Superstar Tech4 Wheelset - Review

Nov 1, 2014 at 10:35
by Paul Aston  
Pinkbike Product Picks

Superstar Tech4 Wheelset 29 15mm Front Hub 142 x 12mm Rear Hub XD Driver


Superstar Components are close to entering their 9th year in business. From small beginnings selling brake pads out of a bedroom, they have grown to fill 5 warehouses and employ numerous local Lincolnshire staff. Previously sourcing all products from Taiwan, the company is undergoing change as they aim to bring more manufacturing in-house, striving to improve quality, cut lead times and also prices. In-house wheel building has begun, and the first few chainrings and sprockets have been churned out of their new CNC machines.

Superstar Tech 4 Wheelset

Henry Ford once mentioned he offered his cars in any colour as long as it was black. Fortunately it's only the black Sapim Race spokes that are compulsory here. Superstar offer five colours of rims and hubs, all hub sizes, wheel sizes and three rim widths. We tested 29" DS25 rims in 15mm front and 12mm x 142mm rear.

Wheel sizes: 26/27.5/29
Colours: Black/Blue/Lime/Red/Silver
Hub adaptors: Front QR, 9mm, 15mm or 20mm
Rear QR, 10mm x 135mm, 12mm x 142mm and Syntace X12 and 12mm x 150mm.
Rim Widths Internal: TR21mm, EX23mm and DS25mm
Freehub body: Standard alloy or steel/SRAM XD
Pair weight - 2002g 26", 2057g 650b, 2106g 29" (claimed)
Price: £184.99 - £195.99 ($290 - $306USD)

Superstar Tech4 Wheelset 29 15mm Front Hub 142 x 12mm Rear Hub XD Driver

The Switch Front hub. Adaptors can be changed easily, just take them out and push in the new ones


The Switch hubs are CNC machined, feature SKF bearings and 27 pickup points with 4 pawls in the free-hub for a fast pick-up. The DS25 rims are Tubeless Ready, and are supplied with a standard rim tape, but no tubeless tape or valves. They feature a LOKR bead which is a small ridge which helps to prevent the tyre being pushed inwards away from the rim and allowing burping. Superstar owner Neil Wilkinson says "I personally see them as our entry level wheelset which undersells them hugely, price wise they are entry level but performance wise they are easily comparable to £400 wheelsets."

All component parts are sourced from Taiwan, the hubs are laced by hand in Lincolnshire, then built by the latest robot technology available, in-house to a 0.2mm tolerance, with no spoke twist and perfect tension. Also offered is a Lifetime Truing service, just post them back to Superstar and they will come back in a straight line free of charge. A 2 year warranty and a lifetime crash replacement scheme is included for the original owner. If you manage to break a wheel, pay for a new rim at the price of £30 (48USD approx) and Superstar will rebuild the wheel with new spokes and nipples for free. The return postage and labour is all included. Basically £30 for a complete new wheel build, which wouldn’t even cover the cost of spokes in some bike shops! What I would have done for that a broke, Junior downhill racer.

Superstar Tech4 Wheelset 29 15mm Front Hub 142 x 12mm Rear Hub XD Driver

Slightly more complicated at the rear, two 17mm cone spanners are needed to replace axles and adaptors




Pinkbike’s Take
bigquotesAfter taking them out the box, they were as straight and well tensioned as expected. The end caps were really easy to change using a soft vice, without a vice some form of grips would be needed. I easily mounted tires on to the rims using my standard split tube, ghetto tubeless set up. On the trail they were similarly responsive as my previous wheels (Stan's Flow EX on Hope Evo hubs) After shredding the Specialized Enduro on various downhill tracks, plus many hours of trail riding the wheels are still true, no dings yet and the spokes barely needed tweaking after the bedding in period. The bead set was tight and didn't lose any pressure slapping corners.

After my previous long-term Hope wheelset these were very quiet, if you like a decent click from your free-hub, you might have to look elsewhere and splash more cash. Weight weenies may also be looking elsewhere as 2109 grams for this 29" wheelset is not the lightest, but you will be doubling your outlay to lose 100g or so?

Superstar are offering the best mix and match wheelsets in the business. Combined with the Lifetime Truing Scheme, Crash Replacement policy and bargain prices, the value is unparalleled. This service could become invaluable for young racers or bike destroyers. They're not as fancy as some of the big brands, and not as refined or light as some, but if you want a solid set of wheels at a very sensible price tag then these could be for you, and they can also be chosen to suit your 1990's anodized colour matching fetish. - Paul Aston



Superstar Site
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178 Comments
  • 65 5
 Hello im glad you like them, and if any of you have questions please let me know im happy to help.

The USA thing is not personal, its just alot of UK insurers are twitchy about selling there because of suing each other liberally. we are working on them to jump through a huge amounts of hoops so hopefully in the long run we will be able to open up to selling there.

If any of you are having an issue please let me know, we are here and we do sort out everything as fast as we can. I know we had a few customers with waits on tesla rebuilds if they had a problem, it was caused by huge demand for the hubs wiping out our stocks and 3-4 month manufacturing lead times if you wanted a specific colour. We even resorted to chopping complete wheels up to release the hubs for warranty to get it done ASAP! All of them were sorted under warranty albeit not as quickly as we would both have wanted.

Tubless kit and valves are not included... why? Easy, not everyone wants to run tubeless so we dont charge everyone for the parts whcih would put another £20 on every wheelset. So if you do want them just add them to your basket and everyones a winner.

We are bringing alot of our production inhouse to get round the leadtime problem, and it will let us do some cool stuff which isnt possible with normal subcontractors. We have a few big things up our sleeve for 2015 so check us out on facebook for the latest news.

Any questions let me know, Superstar Components
  • 11 5
 Could you tell me why my mates wheels turned up built with non-sapim spokes? Sapim spokes are a big selling point imo. The wheels were bought direct from you guys and advertised as coming with sapims. Tbh I was more irritated than him, to him it was only a little niggle, but things were made worse when he emailed you guys about and it you basically called him a liar and refused to do even acknowledge the problem. Not very impressed....
  • 7 5
 Hi guys, ive used your wheel components this year. I snapped my rear rim before a weekend away and was kind of stuck with little money. Found your DHX rim and soon as i saw the price (£20 odd if i remember correctly), i thought great, bought the rim, got back on the bike in time.
Unfortunatley your rim didnt last one day on my weekend ride, the rods were the two halfs are pressed together practically popped out and was being held in my the spoke tension.
Cant say I was pleased as website says its for downhill and the CS team said to send it back but no guarantee at all id see my money or my postage money back.

Not trying to worm something out of you guys as I have other components from you that have lasted years (hubs, pedals brake pads etc), but relaying real world use back through to you..
cheers guys!
  • 10 1
 jumping through hoops haha
  • 11 6
 "CalumL92"

I havent seen anything about your case so forgive me if i get the wrong end of the stick from yoru description, but crash damage or poor customer wheelbuilds are not covered under anyones warranty. A pin joint rim like the DHX is held together with the spoke tension, and the joint will not come apart in a propperly built wheel. The only way it can split is a big crash or a bad build, hence its not a fault witht he manufacture of the rim itself.

If you have any questions please let me know, Superstar
  • 9 3
 i used to buy most of my parts from you guys including 3 wheel sets which in fairness is decent gear. all was well and good untill 1 of the rims came away on the join and after a week of emailing you might aswell of just told me to piss off. so i through every superstar part i owned in the bin and now pretty much only buy hope. you get what you pay for service and quality gear
  • 5 0
 Cheers for the reply guys,

I can see your point, however ive built wheels for a while and this is the first one thats failed in this manner without a crash, only noticed the failure when i was changing tyres.
However when i took the wheel apart (after being in touch) to salvage the hub, the rim came apart more on the pin joints, not completley apart, but worse than when it was built.
Cheers
  • 2 0
 I want to keep buying stuff from you but the shipping prices to Canada are extreme to say the least. I know the logistics involved, and that it is largely out of your hands, but there are other UK based bike companies offering very reasonable shipping rates, so I know it is possible. Maybe they sold their souls to the devil? Not sure...
  • 5 4
 @WayneParsons

I agree its expensive but in the past we were making huge losses on normal mail going missing causing reshiping and refunds. So now we only will ship with UPS so you are guarenteed fast and efficient service.

Outside of Europe UPS shipping is very expensive, we charge the same price as it costs us to send it to you. We arent huge so we cant force companies to offer huge discounts like other big stores can.

We are looking at other options, but nothing hugely differnt in price so far sorry.

If you have any questions please let me know, Superstar
  • 1 0
 I think before your shipping was too cheap! hahaha...

Is the postal service an option?

UPS is the worst shipping company to deal with, at least over here. The only time I have ever had a missing package, it was because of UPS. They are quite expensive as well.

Either way, thanks for looking at other options!
  • 7 1
 Cant say Im a fan of the only recieving a comment saying my wheel builds are of poor quality, when below you have admitted to possible manufacture faults of a couple hubs from 'thousands to tens of thousands being sold'
so you guys must have sold close to that number of rims? Yet the fault must lie with me? Maybe the hub failure was the customers fault too?

Thanks anyway superstar.
  • 8 8
 Err I'm not sure that's true? We only use Sapim spokes for our builds. A long time ago we had a few dt Swiss ones but they were of the same spec and quality to cover a shortfall.

We buy our spokes direct from the sapim factory hundreds of thousands at a time.

Regards superstar
  • 6 1
 My dhx rim split at the joint too, its now in the "heckling gear" pile. replaced with a ex823... no problems

The most recent set of wheels i purchased from you the freehub started slipping as the engagement points stripped out and the rims ran out of true in a few rides. Rode them until i couldnt bare it anymore then got rid of them. Replaced with a pro 2 and stans wheelset... No problems.


You pay for what you get, buy cheap buy twice.
  • 4 5
 It is true because you just said you didn't use them in some builds.

You did let people know before you took their money? I understand that they are equivalent but that is still no excuse to not let your customer know what they are getting.

I love your brake pads and tools but I would now think twice about anything more complex now.
  • 6 10
flag gabriel-mission9 (Dec 11, 2014 at 16:30) (Below Threshold)
 So you just called me a liar again? And then admitted that the wheel could well have been shipped with the wrong spokes. But I'm still probably a liar.

And to answer Richard01s question, no the customer most certainly was not told before his money was taken :s

Real nice Superstar....
  • 7 2
 HaHaHa! not sure you knew what you were getting yourself into, superstarComponents. To be fair, I'm sure you have plenty of happy custumers, they are just not the ones who are going to comment here! People, when you are buying a whole wheelset for the price of a single Hope hub, you can't expect the same quality.
  • 2 4
 It feels personal. Everybody else sells stuff here just fine, so we do know for a fact that there is no real reason not to do that.
  • 4 3
 I think superstar have some good deals and yes you do get what you pay for, we can talk about that all day.

My point is, in this case and others (as superstar have confirmed). People did not get what they pay for. (lets say superstar didnt tell people about the change in spokes, as we dont know this for all cases. gabriel could have been a one off error somehow)

I could go on about how superstar could remedy this past error but thats unreasonable. What you could do is learn from this mistake and not ship the wheels, unless the customer is happy with the change.
  • 5 1
 I have been using Superstar for brake pads, grips, seat clamps, rotors and pedals for many years now and very happy with their products and prices. Great to hear about more in house production.
  • 9 3
 The spoke issue refered to was several years ago, we were short of spokes and Sapim couldnt deliver in 24 hours (usually about 2-3 months for ffactory orders) so we bought in 2000 DT swiss spokes of exactly the same specification so we didnt let down our customers builds. So no i was not calling you a liar, but wata you claimed was not strightly true.

Note - the spokes are of exactly the same specification, from the other big brand, and are actually considerably more expensive. So i do not understand why this would be a problem and the customer is more than welcome to return the wheelset if that was a problem.

So its really a non-existant problem in real life.

If i could post pictures i would send a picture of our store room with 1.2 million sapim spokes which we have instock now....

If you have any questions please let me know, Superstar
  • 24 3
 Richard, they're spokes, they have explained themselves and actually built the wheel with better spokes than what the wheel build was priced for. I think its time to shut the fuck up and stop complaining.
  • 8 2
 Superstar, its not a problem. Its spokes Richard! Get over yourself.
  • 6 2
 Oh Lord where is all this hate coming from. To all the shit Stromers out there on pinkbike, what do you think companies are doing? Replacing spokes is Not a Big deal - especialy this way around The Customer orders a iPhone 5 but gets The iPhone 5s Would you call Apple to complain?
Even if you buy a wheelset from The Big Swiss Wheel maker you can always have issues. And a joined rim will always get a bigger crack at The joint, simply Due to the normal function of a wheel. As The Wheel will deform under Loads and would Look like a ellipse rather than a circle. Given this fact The small Gap at The Pin joint is logical.
If you don't like it just buy a welded rim and you are good to go.
  • 4 14
flag gabriel-mission9 (Dec 12, 2014 at 7:44) (Below Threshold)
 You guys seem to be suggesting it is fine for a company to advertise one product but send another? You say would I ring apple to complain if the sent me an iphone 5s instead of a 5. Thing is, its the other way round, its more like paying for a 5s and getting a 5, both good phones, one slightly better. I build a lot of wheels, and regard Sapim as superior to DT, regardless of the cost. Their methods of forming the spokes are better and they use higher quality machines.

I still don't understand what is not "strictly true" about what I am saying. My mate emailed them to ask why his wheels came with the wrong spokes, no hate, no demanding a refund, just wanting to know what had happened and they called him a liar and refused to respond further. He may well have kept the email I do not know. Would you like me to ask him? When someone has just taken your money, this lack of customer service is not ideal. I expect more from a company. Perhaps I am just too used to dealing with companies like Hope.
  • 4 2
 Would you call the join coming apart 5mm with it built, then after salvaging the hub expanding to nearly 8mm normal? Cus i wouldnt.

If your wheels are like that then you havent had good quality pressed rims before man. Should be flush. Always.
  • 7 1
 SuperstarComponents

I personally had no issues with you guys up until about 2 years ago. i had a set of superstar trizoid hubs on the AM rims bought new pre built from yourselves, had them on the bike for about half a year with no issue and then they started making a weird noise while free wheeling. i took a video and tried to email you guys multiple times about the issue as i felt it was under warranty... no replies. I must of emailed you about 10 times in one month always double checking the email address and checking my junk and spam email inbox just encase your replies ended up there. then one day i decided i would not email about my warranty issue but instead email you about a product i wished to buy... the very next day i received an email telling me about how to order them with your token idea for shipping... so obviously you were getting my emails but just ignoring them. i ended up selling the wheels on for cheap (still under the year warranty which means nothing to anyone clearly) and to this day i will discourage anyone i know from buying your products. here is a link to the video which you probably have seen a good few times by now. i can only assume it was a bent axle or something. a cheap fix that could of been resolved in a week or two if you had bothered to uphold your warranty
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axo8vOM6AIs&list=UU0Msqcj_0FTLR3fHoaUpBQA
far happier with my new hope pro 2 evo hubs now anyway which have been on my bike for 2 years with no issues.
  • 30 2
 It's great to see small companies doing well with good products and bringing industry back to small communities.
  • 16 2
 wait, so its 30eur to ship your wheel back, around the world? Even if not, these are probably the best bang for your buck, a convertible and colorful wheelset with SKF bearings for 300 ish retail... It's a steal at this price.
  • 6 1
 I had to triple check the price! $290-$306!!! That is so awesome!
  • 3 0
 That's so awesome but we can't get them in the USA. If they were, I would have tried a lot of their stuff. So cheap.....
  • 2 1
 I heard rumours they wont ship to the US due to a combination of liability law, the culute of suing etc. No idea if its true or not! Its a shame I use them for all the finishing kit on my bike. The parts look like they cost 10 times what they cost and flawless customer service.
  • 9 3
 Let's be honest, in US you get majority of stuff 30% cheaper than in Europe. Even if I pay customs for stuff from US on ebay, I get it cheaper than CRC and sometimes even cheaper than bike-components.de
  • 3 1
 I can see some fool in the US suing a wheel company because the wheel broke and caused injury
  • 7 1
 I buy a lot of stuff off CRC cuz they sell it cheaper than in the US haha
  • 1 0
 Haha same. i have bought a bunchh of stuff from CRC. It takes a bit longer to ship, but they have some good deals, they had a deal recently if u spend $150 u get $20 bucks off your order.
  • 1 0
 It works both ways though sometimes. I can get Shimano stuff far cheaper buying from Europe, for example.
  • 1 0
 You get what you pay for though. At over 2000 grams for even the lightest set, they are not winning any weight games.
  • 2 1
 Seraph - at 500g, their DS25 rim is on par with Ex471, Flow EX and Frequency i25. In case of ZTR - for less than half of the price, having same bells and whistles.
  • 1 6
flag seraph (Dec 11, 2014 at 10:56) (Below Threshold)
 Their rim weight is irrelevant, since this is a review of a complete wheelset.
  • 1 0
 Regarding Shimano component prices, some Czech online stores sell Shimano for half of MRSP.
  • 1 3
 Screw Shimano, those things cost pennies, I buy them in my LBS, I mean big stuff: frames, forks, droppers, carbon, ti.
  • 1 0
 Waki, ZTR rims are welded, not pinned, so not exactly the same features(they make an OE model that's sleeved, but no pinned models.) Actually about on par for the price difference between welded & pinned in my experience.
  • 1 0
 yes groghunter, but whether welded rims are better than pinned is one of wheel builders wheel size debates... l prefer to not see the logo on the hub through the valve hole on the rim, than pay so much for an Alu rim made for Asian production costs. If I am to buy stuff made there, I think Superstar offers fair price. And if I was about to pay 80€ for an alu rim, 25mm internal Ryde Trail at 405g is where it's at.
  • 1 0
 That's all fine. All I'm saying, is that Flows are about $85 US, & most pinned rims are about $40 US, so their pricing seems right on track with other brands, not some insane deal.

Rebuilding your broken wheel for just the rim cost, OTOH, is awesome.
  • 2 0
 For all The Folks that want Superstar components you May just ask your friendly pinkbike user from Europe they might help you and Order for you a Set... So you get it "2"Hand... But still Brand new...

Just think outside The box
  • 1 0
 @x-rider .....so what you are trying to say is start an underground market so we can have cheaper stuff?
  • 1 0
 FIGHT THE POWER
  • 3 0
 Fight poverty!
  • 10 1
 Great review, just a shame their customer service is appauling!!!!!!

Spunked almost £300 on a Tesla/Pacenti set 8 months ago, their most expensive hub I think? The freehub lasted a couple of months before 3 of the 72 teeth sheared off leaving me with it slipping and jumping. Fair do's, suppose its best a replaceable part fails rather than the whole hub itself. 13 weeks later my wheels come back, I sent lots and lots of emails during this time but never once got a service that would encourage me to use them for anything with a moving part again!!!

Good luck peeps
  • 5 0
 I also had a pacenti/tesla set, freehub teeth completely sheared and before that the rim would dent so easily it was laughable.

I'll never be running their wheels again but I love their pedals...
  • 5 0
 Hi can i join the club, my Tesla hub fell to bits after 2 months, wheels are just hanging in shed now. Customer service is utter dog shit when it comes to wheels. Couldn't be arsed arguing with them so bought some hope pro 2's. As a protest took all my superstar stuff off and sold it and promised myself never to buy superstar again.
  • 4 0
 @broadyvrs ... mine lasted 6 months, but I went pro 2 as well. Never buying anything but hope ever again. My buddy also had the same Tesla problem, twice even, after he trashed his replacement as well.

I think there are a lot of tesla wheelsets hanging up in sheds across the country!
  • 3 2
 I have a Mavic EX721 wheelset with Switch Hubs and Sapim spokes build by Superstar. Using them for 2 years now without any problem. And I ride them mounted to my Hardtail. Survived 10 days of french alps shred.
Maybe the Tesla hubs aren't intended for the kind of riding you guys do?
Try the Switch Hubs. They last and are cheap!
  • 4 1
 @stravlov....then surely Superstar should not be advertising them for the type of riding i do?

Tesla hubs wouldnt last 2 minutes on my son's balance bike
  • 4 6
 "broadyvrs"

If you are having a problme please return them for the warranty guys to sort. We dont leave people in the lurch and every problem we have recieved has been sorted FOC under warranty.

We have sold thousands of Teslas and tens of thousands of Switch hubs so far, so you will get the odd broken one which we sort under warranty if we are made aware of the problem.

Regards, Superstar
  • 3 0
 Be prepared for more than a couple of months without your wheels if sending back to Superstars Wink I bought a set of Hope Pro2 hubs with Bontrage rims to see me through the times without and they are awesome!!!

@Stralov , mine are specced with downhill rims so should be more than capable of the natural trail riding I do(Lakes, Peaks, NWales)

p.s. Thanks Superstars for the apology to myself, @broadyvrs & @er043 ref the troubles we have had with your product
  • 5 10
flag SuperstarComponents (Dec 11, 2014 at 5:26) (Below Threshold)
 @marko369

Out standard warranty turnaround time is under a week from date we recieve them, ive looked at the stats and less than 4% of people have waited longer than that for service this year. Unfortunately if we have no hubs left in your particular spec/colour we will contact you and offer other options. Its the problem with offering millions of options, occasionally we run out of stock.

Any questions please let me know, Superstar
  • 9 1
 @SuperstarComponents

The freehub is not coloured, and as a replaceable item stock should be available ALWAYS. Funny enough, the steel freehub is out of stock now suggesting 1 of 2 things.......

1.You havent learnt your lesson and have still had insufficient amounts ordered for stock.
2. Tesla hubs are failing quicker than you can build freehubs.

Either one of above is poor after service in my opinion. Dont worry tho, I've already bought my Superstar wheels so you have a chain and ball around my ankle. On a positive note, we'll keep the postal service in business sending wheels back and forth every month or so Smile
  • 5 4
 @marko369

The problem we are having is that the manufacturer takes 3-4 months to manufacture a batch so reacting to demand is hard. This is standard lead tiem for most manufactures at the volume we buy.

The steel vs alloy freehub issue only relates to the part where the cassette fits, the actual teeth are steel on both models so the steel freehub is no more durable than the alloy one and weighs twice as much. We only hold a few steel ones as we only sell a few, 99% of hubs go out with alloy freehubs. You can fit a alloy one to solve the problem if your waiting.

We have more in shipping at the moment arriving in 3 weeks.

Any questions please let me know, Superstar
  • 4 0
 superstar... have you addressed the problem with the Tesla rear hub as it seems pointless me sending my wheel back at my cost for it to fail again, which will mean i have to send it back again when the replacement's replacement fails. bought some Stans on pro 2 hubs, lasted more than more 6 months so far,seems you get what you pay for.
  • 1 0
 @ broadyvrs - whats the problem with the tesla rear hub!!?? as i have them and am now a little worried?? - so far my wheels have been OK, well made, hubs fine .. but rims made of soft cheese lol (well, not lol really ) - but again, what hub problems did you have - cheers
  • 2 0
 the teeth on the hub just round off, so it just starts slipping when under load.
  • 1 4
 @broadyvrs

We we dont know what the issue is propperly until the warranty guys have a look at it for you? If you dont send it back we cant really sort your problem. I would send it back and see what happens.

If you have any questions please let me know, Superstar
  • 2 1
 @SuperstarComponents
I understand what the steel and alloy refers to, the reason I wanted alloy is so the cassette doesnt eat into it and become a pain in the arse to remove. By the way, I did ask for a alloy one while I wait then I would return it but was told It would be one or the other(this is where I thought the customer service is rubbish) I understand there is a cost issue but the end of the day it was YOUR product that failed, yet it was ME that went without for most of what little summer we get in the UK. If what your saying is right ref there being less than 4% of people waiting longer than a week then its not that many to take a hit on is it? Please dont think I'm just attacking because I'm not, this is constructive criticism. I'd love to be on here now raving about my wheelset but the honest truth is, I'm frightened to use them to their potential and regularly put Hope/Bonty wheels on if I know its gonna get rough.

@makdthed
Same here mate, teeth sheer off n slipped when climbing. Dont worry too much, just keep your eyes open for a cheap spare wheelset just in case Wink
  • 4 0
 Superstar ... Don't get me wrong I admire what your doing for the bike industry good products at great prices, but customer service could be better.
  • 8 1
 i have been using their nw chainrings (same quality as race face nw but half price) and recently ordered set of 29er wheels for, wait for it... £149. Excellent service and extra fast shipment. We need companies like superstar!
  • 10 0
 Free Haribo's?
  • 5 0
 Yes the free Haribo's are a huge bonus Smile
  • 2 0
 @llarrggee Sure thing! wiggle, crc, sscomponents and many others will give you haribos! personally hate them they make me fart!
  • 1 0
 what's a haribo?
  • 2 0
 Sweets / candy what ever you want to call them. Addictive and disgusting at the same time.

www.haribo.com/enGB/products/haribo.html
  • 1 0
 @mountguitars Sweets! www.haribo.com/enGB/home.html Do you not have them in Canada?
  • 3 0
 no way?! they include sweets in the package? well, that sweetens the deal a little more, haha. but i've been ordering a lot of stuff from crc and they never included one of these haribos. CRC, hear me out. i want me some haribos!
  • 1 0
 bluuuuurrrrrgggghhhhh haribos will rule always, no adverts will put people off. ever.
  • 21 11
 But they don't ship to the US, do they?
  • 40 27
 Which has no impact on the 95.55% of the worlds population who lives elsewhere.
  • 38 5
 According to wikipedia, it's more like 95.57%, actually.
  • 32 2
 Give him a break the guy just wants dope wheels at a decent price, no need to neg him for asking a question.
  • 4 6
 2 more clicks on the supplied link www.superstarcomponents.com/en/shipping
  • 1 0
 Just open a PO Box in Canada and go pick them up there. . .
  • 1 0
 they ship to canada? yeehaw!
  • 3 0
 @darkmuncan there's a nifty thing called a distributor, I was hoping someone from the US would share how they got theirs but it looks like there's no way to get them here. But thank you for the lesson on demographics, even though that really doesn't apply here at all, since what percentage of those people ride mountain bikes? A pretty huge percentage of the MTB market is here in the US.
  • 4 2
 @ Dan255

if we used a distributor and shops then we would be the same price as everone else. the reason we are cheaper is there are no middlemen to bump up the price!

By country the US market is biggest but the whole of Europe combined is a much bigger market than the US. The big problem with the US is we would have to ship everythign to the other side of the planet which is expensive and wasteful.

Regards, Superstar
  • 1 0
 @SuperstarComponents I understand your reasoning behind not shipping to the US, it makes sense. My original post was not a complaint, simply a question. I was just seeing if there were any distributors or shops in say Canada or somewhere else willing to ship for a small markup, but that doesn't seem to be the case. No big deal, there are tons of other options here in the US. Thanks for the reply!
  • 3 3
 Wasteful? Yet halo and hope ship their products over here...and sell a ton of em here...but that's wasteful. Good to see a company views trying to grow a market expansion to north america as wasteful Wink
  • 3 0
 Its also kinda strange that you guys ship to Canada but say that the US is on the other side of the planet. Is it just a tax issue that you guys would rather not deal with?
  • 4 1
 @Mtbguy87

By wasteful i mean shipping each item individually to customers as we only sell direct.

Brands like halo and hope ship in bulk to distributors by the container load which makes more sense, but then you have lots of middlemen bumping up the price. So their parts cost double what our parts do.

Its just common sense.

If you have any questions please let me know, Superstar
  • 1 0
 Then on the future you should expand and do your own warehouse on this side of the world for keeping costs lower
  • 2 0
 You can ship to US directly from your Asian factories. No need to ship from UK.
  • 4 1
 @Axxe

So you fancy buying 3000 pairs of pedals or a container full of rims from the factory direct then? ping me your credit card details and ill get it done ;o)

If you have any questions please let me know, Superstar
  • 2 1
 hahahaa best answer so far. good work :-)
  • 2 1
 I guess among all the catalog rebranding companies out there Superstar are the only one with no knowledge of distribution and logistics. And judging from this thread, customer service as well.
  • 5 0
 Superstar are brilliant.
My go to website for bits and peices.
Owned Delta and Nano pedals, both excellent. N/W Chainring for £15, excellent. Bought a razor 45 stem for 60% of the price my friend paid for the same thing with a different company's sticker on.

Excellent value on brake pads, with a 30 day "don't like them? have a refund/free compound change" offer which is remarkable.

They have a lot of confidence in their products and they should.

And the best thing about buying from Superstar besides excellent value and fast/free shipping? Free Haribo. Boom.
  • 5 0
 Superstar products are all very high quality for the price, yes they have some problems but a whole wheelset can be had from them for £100 most times of the year. Most hubs cost more than that guys! Don't expect Chris king quality for that price. I've run plenty of their products and will continue to run plenty in the future!

Keep up the good work Superstar. You make it possible for people on little budgets to have sick bikes!

If you ever start doing sponsorships keep me informed Razz
  • 1 0
 When you solve your rainbow gluttony they will try to talk with you
  • 6 1
 I'd have to disagree with all the bad customer service comments on the simple basis of these points.
A) free retruing for life.
B) crash replacement service at cost.
C) replying politely helpfully and honestly to the issues raised on here and I'm sure in most other issues.
Those three things you would pay out your arse from a big manufacturer. And would be silly to expect it unless you payed over the odds.
I've had pedals, wheels, seatpoles, seatpole clamps, narrow wide chain rings, bash guards, disc bolts, brake pads, tools, quick release axles. To name a few and for what I paid which is the important thing to me, they are excellent quality products. I'd probably have had to fork out double for these things from elswhere in a similar spec . so all in all I'd be an idiot to complain about anything. It goes against the old "you get what you pay for"and puts other manufacturers to shame as you get a lot more than what you payed for tbh. Great company and as long as they continue on there current standards/ethics I will be a customer for life . as I'm sure a lot of others will be too.
  • 2 0
 Spot on dude
  • 2 0
 agree with acmilan1899. I have had 2 sets of wheels with both switch hubs and tesla hubs, used on endure races and dh uplift days, on trail rides 18k+ and never had an issue, free truing and rim rebuilds are perfect. took 2 weeks for rebuild after smashing a rim in a rock garden but only due to my bad line. other parts on my bikes include pedals seats posts brake pads rotors bars and never had issues. shame about hearing of others with difficulties with service and products but if you are a possible future customer then I urge you to try for yourself and not listen to every bad review. paints a misleading picture of a great company with great ethics and morals. keep up the great work superstar.
  • 5 1
 Yes! Superstar ftw! For anyone who's been living under a rock they also make excellent pedals (nano tech flats are amazing), grips, nw chainrings (mentioned already) and they're just the ones I've tried so far. Anyone who thinks that bikes are too expensive please throw any brand snobbery on the ground and pay www.superstarcomponents.com a visit!
  • 3 0
 I will forever be indebt to superstar for selling me delta pedals with titanium axle for 55gbp!
  • 2 0
 Ditto, would swear by the Nano Tech flats !
  • 2 0
 Oh yeah and the Kevlar pads are awesome/ super cheap. I've only used with XT brakes but I'd guess there just as good with others.
  • 5 1
 Superstar will be a good company when there customer service is sorted! It took my mate 5 weeks to get his wheels fixed after the hub destroyed itself, so he was 5 weeks without wheels, and then they had to cheek to try and charge him 15quid for a new rim as the old one was dented.
  • 8 1
 @StraightLineJoe

I understand your frustration to have to pay for a new rim, but if we replace the hub and the rim is damaged we cant do a very good build. Would you rather having a bodged wheelbuild which will probbly fail or pay £15 to get a new rim, spokes, nipples and build costs?

If a rim is dented then its hit the floor which is constiderably stronger than an aluminium rim, in which case its considerably weaker than a undamaged rim. Its all abotu quality and safety for our customers

Regards,Neil
  • 2 0
 i had a telsa rear hub, freehub didnt engage properly from day 1, tried to phone superstar about 25 times, no answer, eventually got an Automated email response. sent the wheel back (took about 2 1/2 weeks to receive the replacement) got the rear hub 'fixed' and first ride back it started slipping within 100m of the car park. total waste of money.

i know they're cheap, i know its a small business with a ton orders. i have got a set of pedals from them that are ok and a wide narrow chainring also fine. not trying to hate, just being honest.
  • 6 0
 With a name like Superstar, they must be good!
  • 2 0
 Yes! I´ve been a big fan of Superstar a while now. Currently running one wheelset on my hardtail and one set of hubs with e-thirteen rims on my full sus. Hub modification to axle standards is unbeatable, when switching frame or fork to different axle standard.
  • 2 0
 I have a set of Sentinel Tesla wheels from Superstar and for £220 they're 1700g for 29s with great pickup in the hubs. I had a freehub break after a few months and they rebuilt it without quibbling, and when the wheel came back from them with a ding in the rim they re-rimmed it free of charge with no argument. Can't fault their customer service whatsoever and the wheels are rock solid. The Tesla hubs sound pretty rad too.
  • 2 0
 I've got to say Ive bought a few things from superstar including a set of wheel and I can't fault anything about there gear. I've been running there wheels for about a year now on my trek and they get a hammering . But they are still true . In my opinion quality kit at a bargain price .
  • 2 0
 Just in case this interests anyone:
1) There are some, maybe not many, but some cases where the Novatec hubs that Superstar uses have QC issues.
2) It is up to us as consumers to dig out information about the products we are going to buy, before we buy. I found out that there were some issues some times so decided not to go for Switch hubs.
3) There are places to get better spec versions of Novatec hubs, similar in prices to Superstar hubs, that have far fewer reported issues. I recommend D881SB and D882SB. They are 4 in one and you can switch between any of the so-called standards since all the bits are in the box. With all the skewers. For the one price.
4) Get some.
5) Get some Stans Flow rims or ones you like.
6) Gte some spokes. Ones you like of course.
7) Build your own wheel; it isn't difficult to learn. If you don't know how, go DL the book: "Roger Musson Professional guide to Wheelbuilding". You will learn to understand you wheel, listen to it, feel it, care for it, nurture it, love it as one of your own. And help Roger put food on the table. Best guide to wheelbuilding I have ever seen.
Cool No need to ever blame anyone for anything except yourself.
9) Life is much better as a result.
10) Sleep in peace and waste less time complaining.

Have a nice weekend all.
  • 2 0
 @orientdave

The hubs you suggest are basically the ones we sell. Except ours are now fitted with high end SKF brand bearings rather than the standard ones. From what i have seen our hubs cost much the same but are better spec.

We dont include all the adaptors as that is a waste, most people just need one set which we fit at the factory to your choice. if you need more they are super cheap and easy to fit.

Any questions please let me know, Superstar
  • 1 0
 Good to hear about the bearings superstar; yet I still suggest people learn to make their wheels themselves. It saves people turning back around to you does it not and making claims about JRA failures etc. Sure, you are in the business of selling people parts. I'm not. I'm in the education business myself.

As for all the adapters etc; I thoroughly recommend people to buy s set with them all in: good hubs should last a lifetime. With grease, maintenance, bearing changes and pawls/freehubs when necessary, they should last. And we all know that that 20mm through front hub we have will, at some point, need a 15mm adapter (and vice versa) and the same goes for the 10mm / 12mm /135mm / X-12 rear end too.

I have happily swapped over wheelsets from one bike to another (that have different axels) and all in the space of a few minutes wth all the adapters.

The peace of mind from knowing that you can handle what MTB life throws at you without needing to rely on "CS" from any company is worth its weight in gold.
  • 1 0
 Oh, and if you PM the name of your contact at UPS I will write and have a word about the flat minimum 80GBP P&P rate, do a little econometrics exercise with them to help them understand the pricing effectively reduces their volume to zero, and see if I can't get them to offer rates similar to similarly sized companies as yours providing P&P to Japan.

I presume they have heard of TFTuned. Anyways, I await your PM with anticipation and see if I can't drum up some business for you. What, after all, have you got to lose?
  • 5 0
 Don't forget about the Haribo!
  • 1 0
 I'm looking for a new wheelset for myGiant Trance 27.5.
In the past i had Superstar wheels for 1 year without any problem.
But with the same money i can buy a pair of DT E1900 wheels with the same internal width and 150grm less.
www.dtswiss.com/Wheels/MTB-Wheels/E-1900-Spline-27-5
What do you think?
  • 2 3
 no brainer...DT
  • 4 2
 Theres loads of choices out there and there are plenty of storming clearout deals from othe brands.

One thing i will say is have a look at the cost and availibility of spares. I know plenty of people who bought a massively discounted wheelset from a internet shop and 6 months later no spares or backup, chuck it in the bin. We have stacks of spares which we hold in large numbers and keep for years. if we havent got somethign which you need we always sort out our customers with other options.

also do they offer free truing for life, and crash rebuild discounts again for life?

Regards, Superstar
  • 1 0
 I have numerous sets of superstar pedals within my household and love them and was running their pads for few years now, but I bought the Kevlar pads for last season however....Has anyone had a problem with the Kevlar pads eating brake discs?

I ran them with a pair of 200mm shimano XT floating rotors and within a race season and 10 days in the alps the discs were worn down to 0.7mm from the 2mm. I think I used 6 pairs over the whole year.
  • 3 1
 Kevlar pads are super agressive compound, thats why they stop fast and ignore high temperature runs with no fading. Yes that means they wear your rotors more but i would rather stop at the bottom of an alpine run when i want to than crash with brand new rotors. a race season and 2 weeks in the alps you can domore braking than most people do in 20 years normal trailriding... If you have any questions please let me know, Superstar
  • 1 1
 Superstars Kevlar pads are terrible and false economy! Tested them back to back with standard shimano pads. Shimano pads last a week to ten days of alpine riding - superstar a day if your lucky and ruin your rotors brakes and everything associated with stopping. I like spreading the rotors on crackers because they might as well be made of cheese.
  • 1 0
 Thanks for the reply @SuperstarComponents I guessed that might be the case, I have also been informed the XT rotors are softer than normal.
I really got on with the Kevlar pads, super grippy from cold and would never fade. It's good to know on a black run they would bite as hard on the bottom as at the top. But I did go through quite a few pairs.
  • 1 0
 Iv had some shimano discs that are resin only. Look like regular discs only noticed when cleaning the bike saw the tiny little writing so I'm guessing using sintered or kevlar would destroy them. Luckily at the time I only used resin only away
  • 1 0
 I have had 2 sets of superstar wheels, the first set i sold with my last bike and the second set i am still running now 2 years later. I am not the lightest rider nor the smoothest and they have never let me down nor have i needed to have them trued, i had sun double tracks on my old Norco A-line laced to hope pro2 hubs and i managed to completely destroy the freehub, i needed wheels fast and cheap hence going to superstar.i have had chain devices, handlebars, brake pads from them and they have been more than adequate for the job. keep up the good work superstar!
  • 1 0
 Ran a few sets of their wheels for several years now. Best VFM around and never had any customer service issues. Brake pads have been great too as are their pedals. Only component I don't like is their grips. They used to be good but I seem to wear through them in no time now. I wore a pair down to the inner sleeve in under two weeks in the alps. Other than that it's all good and it's great to see them bringing a lot of production in house.
  • 2 0
 Superstar are offering the best mix and match wheelset's in the business.
They're not as fancy as some of the big brands, and not as refined or light as some

Huh?

In what way are they the best then?
  • 1 0
 Switch hubs (novatec D881/D882) suffer from repetitive failure of their freehub, I even broken one superstar replacement in less than 10km in the mountain. Original novatec replacement seem a little bit better in this departement.
It's a design defect and can't even be avoided by going to steel freehub as they remove to much material in the steel one.
That's unfortunate because the hubs are quite good and with extended compatibility.
  • 1 0
 doh! it seems they switch from 3 prawl to 4 prawl now, this will provide more meat to support prawls (the area of failure). And it seems backward compatible.
  • 2 0
 Yup, we had a few of the tens of thousands of Switch EVO sold break a freehub in extreme use, but the warranty guys can sort that. The actual percentage was really quite low in reality. The new Switch ultra has a new design which completely solves any problems, it has SKF bearings as standard to is super reliable and is reverse compatible with the old switch models. Any questions please let me know, Superstar
  • 1 0
 I will send you the old freehubs, if at least I can get the new ones. Does the new switch ultra freehub is compatible with old EVO hubs?
  • 1 0
 yes completely reverse compatible for Switch, Switch EVO, tank and Tank EVO, plus current switch Ultras. Pop them back with a returns form and let the warranty guys look at them for you. If you have any questions please let me know, Superstar
  • 1 0
 Keep up the good work SC, bought stuff from you before over a gew years and the 2 times I've had a problem, your email response and effort to sort the problem have been speedy and fantastic. Good to see a UK company growing from strength to strength
  • 1 0
 was waiting ages for this review, as i was eyeing them up to see if it would have been worth saving a bit over £100 against a hope/mavic set, but seeing people's feedback from them, i'm probably better off with the hope/mavic set.
  • 1 0
 I'm hoping my tesla rear hub lasts, got it new built into a en521, the hub had a spacer missing from new, so when I built it up e freehub was sticking. Got it sorted through warranty, took about 1.5weeks. Should really have been picked up on during the build.
  • 1 0
 I had a set of superstar am-490 wheels and ran them for two years with no problems whatsoever! I snapped two spokes after two crashes and the wheels still ran true! I had to replace the freehub after a bit of use obviously but apart from that I would happily buy another set of wheels from them. A bargain wheelset that has proven to be super sturdy and awesome when you have the choice of colours that superstar offer.
  • 1 0
 Had some 29r rims on switch hubs for a while now, taken a lot of abuse on my hardtail and still running straight absolutely brilliant for the price! Also have to sat the superstar narrow wide ring is brilliant value, slightly bigger teeth and seems tougher ally as it holds the chain better and lasts longer than the raceface one I had before
  • 1 0
 @SuperstarComponents in a brief summary:

Made a name doing good pads at good prices, expanded.
Now selling some good value stuff (Pedals, Chain Rings, SS conversion), but truly awful pads.

Trying to expand further and move in-house/design.

No Customer Service.

All my emails with reference to the "bulk buy" pads I purchased ignored. They are beyond rubbish (pads and CS). Why would I return, even if review was excellent? Take your money and run firm.
  • 2 0
 I've used various Superstar bits from pads, tools to chainrings, pedals and grips. It's all good stuff for not a lot of moneys!
  • 1 0
 Love my Switch Evo hubs but damn, the stock bearings last no time at all. Mine started going gritty within 6 months. Also my cassette is embedded on the freehub of one wheelset, and I can't get it off.
  • 2 0
 Crap alloy freehubs are the problem. Always spec steel.
  • 1 0
 @joeofloath

We took on board that people expected better bearing life, so we now only fit SKF brand bearings. It nearly doubles our cost price for the hub and we have added minimal extra to the RRP of the Switch ULTRA. SO we do listen to feedback and constantly improve our products.

You can buy SKF bearings aftermarket to fit to your hubs, but they are about £10-12 each so £70 for a front/rear set just for the bearings! Quality doesnt come cheap.

If you have any questions please let me know, Superstar
  • 1 1
 Buy cheap buy twice. Good luck getting warranty replacements or repairs superstar will just inspect and tell you your wheels have been misused. Shit wheels spokes come loose within weeks and bearings wear out within weeks also. My experience driven opinion of course.
  • 1 0
 I have been using Superstar's products for the last 5 years never had a problem, 3 sets of wheels 2 expensive sets and 1 very cheap all are still going strong.
They had Nw chain rings for £15 DEAL OF THE YEAR .
  • 2 0
 They had xmas sale on these yesterday, all tech4 wheels -30%. It was super bargain, but only for one day.
  • 2 0
 Right, this review came a bit too late... I guess they would have sold a lot more on yesterday's sale if this came out a couple of days ago. The only other review is the Dirt one dirtmountainbike.com/products/tested-superstar-tech-4-ds25-wheels-review.html but it's pretty lame...
  • 2 0
 @justgivemeanavailableusername

Tough crowd at dirt! They dont make stuff up and big up people, just tell it straight. What i get from that review is that the wheels do what wheels should do and are almost as good as a wheelset costing 4 times the price!

Any questions please let me know, Superstar
  • 2 0
 @SuperstarComponents I agree, lame was for the reviewer, not for the wheels! He complains about weight when they are comparable to flow exs and pacentis, he complains about the width when everyone agrees the wider the better...
I thought yesterday's deal lasted until 8 am of today so couldn't place the order in time, I would be a proud owner now otherwise.
  • 3 0
 All about the free haribo!
  • 1 0
 I love Superstars wheels. Their range of colours offer something different, they're a quality products and always well priced. May get a set of these just for spares!
  • 4 1
 Sign me up! Outlaws finally have some real competition?
  • 3 0
 Superstar stuff is the shiz. Always good quality at low prices.
  • 2 0
 I've just bought the tr21 version, my only gripe is no rim tape or valves but at the price I paid they are so good!!
  • 1 0
 @lottsdave

We dont include tubeless tape and valves as that would just mean everyone would have to pay £20-30 more for their wheels! Plenty of people run tubes and dont need the bits. if you need it put it in your basket, again industry leading prices for those bits.

Any questions please let me know, Superstar
  • 1 0
 Cheers for the reply guys, I have duly basket-ed said items. Cheers!!
  • 1 0
 Super Star aredoing really good stuff across the board, not just wheel sets. Their tools section is superb and up there with the best of them in terms of quality.
  • 1 0
 @SuperstarComponents How about an extra discount code for pinkbike readers who discovered the wheels too late with this review and couldn't get 10 December 30% deal?
  • 1 1
 Really, the price not cheap enough for you?
  • 1 0
 It's xmas you know, many cheap gifts add up to big money
  • 1 0
 Sorry, I don't celebrate Christmas.
  • 4 0
 Sign up to facebook and see what other offers come out. 30% off was mad, thats pretty much at cost!!!

We thought we would make some people happy for christmas with that deal!

If you have any questions please let me know, Superstar
  • 1 0
 made me happy Smile
  • 1 0
 I bought their Tactic Tesla evo wheelset for my Rallon, rear rim split at a spoke got it replaced in about a week. Light, stiff, great tubeless.
  • 2 0
 Those wheels would sure get you noticed on the trail!
  • 3 2
 Just like Batman outfit if "Notice me" is your game
  • 2 0
 Bought a pai8r of these yesterday, for 130!!
  • 2 0
 Me too - could be a late contender for bargain of the year Smile
  • 1 0
 Where from!?
  • 2 0
 Where the f*ck do you think @jamesbeaumont Smile

Follow superstar on Facebook for daily deal updates - they had a 30% voucher code yesterday (no longer valid) ... and a 30% off custom wheels a couple or so days ago (also not valid any more)
  • 2 1
 @jamesbeaumont

you snooze you loose, that killer offer ended yesterday!

sign up to our facebook for the latest news for offers like this....

Any questions please let me know, Superstar
  • 1 0
 me too Smile
  • 1 0
 Wish I had heard about these before I bought my WTB i23's. Oh well. They are solid too.
  • 1 0
 wtb rims are truly reliable, I ran the entire mega qualifier (s0 damn rocky and fast as f**k) on a flat rear on a wtb trail rim, the daft thing just kept going straight after that as well, amazing.


although they are a massive pain in the arse for tyre fits IMO. almost like they are too big by just enough to make very difficult
  • 1 0
 I will support a company like this
  • 1 1
 Ship the whole damage wheel to the other side of the world for service... Well, better buy a few more wheels just in case.
  • 1 0
 While it may not make sense for some far away places. 99.5% of our customers are in Europe so its quick cheap and easy to return them to us. Probblay costs less than it costs to drive to the bike shop who is going to charge you to do the work!

If you have any questions please let me know, Superstar
  • 1 0
 What's the deal with sending wheels back to be trued? What's the process?
  • 1 0
 @bikerboywill

Have a look at the info online in teh returns section.

Original owners of superstar wheels can fill out a returns form, pop them abck and the wheelbuild team will give them a report of anythign which needs servicing, then true/return for free.

Obviously if your rim is beyond repair or if your bearings are shot they need replacing under our crash rebuild discount, we arent going to do a bodge true for you. If your not happy with our quote we just return them to you for you to service.

Its totally up to you

If you have any questions please let me know, Superstar
  • 1 1
 do they come in B+







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