That is the question. Are carbon wheels a viable option for everyday riding? Should carbon wheels be your go-to wheels rather than your just-for-racing wheels? I don’t really race and I don’t own any carbon wheels and I wonder. Granted, every professional is and has been on carbon wheels for many years so it’s easy to think we should be on them too. Brett’s review of ENVE wheels certainly made a case for them, who dosen’t want to go faster, all the time? Frank has raved about how fast his Zipp 303s are since he first put them on his Cervelo. I hefted his Café Roubaix Haleakala climbing wheels and one dosen’t need to heft them as much as hold them down, they are unbelievably light, sub-1000 grams light.
Those wheels are too light for the rigors of the East Maui Loop pavé and potholes, or so I thought. I talked Frank out of using them and he did the Cogal on Zipp 404s and 25mm clinchers. In retrospect, with bigger tires I think he would have been OK doing the Cogal on his climbing wheels. If ultralight carbon wheels are tough enough for that ride then when are they inappropriate? Ambrosio golden ticket aluminum box section rims versus Zipp 303s, let’s see, Boonen just won Paris-Roubaix on the Zipp 404s. That is the end of the discussion. It should be the beginning of the end for three-cross box section aluminum wheels. If Zipp 303s win Paris-Roubaix then when wouldn’t one use carbon wheels?
@chiasticon-
Surprised to see so much talk of carbon wheels for a Cogal; which is, essentially, not much different than a club run. I understand Frank wanting to run them for his climb up Haleakala, since he was going for a PR up a huge friggin’ volcano and I’m sure they certainly helped. But as an every day wheel for a club/social/training ride? At least within the circles I ride in, that’s a good reason to get laughed off the ride (comments would especially come from the local racers). It’s like saying “I can’t keep up with you guys without these wheels!” Or at least that’s how people generally take it.
…but how common is it among Velominati to use carbon wheels on an everyday basis?
On the Cogal ride, out of seven riders there were two people on carbon wheels. On our Sunday club ride there is maybe one user. I see a lot of bikes on the site with drool-worthy carbon wheels. Are aluminum rims old school? Are we being played here or are we all just a little behind the times or are we saving our money for better bike investments?
Strong, light, cheap. Pick two – I’m going to attribute this to Keith Bontrager as it was etched on my Bontrager’s stem cap. I’d like to add a fourth adjective, aerodynamic, but my tiny brain can’t compute how picking two or three might work so cleverly.
Strong
There are not many high end frames made from aluminum anymore. Could the same case be made for wheels? The aluminum box rim may be light but it is not strong unless you lace a lot of crossed spokes on it. I have some 80s Campagnolo Vento deep wheels, aero maybe, not light and the ride is a bit harsh. An unlaced carbon rim may not be lighter than a light weight aluminum rim but it is much stronger.
Light
I’m afraid carbon is going to win here. While a case could have been made for the Ambrosio golden ticket being strong, it is not light. There are some semi-aero aluminum wheels out there that are light but they make me nervous with their low weight limit.
Cheap
Boing! There it is. Strong and cheap is aluminum’s territory. One pays $1100US more for Easton’s Carbon EC90 SLX wheels than the aluminum EA 90 SLX wheelset. 200 grams is the only difference between the two models. If that was the end of the comparisons I wouldn’t lose any sleep over my lack of carbone wheels but there is still one other factor.
Aerodynamic
Carbon wins this easily. The carbon can be a fairing or integral to the wheel’s strength but carbon’s moldability is the future. Formula 1 cars are no longer made of aluminum. Boonen must have saved significant energy on the long paved run-in to the pavé sectors using his Zipps, maybe enough energy to help burn everyone off his wheel later on. @Tommy Tubulare’s Cervelo with Campagnolo Bora deep carbon wheels makes my heart skip a beat. Carbon wheels look badass.
Conclusion
Once again I have no informed opinion having never ridden carbon wheels. Would I love to see my bike looking extremely pro with some deep section carbon wheels? Yes. Would it be very bad to be shelled out the back end of a group ride while riding said wheels? Yes, it would be very bad.
Should my wheels be worth more than the rest of the bike? Who cares. Let’s address @chiasticon’s question, who’s riding carbon and when?
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/j.andrews3@comcast.net/carbone wheels/”/]
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@Gianni
The 3 things that outweigh their concerns would be:
1. A sponsor paying a lot of money to have their wheels on TV and in photos.
2. A mechainc to set the brakes up every morning, including expensive new pads (and possible new wheels!).
3. They will be tubulars, not the clinchers that normal people will generally buy.
Totally agree with @MaLóL that carbon suits tubular wheel design but not clincher. To make a clincher cross-section strong enough means the weight is similar to alloy. And alloy has much better heat dissipation properties.
I think carbon clinchers fall into the same area as road disc brakes - not better, not needed, but new. So the industry pushes them and leading-edge punters buy them.
Having always raced, I'm of the mindset that (and Merckx help me if I'm not having deja vu here) you train heavy, race light.
Now that's not to say that you have to race to do this. But there's something about suffering all winter on the steel bike with 32 spoke aluminum hoops, then on the day you're going on that tough club run, or a 210K Cogal, busting out the 1100gm carbon tubs. And the way they resonate sound when riding can be (to quote @urbanwhitetrash) "hypnotic". If I rode mine everyday they'd lose their mysteriousness.
And yes, I have been know to giggle at folk, or outright give them shit, for riding carbon tubs on group training rides. So there.
Ready to race.
Hi there, these are my bombproof favorites!
Rims: Zipp 303, cross version, 24 spokes front and rear
Tires: Vittoria Pave EVO CG Tire, tubular, 24mm
Pads: SwissStop, Yellow King (carbon specific)
The cross version of the 303 are super durable and the increased weight is so small that it is irrelevant and the Pave's are a perfect match, tough and durable. With the SwissStops the braking is excellent even on long high speed descents.
My favorite local roads are quite bad, potholes and rough asphalt but this combo makes for smooth sailing.
And they look good to J
@roger
Silver hubs, silver spokes.
For group rides, climbing days, and fondos, Durace Ace C24 Carbon/Alumimum wheels. Light, strong, plush, they spin forever and offer great braking with the alu brake track. And perfectly low key. Well, aside from the white Durace branding.
If I had more disposable income, I'd get a pair of the C35s for all the same reasons as above + the aero benefit.
For winter and plain ol' training: bombproof Fulcrum 5 aluminum.
@Nate
Brass nipples.
@Nate
+1 with nipple lube. But whilst I love my Golden Tickets and their Vittoria Pave's as the perfect winter wheel, if I could afford a set of deep section carbon tubular rims laced onto Royce or Chris King hubs I would ride them whenever the weather wasn't classified as Rule 9 (Cold, Wet or Windy).
Surely, it's one of the fundamental principles of this site, if it looks pro* then it's got to be right.
*looking pro should not be confused with doing what the pros do such as sporting an EPMS.
Learned the hard way- inexpensive carbon tubbies can be found (a la Planet X, others). The risk- recessed spoke design turning something awesome into painful. Prepare to reglue to true. 2cx races and there I was. So not worth it to me who doesn't have time, skill, and patience for remove, reglue, repeat. So the expense may be worth it for fancier ones. I found corsa concept alloy set at 1400gms w white ind hubs for a bit more than what I paid for those carbon tubbies. Nary a problem, and they went with the wider rim profile for cx a la firecrest...
People have been convinced by marketing that weight and spoke count are all that matters.
This is completely wrong.
If you run 3-cross spokes instead of radial, you massively improve your stiffness. And the weight difference for a few mm of spoke is negligible.
Same with spoke count. Running 24 spokes instead of 32 saves you only about 50 grams. If you don't clip your fingernails before every ride, you're probably riding with 50 g more than necessary already.
My 28 spoke, 2 cross wheels (aluminum Velocity rims) kicked the bucket after 14 months of cyclocross. I just built a new set with HED Belgium tubular rims, 32 spoke, 3 cross. I can already tell they are much stiffer and more durable. And at about 1,600 g that's light enough.
The other is engagement: the number of times per revolution that your freewheel connects when you start pedaling. For some reason, marketing (to road riders) omits this important spec.
So there are many questions more important than carbon or clincher.