Reply to "Campy Clones"

Hi Chip,

Pantera East gives you choices in wheel sizes, 16" or 17" for the front, 17" or 18" for the rear. Everyone else only offers 17" wheels at both ends.

Each wheel is subtly different, besides those mentioned by Michael, Precision Proformance has a Campy clone, PI has 2 Campy clones; a heritage wheel and the Torino wheel. The Torino is an update of the design by the original designer, Mr Tjaarda himself.

What I have noticed, some wheels emphasize the 5 spoke design of the wheel more so than the original design. With the original Campy the 5 spokes get lost among all the framed rectangular windows.

I like the Campy clones. My tastes differ from the norm in that I would prefer to have them powder coated in the original silver color, rather than polished aluminum. But that's just me. I would also like to see the rear wheel available in 19", I think 17" is adequate for the front.

Although the Etoile wheels on my Pantera are a superior wheel from a weight & strength standpoint, asthetically I like the Campy look the most. It just looks right.

The one gotcha, the oem brake rotors are mounted on the back of the wheel hubs. Some aftermarket brake kits relocate the rotors to the front side of the hubs, which effetively offsets the wheels about another 1/4" to 3/8" towards the outside of the wheel well, which could cause tire rubbing with some wheels.

your friend on the DTBB, George