Spank Spike Race 33 27.5" (650b) Rim

Previous Review Should Be 1-Star!

I selected 1-star but Universal's site decided to change that to a 5-star!!



Would Buy Again: No
Would Recommend: No

Reviewed on: October 05, 2016
Reviewed by: Brian P.

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Pretty Disappointed - Race 33 Review

So from the get-go my experience with this rim has been terrible. Little background: Looking for a "more durable" option to the Easton ARC 30 that I currently had. I couldn't run less than 28 psi on the rear to avoid adding a new dent after every ride. Even at that pressure any type of impact would easily dent the rim and knock it out of true. SO after some suggestions and reading, I opted for the Spank Race33. First thing after Universal finally got them in stock after ordering them, one of the rims had a noticeable "grinding" mark at the seam. The seam alignment was also very poor and uneven. The other rim also had noticeable poor alignment at the seam BUT this rim had a white sticker over the outide of the seam. I'm sure this in attempt to cover up the poor quality and visual imperfections from the grinder. I refused to accept the one that had the missing sticker and they were going to order a NEW one. After a week and a half wait, I stopped in to pick up the NEW one. The counter guy hands me a rim that looks as bad as my first one AND is missing the cover-up sticker. I said that looks the same, he says it's the new one, not sure what to tell you. I said it looks terrible and even is missing the seam cover-up sticker, he said not sure what to tell you, I said plus that sticky note on the tag saying "rim decal missing" looks just like the one that the guy wrote at my last visit. After wasting another 20 minutes while he tries to re-order one, apparently it's a big deal if you purchase with PayPal. Anyway after another week they had it shipped to me. Opening the new box, the rim has several "nicks and scratches" thru the paint and the seam, while now covered by the weird white sticker, has as poor alignment as the other two. Built up, the wheels were fairly simple to true and tension, however there is several nipple hole angle issues. Not every one of the holes is affected but there are several on each wheel that are not drilled at an adequate angle, causing a more than desired bend in the spoke at the nipple/spoke interface. This causes more difficult nipple tightening because of the side force and clearly undue stress of both the spoke and nip at this point. After a few rides and some impacts (28 psi), they do seem slightly more resistant to dents, but there is one rock impact that did slightly dent the rim and did throw it out of true and can no longer be trued without getting spoke tensions too far off. I really cannot recommend these rims.

Pros: May be more durable than some but cannot recommend from experience.

Cons: Heavy
Very poor quality finish
Seam alignment visually off

Would Buy Again: No
Would Recommend: No

Reviewed on: October 03, 2016
Reviewed by: Brian P.

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