Planet X A57 wheels - super tough touring/cyclocross

[montage]

Price - £99, bargain.
Advertised as "These are one of the strongest and most reliable sets of wheels we have to offer. The exceptionally strong rims and relatively high spoke count make them hard as nails"

Verdict: Light, appear strong and bearing roll well. However.....rear went extremely wobbly 40 miles into a lightly loaded tour. Paid up to get them well trued. Went wobbly again almost straight away. Front came slightly untrue. I talked to a guy with the same wheels on the ferry home - exactly the same happened to him.

Advice: I strongly recommend you shop elsewhere.

 

[martint235]

Mine have been fine for over 2,000 miles although the spokes have started rubbing together and clicking.

However I know that Sittingduck of this parish isn't happy with his.

 

[dan_bo]

I had some- rims were fine the freehub chewed up a bit. Alright for the price.

 

[dan_bo]

At the same time, I wouldn't expect too much from a set of 99 quid wheels for touring. Spend some proper money.

 

[dan_bo]

And don't bitch too much for a oner.

 

[Spiky Simon]

I have these on my planet x uncle John - done about 500 miles so far no bother, including 200 miles loaded up with panniers through the highlands.

 

[Sittingduck]

I sent my rear one back and am waiting for them to tell me if it's covered under warranty. Had less than 200 miles of use before it started makes worrying noises. Bearings feel shot when I took off the cassette to inspect. They refuse to refund my return postage costs. You get what you pay for and all that but I would still expect them to stand up to more than a handful of rides before failing like this and I wouldn't expect to be out of pocket (Parcel Force 48hr service cost me £12 odd). They have yet to confirm they have fixed the wheel and they have had them for about a week now. Not impressed.

 

[Sittingduck]

Update:

Finally got the rear wheel back from them a few days ago. They said there was a lot of muck and debris inside the hub which they had stripped down and cleaned up. They said it would not normally be covered under warranty but in this case they decided to do the work as a sign of goodwill. They did not refund my return postage costs (£12+). They said that it is advisable to strip down and regrease/ repack bearings after every long or a couple of wet rides (yeah right). The freehub felt slightly less sticky when I inspected it but by no means particularly smooth. The wheel still makes a lot of creaking noises as soon as I fitted it to my bike again. I have since taken it back off and swapped it out with another wheel. Net result - I am no better off and £12+ out of pocket. I will never use Planet X again, ever!

Just to add that these wheels had had a max of 2 rides before the noises originally started and have done around 200 miles total. Really dissapointing

 

[montage]

So I got a replacement - excellent customer service, cannot fault that, but the rear has seen maybe three rides and is in a pretty sorry state!
Not impressed with these wheels at all! Back they go, again

 

[Sittingduck]

I had to send mine back... twice. They eventually gave me an upgrade to AL30 and refunded my (2 lots) of postage costs. It took many e-mails and at least 2 phone calls to get it sorted out though... shocking customer service and I wouldn't touch A57s with a 10ft bargepole!

 

[martint235]

My comment above about having done 2,000 miles was obviously ill-advised. At the 2,500 mile mark, the rear hub turned to cheese. Got a 105 in there now. Have had other problems with noise that the LBS thinks he's sorted but the weather hasn't allowed me to test yet. If it's not worked I'll probably just get a Mavic Open Pro built up on the 105 hub.

 

[Rob3rt]

TBH, I am loathed to ever give PX any business, their carbon deep sections are great value though and they keep me going back for a browse......... but thus far I have NEVER bought from them, they nearly got a grand of my money, then because they were completelly un-interested in helping me with regards to sizing and fitting (either that or he just didnt know, kept telling me it was my choice, I know this, I am asking for advice) I went elsewhere.

 

[montage]

How are you finding the AL30s SD?
I got an email through a few minutes ago saying that they would upgrade to a competition set of wheels if I was interested - I really can't fault their customer service personally, especially whoever Chris is. I'm guessing that he will offer the AL30s if that is what SD received.....but I did ask if he had any ZIPPS gathering dust, fingers crossed!

 

[Sittingduck]

Good luck with the Zipps
So far, so good, with the AL30s. They are a different kind of wheel to the A57s but I have found them slightly lighter (even though they are 30mm rims, compared to the standard / low profile A57s) and a little faster. I had to tweak a couple of NDS spokes on the rear at the weekend but this is the first time I have had to touch them. Hard to say because I haven't done all that many miles on them (guessing maybe <500). At least they are not making clanking noises!

 

[montage]

They basically offered me a 10% discount on the £400 carbon wheels, not so impressed - I'll be settling for a refund and avoiding their wheels in future