Espresso 43mm Wheels

I have been using a pair of Espresso wheels for a few weeks now, and thought it might be time to write a bit about them. They're £45.oo each.

The wheels are black, but come in different colours (white, aqua[light aquamarine blue], metallic[grey] ). They're suprisingly cheap, so I wasn't expecting anything too surprising. They're also 43mm deep, so the same depth as Velocity B43 rims, and H+Son SL42 (close enough), and the EigthInch Julians (close enough).

The wheels seem strong - they just look it; no flex at all. The paint is typical of being done in a huge factory, where on the inside, where the rimtape goes, the paint is patchy. I couldn't work out what type of paint it was, but it didn't seem anodized. In fact the paint has a slightly rubberized texture when you touch it. I took the Espresso decals off, even though the yellow colour suited the bike I tested them on. Maybe I should have left them on, but I'm not a big fan of decals on rims. The rims show dirt quickly, but a good wipe down had them always return to a like-new appearance.

The hubs are Quando, and there seems to be nothing wrong with them. Indeed, the freewheel rolls a lot smoother than a cheap freewheel I bought a little while ago. All I can say, is that they do the job, without fuss. I didn't test these wheels in rainy conditions though, as I felt better taking my Cannondale out instead.

The spokes appeared untensioned on delivery, though the wheels spun completely true. I discussed this with the retailer, and suggested offering a hand-trued wheel, as well as the factory machine-trued wheel. Some of the spokes felt soft, so after Vaidas tensioned them for me, I was ready to test them. I felt this was important, as I am a heavy guy, and machine-trued wheels wouldn't have stayed true long under my weight. Vaidas said that he did the best he could do, but he was concerned that he hadn't done a perfect job, as he said that wheels with that depth of rim, were harder to make totally true, if there is any non-roundness. I have cycled them for weeks, and they seemed as true as I have ever known wheels to be. One tip I picked up from Vaidas, is that the tube valve screw/retainer from Schwalbe, has one side that fits into the Schraeder sized holes in the rims. Its unusual, because a deep V rim would nearly always take road/race tryes and tubes, so the norm would be a thinner presta valve hole. There are rim adaptors to make the hole shrink from schraeder to presta size, but the cheap (and my) option choice was to just use the valve screw/retainer that has a raised inner section. The completely flat ones would be no use at all. One of the photos demontrates how it works. I used Bontrager 60mm length presta valve tubes.

I rode these wheels on my Giant Bowery for two reasons. One, my Bowery is black, and the second reason was, when I tried to fit the front wheel to my Capo, it wouldn't fit. This was weird, as the rear wheel fit fine. I haven't measured it, but I wonder if the front axle is 10mm, as is the rear. Front track axles are normally 9mm, and the rear is 10mm. Whatever the reason, the Bowery forks slotted onto them with no issue, but the Capo forks just would not sink onto it. I gave up. The Capo had been my first choice as test bike. Oh well.

The ride was a surprise. I had expected these wheels to be jarringly stiff, and transferred through my Bowery, and worse, Nitto B125 36cm steel bars, would rough going. The surprise, is that it wasn't. maybe its the tyres I used, which even at 130psi, are strangely cushioning. They were the Halo Courier Berlins of course.

The weight of the wheels didn't seem excessive, and not much more in riding conditions than my favourites....Rigida DP18rims with SystemEx hubs. Being a bit heavier, I did feel that on hills, but no real benefit in aerodynamics. As if a parachute like me could ever get aerodynamic benefit from anything.

Still, they worked, and I will continue using them, and update this later, to make this a long-term test. So far, so good. For the price, they're really a pleasant surprise.

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I know. .......slack chain. :)

long post aboout some factory wheels.

also you don't spray anodize coatings. you dip the part into a bath. the pattern you described is paint. and it's powercoated.

i stopped reading after that.

i always tension any factory wheels I buy.

ok i'm really done reading now.

I think I did the same for the Halo Courier Berlin tyres. Those were also made in a factory.

long post aboout some factory wheels.

there is something of a background story to this review

How much would it cost to get them tensioned by hand?

GA2G, since you made very clear you wanted to help the "business" that sells said wheels, how are we supposed to believe the review is impartial?

How about if I have not praised one single thing about the wheels, except that they are cheap, and work?

As is said in the review.....

I haven't said that they are fast. I haven't said that they are light. I haven't said that they were of anodized colouring (high quality).

I have said that the wheels are factory built, and should be hand-tensioned before use, especially for a big person, like me.
I have said that the front wheel hub axle appears to be 10mm, whereas most are 9mm.

EDIT:
I also said who tensioned them, and because that person (Vaidas) is a person I consider a pro, it may be exactly why the wheels seemed good. I would safely say that Vaidas' work made a lot of difference to how they were. If I had tensioned them, they might have gone out of true within a week. I wouldn't trust myself with something like that. I'm not experienced with wheel truing.

How much would it cost to get them tensioned by hand?

Vaidas did a deal for me, because I helped him with a couple things....and I found him a good supplier of hub bearings. I don't know his exact price. I DO know that YOU true/tension your own wheels though. I'm not as competent in any cycling related pursuit as you are James. I'm aware of that.

So its not really a review of the espresso wheels as they were worked on by a proper mechanic before being used.

It would have been much more interesting to see how they survived in their state as if someone had just bought them.

If i bought a new set of wheels I would probably not expect to have to take them to another shop for work to be done before I could use them. Its to be expected that machine built wheels will not be as good, and some manufacturers offer hand finished machine wheels as a compromise.

So its not really a review of the espresso wheels as they were worked on by a proper mechanic before being used.

It would have been much more interesting to see how they survived in their state as if someone had just bought them.

If i bought a new set of wheels I would probably not expect to have to take them to another shop for work to be done before I could use them. Its to be expected that machine built wheels will not be as good, and some manufacturers offer hand finished machine wheels as a compromise.

I think I was completely honest about what I did with the wheels James. As I said, I felt a set of true-spinning factory assembled wheels would not have lasted long with an 18 stone tester/reviewer. I used them on horrible roads, back and forth from Lower Sydenham (lets call it Catford South) to Farringdon.

I knew from experience that handbuilt wheels (from Kiwi Cycles on my original Bowery mods) stayed true longer than factory-trued wheels (Mach 1 wheels from my Capo). I stated why I chose that option, and made it public. Nothing was hidden. I think if I were 11 stone, I might have just gone ahead and given them a right old bash, but I'm not a lightweight am I? So I did the responsible thing that an 18 stone bloke should do. I'd recommend it to people of 10 stone also, as the wheels would stay truer for longer, and the price of the wheels is less than half-price rims of comparitive dimensions.

From my understanding, the retailer now has a mechanic that he will use to hand-tension/re-true the wheels should a customer wish it. Its an option for customers I believe. I think people like you and jersey (as he said above) would tension factory wheels themselves. I'm not capable, and if I were, I would have said it.

I fully agree with you that, machine built wheels would not be as good as handbuilt ones. You see, we agree on something 100%.

I fully agree with you that, machine built wheels would not be as good as handbuilt ones. You see, we agree on something 100%.

unless the hand built wheels were built by a cunt, and the machine built wheels built in a really high quality factory.

for example.

Yes, very true.

Hang on, did I just agree with nimhbus?

This must be in the Book of Revelations or something. :(

I have nothing to say in response to these wheels.

I want them for my Polo beater...

Aren't they just rebranded ones off a Create Bike?

If the rims on Create Bikes are 43mm deep, then its certainly a possibility. But somehow, I don't think the Create Bike rims are that deep.

I have never handled a Create bike before, so I couldn't say for certain.

Hahaha! Ashe rolls on Unipack wheels... ;P

i dont think they are..

can i just stress HALO TWIL RAIL BERLINS are THE BO-LOCKS!!!

What size tyres do these wheels take?

Those Halos look pretty wide - wonder if they'd take Cyclo Cross tyres for winter use...

General Lucifer, the 700x24 starts off very narrow when new, but get more rounded with mileage.

what does all this mean?

Read it in the Tyre Review thread.

Im not readin anything...