Superstar Components AM Carbon Wheelset - Review
Superstar is a UK direct-sales company that has built up an enviable reputation over the last few years for really well priced and highly capable products, with a range that started with brake pads, pedals, handlebars and other components, but with these new carbon fiber wheels they’re really pushing the boat out. It’s also a sign of how much more affordable carbon fiber has become in the last decade that Superstar is able to offer a high quality set of carbon wheels for £599, half the price of other well-known carbon wheels.
Details:
• Purpose: Trail/all-mountain/enduro
• Material: Carbon fiber rims
• Diameters available: 26” and 27.5”
• Width: 24mm internal, 30mm external
• Spokes: Sapim CX Ray
• Tubeless: Tubeless-ready with optional rim strip
• Weight: 1,694g (757g front, 937g, rear)
• Price: £599
Superstar has teamed Tesla Evo hubs with high quality Sapim CX-Ray bladed spokes, Sapim nipples and a chunky tubeless-ready carbon fiber rim. They’re only available in 26" and 27.5" sizes - you’ll have to shop elsewhere if you want carbon wheels for your 29er. The rims have a 30mm external width and 24mm internal width. They’re tubeless-ready, with Superstar’s own Lokr bead profile, although a tubeless rim kit isn't included - the wheels simply come preinstalled with a regular rim tape.
To ensure compatibility with the wide range of axle standards, the hubs feature interchangeable end caps. The test wheels came with a requested 15mm front and 142x12mm rear hub setup. The hubs roll on sealed SKF cartridge bearings around a 17mm axle. The freehub, a 7075 and CNC machined unit, features 72 points of engagement and is compatible with Shimano 8/9/10/11-speed cassettes. Superstar offers an optional XD freehub body which allows the use of SRAM XD 11 speed cassettes. If you’re feeling flush, the hubs can be upgrade to DT Swiss or Chris King.
Carbon fiber is associated with light weight, and on the scales the 27.5in test wheels weighed 1,694g (757g front, 937g, rear), a bit heavier than the claimed 1,663g, but well within acceptable limits. That weight compares well to the Reynolds 27.5 AM Carbon Wheelset, but is a quite a bit heavier than the much more expensive Enve M60 Forty wheels. Helping to ease any concerns that some potential customers might have is the two year warranty, lifetime free truing service and crash replacement discount scheme. RRP is £599. (Pricing in USD isn't provided due to the fact that Superstar does not currently ship to the United States.)
Reliable Tesla Evo hubs with a fast engaging freehub.
The carbon fiber rims have a 24mm internal width.
On The Trail
I noticed the wheels' weight (lighter than the wheels they replaced) and the stiffness of the wide carbon rims immediately on the first ride. They feel very direct, with a high level of responsiveness that makes direction changes snappy and instant. They’re not so massively stiff that the bike feels edgy or harsh either, but there’s no flex when you load them up into bermed corners or rattle through a root garden. The wheels give the bike more pop and energy, and the weight does help climbing and acceleration, which is improved.
Setting up the wheels tubeless was pretty straightforward: a strip of Gorilla tape and an extra long tubeless valve - the rims are much deeper than regular rims - and with a bit of soapy water on the tire beads, and some persuasion and a lot of PSI, the tires popped up and seated, with the reassuring “pop” and “snap” sounds as the beads located into position, all using a track pump.
Concerns over carbon fiber's durability and toughness have subsided over the years as more carbon products have hit the market and proved itself at the toughest events like World Cup downhill races and enduro events. Nonetheless, I kept a close eye on the rims as I pounded them over my local trails, and deliberately looked for the rougher lines and took them out on some rocky trails just to punish them as much as I could, and to see how they held up. And hold up they did, fending off the worst abuse I could put their way. I know carbon fiber terrifies some people, but there was nothing terrifying about these wheels at all. They’re bombproof.
Also proving to be very durable are the bearings in the hubs and freehub; they’re still running smooth after several months of riding and in some muddy conditions with a fair few jet washes. The freehub provides a snappy engagement and spoke tension is still good after a couple of months riding, showing that the wheels were very well built in the first place. It’s nice to know that Superstar offer a free truing service and the warranty and crash replacement will offer peace of mind for a lot of potential customers.
Rims are tubeless-ready but come supplied with regular rim strip.
No concerns with strength or durability, these are tough and sturdy rims.
Issues
I’ve never really had problems getting tires on rims on other wheelsets before, but I had a few issues with the Superstars, mainly because of the slightly raised inner profile of the rim bed. While adopting a tubeless setup resulted in a mostly painless operation, using the wheels with tires and tubes, as you might if you’re frequently swapping tires for different conditions, wasn’t quite as painless. Getting the tires on proved to be quite a mission, and because of the raised inner, there isn’t really enough space for the tire bead and inner tube. I couldn’t push the tires on with just my thumbs, I definitely needed to resort to using tire levers to get them into place. I also had the odd issue of the tire bead not positioning correctly despite inflating the inner tube to 40 PSI, but a generous application of soapy water to the bead encouraged it into position. I also had to purchase new inner tubes with 60mm valve stems as well, the rim is that deep. So they’re not without their issues, but going tubeless circumvents them.
Pinkbike's Take:
 | While a set of carbon fiber wheels undoubtedly adds a dollop of bling to any bike, and that's reason enough for some people to upgrade to them, there are performance benefits to be had as well. These wheels are highly impressive with a solid build quality that makes them a fine upgrade over your stock wheels. They strike a good balance of weight versus price, and come with a warranty and crash replacement policy that certainly helps to provide peace of mind even for carbon skeptics. If you really want carbon wheels but don't have the funds for a top-end carbon wheelset, these are a credible option, and not to be sniffed at just because they're inexpensive, because the performance is anything but cheap - David Arthur |
www.superstarcomponents.com
Author Info:
Member since Apr 12, 2015
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Light bicycle may have had some QC issues at its inception, but they are awesome now.
+/- 200 miles on my new set and still perfectly true after substantial abuse.
I just built some E13 wheels with Hope Pro hubs for AM use, and they are lighter than the Light Bike wheels.and cost less.
Any questions please let me know, Superstar
Thanks
@david arther please correct your article.
A set of carbon Am on Tesla evo's is definatly on my wanted list.
Might as well be looking at breast implants.
I paid for both wheels to be re-trued at my LBS because one of the wheels was out of line with the frame and the other had very low tension spokes. I would pretty much have any machine built wheel checked over by my LBS before riding though and even my Hope Hoops with Flow EX rims needed tightening up before being ridden.
All that aside they have been bomb proof since and the performance improvement on my bike is nothing short of astonishing. They've taken everything in their stride.
The hub bearings have held up so far too and are silky smooth. Almost Hope Hub smooth. Pretty amazing really.
I hope Superstar continue to make 26 inch Carbon wheels.
Although not up to aerospace industry standard that I am familiar with, the internal quality of the rims was very high. The external woven material, although adding to the aesthetic of the rim, also adds to the impact resistance. A woven cloth perform much better at resisting an impact than a uni-directional material.
I rode some of these rims for over two years and they were as good as new when I had to part company to fund my change to fashionable 27.5 wheels. Other than a few minor scratches, they were as good as new. And still very true. Much better than any similar age ally rim.
I have a particular story that summarise their strength. Whilst racing in Grizedale, I hucked a rock garden insufficiently and landed in some big rocks. The bang from the landing was massive and the assembled crowd 'oohed' anticipating a mashed rear wheel. I rode on for a few hundred yards to discover I had pinch flatted the TYRE (I was running tubeless), the rim was still as good as new. Massively strong and impact resistant!
#Likewhoa!
The order from SS didn't go so well from the beginning. It took ages after payment to get a firm delivery date, with them telling me one date, it flying past, then giving another etc. They don't answer their phone, and while they do reply to email, the info was always wrong.
When I finally got the wheels, the first thing I noticed was that the rins were pretty badly scratched front and back (Mavic 423 in 26"). I figured that they would get worse during their lifetime, so no huge deal, but an unimpressive start.
After mounting them up, they were both significantly out of true, not a small bit either, a *lot*, to a point that I was dubious about riding on them... The rear was nearly clipping the frame!
In the end I had to take them to my LBS to be trued and effectively rebuilt. It was about 40euro per wheel to get them into a solid and rideable state!
The free truing for life is kind of worthless too as the cost to ship wheels to them from outside the UK is huge, and after what it took me to get them, in not sure how long it would take to get them back... And when they do come back, if they'd be round or not!!
Since then, the wheels have been fine, but when I count up the cost of the wheels, the extra 80euro to rebuild them etc, I paid more than a pair of Hope Hoops which I'd have much much preferred.
I don't think I'd never buy from SS again.
www.pinkbike.com/photo/12505614
When pushing the valve through it snapped a section off the rim! I also struggled getting the rim tape to stick and seal because the centre is deep and square so the tape would have gaps in the corners. getting the tires to sit property took 55PSI and grabbing the tire to pull it onto position. Thought that would make burps impossible but no they burp some how? I also found them overly stiff and had to make alot of suspension changes so take the edge off them. The front hub end cap keeps falling out be because the o ring they use to hold it in position disintegrated. These have been demoted to gf bike /xc duty now as they are light at least. Glad I got them on sale when they where 350 or I'd be really p###ed of.
I do need to replace the bearings in the front hub though - but that is the only issue I have had in roughly 1.5/2yrs.
I did get my set for £450 new ^_^ though
www.pinkbike.com/photo/10678909
The other carbon rim was supposedly a very old out of date design as far as I can tell.
Bit like comparing an apple to an orange to a moldy apple and coming to the conclusion that the apple is most apple like. I'd love to see the PDF to be proved wrong but it seems to have vanished from the interwebz
where to you get those wheels from? would be a very intersting set up as i am not that keen on carbon wheels at all
P.S. OMG, OMG, OMG, a rim produced in 26"...