Carbon road wheels - worth the money or only good to look at?

WMP

Hi all,

I'm considering buying carbon wheels but cant convince myself that they are worth the money. Unless you are spending north of 2k euros they aren't any lighter than a good set of aluminium wheels. I have a set of Fulcrum racing zero's that I am very happy with.

I live in Munich and cycle 6k - 9k per year, some of which is in the large hills south of here so I've favoured light low profile wheels that don't cost a fortune and also stop well in wet conditions. But I'm thinking of splashing out for carbon wheels on a new bike I'm getting.

The question is if it's worth it or not? Weight will be the same but they will look nicer :-) I don't really believe in the aero advantage for an average rider like myself. From what I've read its seconds difference over a 20 - 40km TT. I'm not a fan of deep section rims so would go for 40mm profile.

So what's your opinion? Is a set of 1500grm carbon wheels IN ANY way better than an ALU set or will they just make my bike nicer to look at?

nordicb

I have a set of 40mm carbon and alu Campy wheels, carbon ones look beautiful and fast, they sound lovely, but they are not much faster than a good set of alu wheels however. Just my experience.

On a negative side, they do react a little to crosswinds, may surprise a little.

All My Stars Aligned

Personally if I spent lots of time in the hills I's most likely go for aluminum wheels given the more reliable breaking.

Borderfox

Had cosmics, detecs, full carbon and alu braking surface but never liked the ride on them. Ended up with a set of c-24 dura ace wheels and love them

lizzylad84

A club mate of mine and all around b legend won a local triathlon on Sunday on his training bike with campag zonda wheels. All the money in the world can buy flash kit and the best wheels but it's the training that counts.

cjonesy1

Life is short, you should buy flash kit and the best wheels.

RobFowl

They look good and make a nice "whooooossssing" sound.
End of..................

lukegjpotter

The Prime wheels from CRC are pretty decently weighted and the top of the range are 1k.
They are U-shaped and are tubeless ready.

TheBlaaMan

They look great, they sound great, and you go a bit faster due to momentum and aero effects once you get them up to c35kmph. Apart from that, the braking on them is sketchy at the best of time and dangerous at others and your calipers need to be set up with specific pads, so its not a easy case to switch between alloy and carbon rims.

At best, they are probably one of the 'itches you have to scratch' in the world of bike part upgrades, but for all-round use, nothing beats a really good set of alloy wheels. You wont go wrong with C24s or Campag Shamals (or your Zeros). If I was in the mountains a lot, thats where I'd put/keep my money...

ABEasy

If you are planning racing and the few seconds made a difference then yes, if not a good set of ALU low profile wheels every time!!

Tenzor07

As Ireland is a mostly flat and mainly windy Island then a nice new set of Enve or Zipp 454's would be just perfect!

ford2600

http://23mm.co.uk/blog/ivans-dt-swiss-on-xcs-carbon/

Handbuilt from well regarded builder, and around 900 euro and 1555g using revolut.com/transfermate or whatever

You actually get the spec of the various components unlike a previous carbon wheel thread on here

Jawgap

Worth the money.......because.......they are good to look at!!

Deep section wheels, imo, just look better and if my understanding of the physics is correct, removing weight from the rim provides a proportionally greater benefit than removing the same amount of weight from any other part of the bike?

.....but I don't have any because they'd be wasted on me

jon1981

lizzylad84 wrote: »

A club mate of mine and all around b legend won a local triathlon on Sunday on his training bike with campag zonda wheels. All the money in the world can buy flash kit and the best wheels but it's the training that counts.

You can't buy the legs :cool:

WMP

Haha, so its mainly about how they look and sound then :-) My head says low profile alloys but my heart says splash out and try the carbon wheels. I was in a bike shop at lunch time and had a chat with the mechanic. He used to race apparently and told me he has tried everything but would advise me to stick with the racing zeros - mostly due to braking under all conditions in the mountains.

However my mind was almost made up already to buy the Fulcrum Quattro carbon wheelset. They have very good reviews, will be just a fraction lighter than the zeros, look very nice and I can get them for 945 at cycle-basar.de.

Thanks for the advice and words of wisdom!

nordicb

There are carbon wheels with alu braking surfaces too, just to add.

Idleater

For close to a grand budget, and you considering light wheel, I recommend looking at extralite.

Cee-Jay-Cee

WMP wrote: »

Haha, so its mainly about how they look and sound then :-) My head says low profile alloys but my heart says splash out and try the carbon wheels. I was in a bike shop at lunch time and had a chat with the mechanic. He used to race apparently and told me he has tried everything but would advise me to stick with the racing zeros - mostly due to braking under all conditions in the mountains.

However my mind was almost made up already to buy the Fulcrum Quattro carbon wheelset. They have very good reviews, will be just a fraction lighter than the zeros, look very nice and I can get them for 945 at cycle-basar.de.

Thanks for the advice and words of wisdom!

I bought Quattro carbons last year. I love them, they look good, sound good and braking is on par with the zondas I had previously in fact I'd say it's slightly better in the dry and much the same in the wet.

Lemon3

I'm in the same position as you WMP and im about to pull the trigger on the disc version of the Fulcrum Racing Quattro Carbons after months wrestling with the same dilemma. Hopefully i will get to see them in the flesh tomorrow as marrey bikes have them on sale. Looking at €1150, which is about 100 more then online from Wiggle/CRC etc, but i feel is worth it in the long run in case anything goes wrong.

WMP

Cee-Jay-Cee, great to hear you have them and really like them. Really interesting that you think they brake as well as an alu wheel set in the rain. I think I'll go ahead and buy them. I was cycling with a mate last weekend who has carbon wheels and he said the myth about braking in wet conditions is over exaggerated.

Lemon3, I'm going for the Fulcrum's because of the weight, price and how they look and I know from the zeros that they build high quality wheels. I cant fault the zeros in any way. It's always nice to buy from the local bike shop but I haven't seen them anywhere here and for a saving of 200 euro I'm going to buy them online. Haven't used cyclebasar before but I'm sure it will be fine. Let me know if you get them and what you think.

outfox

I've just gone through the same dilemma, OP, for a steel bike I'm building up. Based on endless late night googling, I concluded that light alloy wheels are best. So, naturally, I decided to purchase carbon wheels, cos they look great with tanwall tyres. Hope that helps!

Cee-Jay-Cee

WMP wrote: »

Cee-Jay-Cee, great to hear you have them and really like them. Really interesting that you think they brake as well as an alu wheel set in the rain. I think I'll go ahead and buy them. I was cycling with a mate last weekend who has carbon wheels and he said the myth about braking in wet conditions is over exaggerated.

Remember to toe the pads in ever so slightly front and rear.

WMP

Cee-Jay-Cee, did you buy carbon specific brake pads and if so which ones would you recommend? cheers!

Cee-Jay-Cee

WMP wrote: »

Cee-Jay-Cee, did you buy carbon specific brake pads and if so which ones would you recommend? cheers!

The Quattros are supplied with brake pads (basically campy red pads) They're very good and don't squeal and seem to be wearing very well however my wheels have really only been used in the dry. Replacement pads are available and I have no reason to try anything else when mine are done.