[Closed] Superstar Components - mega thumbs down

Their brake pads are awesome though and sooooo cheap

.....you have been warned.

OMG 😯

What's so wrong with the Duo? Looks sensible enough, in pictures, design isn't really much different from other guides

Never had a problem with them. always great value and good quality and i have bought loads from them over the years. They are busy at the moment i suspect given some of the offers they have just done and it being holiday season. But when you pay as little as you do for SS products surely expecting a massive customer care call centre is a little unrealistic. They will no doubt resolve your issue, just not as quickly as some of the more expensive manufacturers. Alternatively you could buy from your LBS and not have any of these issues.

Been a good while since we had a decent anti-SS rant on here hahaha!!

So are you saying that if you return the incorrectly supplied products they won't send out replacements, or that you want them to send out replacements first in the hope you return the others?

Is this the chain device you bought? http://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/duo-dual-ring-guide.htm

If so, I can tell you for a fact that having been running the 1x version of it for a good while (and the Slider guide before it on my old bike), it's very good. Not fragile like an e13.

What's so wrong with the Duo? Looks sensible enough, in pictures, design isn't really much different from other guides

Its half the price of any other Duo chain device, but quality is expected to be the same???? 🙄

When items are cheap there is a reason for it...

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Just be glad you didn't actually try and use them.

I wore out 2 of their BB's in 2 months, one in under 3 rides.

Apparently I installed them incorrectly (no rocks were involved).

you're fitting gold parts and you want us to take you seriously? 😯

I wore out 2 of their BB's in 2 months, one in under 3 rides.

Actually yes i did buy aa BB from them once...Absolute pony. It was also Gold. Perhaps its a colour thing

I've got loads of SS kit on my bike and not really had a problem, had few problems with the old freehub design but sent mine back got the new version within a week.

Customer service and delivery has always been spot on, even just email replies are helpful and prompt.

I love the whole "you have been warned", company must be crap then cheers for the heads up!

Never had a problem with them. always great value and good quality and i have bought loads from them over the years.

^ this for me

They are, by some considerable margin, the worst company (bike or otherwise) that I have had the mispleasure of dealing with, peddling poor quality dross with horrendous customer service when it goes wrong, and perfectly happy to accuse you of lying about how their substandard products came to break.

For your own sakes avoid them.

I have one of their HT2 BBs - it's purple not gold though - I bought it because it was purple and expected to have to replace the bearings after two rides like several others had reported.

It's still fine 4 or 5 years later now...

I'm pretty sure that most HT2 bearings wear out fast because people preload them (eg use the cap beyond just removing play).

I've had no issue with them though I know other have. All the SSC parts I have (and I have a fair few) seem to work well, particularly given the price.

When items are cheap there is a reason for it...

Cut out the middle man, don't spend lots on advertising and keep overheads low?

(I realise that customer service may be one of those overheads)

Ordered a 16 tooth sprocket, 12 hours later got an email saying they'd run out would I like a 15, 17 or refund, I said 15, 2 days later I get a 15, 16 & 17 and a note saying they'd found one & I didn't need to return any of the others.

Used them for loads of stuff since, never had a problem

But they send free Haribo with their orders... for this reason I will continue to buy their [i]MUCH CHEAPER[/i] parts on the understanding that packaging and finish may not be quite upto showroom standards.

You get what you pay for to a degree I've tried their products - pads are ok, custom wheel builds weren't bad however chain device was a bendy horrible useless thing.

Won't be putting any more cash their way due to behaviour the owner.

Also, being busy isn't an excuse for piss-poor customer service.

Weeeellll... we've bought two sets of their Pavé 28 wheels from them and now I'm a lot wiser about buying cheap stuff. The wheels were excellent value at £195 a pair and when I lent a set "blind" to my cycling buddy to try he was blown away by the stiffness and light weight and bought them off me straight away.

However you know what they say: you can have cheap, light and strong but only two of those at any time. These wheels are cheap and light but they aren't very strong - in fact they have a warning not to inflate the tyre over 100 psi, presumably because the metal is thin and light and a worn braking surface could collapse. My buddy had to get his front wheel straightened and my son has needed new rims to both the front and the rear after relatively minor bumps, which I think my Ksyrium SLs would have shrugged off. Their crash rebuild service is quick and efficient for £30 and last week we got the rear wheel back, completely rebuilt and perfectly true with the old hub but new spokes and rim, the spokes we sent back were a bit manky where his chain had gouged them so I was interested to see what they would do.

I don't know much about Superstar but I suspect it's just a couple of blokes with a laptop and a unit importing cheap stuff and winging it. If I'm right, no harm to them as they fulfil a role and my buddy and my son have each had over a year of good enjoyable riding out of their cheap wheels. Eventually both will buy expensive wheels but these are fine until they get worn out.

I have superstar hubs, chainring, grips, rear cog, grips, saddle and rear qr, my dad also has their stem, all of it faultless so far! Never had a problem with customer service and the delivery is quick and usually free. Genuinely one of my favourite company's, its like Hope only cheaper!

I don't know much about Superstar but I susect it's just a couple of blokes with a laptop and a unit importing cheap stuff and winging it.

I follow them on facebook (good for offers)and they are ramping up their own production of kit like pedals.
I've genuinely not had an issue with anything i've bought from them. Have a set of MTB wheels which are going really nicely after over a year of use. They seem spot on for adaptors, brake pads, bars etc.
I've never quite understood why people slate smaller suppliers with small customer services depts. or where a cheap item hasn't worked out as well.
My uberbike headset is not exactly performing as well as i'd like, but it cost me £25. I will replace it with hope at some point but won't start a thread about it.

its like Hope only cheaper!

No, no they're not.

Counter view.

Ran two sets of their wheels for years with zero problems.

Used their chain guide for years with zero problems.

Used their brake pads for years with only one problem. Pads for XO 4 pot brakes didnt fit the caliper. Refunded with no problems. Apart from that the pads have been great.

Used their grips for years with zero problems.

Used their tubeless tape and valves for years with zero problems.

Used their tools for years with zero problems.

Never had a problem with them and happy to buy stuff from them again.

I've had wheelsets, stems, cogs, brake pads, chain devices, tubeless stuff and one BB. Of all that lot, only the BB died early, but no earlier than shimano and acros BB's. So no complaints from me. Decent quality stuff for the price with a fast delivery.

kerley - Member

When items are cheap there is a reason for it...

SS can be rubbish, fact... but quite a lot of what they sell, is sold by other companies with more expensive stickers attached. It's funny how people convince themselves they're getting value- I've seen folks buying the £140 Nukeproof pedals that are identical to the £90 Superstar ones saying "they're different inside" just because they MUST be, because they're 50% more expensive...

The rebrander problem is always that just because product X was good, sometimes the only connection to product Y is the logo, so there's no assurance of quality or otherwise. It's only the buying decision and the customer service that are the same and, well, hmm.

I don't know much about Superstar but I suspect it's just a couple of blokes with a laptop and a unit importing cheap stuff and winging it.

Ten years ago maybe. Not now though.

Now they're three people 😆

(I know...)

[quote=ben98 opined]I have superstar hubs, chainring, grips, rear cog, grips, saddle and rear qr, my dad also has their stem, all of it faultless so far! Never had a problem with customer service and the delivery is quick and usually free. Genuinely one of my favourite company's, its like Hope only cheaper!

Ah so this is the new fruit astro turf account then

Like HOPE only cheaper chuckles

When they say they are actually manufacturing, do they mean they've rented a factory and equipment and are actually making stuff like Hope do? because that's a massive business risk. More likely they're getting stuff made to their own design by a contract manufacturer, of which there are many in the Far East.

here you go...
http://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/shop/mountain/uk-made-gear/

They're definitely doing UK manufacturing... Check it out:

http://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/about-us/

Obviously still a lot of rebranding too.

The Nano pedals are going to be uk made as well.

I've always had great service and products from superstar. Just this week fitted a direct mount chai guide that's spot on and was just 20 notes in my choice of colours. Always quick delivery and with haribo.

My switch ego hubs on pacenti tl28s have been brilliant and were a bargain.

globalti - Member
When they say they are actually manufacturing, do they mean they've rented a factory and equipment and are actually making stuff like Hope do? because that's a massive business risk. More likely they're getting stuff made to their own design by a contract manufacturer, of which there are many in the Far East.

For some new stuff they're doing it themselves in-house. A risk for sure, but there's probably always going to be a demand for low-price anodised bike bits. Suppose it's a safe bet starting with pedals given the popularity of their other ones.

I have one of their HT2 BBs - it's purple not gold though - I bought it because it was purple and expected to have to replace the bearings after two rides like several others had reported.

It's still fine 4 or 5 years later now...

I'm pretty sure that most HT2 bearings wear out fast because people preload them (eg use the cap beyond just removing play).

I didn't even get 5 years from a Chris King BB, although in it's defence it died while trying to extract a stuck XTR crank but was bone dry inside so probably wasn't going to last another winter. How many miles do you do? It wasn't an installation fault, all other brands I've tried have been fine or at least inline with expectations and other peoples experience.

It's a moot point these days anyway, XTR BB's from Germany are cheaper and last ~2 years / 3000miles, nothings going to touch that for value.

I don't do huge mileage so I'm not going to claim that it's been hammered for all that time but it's certainly been used in lots of horrible conditions rides and it's been on three or four bikes in that time. Put it this way, it's lastest longer than the XT ones I used previously.

It'll die next ride now of course 🙂

You like gold 'bling'....your argument is invalid.

You like funny ink blot patterns. So is yours 😉

I like their stuff. I've put a N/W chainring on my HT and 180mm discs and I have some (second hand) SS wheels on it too. They're handy for stuff like caliper brackets as well. I'm not sure I'd trust any parts with bearings in (no idea why, just a small hunch back at the office) but the other stuff that just has to be on the bike and work the same as more expensive (badge) stuff is fine.

I like their stuff, seems ok to me so far:-

Have got the following:-

- Some wheels, DT swiss rims, built by superstar using their Tesla EVO hubs
- Magnesium pedals
- Grips

No complaints about any of the above so far - 7 months fairly hard use.

Currently they are still refusing to send out the correct components with a customer service attitude along the lines of 'We are short staffed so deal with it'. Thought I might fit the chain ring for an extra bit of bling, but on closer inspection its going no where near my bike. The finish is pants, I've seen less burrs on a burry thing, looks like it would shred your chain in a matter of minutes.

All components being sent back for full refund.......you have been warned.

can't really expect them to send out the correct items when you haven't sent the wrong ones back. they should refund your postage or provide a freepost label

poah - Member

can't really expect them to send out the correct items when you haven't sent the wrong ones back

TBH it's not so unreasonable- it's entirely their ****-up and the customer gets left without the item he's paid for. A lot of companies will do the right thing for their customer first and worry about getting the item back second. Or to avoid the risk, suggest buying a second and returning the first for refund, for faster turnaround.

Yawn!

Superstar/ on one etc etc

Always been 100% happy with both service and product from superstar.

How do we know that the OP didn't balls up their order, even so these threads are boring now.

I've had a fair bit of stuff from them over the years and zero issues to date.

Most recently I bought one of their direct mount chain guides for my Trance and thoroughly thrashed it at MM. Its a far better quality than the MRP stuff I had previously used and a fraction of the cost.

I have bought, after a recommendation on here a DS25 rim - its a lovely piece of kit and built up without any issues.

I haven't had to return anything so cannot comment on that side of things but they were nice folk to chat to at MM 🙂

No issues for me either. Bars, grips, chain guides, pads - all delivered quickly and decent quality.

The wheels are fantastic value, tell me another source where I can buy wheels of that quality for that price, name me 1?

My latest wheels took longer than quoted by quite some distance, but they arrived last night and they seem spot on.

All the small bits I order arrive within 2 days max.

They could cut down on costs by not sending me a catalogue with every bloody order though.

SS singlespeed rear hub...bought secondhand in need of bearings, took less half an hour to replace, all bearings the same size. Great hub.

SS top cage chain device similar to one that MRP do / did. Glorious and about £15

SS singlespeed rear sprocket, cheap, arrived quickly seems fine.

SS brake pads...no complaints.

My last order came with some Haribo that reminded me of Marzipan, this made me angry as I wanted something tangy on my tonguey.

The wheels are fantastic value, tell me another source where I can buy wheels of that quality for that price, name me 1?

I really don't think I'm that hard on kit but I had so much crap from SS that I really struggle to believe some of the "my BB lasted 5 years" stories, and then there was the customer service (and this is from me who finds O-O / P-X customer service OK).

And then there was the whole Neil / Fruit / Tango thing, and the brake pads that try to kill you.

I've had 2 sets of wheels from them, both times the wheelset cost less than the component parts. One of them was pretty badly built though so it got rebuilt, but even so, counting them as just a very well packaged pile of parts they'd still have been winning value. Can't say I was delighted about the bad wheel but on balance they came out OK.

(and in fairness, they do offer a rebuild service, I just chose to get a local builder to do it- I expect it'd have been rectified if I'd asked)

ordered my replacement kevlar pads last thursday. less than an hour after ordering them i got an email to say they had been dispatched. they arrived on the saturday...so far impressed. pads are now on the bike but i've not had a chance to see how good they are yet

my only grumble is that the haribo sweets were of no use to me as they contained gelatine...in the bin they went!!

Brake pads from SS have been great.

Seat posts ditto.

Likewise stems.

The 3 wheel sets (2 MTB and 1 road) have been great.

Grips are excellent.

Pedals are as good as anything out there.

One problem I have ever had was their floating rotors rubbing on my calipers but the ones I tried from Hope did that too...when I told them they issued a refund.
Have been helpful when I enquired as what bearings to use in my hubs and were honest to say they don't stock them as I'd be able to find them elsewhere cheaper.

This summer hold up can almost be predicted, everybody goes cycling crazy and they must get busier at this time of year but at the time when they need all hands on deck I should imagine Superstar's employees are taking their own summer holidays etc.

Anyway, I like their stuff and wouldn't pay £100 for chain guides and bash guards from MRP, e-thirteen etc when kit like that gets knocked about and wrecked very quickly, I'd sooner pay a fraction of that and get it from a UK firm.
They're my 'go to' place for wheels now, you don't even have to use SS products as they can build with DT Swiss, Mavic, Chris King, Ryde, etc etc for a set of branded wheels that you won't get anywhere cheaper....never had a problem with build either before somebody chimes in and even if they arrived out of true my LBS charge £10 for sorting a wheel, I'd still be quids in.

Like many here I've never had any issues with SS stuff, although I've not tried a BB yet (the headset worked perfectly 'til I swapped it for a WC Angleset)

I've even mailed them about possible products in the pipeline, to see if they were going to do a direct mount SRAM I/O chainring and got a response the next day (in the pipeline apparently). I believe their I/O rings are made in the UK too.

Pads, stems, bars, saddles & grips, etc - never had any problems over the years and got them spread over several bikes. In fact the Peak saddle is one of the most comfortable I've ever sat on. My only complaint is that one purchase didn't have Haribo's with it.

Occasionally shit happens and things don't go right. I don't see the point in getting this wound up about it without spending a bit of time trying to sort it out with the supplier first.

...And then there was the whole Neil / Fruit / Tango thing

Yes, that wasn't the best marketing strategy!
But on the other hand online abuse for his partner, personal insults and threats of arson didn't exactly portray some of the "big hitters" and the forum moderation too well either 😐

Bought a 40T expander ring recently, the finish was not perfect around the inner area of the spider/spacer but the teeth and fit appear to be spot on. It was significantly cheaper than other options so hardly a big issue in my view. How long it lasts remains to be seen.

Never had an issue with any of their stuff, £30 to replace the rim and new spokes on a sentinal wheel I utterly ruined, bargain.
Always prompt free delivery and good prices.

Got one set of wheels from them

Not brilliantly well built, true and straight, but tension was all over the place, even I could do better, and I'm not 'that' bothered about tension when I'm building, but these were bad enough that they needed a once over.

Pacenti rims on the other hand are soft cheesy shit

Fortunatly they are a couple of miles down the road from me I have used some of their kit brake pads and grips they have always been good to me when I have been in to see them.

Anyone remember that nutcase who set up a whole website dedicated to rubbishing them, took them to court etc etc.... that was hillarious. Cant find the link though.

Edit... found it.
http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/victims-of-superstar-components

Bought quite a bit of stuff over the years (pads, grips, bars, chainrings, pedals, tools) and it's all been fine. Excellent for the price. Their direct FM covers are a fiver. Someone else wanted 20 quid! And it's EXACTLY the same colour as my rootbeer trek frame.

Which makes me want to buy some colour matched evo pedals as well 😉

They are turning into the CRC of packaging tho, big padded envelope, A5 parts catalogue, bag or haribo and tiny actual component.

My 4X bike has a 3+ year old set of SS wheels that are still straight and run beautifully, despite landing some jumps rather out of line.

It also has a SS chain device, which is spot on.

My 'do it all' bike has a SS thick/thin chainring, which has never failed me.

My downhill bike has a SS rear wheel (part of a pair bought for £100 clearance) which is still trued despite some very dodgy riding.

My friend has SS wheels on his 4X bike and his AM bike, all of which are straight and true.

They sell lots and lots of stuff. I buy this cheap stuff, and know that there is always a risk of getting a bad one, but its not happened to me yet.

Thankfully we all know that no other manufacturer ever has problems 😉

Have used SS a fair bit and most is ok stuff, bought a set of wheels for my cx that went out of true after only 100 miles, sent them back for a free true for life which they offer and they came back worse than when i sent them !

letmetalktomark - Member

I have bought, after a recommendation on here a DS25 rim - its a lovely piece of kit and built up without any issues.

Just got one of these last week after a recommendation on here and the speed of delivery was quality. The rim itself seems really well made I can't fault them at all.

Their brake pads are excellent for 30mins until the pad material seperates from the backing plates. Bought 3 pairs in a package and it happened to 3 of the 4 pads I tried. The other pair went in the bin after getting an arsey reply when I contacted them.
Cheap for a reason and I'll never touch any of the other junk that they sell. It's false economy.

Bought 3 pairs in a package and it happened to 3 of the 4 pads I tried.

Just to balance it out, must have bought close on 20 pairs over the years, this hasn't happened to any of them.

Yeah, I've gone through kabillions of their kevlars, I had one break up a bit once it was pretty worn. OTOH I had the entire friction bit fall off a Disco, and most of it fall off an OE shimano (shimano told me to bugger off when I asked if it was warranty).

Also, a set of carbon lorraine pads in the motorbike, now that was shit-yourself-worthy.

Well I'm a SS fan. Their delivery times are excellent and a packet of Haribo for my boy is a good bonus - although a bit of a game away to the missus 🙂
I've had 3 sets of wheels off them, all great. One set I'm about to strip to reuse the excellent hubs on my LB rims. Hubs, rims, grips, pedals, chain device+ tubeless bits have been great. No issues.
I had issues with pads separating about 4 years ago and have not touched since. Also I wont go near BB or headset due to friends having premature failures.

Bought loads of stuff, no problems and best delivery times of any online outfit (at least for me). They even sent out a chain guide express delivery foc. Ive no idea why, didnt ask them to!

Very happy customer here and good on them.

Ps i suspect a good deal of mud slinging was sent their way when they were starting up because they were/are a threat to the establishment. I've no evidence for that mind.

I bought a bargain set of Sentinel Switch 29er wheels from them for 175 quid. 4 rides in and the rear spokes were so loose about 4 of them had nearly unscrewed totally from the nipple!

I've built one or two wheels so I'm going to try and rectify it myself. Any tips on doing this? Is it just a case of tightening the loose ones up or is it better to loosen all of them off and start again?

Very happy customer here and good on them.

Ps i suspect a good deal of mud slinging was sent their way when they were starting up because they were/are a threat to the establishment. I've no evidence for that mind.

It was more because their brake pads are a threat to people's safety, their owner slagged off his customers online and he wouldn't refund shonky products even though the cheap tat he had bought from China turned out to be rubbish.

It was more because their brake pads are a threat to people's safety, their owner slagged off his customers online and he wouldn't refund shonky products even though the cheap tat he had bought from China turned out to be rubbish.

The brake pad issue was 5-7 years ago. Some people need to get over it. I had one pair delaminates back then which were replaced no questions asked when I made (polite) contact about it. I've also had shimano and hope pads do the same. Since then I've continued to use their pads and not had a problem, I think they work great just as good as the others that are 3x the price.

Yes their products aren't as well built/finished as king/hope etc but they are a fraction of the cost. You want king quality pay king prices, simple.

You want a product that doesn't have an inherent safety risk? You will have to pay for it.

Nice argument, makes sense.

The last SS pads I got had a great 10% extra free so the breaks dragged for the first couple of weeks of use. Gave up.

Nice argument, makes sense

Again, for balance:

So far from SS over the years I've had 6 sets of wheels (the last set of sentinel rims on switch hubs for 90 quid!), stems, grips, headsets, rotors, caliper mounts and nw chainrings.

Not had to return anything yet.

I use them, mostly good for me. I'm looking at custom wheel options at the moment....tempted with their deal

Thumbs up - pads, grips, chainring, pedals
Mixed bag - wheels (badly built as above and needed sorting, and tesla freehub didn't last as long as I would expect)
Thumbs down - bb, headset

Oh - and they delete bad reviews from their site.

Pays your money....

I've had a few issues but they have sorted them out no probs. it does make me laugh how people buy products for half the price of top brands, and then slate them. After all, the reason we shop there is coz they are cheap...like the budgie

it does make me laugh how people buy products for half the price of top brands, and then slate them