I’ve noticed that a lot of you are keenly interested in American Classic 420 Aero 3 wheels, as these are the most popular posts on this blog.
First Impressions (Apr 2010)
Short-term Review (May 2010)
It’s been about a year since that short-term writeup, so I thought I’d toss out some thoughts that have been building up since then.
- These are so fast. I’ve had lighter wheels that spin up faster, but they didn’t hold speed like these wheels.
- As aero clinchers go, I still can’t find one as deep and as light.
- My front hub has always creaked a little. I’ve made bearing adjustments and it’s still there. I need to dig deeper into that because that shit bugs me sometimes.
- I don’t think I’ve trued them yet. Still good. They’re not out enough to bother with.
- The small brake track is still a small thorn in my side, but since I basically leave them on one bike and forget about it, it’s not a big deal.
- They’re pricey. I got them through my sponsorship with AC last year, which made them attainable. But you probably don’t have that kind of arrangement. So like I’ve said, if these tick every box for you, you’re not wasting your money. But chances are, you could be happy with something that costs a lot less. It really depends on your budget and how long you plan to have them.
- I wanted to run road tubeless on these wheels, but I can’t. The Stan’s kit includes a rim strip that’s too wide, and they deferred to American Classic for judgement. AC wrote back to me and said “The 420s are not tubeless ready and we would not recommend using the stan’s kit on them”. So that stinks. I was starting to buy into the whole road tubeless thing.
- I was going to race ‘cross on them, but I ended up buying tubulars. I don’t have a really good reason to still try that, since I already have a great pair of clincher pit wheels.
- Search for American Classic Wheelsets on Amazon – you might find a hot deal.
chasing 1:20 