# New wheelset...Powerway Solohomer pro



## emartin (Mar 11, 2009)

Hi, I've been asking about those wheels a few weeks ago and my tread didn't gave me much answer. Also, there wasn't much info or reviews on the web. I did contact a forum member who own a set and he seem satisfied. So here we go:

I was looking for a aero alloy wheelset, as light as it can be and I did not want to spend much. Also the wheels need to be strong enough for training and I wanted to be able to race on those(mostly crit and flat road race). I live in Quebec, Canada, our road are as bad as you can imagine and we do not have much hill around where I live. The fact that I live in Canada also limit my choice of wheels: when ordering from places like Neuvation, Rol, William...we have to pay a premium for shipping and when the package hit custom, they charge taxes and fee and the result isn't much of a deal. Also, there was no way I'll pay around 800$ for a set wheels from big manufacturer at a lbs (around here this is the price for a set of Easton ea70, Fulcrum racing 3...)

My background: I'm 35, 160lbs, I've been road riding/racing for more than 15 years and I rode on multiple custom wheelset, Mavic, Zipp and Fulcrum.

I ordered this wheelset from Cycleway. This guy also sell on ebay but his price are better on his website. I paid 289$usd for the wheelset and about 50$usd for shipping. No charge were added on reception .

The package:








The wheels:








Superb hub:








Rim(look very much like kinlin rims):








Couple pics of my bike:

















I did not had the chance to try them but what I can say is that the fit and finish is superb. The hubs are very, very smooth and I like the color contrast of the white spokes on my bike. BTW with this setup, my bike weight a flat 16 pounds...not bad for a full Rival bike. I will back with a review after a few ride.


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## OldSkoolFatGuy (Sep 6, 2007)

For $300 they look like a nice set of wheels! I'd kill the stickers, but that's just me.

What did these replace?


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## emartin (Mar 11, 2009)

OldSkoolFatGuy said:


> For $300 they look like a nice set of wheels! I'd kill the stickers, but that's just me.
> 
> What did these replace?


You're right about the sticker...they'll probably go off in a near futur. Recently, I used Fulcrum 5 for training and Zipp 303 for racing. The 303 cracked for no reason, I warranty it and then sold them (lost confidence in the brand). I was stuck with the Fulcrum 5 that I hate (bad bearings, heavy, hard to replace tire...) I will probably sold them. So I wanted a set of wheels to do everything: training and racing...I hope those will fill the bill. 

BTW because I race with this bike, I always tried to put reliable parts, as light as possible and for the least amount of money. I coudn't race thinking that a crash could cost me 1000$ to replace a wheels or twice for a frame...


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## emartin (Mar 11, 2009)

I put around 200km on this wheelset and all I can say is WOW. For 300$ those wheels outperform alot of wheels I tried before (and I tried alot). The hub are super smooth, nicer than zipp hubs. The freewheel is a little bit noisy but have a nice smooth mechanical sound (much nicer than on fulcrum wheels). The braking surface is really good, better than what I tried recently(zipp, fulcrum, Mavic). 

Lateral stiffness is really nice, no noticeable deflection. To my surprise, they are not very sensible to side wind even with the thick spokes and 30mm rim(much better than with the zipp 303). As for weight, with my kitchen digital scale, the front wheel weight 763 grams and 935 for the rear...not bad for a all aluminum aero wheelset with aero spoke.

The bottom line, for 300$ you really can't go wrong, as for now, I'm planning on using those as my only wheelset for the season: training and racing.

As for look, I removed the sticker (very easy) and glad I did and BTW white spoke looks very good when the wheel are in motion:


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## fsgray (May 31, 2006)

I can't hear you, those wheels are too loud!


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## steve_e_f (Sep 8, 2003)

looks good sans-stickers!


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## Ventruck (Mar 9, 2009)

Been very curious about these as they're fitting my current "lusts": Gold (or White) rim, 30mm deep, not so heavy, and not so expensive. Durability is all I'm unsure about despite your most recent report.

Hope to hear a ~500mi/800km update


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## tthome (May 12, 2008)

I see on fleabay that the NON PRO version of the Powerway Solohomer (love that name) are going for about $220. The spokes are j-bend instead of straight pull on the PRO versions. Also the hubs are different. The seller has told me that bang for the buck the NON PRO offer more value and that spending more on the PRO version isn't as good a value. Not sure to take this as truth or just salesmanship. Anyone try the NON PRO version of this 30mm deep wheel?


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## Ventruck (Mar 9, 2009)

*Haven't tried them, but just thinking about it...*



tthome said:


> I see on fleabay that the NON PRO version of the Powerway Solohomer (love that name) are going for about $220. The spokes are j-bend instead of straight pull on the PRO versions. Also the hubs are different. The seller has told me that bang for the buck the NON PRO offer more value and that spending more on the PRO version isn't as good a value. Not sure to take this as truth or just salesmanship. Anyone try the NON PRO version of this 30mm deep wheel?


I'd say he's telling the truth about the spokes. There is no evidence that straight pull > j-bend. The latter has been around for so long to be considered faulty. The likes of Neuvation, BWW, and many other well-recived builders still use j-bend spokes - even on lesser spoke counts. 

Straight pulls are a borderline gimmick when it comes to less expensive wheels, such as Shimano and Mavic's update to their WH-R500 (RS10) and Aksium. I have the older versions of each and they're still outliving some of newer counterparts that people are still very capable of breaking. 

I would, though, ask him about more details in hub difference in regards to bearing design and whatnot. I'm assuming the difference is dominantly in the flanges for each spoke design, and if I'm right, the j-bend hub is lighter anyway.


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## tthome (May 12, 2008)

ventruck, thanks for the information. I have 3 sets of Neuvation wheels. M28, R28, SL and Aero. I like them but might opt for something different next time around. I like the thought of a 30mm Aero bladed wheel.

Attached are the hubs, NON PRO Version about $70 cheaper than PRO. The second picture with the visible hubs disassembled is the new hub. It's acutally a little lighter per the website.

http://www.power-way.com.tw/hub.htm

So what do you think? I don't mind J bend spokes at all, just like the look of the straight pull hubs, but I'm not opposed to going to J bend.


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## Ventruck (Mar 9, 2009)

tthome said:


> Attached are the hubs, NON PRO Version about $70 cheaper than PRO. The second picture with the visible hubs disassembled is the new hub. It's acutally a little lighter per the website.


If you're counting, the non PRO version is a lighter claimed set overall (non PRO:65g+248g=313g vs. PRO:113g+238g=351g). I'm wondering if the non PRO version lacks the updated freehub body. But otherwise, you save $70 and 38 grams at the same time.


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## ridenfish39 (Jun 20, 2008)

steve_e_f said:


> looks good sans-stickers!


+1 :thumbsup:

That is one clean bike too......


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## Sebastionmerckx (Mar 6, 2008)

Those hubs look damn close to the ones Soul uses on some of their builds. Also, great call taking those lame stickers off....Very nice looking set =)


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## MercuryMan76 (Apr 17, 2009)

Thanks for this review. I was looking into these Powerway wheels myself about 6 months ago but never pulled the trigger because I couldn't find any information on them. Ended up with Spinergy Xaero Lite's instead. But I've been itching for some carbon aero rims and I contacted a seller on Alibaba that I've been communicating with. He sells his wheels with Powerway hubs so it's good to hear that the hubs you have roll smooth. I may pull the trigger and buy a set from him. The price seems right for a 38mm carbon clincher with aluminum braking surface for under $500.


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## bhyman2 (Apr 12, 2009)

Did you have a little trouble purchasing the Powerway Solohomer set from Cycleway's website? I have put in my order, but never got the chance to put in a credit card or payment option...I sent cycleing PM on ebay (guessing he is the direct seller for Powerway)

Thanks


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## cyclist_sg (Oct 2, 2009)

I just got a set of the Powerway Solohomer aka PWH-500 from eBay this month. Here's how it looks on my bike. The wheels are stiff and looks good when rolling with the white spokes. The hubs are smooth and like the feel of the wheels being unaffected by crosswinds (first ride was hit by a monsoon rainfall).:thumbsup: 

Only question here is whether for the rim decals to go or not?

Rgds,
Pat


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## JohnHenry (Aug 9, 2006)

cyclist_sg said:


> I just got a set of the Powerway Solohomer aka PWH-500 from eBay this month. Here's how it looks on my bike. The wheels are stiff and looks good when rolling with the white spokes. The hubs are smooth and like the feel of the wheels being unaffected by crosswinds (first ride was hit by a monsoon rainfall).:thumbsup:
> 
> Only question here is whether for the rim decals to go or not?
> 
> ...


lose the decals.

Post up some more pics, if you can...


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