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are carbon rims worth it?

chillindrdude

chillindrdude

Turbo Monkey
Jan 18, 2002
1,852
23
Northern VA, a peckerwood with too many guns
beside the obvious coolness factor ( and i admit, they do look pretty awesome), are carbon rims worth it?

they aren't really any lighter than a nice aluminum rim. and the price of a pair of rims easily equal one nice non-carbon wheelset. i guess another advantage is most carbon rims are tubular, but i don't see any other positives. are they stiffer? am i missing something?

how long do these rims last from brake wear? i can see from racing/riding CX in muddy weather, that the grit likely would wear them out quicker than road racing.
 
ire

ire

Turbo Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
6,196
4
chillindrdude said:
i can see from racing/riding CX in muddy weather, that the grit likely would wear them out quicker than road racing.
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I think most cross racers break the rim before they wear through it. IMO if you ride alone a lot they can be worth it. You will get a slight aerodynamic advantage. I would not buy a tubular set though. Too much hassle for regular road riding.
 
James

James

Carbon Porn Star
Sep 11, 2001
3,559
0
Danbury, CT
ire said:
I think most cross racers break the rim before they wear through it. IMO if you ride alone a lot they can be worth it. You will get a slight aerodynamic advantage. I would not buy a tubular set though. Too much hassle for regular road riding.
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Dude are you kidding? Half of the appeal of carbon rims is getting them in tubular. They're a lot lighter, and a lot cheaper than carbon clinchers. Especially if the clinchers use an alloy rim, then it's like "why bother?"

Plus, (I think) they (tubulars) ride a lot better...

If the carbon rim isn't lighter than an alloy rim, it will also be: stronger, stiffer, more aerodynamic, etc.
 
ire

ire

Turbo Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
6,196
4
James said:
Dude are you kidding?
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No....I'm not kidding. For cross tubulars offer a huge advantage but for general road riding they don't. They do offer a lot of hassle though, and for general road riding I would go with a carbon clincher (like the Reynolds wheels). I would never buy a carbon wheel that had an aluminum rim though...I think its cheesy. All in who you ask I guess.
 
James

James

Carbon Porn Star
Sep 11, 2001
3,559
0
Danbury, CT
ire said:
No....I'm not kidding. For cross tubulars offer a huge advantage but for general road riding they don't. They do offer a lot of hassle though, and for general road riding I would go with a carbon clincher (like the Reynolds wheels). I would never buy a carbon wheel that had an aluminum rim though...I think its cheesy. All in who you ask I guess.
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Not a huge advantage, well, besides weight, but the ride is better I feel.
Also, Reynolds carbon clinchers brake like sh1t.

I would give those new Eastons a go though...
 
James

James

Carbon Porn Star
Sep 11, 2001
3,559
0
Danbury, CT
CBJ said:
I have seen some good prices on Easton too. However the tubeless Dura Ace could be something too?
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I like Easton wheels.
I also have a set of the 7850SL Dura Ace wheels, haven't run them tubeless yet though, but man, those are probably my favorite set of wheels right now. Just great all-around wheels.
The RS-80s are pretty nice too, great rims, Ultegra-level hubs...
 
moff_quigley

moff_quigley

Why don't you have a seat over there?
Jan 27, 2005
4,402
2
Poseurville
There's some Pro-Lite Gavias that use Gigantex full carbon 38mm clinchers on ebay that I'm keeping an eye on. Any thoughts on those?
 
James

James

Carbon Porn Star
Sep 11, 2001
3,559
0
Danbury, CT
moff_quigley said:
There's some Pro-Lite Gavias that use Gigantex full carbon 38mm clinchers on ebay that I'm keeping an eye on. Any thoughts on those?
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Many, many, many wheelsets use that rim. My Coles use a Gigantex rim too I think.
Good rims, I can't speak for the hubs, but the rims are usually pretty good. Do they have that weird dropped brake track?
 
loco-gringo

loco-gringo

Crusading Clamp Monkey
Sep 27, 2006
8,887
14
Deep in the heart of TEXAS
I like my Cole 38s pretty well. My 04 404s are pretty flexy. I like the looks of the EC90SL carbon clinchers. I wish they would ship them so I could sell them. I want to try 303 clinchers. My roads are sh*tty here, so tubulars are a worry. I do like the ride of high quality road tubulars. If you can't feel the benefit, you wouldn't appreciate anything on the road.

I did ride some Roval Rapide SL 45 clinchers with an alloy brake track and liked them well. Another full carbon clincher to give a look is the Veulta C50 Carbon Pro. Decent quality and weight for $1200 or less right now.

With deep section wheels, when they are wound up, they are way faster. And I mean, way faster. The benefit to tubular is really the weight and the significant acceleration. That's what I find.
 
O

oldfart

Turbo Monkey
Jul 5, 2001
1,206
24
North Van
SteezyWeezy said:
do you use sealant with cross/road tubeless much like a mtb? if and when i build a cross bike im leaning towards tubeless since ive had such good luck with my xc ride.
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For cross tubeless you must use a sealant as there are no full tubeless cross tires yet. They are tubeless ready which means a tubeless bead, but a standard casing. Tubeless road has a rubber lining so no sealant is required, but a little is OK as it will seal most punctures.
 
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