Whatever happned to Madfiber wheels?

[54ny77]

I always thought they were ahead of their time, pretty snazzy (if not polarizing) looking and essentially a 50% cheaper domestic version of the uber-swank Lightweight wheels of that era.

[Mike V]

https://roadbikeaction.com/consumer-...er-wheels/amp/

[54ny77]

Interesting link there:

https://www.wheelfanatyk.com/blog/onward-upward/

"I am proud the first model performed under gifted riders like Freddie Rodriguez, Ivan Dominguez, David Richter, Todd Heriot, Rich Roll, and Joanna Lawn. It was ridden to World, US National, and multiple State Road Championships; Ironman, Ultraman, and RAAM titles and placings; and set some absolute strength-to-weight records. I am only sorry no one will see what we were capable of. We barely got the launch product sorted, and planned much more to come."

That aside, I wonder if the wheels are still out there. Never see 'em anymore.

Anyone here have a pair and if so, how have they been holding up?

Originally Posted by Mike V

https://roadbikeaction.com/consumer-...er-wheels/amp/

[jimoots]

Bought up by the same company that bought Serotta, then they shut down the whole operation. Bit weird.

This is the most telling piece I read about the situation, written by Rick Hjertberg, a co founder: https://www.wheelfanatyk.com/blog/onward-upward/

The Mad Fiber clinchers were not highly regarded. Failure / delamination rate sounds like it was pretty dang high. The tubs were supposedly very good though?

[prototoast]

I believe the dude behind Madfiber is now building carbon frames for Hampsten.

[weisan]

Originally Posted by 54ny77

.

Anyone here have a pair and if so, how have they been holding up?

https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=276286

[Blown Reek]

Originally Posted by weisan

https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=276286

Oof. For $1500, there are countless better wheels out there. Heck, for $750 pretty much any set of used tubulars are a better wheel than a Mad Fiber wheel.

[Gibran]

It was the clinchers that had the delaminating problems. I had the generation 2 tubulars and they were super sweet. Climbed like a feather and sounded like a freight train when they were spun up. I still have mine but can’t find a replacement campy freehub to keep them going…

[Spdntrxi]

Originally Posted by Blown Reek

Oof. For $1500, there are countless better wheels out there. Heck, for $750 pretty much any set of used tubulars are a better wheel than a Mad Fiber wheel.

you could not give them to me... not a good Wheelset

[retropean]

Those wheels looked atrocious.

[oldguy00]

Not to mention likely not aero at all with those spokes. Look aero? Yes. Aero? No. There's a reason you no longer see flat blade spokes on any high end wheels these days.
Yes Freddy and crowd used them..........but they would have likely been faster on just about any other wheel IMHO.

[jimoots]

Originally Posted by oldguy00

Not to mention likely not aero at all with those spokes. Look aero? Yes. Aero? No. There's a reason you no longer see flat blade spokes on any high end wheels these days.
Yes Freddy and crowd used them..........but they would have likely been faster on just about any other wheel IMHO.

Yeah I forgot about that, there was a whole heap of debate back in the day about how the mad fibers were super light, but not very good in terms of aero at any practical (i.e. real world usage) yaw angle. Like, significantly poorer than a Zip 404 at any yaw angle past 2 degrees.

Apparently also very poor in terms of cross wind handling. I remember reading a review on CT where Wade (a big, sprinter type) said they were a proper handful.

I think the guys at MF were even on the record saying they prioritised the weight over aero, I guess in 2012 you could maybe get away with that but that train of thought certainly hasn't aged well.

[jimoots]

double post

[oldguy00]

Originally Posted by jimmy-moots

Yeah I forgot about that, there was a whole heap of debate back in the day about how the mad fibers were super light, but not very good in terms of aero at any practical (i.e. real world usage) yaw angle. Like, significantly poorer than a Zip 404 at any yaw angle past 2 degrees.

Apparently also very poor in terms of cross wind handling. I remember reading a review on CT where Wade (a big, sprinter type) said they were a proper handful.

I think the guys at MF were even on the record saying they prioritised the weight over aero, I guess in 2012 you could maybe get away with that but that train of thought certainly hasn't aged well.

Yep, same reason we don't hear so much about Lightweight brand wheels anymore.
For pure speed on a road bike, its pretty hard to beat a HED Jet 6, or if you want more bling, 404's or Enve.
Tri bikes we typically see HED or Zipp rear discs combined with a 6 or 9 depth front.

[Spdntrxi]

404 are terrible.. rather be on 303