[Closed] Superstar wheels worth the punt at £160 a pair?

I have their V6 hubs ... the end caps fall off and the front isn't exactly 110mm wide, so the maxle ends up at a silly angle compare to all my other wheels.

Shows at £229 for me

Ss are doing some wheels for on one. Might be worth looking at?

I've got some of their road wheels - I have no complaints.

£250 and less than 1500 grams (confirmed by me). Also used the re-build service and have been very happy with the service and the product :o)

Literally just about to ask this as after a new set if wheels got my voodoo bizango

Use code OCT19 to get an extra 30% off 🙂

Put few thousand miles onto a set of ss road wheels never seen a spoke key and still run smooth 🙂

The rims are basic. Heavy and not that tough.

I'd either spend a bit more or look at secondhand options.

Had loads of SS wheelsets. All good. Had a problem with one. Sorted out no probs.

I've had SS wheels in the past and would happily buy more! I changed bearings on them easily for peanuts.

On the other hand: I had WTB i 29er series rims and there was significant corrorion on the inside of the rims after just 12 months (nothing to do with Superstar). And that's just a sample of one. Are there other rims available for this discount?

They're a bit hit and miss, had three sets, first fell to bits but were replaced FOC, second still mint, replacement set rear goosed but on the hardtail of a talentless, (slightly) overweight, bike killing, shitwit.

I've got a set of fuel hubs on mavic rims from SS. Been on my solaris for 2 years or so and have been faultless. Which is a pain in the arse as I want to replace them with something a bit more blingey.....

Had 2 other sets of  xc wheelsets that were so fine.

I've got SS xc wheels on my Charge plug and 26'' fuel on my triggers broom hardtail. No problems with them at all

Went for Isotope wheels. Wanted ~30mm width and UK weather proof hub

My first set lasted years, the most recent ones not so good . Freehub went all wobbly so tried to get new bearings, but they weren't available and SS wouldn't tell me the sizes so ended up buying new freehub for £60. Freehub still wobbly so I reckon axle is undersized but as I didn't check at very beginning I have no one to blame but myself.

I had a pair of switch hubs on Pacenti rims - they were brilliant; free truing used once - more from checking because of age rather than any real concerns about shape. Sent back from truing within 3 days. They’re still going strong on a mates bike.

Would buy again

I’ve had three sets and all have been spot on, including the really cheap ones they punted out for around £100 a set a year or two back. Would definitely get some from them again.

I've had 3 sets and at least 2 of them failed long before they should have done (fuel hubs).  The fuel hub was one of their bought in and re-stickered jobs I think - and they seemed shit to be quite honest.  Snapped a rear axle twice and completely trashed the freehub internals once (the bit of the freehub that holds the pawls/springs snapped).  Their in house hubs might be better though, who knows.

Very tempted to get some blue v6 hubs on stans arch rims. 30 percent off is some saving!

I recently bought a set of their V3 “essential” wheels, basically the cheapest 29er wheelset i could get from them.
They arrived with no front adapters and a non-functioning freewheel. Not a good start.
All sorted within a week but the rear isn’t dished properly so it sits to the right, albeit it does run straight.

I bought “pre-order” so maybe when all the parts came they threw them together as quick as they could, no idea, but pretty disappointed. That said, they were £140 and I couldn’t get a rear Hope hub for that so it’s not all bad, rear engagement isn’t great but they do a job at the cheap end of the market. Last set I bought from there were Electra hubs on 27.5 rims and to be honest they were superb, so I wish I just had new rims built on to those.

Watching with interest, tempted by the V6/WTB combo or would I be better with a pair of Chosen/Alex rim combo from the likes or Merlin?

All our SS wheels have had Switch (Novatec) hubs which are ace. I have no experience of their UK made stuff though.

A mate had a set of their first run UK made hubs in a wheelset.

He rode them 3 times and they failed ruining his ride 3 times. Freehub problems.

After the third time of sending them he had to go to his credit card company for a refund.

Their customer service is shocking, they fought him all the way.

------

I have a set of their essentials boost 29er 25mm rim on novatec hub I got for £75 in July. Faultless so far on about 10 rides.

------

The later runs of their UK made hubs might be better... but I would stick to something better known and with better customer service until they are better established.

My experience was the same as @woody2000 above - freehub on a Fuel hub fell apart. As he says, that's not something they'd made so their own stuff may be stronger.

I've got 3 pairs if you include the kids 24"
1st pair cost me £100, first ride I'd only put on the front and by the time i was 1/2 way round a barely single track trail was out by 1cm...
Got home, removed all spoke tension and redid the spokes on both wheels and both were still going fine after 3yrs until the fuel freehub failed (just cracked) with <<40Nm-1

Superstar no longer sell the freehub and only offer the last XD so I'm going to end up chucking the wheel... as its not really worth rebuilding or worth £60 + buying a SRAM cassette for the bike they are used on.

Can't really complain after 3 yrs for £100 though...

2nd £100 Pair came with novatech hubs... one rim was so badly pressed together you could see clear daylight through it. Despite this it sealed ...

Kids pair came with Fuel rear hub.... this just doesn't work with the QR endcaps... the freehub just falls off if you sneeze when the wheel is out (mate got one as well does the same). Same hub works absolutely fine with the 12mm endcaps... to be honest it seals so badly with the QR endcaps it's a good thing it falls off as it needs cleaning and regreasing every couple of rides in winter.

I've got a set of wheels they made for me with Stans Arch mk3 rims, which ended up cracking badly around the spoke holes - a known issue with those rims. I asked SS if it was normal for a pair of their wheels to fail so badly after 2.5 years of light use and they wanted nothing to do with it = out of warranty. Said crash repair was my only option.

I emailed Stans about the rims who supplied me new ones for free, acknowledging the faults. I asked SS if I could then supply them the rims for the crash repair build and they told me to get lost. Only option was if I bought them from them instead at nearly £100 each!

Now I'm not saying they did anything especially wrong but they also did pretty much bugger all in a way of trying to help. Considering the wheels were north of £500 I expected a bit more in the way of customer support.

Have you looked at the DT Swiss 1900 wheels from on-one? Or even the fulcrum versions?

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/WPDTSWISSM1900/dt-swiss-m-1900-spline-29-6-bolt-wheelset---front-15mm---rear-12x142mm

or you could buy mine 😉 29" wheels

Superstar no longer sell the freehub and only offer the last XD so I’m going to end up chucking the wheel… as its not really worth rebuilding or worth £60 + buying a SRAM cassette for the bike they are used on.

It'll probs be a novatec or chosen hub. Cheap spares are out there. I rebuilt a superstar superleggera trizoid with parts for a Halo supadrive hub from Triton cycles as they are the same chosen hub.

The fuel hubs were made by a French company IIRC - Aivee MT2?

Hello we are struggling to keep up with demand for our UK made hubs at the moment. They have evolved over the couple of thousand hubs made since launch, so now we don’t really get any issues with them. Lots of tiny refinements like changing the endcap fit tighter by 0.1mm but now we get people complaining you can’t get them off. Can’t win...

We stopped dealing with novatec for switch, kt for Tesla/electro and Aivee for the fuel several years ago. But where there’s spares holes you can get the parts from the manufacturer online usually. Where it’s not possible we do a crash rebuild discount to build on a new hub. But we aren’t going to do it for free for your 4 year old wheel which needs new everything like some people seem to think. Sorry but we are way more competitive than the other brands, we have to draw a line somewhere. We are fair and do it for basically physical manufacturing cost to keep people happy.

All our hubs are made in-house now. The essentials V3 builds are crazy value for money as they don’t have all the added nice things you might not use like crash rebuild and free Truing . Let’s face it your paying for that up front but it suits some people, others want cheap up front

With the current promo your not far off the OEM price other brands buy them from us 100s at a time...

Anyway I need to get back to the CNCs to make some medical parts. Obviously they will be rubbish if you believe the trolls!

Neil SuperstarComponents

Funny you should say that Neil, about the end caps... when I got sent the end caps for my front hub after they didn’t come with them I forgot to put grease in it, and it squeaks, and I can’t get it off! 🙂

I thought it was just me... I’m sure I can do it with some soft grips, but it’s nice to know it’s normal!

They need tipping slightly and pulling to one side. Dab of grease if you must but it attracts mud. Better to run dry and the seals polish up in a ride. Whichever works for you.

Neil SuperstarComponents

Anyway I need to get back to the CNCs to make some medical parts.

What's the warranty like on your hip replacements?

wzzzz

It’ll probs be a novatec or chosen hub. Cheap spares are out there. I rebuilt a superstar superleggera trizoid with parts for a Halo supadrive hub from Triton cycles as they are the same chosen hub.

Its not its ...
woody2000

The fuel hubs were made by a French company IIRC – Aivee MT2?

anyway... Aivee its not clear which one or indeed if they sell that one and the cheapest would be Euro 66 on a pair of wheels that cost me £100.

Sorry but we are way more competitive than the other brands, we have to draw a line somewhere.

Much as I appreciate that most of my issues have been assembly not manufacturing.
I'm happy rebuilding a wheel myself, just don't think I should have to after a single gentle ride.

Same with pedals (which are great) .. in fact I've got 3 sets but out of those 2 sets needed rebuilding after 1 ride.. well obviously before a ride as the end bolt wasn't torqued... started clicking 1st ride, got it home cleaned and torqued up properly and its still going 3 years later.

Sorry but we are way more competitive than the other brands, we have to draw a line somewhere.

At customer service when warranty is up in my experience!!

Yes that’s how most warranties work. Then we stock a huge range of spares for sensible prices From then on. You can go spend 3 times as much and you will find the same. After 2 years it’s a maintenance issue/wear and tear not a manufacturing fault clearly.

How about this. We triple our prices and we will warranty it for 10 years. Pop the cash in the post if that makes you happier, £500 wheelset for you.

Care to list a uk manufactured hub set built into branded rims for sub £200 hell sub £300 with longer than 2 year warranty.... you will be looking a long time

Neil SuperstarComponents

My dhxs where ok rim build wise

Did the ally freehub. Though my syncros ones done the same I broke an axle as well

But they're still true.....

I’ve got 3 sets of 29er wheels from SS - two are Switch hubs with Stans rims (arch and crests) and have given sterling service for the last 3-4 years.

The newest ones are 75 quid Essential ones (Novatec hubs). Can’t fault them. And 75 quid! Bloody bargain.

Also got some older 26er switch/stans, now on my kid’s bike - again, never had a problem with them (and 7 years old looking at my order history!).

We bought three sets of Superstar wheels between us as they seemed a bargain. Remember what the bloke said about cheap, strong and light? Well Superstar wheels are cheap and light but they ain't strong - we had to have two rim replacements in the first couple of months, done quickly and cheaply enough, but they simply didn't last like, for example, a Mavic wheel would. A false economy, as it turned out.

My dealings with Superstar and the wheels they made failing went pretty much like this:

Me: My wheels you custom made for me 2.5 years ago, the rims have lots of cracks around the spokes. Seemingly this is a known problem with the Stans Arch Mk3 rims as there's lots of things on the net about it. What can I do to change them?
SS: Pay for a crash rebuild, roughly £200.
Me: But I haven't crashed them and if the rims are known as having manufacturing issues (please check the internet if you don't believe me) then is that still my only option?
SS: Yes
Me: Is it normal for wheels you build to have such failures with the rims cracking so much (I can send photos) after such a short amount of time?
SS: We can't comment on that.

I emailed Stans in the states who told me they were very concerned about the level of service I was getting from my Stans dealer. They sent me a set of rims for free as they acknowledged the faults in the manufacturing of them.

I then email SS asking If I supply the rims, can they be used in the crash rebuild so I'm not out of pocket. Got told where to go basically. Paying was my only option and I must pay top whack for the rims, they wouldn't even price match them from elsewhere.

Have SS done anything wrong? No, unless you want to speculate over whether the wheels where built properly (Stans were curious after seeing the photos I sent). Have they done anything to help either? Not at all. Compare their response with Stans basically. One acknowledged a fault and was very helpful, one told me to get lost.

It's not the fact they were out of warranty that bothers me, that's my tough luck. But why make me pay top whack for new rims in the crash rebuild scheme when the manufacturer sent new ones for free?! They even offered to send them to Superstar but they still weren't having any of it.

Anyway I've gone on for too long here but you can make your own mind up about how they treat customers.

Crikey! Have Dave Hinde and the Superstar man ever been seen in a room together at the same time?

Conversely, 10 minutes after that last post, the DPD man arrived with a set of Essentials road wheels ordered off the back of this thread in a fast, easy transaction. Wheels seem fine: spinning smoothly, spoke tension ok, rims true. Come back in 2020?

I've got a few sets of SS wheel. The only issues I've had have been crash/tyre failure related.
Done a couple of Megas on EX 23 rims without issues.
Done more than one lap of Swinley red on my road bike with 25c tyres when I've been bored of a road ride. The Pave road rims stayed straight and true.

In reply to Painey who has postedbthe same thing twice. I’m going to be straight and honest with our simple policy explanation.

In your case it’s simple. You were out your 2year warranty as you say. Because of this we offered you the lifetime crash rebuild offer where you buy whatever rims you want and you get FREE delivery, labour, nipples, spokes. So basically we make a loss every time we do this as our goodwill policy. Any other brands out there do that for you???

Stans seems to be the most problems of the rims we stock but it’s still minimal, they are ultralight so yes things crack and wear out when your chasing grams on a mtb. if it’s in your warranty period we replace them for free and then argue the toss with stans to try and get a replacement. But again it’s a fresh build with new spokes and nipples which we have to cover the cost of even if it’s warranty stans don’t pay for it if their product fails. After 2 years it’s Very unlikely to be a product fault and therefore not warranty.

If stans replace them good for them, and you can get them built up. But we don’t offer a lifetime spoke replacement and Free wheelbuilding service, and I’m not aware of anyone who does.

Correct me if this isn’t entirely fair?

Neil SuperstarComponents

Painey, you got a free set of rims from the manufacturer (because their product was a bit shit) after 2.5 years of use, and you're annoyed because SS wanted you to pay to have them rebuilt? You know that they'd pretty much have to use new spokes, which would take as much time as new build right? My LBS charges about the same for building wheels.

I think you need a bit of perspective.

I've a set of bargain Supertstars on the rigid, bought 4 years ago, still strong & true. Maybe I was lucky but I give 'em a thumbs up for what they delivered for my needs

Got to admit I'm with SS on this after 2.5 yrs they wouldn't have got a pair of rims of Stans or the cost of building them up. What are they supposed to do ? Sell a set of wheels and prove warrenty cover themselves for life !!

OK so I'm maybe being a bit harsh, and I made it clear they haven't done anything wrong. What I can't share are the replies. Short shrift etc. No acknowledgement of any potential issues with the product when there's overwhelming evidence otherwise. No offer to contact the suppliers to help sort what is clearly a defective component part of the wheel build, hence me having to go direct. "Not our problem guv'". That sort of thing.

I get they're a small-ish UK company putting out stuff at a very competitive price point. I've got lots of their kit on my bikes and never had any issues. Maybe because they've always been so good (to me) I was mistakenly hoping for better. Then again there is plenty of other stuff about their customer service before...

To be fair to them I’ve had nothing but good experiences when it comes to Superstar and their customer service, and my only issues with their products are their absolute cheapest products. My last set of wheels were absolutely amazing, and I wish I could have kept them, I’ll still almost certainly buy my next set from them too, but probably go for the V6 hubs and better rims.

Got a few sets of SS hubbed wheels, usually on Stans rims, but at least one pair on SS branded ones. Only issue I've ever had was the internals of Tesla rear hub going pop halfway round an Edale loop. After a long walk / scoot / coast back to the car, I sent it back two days before the warranty expired and got a new (updated) hub built into the wheel with no quibbles. No issues with SS at all in 10 years or so of dealing with them.

Had some really good pedals followed by some redesigned not as good ones. The NW chainrings were alright when at the right price. TBF they all seem to be trying to make 25-30 the lowest price norm for a single chainring!

Had a set of cheap and a bit nasty wheels. The front was ok, the rear hub poor quality and spoke tension all over the place on both.

A mixed bag and bit of a gamble IME.

I have had some DHX and AMX wheels for years, I am harsh on them and they have been true without issue.

That said any customer service I have had has been pretty shit.

The CS contact seems to take everything as a personal insult.

I had some Pacenti dl31 rims on the switch evo hubs (i think). Great wheelset, just ordered a 142mm axle conversion kit. Emailed SS asked how to do the axle swap and they sent me a simple email reply, perfect.

Had countless chainrings too, sent one back as the chain didn't fit the narrow-wideness properly, sorted no dramas.

What's the difference between the v3 and v6 hubs?

Less machining, pawls and cheaper bearings. Bearings not as well sealed.

V3s are basically the same hub but without the hugely expensive SKF bearings. The high fill ones are pretty good but obviously not as sexy. 3pawls for half the engagement and the odd bit of detail machining deleted. Same seals and basic components as the expensive one.

But actually a lot of the cost difference is stepping up the production volumes by ten. Even with that we are struggling to make them fast enough....

Neil SuperstarComponents

I'm needing some burly new wheels at the moment.
Reading Neil's reply has made me go elsewhere. Heck, even OnOne sound more understanding and customer focused....

Reading Neil’s reply has made me go elsewhere.

I thought his reply was very reasonable

He comes across as someone who is always right, won't/can't see that at times they have had QC issues or that some customers feel they were not looked after, even with new things.

He comes across as a moaner - things like 'can't win' statements. It's not about winning.

It comes across as "stop complaining, I'm right, you didn't pay much, what do you expect?"

Im about to pull the trigger on some v6/wtb wheels for a cheap xc home I have. I've been unable to find a review of long term reliability of the hubs. Can only find about loose end caps and freehub body's which it's my understanding that's been sorted.
The replies from superstar seem very to the point, seems like a guy who cuts out all the bullshit. Not sure if that's a good thing or not

I'm quite impressed by his replies. You can never please everyone / get it 100% right, but at least he's proud of his company and seems to have a very reasonable warranty attitude etc.

People moaning on here will always exaggerate how bad their experience was, so I always take those with a pinch of salt.

Cheers Rich, wasn't even looking for any f3ckin' wheels until I saw this !
The SS now has a new set of wheels for the winter 😉

He comes across as a moaner

And nobody does that ever on here 😂😂😂

I’ve bought 2 sets of wheels.

Had problems with both sets.

Really bad customer service.

Difficult to get spares as they didn’t keep many spares.

In the end I used the rim and rebuilt with a Hope hub.

If you do buy, buy some service parts and get the diagram or part numbers.

I thought the old Ss hubs were just re branded novatec hubs?

Now they are making their own I would assume the qc would improve and spares and diagrams easier to get hold of.

Maybe Neil could comment?

As you ask yes as we design our hubs and manufacture them all in-house, so we have lots of everything. When we make a new version we try our hardest to make it reverse compatible. When it’s impossible we usually have extremely generous offers to upgrade.

It’s the main reason why I sacked off taiwan made parts. They just kept changing things without telling us so holding spares was impossible letting down our customers. Also lots of other brands knew we were one of the few with spares so most of the time we ran out of stock “supporting” other brands customers because they couldn’t be bothered worrying about spares at the expense of superstar customers. In fact this got so bad to the point we had customers of other brands complaining and posting bad reviews because we had run out or didn’t stock this other brands spares... then said brand had the cheek to email us asking when we were restocking so they could tell their customers!

We used several factories and most of them still have the spares available but sometimes they are expensive. We don’t deal with them any more so we can’t buy any more. Plus it wouldn’t be cost effective to buy OEM numbers of them or to remanufacture for the odd person with a 8 year old hub.

It’s nice to finally make a clean break and do it all ourselves. It was a 7 figure sum spent on machines, materials, tools, R&D etc and almost broke us but it’s done now, and I have a queue of brands wanting for us to make their hubs/wheels as we are one of possibly 2-3 factories in the uk with the capabilities to manufacture thousands of hubs a month.

The current range is just the starting point...

Neil SuperstarComponents

Well done Neil. It sounds like you have really worked hard to move your business in a positive direction. I wish you every success in the future and it will be great if UK bike companies opt for your products on their bikes.

Thanks for the reply!

Are the v3 and v6 hubs #madeinbritain 👍

Are the v3 and v6 hubs #madeinbritain

Yes. Everything made and assembled in-house in Lincoln. Check out www.superstarmanufacturing.com

Neil SuperstarComponents

I've never been anything but impressed with SS both from a product longevity or support standpoint.

Have had several sets of wheels/rotors/parts over the years, raced them out on the Superenduro series and all wheels were fine and needed only the usual tickle with a spoke key that you'd expect with hard use.

The one time I had an issue (whatever the KT based free hub it was that failed more frequently than the others), I got a prompt reply to my email with pics, an FOC rebuild to a different hub (as that model was out of stock at the time) and all was good.

I've said it many times - you have to look at ratios of failure/problem to unit sold, not number of problems. And definitely don't be sucked into noise online from a vocal few who complain. I'm also a massive believer that your approach when raising a warranty concern shapes your experience.....

I’ve had 3 sets of road, 3 mtb.
One of the Pacenti road rims failed- cracking around the spoke holes, about 18mnths in.By this time the Internet said this was not uncommon. SS acknowledged this and rebuilt it on to a Stansroad rim. I was delighted. There was nothing else to it, couldn’t fault the Cx service. The initial communication wasn’t fast but it all got resolved in decent enough time.
Even if I suddenly become rich I can’t see why I wouldn’t continue to buy SS wheels.

I ordered a set last night. V6 hubs on wtb i23 rims for my voodoo bizango. Only reason I've spent more on the v6 for £240 over the v3 hubs at £160 is I'm a sucker for coloured parts, v6 hubs in blue where as v3 is only shown in black. Guessing this is to keep the price low.

Are superstar making onone's new wheels?

Hmm my  rear 12mm bolt thru will not go thru my brand new hubs, they go in one side but not the way I need to attach to the frame 🙁

Postierich. Drop me some photos on Facebook Or email and I’ll try and understand.

The endcaps and axle are made with a 12mm fancy drill from Germany and will be bang on 12mm and straight. Your axle should be 11.90-11.95mm and drop straight through. If it doesn’t it’s bent.

I’ve seen a lot of brands drill axles from both sides to save money bit they never line up so they oversize the hole to make up for the sloppy machining. This then bends axles and makes the hub shift in the dropouts

Neil SuperstarComponents

Rich, just use a big rock to bang it in 🙂

Postierich

Hmm my rear 12mm bolt thru will not go thru my brand new hubs, they go in one side but not the way I need to attach to the frame

I got a 12mm bolt thru (non RS)... nothing to do with the hubs but it fits one Pike and not the other ...
(won't even go in through the hole, not it or the fork is bent the forks have slightly different diameter holes)

I’ve seen a lot of brands drill axles from both sides to save money bit they never line up so they oversize the hole to make up for the sloppy machining. This then bends axles and makes the hub shift in the dropouts

Same problem with BB30 bottom brackets, drill from each side to save cost but they don't line up properly and hence you get creaking....