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Bontrager Parts

Mike

Maximum Pace
Sep 24, 2007
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Had the pleasure of doing a Tour de Christoph with Simon today. It was a great ride and I'm so glad we persevered with the weather being the way it was this morning, as it turned out to be a beautiful day out. For some reason, I suppose it being a three day weekend or the weather reports (wrong as usual) there wasn't that much traffic around, especially coming home along R413 and we were really able to enjoy the scenery. Man that area is stunning.

Anyway, to get to the title of the post, during today's ride I was discussing (should probably say complaining) Bontrager parts. I've had so much trouble with them on my Trek it's really starting ....... well, you get the picture. The back wheel that came with the bike, Bontrager Select (bottom of the line) has had to be completely re spoked and on another occasion all the bearings replaced and it's only 1 year old! If you've been following my posts lately, probably hard not to as I've been posting so much these days:), you'll know I've just bought a pair of HED wheels. So no more wheel problems I hope for a while. But anyway as I was coming home today surprise surprise, my BONTRAGER carbon seat post snapped and somehow I managed not to crash. So yet another BONTRAGER part on my bike failed within 14 months. I know the stuff on my bike is low end, but surely it should last longer than this...just wondering if anyone else has had these kind of problems with this brand?
 
Thank Mike.

Instead of Bontrager wheels, I am now looking for HED ($ is low:p)
Where did you buy it? It seems that HED doesn t ship abroad.


Terry
 
All my Bontrager parts are still going strong.... My oldest most used wheels are Bonty... They developed a bit of a wobble after the 4th year but I got that 95% fixed...;)

I will be retiring those wheels soon... well over 15,000km on them. Was even using them at last Thursday night's sprint training. (Out come the Cosmics next week).

I noticed that Astana are opting not to use standard Trek parts... what wheels are they using?
 
Terry, I ordered mine straight from the HED website. I just e-mailed them as suggested by Philip, got all the shipping costs and then purchased them from the HED online store. Add 4500 yen for import tax though. Hope that helps:)

E, After reading your post I suppose I should add that I rode about 10,000km on those Bontrager wheels. Is that a lot on wheels? I really have no idea, just thinking about the time frame and was pretty disappointed that they had so many problems.
 
Sorry to hear about the Bontrager components. According to their website they will cover for repair/replacement for your components.

I have never ridden Bontrager components. My seatpost has always been Thompson, well until recently and I now have an FSA carbon seat post. As far as other components I have always used Deda for handlebars and stem and for wheels Mavic with Shimano hubs for wheels. I continue to buy Mavic Open Pro wheels as I have had no problems with them, very little maintenance other than a little tweak here and there for truing purposes. I am a big rider, 210 pounds, the wheels hold up beautifully all the time. I guess if I were to change anything on the wheels it would be to upgrade to ceramic bearings with Chris King hubs. Just a personal preference of mine. But I would love to get my hands on a pair of HED wheels, not sure because of my weight how much extra and investment that would be.

I wouldn't give up on Bontrager as they are a strong company. Lately, many companies have had issues with some of their components. I ahd to send back my Look Pedals because of some issue. Makes me wonder where the components are being manufactured and what QA steps are implemented to ensure safety is always built into the components.

James
 
I've got a trek pilot 5.2 (now discontinued), came with various bonty parts--racelite rims/hubs and so on. Close to three seasons on it, maybe a little over 10k total km.

The wheels have never needed truing (in contrast to what's said here and in other reviews), but I'm only 82kg and a less masochistic rider. The rear one survived a slight fall into a bent drain grating, and the deep nick from that (buffed out). Early this spring the bearing race on the rear hub did come loose, and since I had heard they'd had hub problems I was worried I might be the next victim. But it hasn't blinked since(watched carefully for a while, then relaxed).

Non-longevity/durability comments: I will say that the bonty seat that came on the bike was a joke, swapped out after about one ride. Also, the bars (also bonty racelite), tho fine in any upper position (virtually all I use), anything below the levers is so horribly designed and unusable that I've even considered amputating them at that point to save a few grams...
 
Terry, I ordered mine straight from the HED website. I just e-mailed them as suggested by Philip, got all the shipping costs and then purchased them from the HED online store. Add 4500 yen for import tax though. Hope that helps:)

E, After reading your post I suppose I should add that I rode about 10,000km on those Bontrager wheels. Is that a lot on wheels? I really have no idea, just thinking about the time frame and was pretty disappointed that they had so many problems.

depends on your weight, riding conditions and maintenance schedule I guess. The seat post I would definitely return.
 
HSorry about necroposting, but this is what happened to my HED Ardennes yesterday night:

hed_ardennes_busted.jpg


So far, I have been using two sets of HED wheels, the Ardennes FR and the Jet 4 FR, and experienced nothing but problems, mostly related to the hubs and bearings. I decided I will give Bontrager another try, they have always proven to be reliable, especially for us heavier riders. Bontrager redesigned their 2010 wheels, widening the rims to 21,5mm (still less than HED who use 23mm wide rims, but larger than the standard 19mm). Ironically, the are also designed by Stephen Hed.

I'll probably replace my Jet 4s with this

10bo418524


=> http://www.bontrager.com/model/08807
 
Ardennes

Thomas, that's exactly what happened to my rear wheel in October 2009. Hed admitted their fault - overtightening the spokes - and replaced them by warranty. I guess you can do it as well, as long the warranty is still valid.

BTW, after getting a new rear wheel from HED, I noticed a much bigger flex, especially when dancing out of saddle on the climbs. No other problems with ardennes so far, but will try to buy something else next time
 
Same happened to my Easton's
 
Thomas and Sergey, can't believe you haven't gone custom on all your bikes yet (Thomas, I know you have the Ambrosio rims)...

At our size and riding styles, shimano hubs + 32 spokes + aluminum rim, FTW. Doubt I'll ever buy another factory wheelset.
 
Bontrager and HED are making some dual brand wheels...double the whammy...

I'm probably one of the heavier riders on the site and all my wheels are in great condition. I don't use the breaks much though which may add forces that are effecting you guys who fly down hills all the time.

Why do you think your wheels are failing?

Bumpy roads?
Jumping gutters?
Or just unlucky?
 
Some of the most common factors for wheels failing;

  • Riding on wheels that are not rated to the riders weight
  • Not getting them serviced by an authorised mechanic after the first 500km
  • Using racing wheels for everyday use (I see this so often!)
  • Not getting your wheels serviced after the recomneded distance and by a authorised mechanic.

Alot of wheels now are coming with spoken tensioning charts for riders weights, lots of LBS stores who although can true a training or mamachari wheel have no clue about these new types of wheel systems, so make sure your LBS is qualified to actually work on your wheels!
 
I think Mr. Hed has put a spell on me. This afternoon, on a training ride along Arakawa the spokes on my Jet 4 rear wheel snapped. It sounded like a gun shot. The bike couldn't even be pushed anymore... great experience to board the train with a bike during rush hour. :mad:

Thomas and Sergey, can't believe you haven't gone custom on all your bikes yet (Thomas, I know you have the Ambrosio rims)... At our size and riding styles, shimano hubs + 32 spokes + aluminum rim, FTW. Doubt I'll ever buy another factory wheelset.

I have two sets of custom Ambrosio wheels. They are quite bombproof, but need constant truing.

I am actually slightly above HED's weight limit (+5 lbs), so that and the fact that I use them every day might contribute to their failure.

What kind of everyday wheel sets do you guys use?
 
Shimano Ultegra SL 6700 and loving them if the weather is bad then the Easton 30's that the Pinarello came with.
 
What kind of everyday wheel sets do you guys use?

Bontrager Race - their 3rd year now, LOTS of abuse but still going strong.

I am considering Bontrager Race X Lite as a training/racing set if I decide to replace Ardennes - not much heavier and 100$ cheaper.

10bo413506-413507


or Shimano Dura-Ace

shimano-duraace-7850cl-med.jpg


30 grams heavier than Ardennes, but ~200-300$ cheaper
 
Sergey,

Dominic from PE just picked up a pair of the DuraAce...they are going super cheap in the UK at the moment for as little as 60,000 JPY!!!! Thats 40% cheaper than Japanese prices!
 
hmmmm generic taiwanese rims found on the easton's, alexia and other 27mm aero style rims. Infact they look identical to the Easton 30's and the Most Chall wheel sets!
 
HSorry about necroposting, but this is what happened to my HED Ardennes yesterday night:

hed_ardennes_busted.jpg


So far, I have been using two sets of HED wheels, the Ardennes FR and the Jet 4 FR, and experienced nothing but problems, mostly related to the hubs and bearings. I decided I will give Bontrager another try, they have always proven to be reliable, especially for us heavier riders. Bontrager redesigned their 2010 wheels, widening the rims to 21,5mm (still less than HED who use 23mm wide rims, but larger than the standard 19mm). Ironically, the are also designed by Stephen Hed.

I'll probably replace my Jet 4s with this

10bo418524


=> http://www.bontrager.com/model/08807

Hi Thomas,

I am heavy rider too +80kg. Until now, I did have any problem with my paire of Zonda and my current one - Mavic Cosmic carbone Sl.

Cheers Thierry
 
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