My first yelp review. I had a new set of Rolf Prima Vigor ls clinchers installed by Fastrack Bicycles in Santa Barbara. They were installed with new tires, tubes and brake pads. The "service" included $140+ in labor charges and when I picked up the bike, there was grease all over the braking surfaces and no valve stems installed. I rode my bike home from the shop (about 4 miles and mostly flat) and noticed a heavy vibration/shaking front wheel upon braking. I cleaned up all the grease and went for my first 35-mile ride only to have a front flat within 10 miles from my home which deterred me from continuing my ride (again, new tubes, new Gatorskin tires and new pads). The culprit? a perfectly installed staple - embedded fully and without bends in my front tire... Something I have never seen before or since; they are always bent and do not have the integrity to fully penetrate without getting mangled slightly. My very next ride and the rear tire flatted after about 30 miles - this time just some thicker piece of clipped wire or something similar. So, brand new everything and BOTH my new tubes get punctured within 40-45 miles?? I don't think so
I returned to Dave at Fastrack who adjusted the pads once but never verified the issue himself. He just kept telling me it was due to improperly toed/aligned pad positioning (which he configured). I see Dave on the road often and he repeatedly brushed me off as if either I was exaggerating the severity or that I was something the cause of his failed installation/service. Dave is very resistant to accountability and this continued for months. I ended up removing the front wheel after less than 800 miles - back to my aksium front, shaking issue resolved.
I ended contacting Rolf because I was tired of Dave's run-a-round and I shipped the front wheel back to Rolf. They told me that they were unable to reproduce the issue and that it must be due to the type of brake pads used - I ended up following their advice and bought some very overpriced Rolf brake pads which made zero difference - they also charged me an extra $10 on the return shipment ($35 going out, $45 coming back) and told me that was normal - I paid over $100 trying to get Rolf to resolve this issue and I talked with Matt their sales guy and Jimmy their shop manager/wheel builder - both of whom were quick to gaslight me and protect each other.
I tried 4 different types of brake pads - none of which improved or changed the intensity of the shaking in any way. My toe-in/alignment technique is fully perfected after this experience - that was never the cause. I also swapped the front wheel between my 2017 SuperSix and my 2014 CAAD 10 - issue persisted exactly the same on both bikes. With less than 800 miles on the front, and probably 2,000 miles on the rear - I finally removed the set from my bike never to bother with again. I then had to shame Dave for a refund which took some doing. I received nothing but gaslighting and redirection from both Dave and the crew at Rolf. I paid $550 for the wheels in cash ($840 with labor and tires/tubes/pads)... I never got a clear answer as to why I paid $550 when those wheels are listed at $650 on the Rolf website, which leaves me with questions about whether or no those wheels were actually new or refurbished/used... Dave did eventually refund me the $550 for the wheelset, but the damage has been done; that was an entire year of wasted energy on my part and the dangerous shaky wheel situation persisted without change since day#1. Not to mention the other issue experienced whilest trying to change tires on the side of the road - these wheels are unnecessarily difficult to mount tires to; never had any such difficulties with my aksiums nor with my Campagnolo C-17s (C-17s have the same dimensions width/depth and are also tubeless ready) - majorly frustrating and you will probably pop multiple blisters before seating your tire successfully.
Rolf is a crap company - do not buy wheels from these guys, they are gaslighting liars who sought to protect each other against the earnest experience painstakingly delivered by me, a first-time customer. The Rolf website includes an page wherein they try to endear you to their staff by sharing lifestyle choices/preferences of each of their employees - sounds good, until you test them. They should've just sent me a new front wheel, but instead they played games and evaded responsibility. Do not support this shit company. read more