Over the last few years, I’ve established great relationships with some outstanding sports companies. I’ve partnered with them because they embody what I value in sports-related products: innovation, superior quality, and leading-edge performance. In a series of posts, I’m re-introducing these exceptional companies and people to you so  you will consider adding what they have to offer to your quiver of sport-related products.

In this week’s installment of Meet My Partners for 2022, I introduce you to ICAN wheels. Here’s the story behind how I found ICAN.

Back in 2019 I decided it was time to buy myself a new road bike. My bike at the time was 12 years old and I was approaching a milestone birthday in my life, so, given my passion for cycling, I thought I deserved an upgrade to a “superbike.” Then I was hit by sticker shock as I learned that the best road bikes top out at more than $12,000 (not including tax!). I had heard that bikes are like cars in that they lose half their value as soon as you leave the bike shop. So, I searched on ebay and found an almost-new 2018 S-Works Venge for about 70% off retail, but without wheels. It sounded like a great deal until I started shopping for a new carbon-aero wheelset; again, huge sticker shock! Name-brand wheelsets can run as much as $3,000. I’m sorry, but that’s beyond my pay grade.

I then did research online and found what are called “off-brand” manufacturers (mostly in China) that made carbon-aero wheelsets for less than 1/3 the cost of name-brand wheelsets. I also learned that most name-brand wheelsets are made in just a few factories in China, so those expensive name-brand wheels could very well be identical to the off-brand wheels I was looking at. Further online research revealed to me that user reviews of these off-brand wheels were overwhelmingly positive.

So, I was going to buy a set of off-brand wheels. Now I had to decide which ones. There were some wheels for less $400 a pair which sounded too good to be true. Then I discovered ICAN! This Chinese company had carbon-aero wheelsets for about $750 which sounded just good enough to be true. And what sealed the deal for me was that their wheels are ICU approved which told me that their quality was high and their reputation solid. So, I ordered a set of 55mm deep-dish carbon-aero wheels and they arrived about three weeks later. Two-and-a-half years and several thousand miles later, they are still going strong!

Because of my success with these ICAN road wheels, when I built a new triathlon bike in early 2020, I naturally ordered another wheelset from ICAN (this time 55mm front and 86mm rear). I’ve been training and racing on them regularly for the past year and, like my road wheels, they are doing great.

Finally, I’m so obsessed with triathlon that I had to buy a carbon disc wheel from ICAN (at a savings of up to $2,000 over name-brand disc wheels) in my insane search for every saved watt and second on the 40K bike leg of an Olympic-distance triathlon. And then, after my triathlon bike was destroyed when I was hit by a car last September, I ordered replacement disc wheel as I built my new tri-bike.

I guess you could call me a loyal ICAN customer.

I should also add several other benefits to ICAN wheels. First, ICAN covers the sales tax. Second, they offer a two-year warranty. Third, ICAN offers great support in the form of employees who actually care about their customers; they respond quickly to emails and are happy to custom make wheels that they don’t have.

With all that said, unless you have money to throw away or you really care about the name-brand labels, I encourage you to take a good look at ICAN wheelsets when you’re ready to buy a new set of wheels for your favorite bike.

And check out my Partners page on my website to learn more about these amazing companies and people.