Neuvation M28 Aero3 Wheels – The Long Term Test

White bike + (black wheels – gaudy silver decals) = Sweetness

If you read my initial Neuvation M28 Aero3 Wheelset review, you’ll remember that I really liked the performance of the wheels, but the durability seemed questionable.

I’ve been riding these wheels well over a year now; let’s see how things are going…

Durability and Wheel Truing

I want to start with this point because it was my biggest concern with the wheels. After putting maybe 300-500 miles on these wheels (probably more like 250-350) in a month or so, both wheels were out of true. I had only hit one rough patch of pavement in that time.

It could have been worse, but I was expecting better from hand-built wheels.

After truing the wheels, I did a road race on my local roads (July 13, 2008.) We were really putting the hammer down for a while, but the roads were smooth.

Unfortunately, on the last stretch, I did hit a small pothole. It was big enough to notice it, but small enough my wheels just bounced over – something that the cheapest wheel should have held up to.

Well, after the race, the rear wheel was really out of true. I had to dial out the back brake pads quite a bit to keep it from rubbing while I rode home to true it yet again.

And that cycle continued. I was pretty pissed these needed trued so soon and so frequently.

I mean, I wasn’t putting that many miles on these, and the miles I put on were fairly smooth roads. I weighed roughly 159lb at the time, so that was definitely not an issue. I’m also a very smooth rider with a good pedal stroke, smoothly riding over or around obstacles such as pot holes and railroad tracks.

The good news after all this: After truing the wheels monthly for nearly a full year, I think the spokes have finally decided to stay put. The wheels are nearly true and they have been like that for the 2009 season so far.

Stiffness, Speed, and Performance

Thankfully, the wheels always impressed me with their speed and performance. They were stiff and reasonably light, making for a fast ride (that was still plush enough) even while climbing and sprinting.

Compared to cheap stock wheels, they felt magical!

After a year, they still feel great.

The only disappoint was in December when I checked the wheels for a possible overhaul – the bearings were sticky and clunky. I was taken by surprise, considering how smooth the wheels rolled all summer.

Fortunately, I had some ceramic bearings to install…

Installing the Ceramic Bearings

Neuvation wheels don’t come with the ceramic bearings installed; the bearings are actually shipped separately and you install them yourself.

Installation is pretty simple, though. You knock out the old bearings with a rubber mallet, then press in the new ones with the pressure of the quick release skewer. No big deal, although it does take some time.

Warning: Be careful with the included instructions. The details and pictures are a little vague, and I noticed one of the pictures actually shows an incorrect rear hub configuration.

If you are not experienced with hub overhauls, take it slow, and put everything back together the exact same way it came apart!

Once the overhaul was complete, the ceramic bearings were very, very smooth. Spinning the wheel in my hand went from clunky to silky smooth!

When I put the bike on the rollers, I think I noticed a small increase in casual cruising speed. However, that could have been psychological. (Regardless, the ceramic bearings were a nice touch.)

Removing Neuvation Decals

Eventually I got sick of the gaudy Neuvation decals, so I decided to ditch them. Neuvation actually gives you instructions to remove the decals, so they must know how ugly they are.

It’s a simple job – just use a hair dryer to heat the decal and then peel it off. The process takes about a minute per decal. At eight decals per wheel, plus some buffer time, expect to take 20-30 minutes to do this well. (Don’t rush it.)

I would heat the decal for about 10 seconds, then concentrate the heat at one end and moved the blow dryer along the decal as I slowly pulled it off. Most came off perfectly. A few glue spots were left behind, but I could rub those off with my finger tip.

The stealthy look is sweet! Also, this saves weight! It’s not a huge weight savings, but it’s very cost-effective.

A Couple Things I’m Still Wondering About

When I switched to ceramic bearings in the front hub, everything went smoothly. The hub was very clean inside, and it contained the black bearing cartridges.

But when I pulled apart the rear hub, it was pretty dirty, and contained some white grease, green grease, and some red sticky stuff. And… red bearing cartridges, which would indicate ceramic bearings!

Somehow the rear hub already had ceramic bearings installed, despite my set of four ceramic bearings arriving separately. It seems a bit fishy, especially since the rear wheel is the one that was really bothering me with the constant truing.

Could my new rear wheel have been built with a refurbished hub? Did the regular bearings happen to get a red seal? That’s just me guessing, but it was odd.

And there’s one other thing I’m left wondering… When will we see Neuvation mountain bike wheels?! Perhaps something along the lines of Stan’s Olympic rims, but half the price?? That would be sweet!

My final verdict is…

Once again, I have to render a verdict on these wheels…

I still feel that these wheels get a little too much praise (like in the RoadBikeReview.com reviews,) but I’m glad I bought them to try out. The ride quality and performance are very good, and nothing has broken after over one year of use, so I can’t really complain.

What really matters is that most other wheels at $500 or below are nothing compared to these wheels. For the price, these are great. I’m positive these are the best wheels out there for under $300. And whether you choose the M28 Aero3, M28 SL, R28 Aero4, etc., they are all a great value.

If you can afford $1000+ wheels, great. But if not, Neuvation is a great value and superb wheel. I actually considered getting a second set when I realized they were on sale for $199.

Official website: www.NeuvationCycling.com