Wheel Stickers - On or Off?

[TC Johnson]

Is there something magical about today's wheel manufacturers and the amazing number of branding stickers they palce on a wheel? I have two pairs of Neuvations, and counted six stickers (four large and two small) on each side of each wheel rim! I know as a closet WW I should be taking them off for the gram savings, which will of course be equaled in weight by the first coating of dust on the wheels. But six?! :rolleyes:

What are you forumites doing with your stickered wheels: On or Off?

TC

[Jeff N.]

I usually leave mine on unless they start to peel, then I remove them entirely. Jeff N.

[Elefantino]

Off.

Two words:

Rotational weight

[giordana93]

Off.

Two words:

Rotational weight

would the answer be the same if they said campagnolo instead of neuvation....?

[TC Johnson]

I have to agree somewhat with Giordana. I would bet there are precious few Lightweight or Lew owners who are willing to sacrifice the bling, even for another handful of grams!

I have to correct my original sticker count. I checked my wheels when I got home from work, and there are actually eight stickers per side. I missed two additional small ones. Gotta be another 1.875 grams!

I think they are coming off for me, and if I post the weight saved on the WW site, do I get a discount coupon for a WW jersey or a carbon fiber presta valve cap?

TC

[stackie]

Depends.

I take them off my Mavic Reflex rims. Just looks cleaner and the decals are a bit flashy.

If, and I hope to, I were to own some high profile carbon wheels (Edge, probably), I'd probably take all of the decals off, save one. One gives it a bit of flash to offset the blandness of the carbon, but four is overkill and too pimp.

Just my opinion.

Jon

[BCS]

I just de-stickered my Reynolds DV 46s that are on my Look 586. With all the Look decals on the frame, the wheels with the multiple decals looked ridiculous. The bike has more of a stealth appearance now.

The campy neutrons on my Fierte are more subtle and will remain in place

[Bob Ross]

^^^ yeah, what is up with Look frames? There must be a Look logo on every single frame piece! Hideous sense of aesthetics.

I think the OPs question is only germane for high profile aero rims...in which case I'm in the Stealth Is Best camp. (Yeah, I suppose if I owned Lews or Lightweights I'd feel a bit different...) But for standard [sic] profile rims, you could slather them w/ decals and it still wouldn't register on most people's radar. It's that 3" high "Zipp" or "Cosmic Carbone" or "See My Dick" decal that really offends.

[peanutgallery]

I always take them off (hairdryer). Hear you on the Neuvations, like the product but there were 8 per wheel. The heavy, reflective kind, too. Easier to keep clean and looks nicer

[JeffS]

Strongly prefer non-stickered, though I'm usually too lazy to deal with actually removing them.

If it were up to me, nothing I own would be branded.

[WadePatton]

Uh, recheck your balance job after removing all that weight.

i jest.

just effing obnoxious is what the stickers are. i'd pull 'em just for that.

unless of course you are being paid to ride them.

[false_Aest]

If I had decals and stickers people would say, "See that kid over there on the Serotta with Ultegra SL and HEDs? He's going slow... he must be riding crap!!!"

[cody.wms]

Almost always off. The only rims I can think of off hand that Ive seen without the logos that looked worse were the edge 68s. Something about the shape of the rim (and maybe the lack of nipples) made them look odd.

[PCR]

Yep, off looks better.

[avalonracing]

Well designed logos stay on, ugly logos come off.

[40x14]

@avalon:

If only mfrs all understood that a small and understated logo is 10x more likely to stay on that 8 or 10 ugly ones (and just as likely to impress).

[GuyGadois]

+1 for no stickers. I am not paid by the company so I don't advertise for them. In all seriousness, I just don't like my bikes all covered in names like a billboard.

-GG-

[avalonracing]

@avalon:

If only mfrs all understood that a small and understated logo is 10x more likely to stay on that 8 or 10 ugly ones (and just as likely to impress).

Examples of logos and how they even affect my buying (or more accurately not buying) decisions:
Some years ago I was in the market for a Ti race bike. Litespeed was crossed off the list right away because of the horrendous yellow decals. Litespeed finally figured it out.
Independent Fabrications... Same deal. Nice bike, silly logo.

The new high end bikes from Trek look so much better than they ever have due to the new logo. Would I buy one? Probably not. But considering that 7 of 8 bikes I see around here are Treks I'm happy that they'll be easier on the eyes.

[chairmandave]

I'd contact the manufacturer to make sure the stickers aren't load-bearing structures.

If they aren't, I say off with the stickers.

[rustychisel]

some stickers cover unsightly weld marks.

[toaster]

Campagnolo Bora. Yes, you leave the graphics on. Probably the most awesome looking bold graphics to ever adorn a wheelset.


Neuvations. These come off to salvage an otherwise ugly wheel.

[Climb01742]

If only mfrs all understood that a small and understated logo is 10x more likely to stay on that 8 or 10 ugly ones (and just as likely to impress).

the six words spoken by every client:

"Can you make my logo bigger?"

[Elefantino]

Mavic Open Pro.

Still the best stickers of any wheelset.

Other than that, I really think the only reason to leave them on is resale value. For some reason, people want the stickers on the wheels when they buy them.

Then they take them off.

Unless they're planning to resell them.

Very strange.