I recently crashed out during a criterium race, stupidly hurtling through a narrow corner at 60km/h and locking up my back wheel in a futile attempt to roost the corner. I washed out and smashed into a gutter. Both bike and handlebars were cracked. The sidewalls of my GP5000s were completely shredded through. But my CRWs were not only perfectly intact (minus some expected cosmetic scratches) but still perfectly in true. I’m 80kg and hit that gutter fast and hard.

I am so happy I have these wheels!

I had some issues with the bearings to begin with but once they were changed they have been flawless. Super fast and responsive – Great with a set of Tubeless GP5000s on – They have been so good infact I purchased another pair of the 6075s and they have been great as well.

Highly recommend getting these if you like to race your bike fast and want to be comfortable as well.

The carbon in the wheels looks amazing especially in the sun, initially I wasn’t crazy about the more satin/gloss finish over matt but they actually look really good.

I would absolutely recommend them and my overall buying experience was really good, thanks to Tom for answering my questions.

It seems many folks are having different QC issues each time and sometimes are very hard to find until after the fact.

I don’t think I can recommend a product I can’t confidently say has safe QC.

Magene EXAR 508db was what I was on the fence about. I’d probably send other that direction.

Pros: They are very rapid to accelerate. Getting started or changing speed has been snappy and responsive. They handle much better in crosswinds than I should be allowed to expect from a wheel this deep. Even on a bike with a super-short wheelbase and quick steering, and winds that started at 22mph and gusted to over 35, I found myself as steady and in-control as with a set of MUCH shallower wheels that I usually saved for days like this. I also get a lot less brake noise than I do with my steel spoked wheels, and that freehub is also very fast to engage. Handling has been rock-solid under my 170lbs, and I have been able to feel no more flex in them than in any other upper-end wheelset I have owned.(I worried about that given the low spoke count) I have not done any really long climbs on them yet, but they have been excellent on the rollers close to where I live, leaving me with no concerns about taking them on hillier routes or to the mountains in Colorado over the summer – unlike other deep-section wheels I have owned, these do not feel sluggish when gravity goes against me.

Cons: Minorly, the freehub can be really, really loud. I like a quiet bike, and unless I have recently put extra grease into the pawl mechanism I hate to freewheel around other people with these wheels. I’m hoping these bed in a little with age and quiet down like another star-ratchet hub I have.

Far more important, however, is that the bearings in the front wheel bind. (This is not a problem with the rear wheel) Given that they are touted as ceramic bearings, I had expected them to be super-smooth and spin well, but they don’t. In the hand, the front axle is actually pretty hard to turn, and on the stand with a little pre-load, the wheel still doesn’t spin well. A really hard spin by hand has resulted in under 30 seconds of spin before it comes to a complete stop, and there is enough binding that the valve will stop anywhere. Other wheels I have or have had(With Vision, Roval, LightBicycle, DT, Bitex, HED, Cannondale, and some old Campagnolo hubs) all spin for MUCH longer with the same kind of initial spin, and every single one of them will reverse direction at the end of its spin and swing back and forth a bit before coming to a halt.

I feel that this bearing stiffness contributes to the sensation that these wheels just don’t hold speed like I had expected deep wheels to do. Initially I had thought that the wheel was just tight from the factory and would settle in, but that has not happened. I haven’t gone out to purchase new bearings in the hopes of improving things yet, but I don’t think I’m far from that, and this just shouldn’t be an issue in a new set of wheels, especially at this price. Part of the reason I have not replaced the bearings yet is that I don’t know whether it’s the bearings alone, if the hub shell is too tight, or if the axle is a hair oversized.

Bottom line: They look fantastic, are comfortable to ride, handle well in all conditions, but bearing quality is not what it should be. Check your wheels carefully when they arrive – the consistency isn’t where it needs to be with these wheels yet.