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ritchey classic zeta wheelset.

ritchey classic zeta wheelset

i'm old enough to recall when 'the comic' featured far more advertising across the rearmost pages than it does nowadays. those days are sadly, long gone, the victims of fewer specialist bike shops and the onset of the internet, the latter replacing double-page spreads over which we once deliberated at length, arguing with ourselves whether we could slip another campagnolo component purchase past her or him indoors. aside from a singular advertisement from some hardy soul willing to repair tubular tyres, there would also inevitably be a wide variety of wheelsets on offer, handbuilt to order, with your own choice of hubset and rims.

taking advantage of this, i ordered a superb, yet wholly inappropriate for the task, set of 32 spoke wheels built onto a pair of polished campagnolo croce d'aune hubs. i cannot deny that my choice of hubs was influenced every bit as much by the name as by the reputable quality of vicenza's componentry. these were accompanied by a pair of mavic, polished alloy rims. when the sun shone, tinted glasses were all but compulsory (a little hebridean humour there).

ritchey classic zeta wheelset

mavic were probably the very chaps who signalled the eventual downturn in the handbuilt wheel market, by bringing us the ksyrium. there's a high probability that there are many contemporary cyclists who have never experienced the joys of a handbuilt wheelset, but equally, there are probably just as many who scarcely realise that, at one time, wheels were shiny. in the world of factory built wheels, ritchey are most certainly in the minority of those still offering the aficionado, a shiny pair of wheels in which it's still possible to see one's reflection.

i'm unsure as to whether naming them 'classic' is by way of reference to the heyday of eddy and his pals, or whether tom ritchey simply regards them as classic. personally, i'd be more inclined to think of classic as referring to the croce d'aune set mentioned above, featuring three-cross spoke patterns and a minimum of 32 spokes. however, 32 would probably be frowned upon nowadays, and where radial building was once the preserve of the time-triallist and actively discouraged by vicenza, it is now almost de rigeur.

ritchey classic zeta wheelset

ritchey's zeta wheels sport a mere twenty radial spokes up front, and only four more at the back. the drive-side spokes are built two-cross, while the none-drive side emulates its frontmost partner with radial spoking. straight-pull spokes have become the darlings of the factory, offering a simplicity of machine construction that the j-bend spoke is likely to complicate. ritchey, however, have opted for the latter. according to them, their phantom flange hubs offer a more attractive profile and the reputed efficiency of straight-pull, yet feature dt-swiss, j-bend spokes for improved strength, performance and reliability. there's little doubt that acquiring a spare standard spoke from a nearby bike shop is a tad more simple than finding one with the correct length straight-pull.

in my opinion, j-bend spokes offer more comfort than straight-pull, but i admit that's probably a subjective viewpoint.

ritchey classic zeta wheelset

ritchey specify the classic zeta wheels as 'tubeless ready', but if you've read any of my recent rants on the subject, you will perhaps understand why i opted to occlude that format and fill the goodyear eagles with inner tubes, a situation with which they seemed more than happy. when i received the ritchey logic frameset over a year ago, the specification claimed it could accommodate 30mm tyres, a width i figured perhaps just a smidgeon too wide for comfort. however, the 30mm goodyears confirmed them to be correct. granted, there's very little chainstay clearance at the rear, but sufficent not to warrant any real concern.

lateral clearance at the front fork is marvellously capacious, but i still suffer from the minimal vertical clearance dictated by campagnolo's record calipers. vicenza reared its compatibility head once more, with regard to the cassette freehub. with campagnolo record featured throughout the ritchey frameset, i had requested a suitably compatible freehub to accept the twelve sprockets. however, an initially unidentified rattle from the rear wheel during the sunday ride, turned out to be a loose cassette.

ritchey classic zeta wheelset

in situations such as this, i'm quick to blame the mechanic (me), but on checking when i returned, the lock-ring was fully tightened. ultimately, to cure the rattling sprockets, i'd to place a washer under the lock-ring before fitting, for it would seem that the campagnolo compatible freehub, in this case, was perhaps a millimetre or so too long. with the washer in place, however, the rattle has gone and the gear changing is as precise as campagnolo intended. and very much in its favour, the freehub is almost silent in use.

at one time, when reviewing tyres or wheels, i would seek out the roads kept solely for such special occasions, but such is their prevalence all across the island, thanks to the council's budget cuts, that there is now no need for such a quest. thus, both tyres and wheels have scarcely been spared the travails of iniquity: cattle-grids, potholes, the young farmers' ploughing match; you name it, they've suffered it. and not just in dry weather.

ritchey classic zeta wheelset

the first few rides were undertaken in teeming rain, conditions that i feared had highlighted a distinct lack of braking power. the calipers were gripping the rim, but slowing was hardly as immediate as i'd hoped. the braking surface on the zetas is textured similarly to the grooves on a vinyl record. however, once again, it was pilot error to blame; the previous wheels fitted to the ritchey, sported a wider rim and i had neglected to reset the cables to compensate. once tightened, the braking has almost equalled that of some disc systems; no snatching and modulation to spare.

a few weeks on a set of wheels hardly results in an in-depth review, and i've no intention of pretending that to be the case. at the end of april, i head north to inverness to ride the 2019 edition of the etape loch-ness, an undertaking that ought surely to further test their mettle.

i'll let you know how i get on.

ritchey's classic zeta tubeless ready wheelset is available in shimano or campagnolo compatible format, and in 700c size only. retail price is £430.

ritchey classic zeta wheelset

sunday 31 march 2019

twmp ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................