Mid-priced carbon wheels from UK firms: Parcours, Scribe, Zed Wheels, Just Riding Along, VEL...prob not Hunt!

Ah did not know that, but yes I'd imagine we're talking about the same people.

Seems like a fair summary. Had not realised they were not US made.

Good to know. One of the manufacturers I originally mentioned (possibly Zed) offers their wheels in a LOUD version, drawing attention to the hubs' volume...

Thank you, interesting. I am perhaps leaning towards the Parcours if I go off the shelf. Their communication seems very good/quick....also their product does not seem to be priced at rock bottom and they offer the lifetime warranty. Interested to know what bike you bought with these as stock wheels?!

I'd echo the recommendation for Martin over at Arkane wheels. My 40mm carbon wheels laced to Hope hubs with Pillar aero spokes came in around £850. Don't quote me on this but I'm pretty sure he uses Light Bicycle rims for builds. Probably comes out a bit more expensive than if you sourced the rims yourself and had him build them but there's much less wait time going direct to Martin.

Just a word in support of Scribe. I have a pair I bought on here and they had an issue with the hub slipping so I contacted them to get spares to repair it myself (as not original buyer). Instead they honoured the original warranty, and overhauled the hub for free. Since that they've been perfect. Amazed by that service, and when I need another set I'll be ordering from them. I'd ridden them for that last year I can't honestly imagine how any other wheels would be better.

They are a bit loud but can easily be dismantled to put a bit of grease on the pawls and they quieten down.

Fair enough. I am waiting to hear back from him since i sent details of my budget! I do quite like the look of those LB rims, the ones with the wobbly edges.

Currently £787 at ProBikeKit:
https://www.probikekit.co.uk/bicycle-wheels/zipp-303-s-carbon-tubeless-disc-brake-wheelset/12631661.html

Has anyone ever made use of the crash replacement programme for the brands with a lifetime warranty on carbon (Scribe, Hunt etc)

I have priced up some Farsports carbon gravel wheels at around £550 but it almost seems like a false economy if for £300 more I get a pair of Scribes and they’ll keep replacing the rims when I break them?

I have not…but just nipping back to this thread, I went for the Zipp 303s in the end. Looked like a lot of positive feedback even at £985RRP so at the £750-odd I paid, seemed like a good deal. Largely attracted by the warranty from a company I would hope will be around long enough to honour it if needed. Suspect they will have a few rough edges and 1550g is not featherweight but hopefully CX Sprint spokes and hookless rims will take a bit of a battering without too many problems.

How are you getting on with these?

I'm looking to get something now but the prices are generally a bit higher now than they were before xmas.

At this stage, they’ve been fit and forget! Set up with Pirelli Cinturato Velos was a piece of cake. My weight of 75kg requires about 65psi - tyres feel very firm at that pressure. Did not experience the freehub flying off as some reviews have mentioned. Cannondale AI offset was done by Sigma Sports for about £30. Only negative is that they don’t look ‘amazing’ on the bike in the same way as, say, Campagnolo WTO and the matt finish kind of attracts dirt. I’d be slightly more hesitant to recommend at £900+ But below that, all good.

thanks for the update. funny you mention campagnolo because I'm considering the shamals. the only thing putting me off is the cost and availability of replacement rims if I somehow break one.

Maybe too late but pacenti have some great wheels that are up a level from zipp.
https://pacenticycledesign.co.uk/

Those Pacenti look decent as do the Shamal. I can't quite get with the Campagnolo lacing pattern personally, but I do like the idea of proper tubeless rims that don't require tape. If you're looking at £1k + it opens up a lot of options.

shamals are 999 on Merlin.

are the pacentis not a bit expensive for bitex hubs? they are £1199 but you can get Vel wheels with dt240s for a hundred less.

edit: I used to dislike the G3 spoke pattern on campagnolo wheels as well but have come round to it (a bit). it looks better now the front wheels are the same.

+1 for Scribe. Had an issue with my rear rim (alloy, slight problem at the rim joint) and they have replaced it within a week. Super easy as they arranged for it to be collected and even said not to bother removing cassette and tyre. Really good communication throughout. And good wheels too!

Decided to try Zed Wheels after reading some online reviews and liking the idea of trying something new. Went for the top spec 50m versions with Berd Spokes.

Unfortunately they were not true at all when arrived and had way too much flex in them.

Zed Bike wheels then went from being the friendliest outfit to deal with to being really difficult. Hard to get a hold of and refusing to hear of any fault despite confirmation being provided by very reputable bike shop.

Wheels were sent back. Zed denied any fault and sent them back. Bike shop again confirmed that same faults were there and said they were unsafe to ride.

Almost a 8 months later and nothing has been resolved. All kinds of silliness and still £1,500 out of pocket. Currently taking legal action.

I was excited to try a boutique UK wheel firm but in hind sight wish I had just stuck to one of the big brands with better customer service and more accountable approach. Lesson learned.

Well that sounds shit. https://zedbikewheels.com/warranty/

Zipp have pretty flaky hubs so I'm not sure I'd buy them but at least they fix their mistakes (even if it does take them 6 months to do a rebuild).

Yeh their warranty only applies when the owner says so.

My wheels had never been ridden by myself - The bike shop took them for a spin after fitting tyres and cassette etc and noticed the issues and then sent videos as proof. I didn't really mind. I've had issues with Zipp wheels too (hubs being recalled etc). As long as it gets sorted no probs.
Zed were having non of it though. Just tried to blame the bike shop.

Part of the problem is it is just a husband and wife outfit so in a situation like this hard to do anything.

One of the funniest things was that when I was talking to Lee (the owner) about buying he was super responsive, very helpful and happy to chat on phone. When the issues started I couldn't reach him and eventually his wife emailed me to say that due to him having Autism he usually avoided speaking to people. Couldn't make up some of the stuff along the way.

Have to say, if I could possibly justify another set of wheels at this point, I’d be all over these:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185618370778?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=e1BbwI1TQaC&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=yJqBgKzZQNO&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

ouch - I feel your pain. I've had some Zed wheels, and went through the same valuation process as you: great reviews, UK wheel-builder, affordable....

But as you, when they came: although they were true, the spokes didn't feel tight enough. Put this down to me not knowing anything about wheel-building. Rode them about 300 miles and found the brake tracks to rub on the pads (rim brakes) front and rear on efforts. Then a hand full of spoke totally unwound in the rear wheel and one in the front snapped.

To be fair - Zed got back to me quickly and even offered to send me some loaner wheels, However by that time, I'd lost all confidence (in Zed) and bought a spoke tension gauge, followed a youtube tutorial and trued and tensioned the wheels myself. 5000 miles later, they're still bang on, no flex, no unwinding/snapped spokes.

Looks like the same problem to me... massively under-tensioned and no QA department. When I asked what tension they should be... he wouldn't disclose, saying it was better that I sent them back.

Yes that does sound familiar.

Mine were very slack and rubbed the brakes really badly front and rear even when putting down normal power in pedals in bike shop car park. They were also clearly untrue, especially the rear.

The spokes were really loose but Lee said this was all normal characteristics of string spoke wheels and why they give such a compliant ride!! He blamed both on the brake pads being too close to the rim - They weren't especially close at all.

The wheels were sent back but no issue was found. Lee claimed they were "perfect" and blamed my local bike shop for trying to find issue where there was none. I took them back assuming that maybe lee had actually realised what was wrong and just fixed it at his shop. Either way I would have good working wheels now.

When they came back had exactly the same problems and bike shop said they were unsafe.

Lee then sent them the spoke keys needed for string spoke tensioning to see if, like you, the bike shop could just sort it out. My bike shop said that after trying they were still unhappy with the general build quality and just didn't feel happy with the wheels. The rear wheel appeared to have a kink in it that was not a result of tension.

Zed flat out refused to admit the issues. When video footage was provided to zed they then said that the issues must have been caused by the bike shop. Thankfully the bike shop was already suspicious of zed and had recorded their work.

My bike shop thinks (not confirmed) that Zed perhaps don't even build all of their wheels themselves as claimed but that they take the orders and then they are built by a third party in Asia then sent on to customers. Indeed the rims are confirmed as coming from Taiwan in bulk already.

This hasn't been confirmed but it would make sense as to why wheels come as they do without Zed really knowing what they are like and doing any quality control.

Either way has been a total nightmare!!

Following on from this... I'm in the market for some carbon wheels... I've had Zipp 302s in the past which I loved... and didn't have any any problems with the hubs, but would like to try something different this time round.

I've been looking at Parcours, primarily the Ronde and Grimpeur as they fit into my price range... I prefer the Ronde, but the price of the Grimpeur is more affordable for my wallet.

Has anyone had any experience with the above... any other suggestions are good as I'm open to anything... not too sure about Hunt as I've not heard good things about the hubs they use.

My personal experience... don't get hunt.

I have some carbon 650b jobs. Rim cracked and I didn't even realise, no crash or anything, I thought they just went out of true and asked my lbs to true them.
Hunt warranty is a joke because they said there had been an 'impact' and offered me a minor discount on a whole new wheel because they didn't have any rims.
I can't imagine any wheel failing without an 'impact', which is apparently only what the warranty covers. Maybe spontaneously exploding while in the shed?

The freehub is insanely loud, and the communication is very very slow too. Should have gone light bicycle but the promise of a better warranty swayed it.
Maybe I just got unlucky. My lbs said he's seen lots of hunt wheels with issues too.