Modified at: Jun 10, 2022
Posted at: Dec 7, 2020
Carbon wheels are popular for their ability to reduce weight while producing an aero effect with deep rims. The following is a summary of their merits and demerits.
Table of contents
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The biggest advantage of carbon wheels is their light weight.
While it is common for inexpensive road bike wheels to weigh 2 kg or more front and rear combined, carbon wheels, even with deep rims of 30 mm or more, are often about 1.5 kg front and rear, with lighter models weighing in the 1,200 g range, which is by far the lightest weight available.
Most aluminum wheels that weigh around 1.5 kg front and rear are low-height and cost more than $1,000, but with carbon wheels, new entrant manufacturers such as ICAN offer lightweight deep-rim wheels for as little as $500.
Deep rims are said to have an aerodynamic effect, but increasing the rim height increases the part area and weight. With aluminum wheels, even a 30 mm height rim model weighs about 1.9 kg front and rear, and a heavy model weighs over 2 kg, making it a heavy wheel.
However, in the case of carbon wheels, since the rim is carbon and lightweight, there are many 40mm deep rim wheels in the lineup with a weight of around 1.5kg.
The disadvantage of carbon products, not limited to carbon wheels, is the high price due to manual labor.
The cost of manufacturing wheels, which are high-precision industrial products, by hand inevitably increases, so carbon wheels cost around $500 at the lowest, and $2,000 or more is the norm for wheels from well-known brands.
Rim brakes, which apply braking by pressing down on the wheel rim, are not well suited for heat-sensitive carbon because the friction causes the rim to heat up to a high level. On the other hand, aluminum wheels, which are metal, are much more resistant to frictional heat than carbon.
Most carbon wheels nowadays are heat treated to cope with thermal deformation caused by rim brakes, but there is still a possibility that the rim will expand due to heat and deform when braking rapidly on downhill slopes, and at worst, the wheel itself may be damaged.
On the other hand, in the case of disc brakes, carbon rims are ideal for carbon rims in the sense that the carbon rims do not become highly heated due to friction, and disc wheels, which tend to be heavier due to rotors and hubs, can be made lighter.
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Aluminum wheels are not repairable when broken, but carbon wheels are more delicate than aluminum wheels.
If the shape is deformed due to thermal expansion, repair is almost impossible, and if cracks appear due to impact, repairing with repair parts alone will not be durable enough.
In this sense, carbon wheels may be the best wheel for disc brakes that do not stress the rim.
We have looked at the advantages and disadvantages of carbon wheels.
Recently, many professional riders are equipped with deep-rim carbon wheels, which are cool and admired by road and hybrid bike riders, but we can see that it is not always an advantage.
Remember that professional riders are provided with wheels by the manufacturer, so durability and the like may be good enough to last one race, but hobbyists with limited funds need to think carefully about durability when choosing a wheel.
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