Demise of the Vuma Quad

[Fibre-Lyte]

I recently told by a customer that the Vuma Quad is being discontinued and sure enough, checked out the Zipp web site and that is the case, apparently they're concentrating on their 'core' businesses. Sad really. I like the look of the crankset, it's just a shame it had such an odd bolt pattern. I wonder if that's to blame for the (presumed) lack of sales (and the price tag of course).

[Juanmoretime]

I love my VumaQuad. It's plenty stiff enough for me and easy on my eyes. The good thing is it's not the only piece of kit that will do the job and be light and stiff. I guess when I need to replace it the Lightning crank doesn't look like a bad option either.

[mdeth1313]

I like my vumaquad much more than my lightning crank- setup and BB are much easier to deal with. this sucks!

[Johnny Rad]

Wonder if we'll ever know the real reason(s) for Zipp deep sixing the Vuma?

I've read a few warranty replacement posts recently, but can't remember what the issues were / are. Can anyone provide some insight? Was it you DJ? Here's hoping I don't need a warranty replacement after their current stock evaporates. (Knock on wood it's working great right now best I can tell.)

My obvious guess is that the Vuma never hit sales expectations. Probably more price-related than proprietary ring design-related, in my opinion. So, yes, they're focusing on their core business ... which translates to focusing on their better money makers.

Then again, maybe it's presence in the combined Zipp / SRAM product portfolio made it awkward for the current batch of SRAM cranks (Red, Force, Rival, etc). Maybe some of the Vuma tech (e.g.: lower weight with no stiffness penalty) will trickle into the SRAM offerings?

First the Stronglight Pulsion. Now the Vuma. Which lightweight crank will become extinct next?!

[Johnny Rad]

From Zipp's site: "Please note Zipp has discontinued this item (Vumaquad and Vumachrono) to focus on our core product lines of wheels, bars, stems and seatposts. We will continue to warranty and support any Zipp cranks."

Sounds like any warranty issues will be covered for the forseeable future. Nice move and much appreciated.

However, I have to say that I'm disappointed that Zipp is in a way choosing to focus on their "new" Service Course line over their cranks. Ugh. Maybe not so disappointed with Zipp as I am with the industry. Goes to show where the money is in this industry - average equipment with a premium brand.

[Fibre-Lyte]

I do like their quote about focusing on their core business. What they list seems to be everything other than the cranks!

I've not seen too many warranty issues with the cranks. No where near as many as seemed to arise from the Pulsion cranksets. I agree with you about the price of the Vuma Quads but the proprietary bolt set up won't have helped. I was told by a few people that the standard rings were quite flexy but with such a bolt system, you can't swap them out for aftermarket ones (other than ours and may be Rotors?). So who wants to spend GBP800 on a crankset where your choice of aftermarket rings is limited. Why they didn't stick to a design that was closer to the old Zipp 300 (a brilliant crankset) I don't know. The Vuma Chrono was in another league again. If I remember rightly the 'chainring' bolted around the rim of the crank fairing so options were even more limited and it was even more expensive.

[Soloist Assassin]

I like my vumaquad much more than my lightning crank- setup and BB are much easier to deal with. this sucks!

What don't you like about the Lightning? It was pretty simple to install. I've ridden the crap out of it, since I bought it from you. Probably 2-3k miles. Not a single issue other than having to replace the BB bearings, but I expect that with a used crankset.

[mdeth1313]

The lightning crank (all in all) wasn't bad. Contacting the manufacturer about their proprietary spacers definitely left a bad taste (charging $5 per spacer plus $5 shipping for some freakin washers after spending over $600 on a crankset is crap). More than that- Lightning cranks would be ranked as my 2nd favorite crankset after the vumaquad, but it's miles and miles that separate them. I've found the zipps much easier to maintain (haven't had to do much at all), while it felt like every 2 weeks or so the lightning cranks would develop some kind of knock or tick- I also found it a PITA to disassemble the cranks- getting leverage on a 6mm allen key in that hole.
When changing the vumaquad chainrings out for fibyerlytes, I had to do some tinkering w/ the spacers and it was so much easier to remove and re-install the cranks each time. I also find them vumaquads to be more aesthetically pleasing (not just because of the stupid graphics on the lightning). I'm not a big zipp fan either, but I do love these cranks.

[Soloist Assassin]

Long T Handle 6mm, plus a 1/4" drive nutdriver with a 6mm deep well socket, is just the ticket for the Lightning. Mad leverage for max torque.

[mdeth1313]

Well, I may have lost my mind, but I just scored another vumaquad crankset. When 1 dies, I'll have another!

[Berzin]

However, I have to say that I'm disappointed that Zipp is in a way choosing to focus on their "new" Service Course line over their cranks. Ugh. Maybe not so disappointed with Zipp as I am with the industry. Goes to show where the money is in this industry - average equipment with a premium brand.

Absolutely. Zipp hasn't innovated in ages. They've spent their money on contrived marketing ploys to get people to overpay for stuff like ceramic bearings, different colored spoke nipples and (my all-time favorite) dimpled rims, instead of making a better carbon wheelset. Here is where this company fails big time-

1) Molded spoke holes-no go.

2) Better quality hubs-beyond the expertise of their engineers.

[gregorythomas]

unfortunately, zipp didnt sell that many vumaquads. they sold even less vumachronos. of the couple dozen vumaquads we sold, probably 2/3 went back with disbonding between the left crankarm and the spindle. maybe one had disbonding on the right side, cant remember. it was just enough to cause a little play between the two parts, no catastrophic failures... a couple had to get one more replacement after their second set.
when i was at their factory, i saw them being built up. one person can lay up seven arms a day, they only had two people doing it, and a new person had to be trained for something like 3 months before being allowed on the assembly "line". so the cost-to-benefit was pretty bad.
all that said, i do miss my vumas.

[Fibre-Lyte]

they sold even less vumachronos

I wonder why..... may be it was because you could buy a complete road bike in the UK for less than the price of the Vuma Chrono..... and the chainrings bolted around the edge of the fairing so you couldn't use just any old chainring. Bizarre idea?

[Ypsylon]

Don't forget that you could build a complete road bike that was lighter than the Vuma chrono as well.

[Fibre-Lyte]

Good point

So were there any positive things about that crankset?