After reading this thread (http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=40760&highlight=soul) I became interested in Soul wheels (www.bikesoul.com), so I sent an email to them with some questions. Sean Wai (I think he's the company owner) responded quickly with good answers, so I ordered a set of the S3.0s. They are semi-aero with 30mm rims. I wonder if these share parts with Williams Wheels 30 (http://www.williamscycling.com/) or the Niobium wheels (http://www.oddsandendos.com/) from Mike Garcia?

Sean explained in his email that the website does not describe the latest version of the wheels. When compared to the previous version, the latest version

has bladed spokes instead of round,
is slightly heavier at 1580 grams instead of 1500,
is stiffer and stronger,
is a little more expensive, $250 USD instead of $225 USD. Shipping is $97 from Singapore.


That's all fine with me and my needs. I'm a recreational rider who is strong enough to keep up with slower racers on training rides. I weight 190 lbs, so strength and stiffness are important to me. My old wheels -- Performance Forte Titan, aka Neuvation M28? -- are too flexy and weak. My rear derailleur would hit the spokes when I was in the big (inner) cog and going uphill. I had to re-dish the rear wheel off center, which probably contributed to a broken spoke and a hub flange failure after 1.5 years. That's right, I tore the flange off the hub on a climb. I don't want to knock the Performance wheels too much, though, because they far exceeded my expectations for a $150 set that weigh 1760 grams.

So I have about 45 miles and 3000 feet of climbing on the new Soul wheels. So far I think they are great wheels, and at $347 shipped and 1580 grams they offer a nice combination of stiffness, aerodynamics, weight, and price. The soul wheels don't have the noticeable flex that my old wheels did. However, the rear derailleur still brushes the spokes on steep hills, but just barely. When I even out my pedal strokes the pinging goes away completely. The soul wheels are lighter than my old set, but I can't say that I notice faster acceleration or less heft on climbs. The bearings seem good because the wheels spin forever when the bike is on the workstand.

One thing I will keep an eye on is that the rear has gotten ever so slightly out of true. I'm going to ride more this weekend and see if it gets any worse.

One more thing -- the rear hub ratchets are loud. My old hubs were silent so it will take some getting used to.

Can anyone out there compare the Soul wheels to more expensive sets like Mavic Ksyriums, or Campagnolo Eurus (my choice if I had $800 to spend instead of $350)?

I weighed the set without skewers and with rim tape. I don't have a lot of confidence in the scale's accuracy, so 1600 grams is fine with me under the circumstances.
http://i24.tinypic.com/11aftcn.jpg

Note the bladed spokes, 2X and radial on the rear.
http://i23.tinypic.com/2uyk5xi.jpg

Mounted up on my 2005 Specialized Roubaix
http://i20.tinypic.com/29lif08.jpg

Congrats on your new purchase. I would check that your hanger is not bent. That would lead to the touching of spokes in your lowest gear.

Looking good :)

Yes, and a little piece of advice. Make sure the NDS spokes are thread locked.
They have fairly low tension and loosen up quite easily

After reading this thread (http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=40760&highlight=soul) I became interested in Soul wheels (www.bikesoul.com), so I sent an email to them with some questions. Sean Wai (I think he's the company owner) responded quickly with good answers, so I ordered a set of the S3.0s. They are semi-aero with 30mm rims. I wonder if these share parts with Williams Wheels 30 (http://www.williamscycling.com/) or the Niobium wheels (http://www.oddsandendos.com/) from Mike Garcia?

Sean explained in his email that the website does not describe the latest version of the wheels. When compared to the previous version, the latest version

has bladed spokes instead of round,
is slightly heavier at 1580 grams instead of 1500,
is stiffer and stronger,
is a little more expensive, $250 USD instead of $225 USD. Shipping is $97 from Singapore.


That's all fine with me and my needs. I'm a recreational rider who is strong enough to keep up with slower racers on training rides. I weight 190 lbs, so strength and stiffness are important to me. My old wheels -- Performance Forte Titan, aka Neuvation M28? -- are too flexy and weak. My rear derailleur would hit the spokes when I was in the big (inner) cog and going uphill. I had to re-dish the rear wheel off center, which probably contributed to a broken spoke and a hub flange failure after 1.5 years. That's right, I tore the flange off the hub on a climb. I don't want to knock the Performance wheels too much, though, because they far exceeded my expectations for a $150 set that weigh 1760 grams.

So I have about 45 miles and 3000 feet of climbing on the new Soul wheels. So far I think they are great wheels, and at $347 shipped and 1580 grams they offer a nice combination of stiffness, aerodynamics, weight, and price. The soul wheels don't have the noticeable flex that my old wheels did. However, the rear derailleur still brushes the spokes on steep hills, but just barely. When I even out my pedal strokes the pinging goes away completely. The soul wheels are lighter than my old set, but I can't say that I notice faster acceleration or less heft on climbs. The bearings seem good because the wheels spin forever when the bike is on the workstand.

One thing I will keep an eye on is that the rear has gotten ever so slightly out of true. I'm going to ride more this weekend and see if it gets any worse.

One more thing -- the rear hub ratchets are loud. My old hubs were silent so it will take some getting used to.

Can anyone out there compare the Soul wheels to more expensive sets like Mavic Ksyriums, or Campagnolo Eurus (my choice if I had $800 to spend instead of $350)?

I weighed the set without skewers and with rim tape. I don't have a lot of confidence in the scale's accuracy, so 1600 grams is fine with me under the circumstances.
http://i24.tinypic.com/11aftcn.jpg

Note the bladed spokes, 2X and radial on the rear.
http://i23.tinypic.com/2uyk5xi.jpg

Mounted up on my 2005 Specialized Roubaix
http://i20.tinypic.com/29lif08.jpg
Hey man, nice set of wheels and a swift deal!
They look like my FSA RD400's, except the bladed spokes.
. Regards, ru1-2cycle:thumbsup:

To correct the rear derailleur hitting the large cassette, I would try turning the L screw on the rear derailleur in about 1/4 or 1/2 turn. That moves the derailleur over and may solve the problem.

...and some grease inside the freehub will greatly reduce the noise.

To correct the rear derailleur hitting the large cassette, I would try turning the L screw on the rear derailleur in about 1/4 or 1/2 turn. That moves the derailleur over and may solve the problem.

Ahhh, that was the first thing I did. Here's a brief recap of all the ways I've tried (and failed) to keep my rear derailleur from hitting the spokes when I'm on a climb and in the big (inner) cog.


Adjusted the rear derailleur limit screw so I had just enough range to shift in into the big cog, but no more. I've got it tuned within a quarter turn.
Inserted spacers onto the hub before the cassette. The spacers move the cassette away from the spokes, but I could only get a fraction of a millimeter because using too many spacers would cause the cassette lockring to not engage the threads in the hub.
Re-dished the rear wheel off-center to move the drive side spokes away from the derailleur.
Ride without sudden changes in power output. Much easier said than done, especially on a group ride.


A few things I haven't tried are:

Losing weight so I cause less flex in the rear wheel. I weight 190 lbs and I'm probably around 8-10% body fat.
Lowering my power output. Ironically, riding at lower power levels would probably cause me to slowly gain weight.
Not use my big cog. I sometimes ride on sustained hills over 12% grade, so that's much easier said than done.


Am I missing anything here?

I'm new to Road biking so i haven't looked very carefully at road bike RD's. If it's anything like Mountain biking, there is no way in the world you can flex a wheel that much. Either your frame is made of rubber or your hanger is bent. We are talking A LOT of deflection here, I mean it's amazing your bike would go straight I'd think.

Ahhh, that was the first thing I did. Here's a brief recap of all the ways I've tried (and failed) to keep my rear derailleur from hitting the spokes when I'm on a climb and in the big (inner) cog.


Adjusted the rear derailleur limit screw so I had just enough range to shift in into the big cog, but no more. I've got it tuned within a quarter turn.
Inserted spacers onto the hub before the cassette. The spacers move the cassette away from the spokes, but I could only get a fraction of a millimeter because using too many spacers would cause the cassette lockring to not engage the threads in the hub.
Re-dished the rear wheel off-center to move the drive side spokes away from the derailleur.
Ride without sudden changes in power output. Much easier said than done, especially on a group ride.


A few things I haven't tried are:

Losing weight so I cause less flex in the rear wheel. I weight 190 lbs and I'm probably around 8-10% body fat.
Lowering my power output. Ironically, riding at lower power levels would probably cause me to slowly gain weight.
Not use my big cog. I sometimes ride on sustained hills over 12% grade, so that's much easier said than done.


Am I missing anything here?

Am I missing anything here?

How much clearance do you have when the bike is on the stand? Mine has over 5mm at the closest spot... where the upper pulley is. Also, where on the deraileur is contact being made?

Wasfast,

Are you sure about adding grease into the hub body to reduce its noise? I've always thought that motor oil is best assuming you were thinking about lubricating the pawls and ratchet ring.

I've had a friend slap a large amount of grease into his rear hub. This resulted in the pawls sticking and required a thorough cleaning.

Having said that, the maintenance guide for a wheel set I have recommends motor but does say that grease will work. The only catch is you have to make sure that the grease has very low viscosity. Something like 00 or 0 on the NLGI's scale. I think that is grease that can be described as 'nearly liquid' or something along those lines.

Regards,

Laifer

a friend of mine has the carbon bling bling soul 3.0...

How much clearance do you have when the bike is on the stand? Mine has over 5mm at the closest spot... where the upper pulley is. Also, where on the deraileur is contact being made?

Sorry about the long delay, just got back from Hawaii where I managed to resist the temptation to crash the Ironman. :)

I think I have a similar gap, around 5mm, at the upper pulley and at a Polar power sensor chain speed unit, which is attached near the lower pulley. Where is the contact being made? Good question, if I was determined to find out I would put a marker (chalk? grease?) all over the deraileur cage and power sensor, then I would ride a bit and look for traces of the marker on the spokes.

I'm not going to try to find out where the contact is, though, because I fixed the problem completely today. I recently realized that I did not use shims when I re-installed my cassette on the new wheels. Today I tried using shims on the hub, they slide on before the cassette so they effectively move the cassette (and deraileur) away from the spokes. I wound up using a single shim that is around 0.5 mm thick (that's an eyball estimate, I don't have a micrometer). On a short test ride I could not get a pinging sound no matter how hard I mashed on the pedals in the big cog. Of course my power output may be down due to jetlag and too many umbrella drinks...

Check out this singaporean merchant too:

http://www.fusioncycle.com/wheels.html

Scroll down to their XR-300 wheelset. Same(?) nobium rims with SAPIM straight pull spokes instead of the taiwanese J-bend spokes used in the souls. Hubs look beefier and are loaded with a set of japanese bearings too. Seems like a nicer deal at a slightly cheaper price. My only complaint abt the XR-300 from first impressions is that its decals are not as nice as the souls but that is subjective to individuals tastes. Not sure if they ship to the USA tho...

Anyone with experience on these wheels?

these two wheel are extremely popular locally. many love them for the great build, weight and price.