Easton EA50 SL Clincher Wheelset

Price Paid:  $350.00 at City Bikes in Chevy

Bike Setup:
2007 LeMond Tourmalet frame/fork built up with a mix of SRAM Force and Red components.

Summary:
The spoke/hub/rim combination make a strong and relativley light wheel set at a very good price. I was impressed that a hand-made wheelset in this price range even existed.

I rode them for 3.5 months... less than 1500 miles. The riding included about 30-50 miles per day Monday through Friday for my commute plus weekend rides that were 50 miles at the low end and 90 at the high end.

The wheels held a true perfectly. They felt strong and tracked well. The bearings in the hubs were smooth and fast. I didn't have a problem at all with them for the entire time I rode them... except for the last day.

On a mellow after-work spin, I noticed a little ticking coming from the freehub body under load. We turned back when the ticking turned to crackling sound and the amount of pressure needed to get the sound became less.

In the 20 miles that it took me to get home, the sound became much louder and pretty much constant. By the time I got home the freehub was pretty much toast.

When I took the cogs off, there was ground metal coming out between the freehub body and the hub body.

I took the wheel to the shop where I purchased them. They were awesome with helping me, offered me a loaner wheel, etc.

It took Easton 2 weeks to respond that they would not fix the wheel under warranty. The shop offered to rebuild it for me. I declined since I need something with more dependability than that. My bike is my main transportation and I need something that holds up better.

I am certainly a disappointed consumer. I tried to wait till I wasn't angry to write this review.

Strengths:
Hand Built wheels at a great price. They're light for the price. The rims, spokes and structural parts of the hubs were amazingly durable.

Weaknesses:
Freehub body is trash. It should last longer than the stickiest set of race tires. I'm a big guy (6'4", 210lbs), but I've had reasonably-priced freehubs last for years without a problem. This was rediculous.

Similar Products Used:
I've always been a 32, 3-cross wheel kind of guy. I'll go back to my Ultegra/Open pro wheels and be happy with those.

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