Mar 7

Easton EA 70 X

Posted on Friday, March 7, 2008 in Cyclocross Racing

I thought I’d do a post on this wheelset, which came out at the end of the season last year.

You can find them on Easton’s site HERE. At the time I bought these wheels, Easton didn’t even list them as a product on there site.

I paid retail for them at my LBS, and thought they were a great buy. I found them to be comparable in price to a set of Ultegra hubbed, Reflex CD rimmed, 14 gauge spoke, brass nipple wheel. But, at a significant weight savings. The cost of a good tubular wheelset is steep, mostly because I like hand built wheels and your paying for labor too. I’ve checked most wheelbuilders, like Ligero or Ergott to name a few. I do have a custom wheelset that is around 200 grams lighter, but it cost quite a bit more and that is another post.

Two things really grabbed my initially, 1st was the 26mm rim depth. Outside of carbon rims, the only other rim I can think of with this depth is the Velocity DeepV, but at 590 grams a rim they are heavy. 2nd was the handbuilt sticker on the rim. This little guy here…

Did I say I like handbuilt wheels? They felt really light, and I liked the look (except for the Easton stickers) of the wheel. I like the all black alum nipples, with the exception of the drive side on the rear, those are brass.

The bearings are sealed cartridge and will be a breeze to replace, they will be easy to true also, unlike some factory built wheels. The front is laced radial and the rear radial NDS and 2cx drive side.

I really like these wheels, the price is the best attraction and I paid full retail too. The only thing I didn’t like was the stickers, just didn’t go with my bikes, so I took them off. The only sticker I left on was the little handbuilt one in the above pic. I also was able to scrape off the Eason logo on the hubs, so these are all stealth black. I’ve glued up some Tufo Flexus tires on these wheels and I can’t wait to race them. There just aren’t a lot of cross specific wheelsets out there that you can buy off the shelf at your LBS that can match this price and spec. I’m really pleased.

Since I know you all need pics…