Ican Aero 50 wheelset

ICAN't

road.cc is a respectable bike magazine, which has a huge influence in the bike industry.
and In the past two years, ICAN Cycling has made great improvements in quality control.

And maybe it is a accident for the wheels.
100% good wheels do not exist, which involves the issue of product qualification rate. That is the reason why exsit the repair shop and warranty.

At present, ICAN Cycling's wheels have made great progress, and I see a lot of good reviews

But I still think ican cycling is a good company to manufacture carbon road wheels, which let me know more about ican cycling.

Maybe road.cc should retest their wheels, after all, two years have passed, you can check the quality of their wheels again.
We cannot destroy a company or deny a company because of a mistake in a wheel group
Sometimes, it is normal for a company's product to have a problem, otherwise there is no any meaningful for the warranty policy. I believe they can return and repair the problem wheel, which is important. We should give evaluation objectively, without any prejudice.
 

Hello people,

I'm also an ICAN Owner, unfortunately.

I have bought a set of FL50 attracted by the price which eventually once purchased from the german warehouse wasn't so cheap (750 euro) for this price rather look at other entry-level renewed brands.

The wheels as mentioned in the reviews have a lot of lateral flex and when sprinting out of the saddle the back wheels rub against frame and brake pads. The effect is noticeable already at 500 watts output. 

The brake rims are inconsistent and grubby in several points. I reached out ICAN and THE CUSTOMER SERVICE IS INCREDIBLY BAD!

The first email I sent (1 month after purchase) was just missed by them and I gave up thinking this was the type of service offered. I tried again because the wheels started performing worse and worse (the front Novatec hub got lose and can clearly play the wheel left to right just shaking it). Eventually, I could establish contact with them.

They asked me to send some videos of the problematic areas and offered me to ship from china "new stiffer rims" without returning mine. I was supposed to go to a shop and ask to lace the wheels on the new rims. This operation will cost me 80 euro per wheel plus additional cost to take apart my wheels.

Since I denied this option I have sent dozens of email to ICAN trying to get the wheelset replaced or returning the product and get a refund (favourite option) but all of these has been ignored by them. Interestingly when I proposed to BUY a new wheelset on a discounted price as compensation I got a reply right away. The discount they offered was the full retail price for the American market which is a little cheaper. LOL

This company is not reliable.

For all the people stating their wheels are perfect probably they are on their first pair of carbon wheels and don't have a proper comparison in performance with a good quality product. If these wheels are pushed to performance like expecting from racing products all their limits will be revealed.

Thanks for an outstanding and informative review.  I was just about to purchase this wheelset but after reading this review, I quickly changed my mind.  The one thing that really calls these wheels into question is the rear wheel lacing pattern of radial on the drive side.  There are wheels that are built this way, most notably the Mavic Ksyrium SL, an extremely reliable and robust wheelset that exhibits absolutely zero lateral flex.  The difference is that Mavic specificially engineered the FTS L hub for this purpose. And their oversized, zicral spokes are also an important component to make that wheel build work.

The CX Sapim spokes are clearly not designed to withstand the drive side radial lacing and this hub is probaly not designed with that lacing pattern in mind either.

One would think that with the proven aerodynamics of  U shaped rim profile, these wheels would not be overly senstive to sidewinds, relative to other aero wheels.  But in reading many reviews, it is clear that there are some wheels, aero or not, that seem to be more sensitive to side winds than others.  I'm not sure why this is, it seems counterintuitive, but it evidently is.  That is why it is so great to have a resource like road.cc to aid in making wise product choices.  Sometimes products don't work in ther real world the way they look on paper.

thanks again for your helpful review.

I have one different question. Is it possible to remove the decals or are they painted on?

Hi

I felt compelled to comment here as an owner of ICAN Aero 40 disc wheels , different wheels but from the same range as those tested . 

I admit I have only had them a few months with a few hundred miles in them but must say I think they’re great and have not had an noticeable lateral flex nor any side wind issues.  They have been out in gusty days and didn’t feel any different to the shallow profile wheels they replaced - almost surprisingly.

As for flex they feel stiffer than the 3 other sets of road wheels I’ve  owned over time so no issue there in my mind.

They are light and very responsive compared to the much heavier lower end Mavics they replaced and felt much faster . I don’t have experience with wheels costing £1-£2k and perhaps never will. I don’t mind occasionally spending a few grand on a bike but frankly don’t feel the need to spend so much on wheels and these decently priced wheels appear to fit the bill well. I suspect many on the market are overpriced for what they are . 

Would be interested to here other ICAN owners views . I did a lot of research and soul searching before purchasing and only ever saw positive feedback and I am pleased with themso far. 

Hi to everybody, I'm new, from Italy, sorry for my english.

Dear Liam,

I agree that a brand new product has to work perfectly. and you don't have to check and tune it, but....

The extreme lateral flexibility could be caused by bad spoke tension.

Now, if so (it is not sure, but it is possible and likely), you have done a test , many miles, and a review, on a faulty item, and that it is not fair.

I give you an example, you test a new Ferrari or a Rolls Royce, and  for any reason it has a broken or defective cheap piece in the engine or in the electronic (let's say a simple spurk plug), and the car goes slowly or doesn't switch on.

Would you say that car is shit (because of one spurk plug of 15 pounds)? would you give 1.5 stars?

You get it repaired, then it works perfectly, than you test and from the total score you cut something for the initial trouble.

Yes the quality control made by the manufacturer is important but there is always a minimum percentage of faulty items (very low for high quality brands and some higher for others).

We don't know yet if this is the case of your ican aero 40, if the spokes were perfectly tight, but it would be interresting to know for everybody, and understand why that low lateral stiffness.

I kindly ask you, if possible to check spoke tension eand let us know.

Of course if it is wrong and after tuning it another test and try the wheelset, to know if the trouble is sorted out and how they are when all right.

Thanks, bye

well Grahamd and mybike, you're not reviewers. It's normal practice for a reviewer to check initial spoke tension since consumers want to know whether a wheel is delivered tensioned to spec and it's also pertinent to know  whether the poor performance of this wheel is due to poor tension, which is easily fixed, or some other flaw. It's hard to imagine a review staff that doesn't own a tension meter.

FWIW, a wheel can be made to spec in terms of spoke tension and go out of tension initially due to several factors that detension spokes. Simply inflating tires can cause detensioning, rider weight can cause detensioning, which is then exacerbated by road roughness. Often, this is corrected by a quick truing/tightening at a shop. It's not that different from the days when cables had some initial stretch and a new bike often required some adjustment. I've had Enve wheels, Reynold Wheels, and Zipp wheels all need some retensioning after a short period.

Comments about refusing to have a wheel trued are a little odd - it's part of the regular service life of a set of wheels. It's like refusing to relube a chain.

I have to say, as an Ican wheelset owner, if a reviewer from a reputable and popular website (i.e. a key social media influencer) can't get a reply about a product one has wonder what hope an average consumer has.  Granted I've had no major problems*, ok let me rephrase that, granted I've not tried to contact ICAN about a problem with the wheels, but it really doesn't fill one with confidence.

*In total disclosure, my wheels have had a manufacturing defect from purchase.  The braking track has two two small 5mm ovals where it looks like a layer of carbon is missing (?)  Over the last three years these defects haven't got bigger or deeper but if I'd bought them from Wiggle they would've gone straight back.

May I ask why you didn't do the obvious thing - have a qualified mechanic check the spoke tension? That is likely what's causing the rear wheel rub and is a pretty simple/inexpensive fix. Would cost about $20 in the US to fix. Yes, wheels should arrive properly tensioned

  Because when you spend 500 pounds on something it should not cost a extra 20$ to make it work right.   

Ktache, I have no affiliation with the manufacturer - in testing this wheelset myself, I simply googled it to see if there are reviews online or forum discussions and this site comes up among the top results so I had a look. As I found this review to be extremely harsh - as you say - I was surprised that it contained both a number of factual inaccuracies and didn't appear to even attempt to contact the manufacturer about the issues encountered. I suspect if these were Zipp or Enve wheels (or ones that adverstised with them) they would have contacted the company about these issues - which appear to be experienced only in this review as there are numerous positive reviews about this manufacturer around. It's also a bit ironic that this review warns against buying Chinese wheelsets and then suggests alternatives that are no doubt simply sourced from China and rebadged...

1 and a half star review.  In the world of the internet, with anyone around the planet able to read it, that's harsh.  Any sensible company might take it on board, maybe make a few changes and publicise these measures.  But no, some might get a few "friends" to sign up and leave a glowing review (single posters being most suspicion inducing).  Or critisise the reviewing procedures.  

Maybe a company should check the product they send for review.  Sending faulty product will disappoint real customers more and really affect their buying choices in future, and their comments to other reviews too.

As I mentioned before RaceView Cycles in Co. Antrim, anyone?

This whole thread is verging on a bit strange. If the reviewer found the wheels to be 1412g then I don't know how another person can comment on that unless they have weighed the same set of wheels themselves. Could easily be 50g difference either way on manufacturing tolerance.

If the reviewer found them twitchy and affected by wind then maybe that was their perception on that particular day. I wouldn't buy a product based on one review, I'd add it in with all the other reviews and information I could find.

I've had an ican seatpost and a friend has an ican aero frame which he also does well on. I'd trust them as a brand but if I wasn't happy with a product when it arrived mail order, I'd contact the seller and/or sort the problem myself if I felt I had the expertise.

This is a very odd - and amateurish - review. I'm in the process of reviewing these wheels, and found a number of factual erros in this review. For one, the weight is not 1412 grams - it is 1357. The set I'm testing came in 2 grams under the listed weight. Jim Langley, a professional wheelbuilder who has a series of extensive youtube videos reviewing the aero 40, also found his wheels came in at advertised weight. Why is that significant? For one, these wheels are potential game-changers, not only in terms of their pricepoint, but in blurring the line between climbing wheels and aero. They are lighter than shallow wheels like zipp 202, reynolds attack, enve 2.2 (in all but their most exotic in-house carbon hub). In my testing, you can feel this right away. The acceleration is excellent, climbing, especially on 3-6 percent grades at speed is fantastic. They are fast going uphill as well as on the flats.

A thorough test should include checkng spoke tension, roundness, etc. (see Jim Langley's youtube videoe). My wheels came in at spec, did not have spoke twist issues like Langley, and the result is a laterally stiff wheel. If I were reviewing a wheel that had the problems reported here, I would immediately check spoke tension because something doesn't seem right about the flex reported here.

The other factual error is rim width. These are not 25mm wide. They are 28. Who cares? The shape is the contemporary U shape that flares midsection and then decreases at the brake track. This both allows easier insertion of the wheel through brake calipers and also matches rim to 25mm tires for aerodynamics. I compared the geometry of the rim profile (its curvature) to numerous other similar depth wheels and found a very close match. The shape of rims today is mostly the same, and I suspect manufacturers like this 'borrow' profiles from the big names. I highly doubt the profile causes unusual instability. It is more likely the light weight, which makes the front end of bikes feel a bit twitchier. I don't know how much experience the reviewer has with light wheels, but it's likely he's confused the two. 

The reviewer also seems not to understand the principle of spoke configuration and wheel-building. Mavic has many raidal drive-side wheels in their range.

Finally, I think before essentially trashing wheels in a review like this, a reviewer should give a manufacturer the opportunity to respond and perhaps even supply another set to see if there was some one-off problem with the wheels. 

It does seem like the reviewer was looking for problems. It's a bit silly to complain about the lack of tubeless valves and rim tape at this pricepoint. 

Finally, the reviewer gives the impression that the manufacturer is selling cheap generic rims. That's not the case. ICAN has been producing carbon wheels for as long as the major players, these wheels are UCI certified, and have an industry standard warranty. Would I race them in the alps? Probably not, but for everyday wheels for most riders these are a good value and their weight makes them especially appealing for people deciding between weight and aero - you can have both with these.

I have ICAN FL50s, which replaced Zondas and find them quite good.

Yes, they do catch the wind a bit more and braking is worse, but that was expected from 50mm carbon rims!

Ta Dom.

Here is my rose xlite team with ican aero 40 wheels. Running tubeless. Weight with pump, saddle bag and cages 7.2kg