# Disappointed with Cadence/Niobium 19 rims...anyone else?



## SDizzle (May 1, 2004)

I built up over the weekend some of Mike Garcia's rendition of the IRD Cadence, 32h on Record hubs with Revos. I must say, I'm very disappointed. First off, they were the most out-of-round rims I've ever dealt with (granted, most or all of the wheels I build/have built are on DTs, which are always great, or Mavics, which are usually great).

But that, at least, can be fixed. The braking tracks cannot. My first ride on these wheels was kind of wet, which is a rarity for Colorado, but not unheard of. After about ten minutes of rain and a few slight grades that required a little braking, there were aluminum filings piled up on the front brake shoes and plastered all over my fork and downtube. Weird, I thought, but chalked it up break-in. When I got home a few hours later, I found the same thing not only on the rear shoes, but all over the back of my kit and helmet!

I scotchbrited the rims, sanded the pads and removed all traces of filings from my bike, brakes, and wheels, but the noise they make is unbearable - like fingernails on a chalkboard. They pulse terribly, I'm guessing because the rim width isn't constant. It's bad enough that I can't stand it, and I'm either going back to Ambrosios - which were always clean and dead silent, even when brand-new, and never pulsed - or to some new Open Pros. I'm lucky enough to work in a shop that has piles of OPs, and I picked the lightest pair I could find, but they're still 428g and 437g - not the 392g and 396g of the Speedcific rims, but I'll take the weight!

As always, your mileage may vary, but I'd like to hear if anyone else has used and hated these rims.

ps. I'm going to give them a few more days, but if anyone is interested - after I made such a great sale - the pair can be had for cheap! 32h, VSR, black - PM me...


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## buffedupboy (Feb 6, 2003)

*Pads*

Those rims are Niobium enhanced rims that can't be used with generic taiwanese pads. Some older brakepads which have hardened will also scrape the brake surface as the alloy is really soft. It looks like you are using jagwire pads, in which case, changing to their red zone should solve your problems. If not, Kool stop reds are also known to work well.

The rims are really hard to build up, not because they are manufactured out of round, but because they are very soft and any slight uneveness in spoke tensions will cause them to shift.


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## rruff (Feb 28, 2006)

SDizzle said:


> I scotchbrited the rims, sanded the pads and removed all traces of filings from my bike, brakes, and wheels, but the noise they make is unbearable - like fingernails on a chalkboard. They pulse terribly, I'm guessing because the rim width isn't constant.


I doubt that the rim width is in consistent... more likely a weird interaction between the pads and rim is making them stick and release at high frequency. I got the scratchy noise from my Ni30s the first time I rode in the rain, and after that the front pulsed badly as well. I tried cleaning up the rim and pads, but it didn't help. The only thing I did to fix it was move the front pads to the back and the back ones to the front. I know it doesn't make sense, but that worked! They are perfect now... very smooth and silent braking. I'm using Koolstop Salmons. 

There are a lot of rims out with this material... the AC and Rolf rims have been made from Niobium alloy for years... by the same folks that made yours. If it was a common problem we should have heard about it, I'd think...


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## TACSTS (Feb 4, 2004)

I've got those rims on a set of wheels Mike Garcia built for me a couple of years ago. The big problem, I thought, was the rim joint. It was WAY uneven. I sanded the joint down before I even put them on the bike. By doing that I think I avoided much in the way of aluminum shavings like you mentioned. I picked a few out of the pads after a couple hundred miles, but that's about normal I guess. They do make an awful noise when braking, just like you said, like fingernails on a chalkboard. I broke a spoke and mine got really out of true. That rim just seems really weak. I pretty much just gave up on them and hung them up in the basement.

The good thing about all this, is that it pretty much cured me from my superlight wheel ways. Now it's deep V's, DT's, or OP's only please! I'll take 50g and more peace of mind, any day.


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## Juanmoretime (Nov 24, 2001)

I have a set that I built up 24 front 28 rear laced with Wheelsmith XL14 spokes to American Classic hubs. The built up very easy and have worked well now for over a year. Mine did weigh more than advertised but where something like 402 and 405 grams. The braking surface has been great. Mine are the actual IRD Cadence rims.


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## backinthesaddle (Nov 22, 2006)

Mine are fine...


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## Lectron (May 29, 2005)

Made up quite a few sets using that rim. Very sensitive when it 
comes to vertical truing, but I haven't had any problems whit any 
sets not "standing". Takes some more skill to build though.


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## nero (Dec 1, 2007)

*Mike Garcia*

I had a very poor experience with Garcia, Odds and Endos. I actually ordered three sets of wheels, one should have been a rush delivery arriving by the end of the week. The other two were for someone else and, there was no rush for delivery. This agreement took place a month prior to writing this. He said he would call the day he would be shipping the first set of wheels, "He never Called" (i sound like a little girl). I called on countless occasions always a machine, and never a call back, he took all my info and credit card info, never charged me and disappeared, I just hope he doesn't try to charge me and send these at his convenience.
I will never deal with this guy or his company ever again. 

I have never written a compliant about any type of vendor ever before but this guy is ridiculous.


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## danl1 (Jul 23, 2005)

I have no idea about your circumstance or how it worked out, and I'm not trying to defend Mike in any way - I have no experience with the guy. But your story reminded me of something. 

I had a co-worker once whose phone number was one digit off of the local pizza parlor. On the inevitable 2:00 am wrong numbers, he'd dutifully take the order, say 'it'll be there in 30 minutes', and hang up. 

Just sayin' - things aren't always as they appear. Then again, maybe they are, but a story is a story.


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## jolnar (Nov 6, 2007)

I had a 32 hole offset IRD cadence rim that lasted about 1000 miles, never had any brake track issues but all the drive-side eyelets cracked.


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## capt_phun (Jun 14, 2004)

jolnar said:


> I had a 32 hole offset IRD cadence rim that lasted about 1000 miles, never had any brake track issues but all the drive-side eyelets cracked.


Just noticed on my IRD Cadence rear wheel that I have the same problem. 2 tiny cracks at the eyelets.


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## iploya (Apr 30, 2006)

This is an old thread, but relevant.

I have one set of wheels built with the IRD Cadence 19s and another set built with the IRD Cadence Aero (30 mm). Both builds used Sapim bladed spokes and at least 28 spokes per wheel. The Aero/30 ones are great. However, I've had the 19s for less than a year and just decided to scrap them. 

I built the 19s around a Powertap SL+ to offset the weight of the Powertap. Total wheelset came out to under 1550g, which is exceptional. But after less than a year, the wheel went out of true and a spoke completely de-tensioned. After sending them back to the builder for warranty, they informed me they've had bad luck with the IRD Cadence 19s. Similar to what others posted, they said the rim is very soft and it makes tensioning and truing them difficult. I am rebuilding the wheels with a stronger rim.

I LOVE the Cadence Aero rims though. So far so good, nice and straight and the wheels just feel really stable.


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