Craft Racing wheels - carbon spokes 1180g

[skidFlat]

Just recently I started to notice play in the front hub of my 50-55 set. I have reached out to panda podium for support - will update soon how it goes.

That's concerning. Will be interested to hear how you get on. How much play is there?

i needed to replace the bearings and the hub play went away. i brought these wheels on a road trip where we drove through a lot of snow and ice - these wheels hung off the back of the car without any protection from the elements. i thought it was possible for some premature wear to happen to the hubs, after removing the end caps to check tollerances I found rust in the bearings. replaced the bearings and its rolling good as new.

[MarcFaFo]

Double Post.

[MarcFaFo]

Today I received the 50/55. I was happily surprised with the speed the wheels have arrived. Great Job PandaPodium!
Weight the wheels with rim tape, without std supplied disc brake lock ring and valves.
Front: 575 gr
Rear: 679 gr
Total: 1254 gr
Happy with the weight.
Quality of the rims look really good to me.
Spoke are nicely smooth.
Hubs have a robust appearance
Measured the end caps in front. 14.98mm -14.99mm
The hub makes the right sound .
Bearings are greased enough, but here in NL I'll put a little more on the outside. Have some Ceramic Speed Bearing grease left.
Nothing but Kudo's.

[ChinaCycling]

Today I received the 50/55. I was happily surprised with the speed the wheels have arrived. Great Job PandaPodium!
Weight the wheels with rim tape, without std supplied disc brake lock ring and valves.
Front: 575 gr
Rear: 679 gr
Total: 1254 gr
Happy with the weight.
Quality of the rims look really good to me.
Spoke are nicely smooth.
Hubs have a robust appearance
Measured the end caps in front. 14.98mm -14.99mm
The hub makes the right sound .
Bearings are greased enough, but here in NL I'll put a little more on the outside. Have some Ceramic Speed Bearing grease left.
Nothing but Kudo's.

Enjoy your black circles.

[ChinaCycling]

Update for those looking forward to the CS6575

Did an ABAB test today against the CS5060 wheels (which are obviously already very rapid wheels.)

At 40kph they save you 5 watts. The test was pretty accurate looking at the deviation between the two A and two B results.

Tested with GiBLI aero sensor... more updates on that in an upcoming video...

[Vuong05]

Thanks Joe

Looking forward to official release and specs on the 65/75 CRW wheels soon.

[spartan]

@chinacycling can you swap the ratchet system to a dtswiss 18t version to reduce the noise ?

[toxin]

The internals are interchangeable with other dt swiss parts so I see no reason why not.

[Matte86]

Hi Joe!
Having just read Ronin of EC about his experience with the CRWs and there he pointed out that he had problems with the bearings.

“So yes and no is the answer. Yea, I have ridden them. But returning to the wheels shortly after first wet ride the bearings in the freehub were entirely seized and rusted despite properly washing and drying the bike post ride. Fast forward a month and another wet ride, during which I rode 5 sets of wheels for back to back testing, killed all the bearings front and rear. So now I’m awaiting replacements. Joe at panda podium tells me the bearing issue is limited to a small batch and crw had already identified it and now use different bearings. Time (or Irish weather) will tell when the replacements land”

Would it be possible for you to comment on it?
Specifically, how come does it happen only on a small batch? Does CRW use different bearings for different batches?
Are the new bearings fitted to all new CRWs sold?
Thanks

[Agent041]

Hi Joe!
Having just read Ronin of EC about his experience with the CRWs and there he pointed out that he had problems with the bearings.

“So yes and no is the answer. Yea, I have ridden them. But returning to the wheels shortly after first wet ride the bearings in the freehub were entirely seized and rusted despite properly washing and drying the bike post ride. Fast forward a month and another wet ride, during which I rode 5 sets of wheels for back to back testing, killed all the bearings front and rear. So now I’m awaiting replacements. Joe at panda podium tells me the bearing issue is limited to a small batch and crw had already identified it and now use different bearings. Time (or Irish weather) will tell when the replacements land”

Would it be possible for you to comment on it?
Specifically, how come does it happen only on a small batch? Does CRW use different bearings for different batches?
Are the new bearings fitted to all new CRWs sold?
Thanks

Do not have the wheels, but maybe it is not the bearings problem. Maybe its more that the water can even come to the bearings that easely. When water penetrates that far, probably most bearings will be dead. Depending on the sealant.

[ChinaCycling]

Hi Joe!
Having just read Ronin of EC about his experience with the CRWs and there he pointed out that he had problems with the bearings.

“So yes and no is the answer. Yea, I have ridden them. But returning to the wheels shortly after first wet ride the bearings in the freehub were entirely seized and rusted despite properly washing and drying the bike post ride. Fast forward a month and another wet ride, during which I rode 5 sets of wheels for back to back testing, killed all the bearings front and rear. So now I’m awaiting replacements. Joe at panda podium tells me the bearing issue is limited to a small batch and crw had already identified it and now use different bearings. Time (or Irish weather) will tell when the replacements land”

Would it be possible for you to comment on it?
Specifically, how come does it happen only on a small batch? Does CRW use different bearings for different batches?
Are the new bearings fitted to all new CRWs sold?
Thanks

There have been a few customers (AFAIK six so far, including Ronan) that have had corroded bearings. After some head scratching and some corossion testing at both CRW and their bearing supplier, they blamed a bad batch of bearings. The previous bearing supplier assured it was a one-off, etc, etc, but saves playing with fire they switched bearing suppliers to a new one (S&S I believe) I believe the switch happened a month ago or so - but I'd have to check.

But, thats not to say all the bearings from the previous supplier are affected... as there's plenty of people on here (including me) who have 'old' bearings and have never had an issue (I ride in all weathers and am not shy with the pressure washer.)

Of course, anyone having corrossion issues with their bearings, get in touch with us.

[Matte86]

Hi Joe!
Having just read Ronin of EC about his experience with the CRWs and there he pointed out that he had problems with the bearings.

“So yes and no is the answer. Yea, I have ridden them. But returning to the wheels shortly after first wet ride the bearings in the freehub were entirely seized and rusted despite properly washing and drying the bike post ride. Fast forward a month and another wet ride, during which I rode 5 sets of wheels for back to back testing, killed all the bearings front and rear. So now I’m awaiting replacements. Joe at panda podium tells me the bearing issue is limited to a small batch and crw had already identified it and now use different bearings. Time (or Irish weather) will tell when the replacements land”

Would it be possible for you to comment on it?
Specifically, how come does it happen only on a small batch? Does CRW use different bearings for different batches?
Are the new bearings fitted to all new CRWs sold?
Thanks

There have been a few customers (AFAIK six so far, including Ronan) that have had corroded bearings. After some head scratching and some corossion testing at both CRW and their bearing supplier, they blamed a bad batch of bearings. The previous bearing supplier assured it was a one-off, etc, etc, but saves playing with fire they switched bearing suppliers to a new one (S&S I believe) I believe the switch happened a month ago or so - but I'd have to check.

But, thats not to say all the bearings from the previous supplier are affected... as there's plenty of people on here (including me) who have 'old' bearings and have never had an issue (I ride in all weathers and am not shy with the pressure washer.)

Of course, anyone having corrossion issues with their bearings, get in touch with us.

Thanks

[Nickldn]

Hi Joe!
Having just read Ronin of EC about his experience with the CRWs and there he pointed out that he had problems with the bearings.

“So yes and no is the answer. Yea, I have ridden them. But returning to the wheels shortly after first wet ride the bearings in the freehub were entirely seized and rusted despite properly washing and drying the bike post ride. Fast forward a month and another wet ride, during which I rode 5 sets of wheels for back to back testing, killed all the bearings front and rear. So now I’m awaiting replacements. Joe at panda podium tells me the bearing issue is limited to a small batch and crw had already identified it and now use different bearings. Time (or Irish weather) will tell when the replacements land”

Would it be possible for you to comment on it?
Specifically, how come does it happen only on a small batch? Does CRW use different bearings for different batches?
Are the new bearings fitted to all new CRWs sold?
Thanks

There have been a few customers (AFAIK six so far, including Ronan) that have had corroded bearings. After some head scratching and some corossion testing at both CRW and their bearing supplier, they blamed a bad batch of bearings. The previous bearing supplier assured it was a one-off, etc, etc, but saves playing with fire they switched bearing suppliers to a new one (S&S I believe) I believe the switch happened a month ago or so - but I'd have to check.

But, thats not to say all the bearings from the previous supplier are affected... as there's plenty of people on here (including me) who have 'old' bearings and have never had an issue (I ride in all weathers and am not shy with the pressure washer.)

Of course, anyone having corrossion issues with their bearings, get in touch with us.

Hi Joe, that's for the in depth post.

Looking at the CS5060 end caps, which do the job of protecting the bearings from moisture, I was surprised they don't have a rubber seal. I know they are double walled, which is good, but in my mind a rubber seal is always a good defence against moisture.

Do you think it would be helpful to put a rubber seal between the two walls of the end cap for additional protection?

The end cap on the hub side of the back wheel doesn't have two walls so that isn't possible, it would be good to understand how much of an issue that is for bearing life.

[ChinaCycling]

Hi Joe!
Having just read Ronin of EC about his experience with the CRWs and there he pointed out that he had problems with the bearings.

“So yes and no is the answer. Yea, I have ridden them. But returning to the wheels shortly after first wet ride the bearings in the freehub were entirely seized and rusted despite properly washing and drying the bike post ride. Fast forward a month and another wet ride, during which I rode 5 sets of wheels for back to back testing, killed all the bearings front and rear. So now I’m awaiting replacements. Joe at panda podium tells me the bearing issue is limited to a small batch and crw had already identified it and now use different bearings. Time (or Irish weather) will tell when the replacements land”

Would it be possible for you to comment on it?
Specifically, how come does it happen only on a small batch? Does CRW use different bearings for different batches?
Are the new bearings fitted to all new CRWs sold?
Thanks

There have been a few customers (AFAIK six so far, including Ronan) that have had corroded bearings. After some head scratching and some corossion testing at both CRW and their bearing supplier, they blamed a bad batch of bearings. The previous bearing supplier assured it was a one-off, etc, etc, but saves playing with fire they switched bearing suppliers to a new one (S&S I believe) I believe the switch happened a month ago or so - but I'd have to check.

But, thats not to say all the bearings from the previous supplier are affected... as there's plenty of people on here (including me) who have 'old' bearings and have never had an issue (I ride in all weathers and am not shy with the pressure washer.)

Of course, anyone having corrossion issues with their bearings, get in touch with us.

Hi Joe, that's for the in depth post.

Looking at the CS5060 end caps, which do the job of protecting the bearings from moisture, I was surprised they don't have a rubber seal. I know they are double walled, which is good, but in my mind a rubber seal is always a good defence against moisture.

Do you think it would be helpful to put a rubber seal between the two walls of the end cap for additional protection?

The end cap on the hub side of the back wheel doesn't have two walls so that isn't possible, it would be good to understand how much of an issue that is for bearing life.

Like most bike things...it's a tradeoff. Adding a rubber ring will increase drag and slow the wheels down. So you have a choice between waterproofing and speed. I think the CRW CS series are "pretty water resistant" but they're definitely not as crazy as some winter training hubs would be... Same with the bearings... They have lighter shielding on the inside than the outside. Less drag and water can't get in from the inside anyway.

[MarcFaFo]

Here's some initial riding experience.
I had Farsport FSC 45mm 19mm internal with DTSwiss-240 hubs with Pirelli P-Zero 26mm, and have ridden with the wheels 5-6 other brands. Wheels weigh with rimtape only on them 1510 grams
I am riding the 55/50 with Tufo Comtura Prima 25mm (28,3mm WAM)
The difference with the FarSports is considerable. They feel very light footed, steering has gone from working to get around the corner to just steer around the corner. They feel very planted and give a lot of confidence going around the corner. Expierenced this during a race. Not sure if the tires contribute to it as well.
Comfort, what I have expeirenced as today is that they feel just as or even a twitch more comfort than the FSs. Need to do a 150km ride soon, so I'll tell.
What is pleasuring as well is that they run smooth and hold speed better than the FS.
All in all very happy with the wheels until now.