Some of you may remember that I was lucky enough to ride on MadFiber's carbon hoops back in December for the Washington State CX Championships. I am very happy to say that I was able to get another set for a longer test and I just picked them up the other day.
My visit began with a quick tour of their facilities, over by Seattle landmark Gasworks Park. Amongst the various work stations, you could not only see each step of the assembly process, but also a visual lineage of the revolutionary wheel. It is very interesting to see the original wheel, #001, which looks like the result of a Spinery Rev-X and a Mavic Cosmic Carbone. You can truly see that they were trying to do something new, and the jump to the first production units made the dream a reality. Since then, the MadFiber wheel has evolved into a more polished and well-developed product. Where the originals were using White Industries hub internals, the current version have custom-built internals, along with numerous other changes to increase performance.
After the tour, the MadFiber staff began to get a set of wheels together for me to take home - luckily I received a set of the uber-light tubular model - perfect for some cross and road experiences. In addition to the wheels (packed into that great double-wheel bag shown above), MadFiber also sends you this little goodie bag:
These skewers are very light - what you might expect when you are playing with a set of wheels that comes in around 1085g (actual weight of my set will be in part 2). The skewers are a titanium shaft with lightweight aluminum caps and a carbon fiber arm on the lever. You also get a set of MadFiber valve extenders and a spacer for the 11spd cassette free-body to adapt it to use 10spd. You also get a set of the MadFiber cork-composite brake pads.
The pads are designed specifically for the carbon brake track on the MadFiber wheels, and are built to provide a consistent brake feel during use (avoiding the pulsing that many carbon wheels are prone to create). Since my only experience with the wheels at the moment was during a cross race, I will have more on the actual stopping quality of the pads in the next post.
One thing that I kept reading online while researching the wheels is that people were not happy with the finish of the hubs. The fronts look pretty finished to me - smooth lines and an even surface. The rear is a little trickier, due to the complex shape -
Here you do end up with a small amount of unevenness in the carbon, but nothing distracting or even extremely noticeable - unless you are purposely examining them.
Another thing that comes up is that people aren't fond of the large and bold graphics. MadFiber has started offering specialty decals to help win over these customers, although they also pointed out that the graphics are just vinyl stickers - and are easy to remove if you want a stealthy look.
Overall, the finish on the wheels is very high, part of the benefit of low-production wheels - they have the time to carefully inspect each wheel and ensure it meets their demands. Areas like the valve-stem hole are carefully finished and blend into the wheel. The tubular bed is equally impressive and is part of the strength of the wheels. Now it is time to brake out some glue and get some tires on these wheels. Check back for part 2!
