the cool kids. When I dinged the rim on my Stumpy last year so badly it flattened one side I had to buy a rim from Germany and rebuild it myself

Yes as said above we have sold off the wheelbuilding side of the business due to supply chain problems making it impossible to get everything we needed to make wheels, someone offered us a good price on the machine line and that was it.

So we are clearing out the stock we have at below raw materials cost.

im sure we are going to get people saying they were originally overpriced etc, well off you pop to buy your generic asia stuff for more than we were selling our UK made wheels originally..... your loss not mine.

Yes, been a bit busy making medical stuff for a few years. Had two babies, moved house, life busy and complicated so no time to do all that and launch new stuff when you couldnt get raw materials for sensible money.

Just sold a few hundred wheelsets in a day or so. all the preorder stuff is waiting on freehubs being assembled and spacers landing to be able to ship them out. everything is built and boxed, once its gone its gone.

note we have thousands of spare parts which will last for years, and we can get more made if needs be. so no they arent disposable junk. Im sure its going to make alot of people happy to get a true bargain for once.

Neil (superstarcomponents)

Im sure its going to make alot of people happy to get a true bargain for once

I'm not sure my wife will be one of them 😂

Quite timely as I needed a new set of wheels for my road bike. Thanks and good luck with the changing business landscape!

Neil,

Will you still retain the lifetime truing?

Thanks

Those that got the road wheels - which did you go for?? The wtb or the arc ultra?

I want a tubeless rim and not sure if the arc is…

The Ultra for me, I just assumed I could get it to work tubeless 😀

Not impressed with the cheap WTB rims I had before.

Those that got the road wheels – which did you go for?? The wtb or the arc ultra?

arc ultra for me. I had the rim brake arc a while ago and that worked fine tubeless.

the product page for them (albeit 32 hole version) states tubeless compatible.

https://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/arc-ultra-disc-rims.htm

Cheers.

They've been cheap for a while now, got a great deal on some 27.5 wheels for my boys new bike. He'd been riding a set of 24" Crest's on his previous bike that unfortunately some tea leaf nicked, otherwise they'd be going to his sister as they are still going strong after 3 years. Just a shame there is no kids sized ones still in stock, was the only place in the UK to easily get 24" Stans.

Shame to hear that the wheel building side has been sold off, I've had a few Superstar wheelsets over the past couple of years and think they're great!

Hopefully I shouldn't have to find an alternative brand as by tomorrow I'll have two sets of 27.5 wheelsets stashed in my attic as spares! 😂

Oof, £95 for a decent wheelset for my MTB (non-boost). Don't really need any....argh what to do.

. Anyone got any experience of the pave ultra Road 3 wheels? I was about to get some hunt 4 season but at £100 these are very tempting

Yes I’ve just ordered a 3rd set they are brill 🙂

Just bought a pair of the disc 700c wheels for the cross bike. Stealthy black, just the way I like them.

I was only looking at how beaten up the rims are on my Fulcrum pair. Hope the rims are tougher on the new ones 🤞

Cheers for the heads up OP

When Sonder did that press release about (machine?) building wheels in the UK, I’m sure someone reckoned that they’d bought Superstar’s wheel building machine

i love a good theory

Apparently the Arc's 7075 T6 rim is twice as strong as my Fulcrum's 6082 T6 rim. Looking forward to trying them out.

Edit: https://www.rightonblackburns.co.uk/news/aluminium-6082

about the rims. the WTB are a nice branded rim, nothing super special but very good value. we never did "cheap" superstar rims, so they filled the gap for something more value orientated

the isotope, arc, DHX, pave and element rims were our main seller. manufactured by kinlin who in my opinion make the best rims on the market. Ive been in the factory and they are a lovely family company, they actually make their own aluminum alloy inhouse in a huge casting furnace making 12m long round billets ready to extrude again inhouse. The key to why they are nice is they heat treat this quality of rims AFTER they have hooped them into wheels, so they are super straight and have no stress in the material. I dont know anyone else who does this and they build so easy because of it. They anodise after hooping as well which means you dont get the cracking on the surface you get with cheaper anodised while flat bar rims. never at the cutting edge of fashion but thats because they were so busy making bombproof quality rims.

the alpine and trail rims were my own design made at one of the other really nice low volume factories (used by some hideously expensive brands). They are the next step on from kinlin but were so crazy expensive to make at nearly 3 times the cost i doubt we ever made any money on the rims themselves!

i always chuckle to myself when i read the superlatives given by some of the "order it in a container selected from a catalogue" products selling for twice what we would sell them for. im always amazed how many of these people have never been to taiwan let alone been in the factory or had any involvement in the manufacturing/design of their "custom and ultra special" parts. I play a silly game at trade shows where i try and work out who has made something for a brand by looking for little clues like how they laser the serial number on....

Neil (superstarcomponents)

Neil, can the Isotope V6 be run with tubes?

Sorry to be a pain Neil, just seen the Element wheelset is lighter than the Isotope, can they be run with tubes? Looking for a light boost 29er wheelset for a single speed build.

That was a handy and timely PSA. My winter gravel bike's wheels are pretty shot, seized nipples and dented rims, so I've just picked up a new pair of wheels for a most excellent price.

Those that got the road wheels – which did you go for?? The wtb or the arc ultra?

I want a tubeless rim and not sure if the arc is…

They'll run tubeless - says so in the sidebar.
I've had a set for a while, I've been pretty happy with them - I run them as gravel wheels and they've taken a fair beating. Just ordered another set as "spares".

Runs off to shed to check Travers RussTi frame which will be a new build project.
I have something of a Superstar rarity on a rare bike...Superleggera hubs (Ti?), anodised gold on Stan's alpine rims; built for the Torq race team in 2011/12. Love the hub sound as it engages.
It's a 26 but still gets more compliments than any other of my bikes.
Order to be placed tomorrow morning - alpine 29, 30mm.

Brilliant PSA thanks,

sorry to hear the wheel side didnt carry on for superstar been looking for a lighter set of wheels for my gravel bike build, the Isotope V6 29ers should be ideal.

Wow great PSA. Unfortunately I just bought some used road wheels for the price of a new pair of these- gah!

Would the Arc ULTRA V6 wheelset be a good option for a gravel bike, also have the wtb option but not had much luck with wtb rims in the past. 19mm internal ok for 40c tyre?

I think I’m on six sets of SS wheels, all been great. Only one problem which was a Pecenti rim and SS dealt with it perfectly. Pretty gutted I’ve got to spend daft money in future.
Tempted to get a set of wheels for the ebike for ‘commuter mode’.

Just got some 650b wheels for my commuter for less than I was willing to pay 2nd hand... tremendous PSA

to answer questions.

pretty much anything other than DHX is tubeless ready design, just tape and goo like stans.

arc on 40c, yeah will work lovely, probbly wouldnt go much bigger but tyre shape is frame and personal prefernce really

crash rebuild has been withdrawn purely because we dont have the stock left to be able to operate it any more. free truing is the same as over the last 10 years i can probbly count on one hand how many returns for that actually were a "true" and not a crash rebuild... we apolagise for the inconvenience

bit of carnage yesterday, DPD could only fit half of the weekends sales on. apparantly they are sending a lorry today.... everything is going out, we apolagise for any delays.

im listing a load of rims at the silly clearance price over the next few days. ive realised some of the juicy rims were missed off the original list (as another builder bought them but never paid for them in the end). keep eyes on facebook/email for news so you dont miss out.

Neil (Superstarcomponents)

Ah man,

Finally convinced myself I needed some and ordered a pair of DHX this morning, didn’t realise they weren’t tubeless ready

Have pinged an email to superstar, hopefully I’ve found out quick enough

I love a good PSA…even if not for me.

So before pulling the trigger on what appears to be a full set of wheels for £98, my daughter has a Trek Roscoe which has the 650+ rims and tyres. Big balloon things. The fork says it’s a 29r, but do you reckon the rear would accommodate a 29r? Just for trying/spares really. WTB i29 rim maybe, and she has the 141qr boost rear axle which don’t come up very often.

Thanks

I’m looking for something to upgrade the EXR30s on my whippet. I’m I right in thinking the elements will be too narrow? Are the alpine 30’s going to be suitable?

I love a good PSA…even if not for me.

So before pulling the trigger on what appears to be a full set of wheels for £98, my daughter has a Trek Roscoe which has the 650+ rims and tyres. Big balloon things. The fork says it’s a 29r, but do you reckon the rear would accommodate a 29r? Just for trying/spares really. WTB i29 rim maybe, and she has the 141qr boost rear axle which don’t come up very often.

Thanks

From Trek wesbite

Max tyre size Frame: 27.5x2.80" or 29x2.40"

WTB i29 rim maybe

Worth a few quid more for the Isotope rims if they still have that option?

i always chuckle to myself when i read the superlatives given by some of the “order it in a container selected from a catalogue” products selling for twice what we would sell them for. im always amazed how many of these people have never been to taiwan let alone been in the factory or had any involvement in the manufacturing/design of their “custom and ultra special” parts. I play a silly game at trade shows where i try and work out who has made something for a brand by looking for little clues like how they laser the serial number on….

Interesting insight - someone will be along with Dark Install's Fake Wheel Company video soon no doubt!

Yep - I've always thought that magazine/website reviews do us a disservice there - almost all the hubs in particular are Novatec/Bitex and it should be easy enough for a reviewer to recognise them and tell us. Generally a positive for me as I know spares will be available long after <Fake Wheel Company> has gone. Hunt and Wiggle are a particularly useful source of spares for my fleet of Novatec (/Superstar) hubs.

Great PSA really, but I won't be buying - Superstar's older offerings turned me into a Novatec shop, I like to be able to run my wheels QR/15mm/12mm which would get quite pricey with these wheels.

Thanks for this - just ordered a set of the Arch Ultras to run as 700c road/winter wheels on my 650b gravel bike.

aww nuts, hadn't clocked that DHX rims weren't tubeless ready - the page talks about not coming with rim tape or valves so you can do it to your own preference.

so... does that mean I can or can't set them up tubeless? I had the despatch note already so I hope there's a way.

Apparently I've been running my DHXs tubeless since May without knowing they aren't tubeless ready!
Did take a lot of rim tape to get a tight fit with Maxxis DHF/DHR (2.8s too) but they've been fine.

Cheers, sounds like I'll get busy with the Gorilla tape. And knowing me and my skills, a frustrating afternoon in the shed but I'll get there eventually.

Isotope wheels arrived this afternoon.

They're very nicely finished and weigh in a smidge over 2kg for the pair.

I'll probably put some lighter tyres on them and use them for my less gnarly, more pedally rides.

Will a 12 speed Shimano cassette fit on the V6 hub with the 11 speed Shimano freehub?

Thanks.

Will a 12 speed Shimano cassette fit on the V6 hub with the 11 speed Shimano freehub?

Thanks.

No, Shimano 12 speed is microspline.

You could use a third party 12 speed cassette which is HG fit, e.g. sunrace or SRAM 1230 (the only SRAM 12 speed cassette which would fit).

Shame, thanks.

Ordered Element V6 wheelset this morning, due to arrive tomorrow, happy days.

Both my sets turned up. Lovely, seem very nicely made as per previous SS wheels.

New wheels can't come quick enough... Especially after breaking a spoke on tonight's gravel/mud/leafy ride.

19mm rims when I got into mountain biking (back in 2005) was for more hardcore mountain biking. The standard rim width was 17mm, which were fine up to 2.3" tyres.

My Fulcrum wheels have an internal rim width of 19mm and they've been ideal, if a little soft in the rim.

I ordered a set of alpine trail24 27.5s.

It's just been refunded.

Out of stock maybe?

Update - boost size only remaining of this model

19mm rims when I got into mountain biking (back in 2005) was for more hardcore mountain biking

Yep, this is the one I was thinking of...

I have the Arc Ultra with 38c tyres and it works fine, the profile is obviously a bit lightbulb but as they're my road tyres I don't notice any squirm at the pressures I run

Anyone having issues with delivery? I ordered the Arc Ultra on Monday, got a DPD email Tuesday saying delivery on Wednesday, then nothing happened yesterday. DPD tracking showing as having not even received the parcel from SS yet.

Anyone having issues with delivery? I ordered the Arc Ultra on Monday, got a DPD email Tuesday saying delivery on Wednesday, then nothing happened yesterday. DPD tracking showing as having not even received the parcel from SS yet.

There was a post from Neil@superstar above regarding an issue with not enough space on the DPD collection vehicle. Sounds like they've had a lot of wheels ordered! Possibly affecting collections for a couple of days I guess.

Ah thanks, I missed that!

...and did you ever get that Kona unit frame going?

@xcpootler I got exactly the same message from DPD, arriving yesterday apparently but not collected from SS yet.

Same here - had an email saying they’d be delivered yesterday but DPD haven’t collected them from SS yet.

I need some wheels for my hybrid. Those are all disc only tho.

thankfully no issue with my DPD. Picked up Tuesday delivered Wednesday

Email recieved that they were due to be delivered today but the courier hasn't received them yet.

I had a reply from SS confirming that DPD are still struggling with the volume of parcels but they should be picked up today or tomorrow. 👍

I encountered the same - email notification from DPD saying delivery was due yesterday but still showing as not collected. I had also missed the post from Neil earlier in this thread (sorry!).

I had a prompt reply to my enquiry today from a helpful chap at superstar who told me the same - lots of parcels and awaiting a lorry from DPD, maybe today, maybe tomorrow.

Cheers

This deal had me pricing up a new bike build - haven’t had a bike since July, I’m such a big fan of SS wheels I was going to buy a set of V6 29ers and a 29er Jackflash from PX and get myself rolling but I can’t bring it in cheap enough to be a whim! Might keep trying because they’re sort of too good not to get a set for £120.

Isotope 27.5 back in stock too. Bargain! Ordered a couple of days back and not moving yet though.

My road wheels are delayed. £102 for 1550g set of road wheels that I know are good 👌🏻

I'd been debating a second set of V6 road wheels for the last few days (have got some that are 2 years old) despite not really needing them.
I see they've only got the red rims left now.. . Even at that price I'm not going there!

Considering a pair of the Isotope rims on the V6 hubs. Any views on their suitability for ebike use. Mainly trail / enduro type riding. Cheers.

This is maybe the best PSA for an age on here -

I bought a (bargain, from CRC) new gravel bike a few days ago and was looking for a second set of wheels for road duties - just ordered a set of the WTB rimmed XC wheels with road adapters for £93.50 - inc free postage - absolute stonking bargain!

On top of that, I've found a source of 160mm Clarks rotors on ebay for less than a fiver each! So with some road tyres and a cassette already in the parts bin at home, I'm sorted big time - thanks OP!