Carbon fiber wheels: Waste of money or totally worth it?

[roboticinvesting]

You have a weight for the set on Nobl TR41's and which hubs did you go with?

I never actually weighed them but on the site they have the rims only listed (Nobl). I went with the 1/1. Just was looking at the site and prices seem to have gone up - not surprising I guess in this day and age. The other nice thing with these is the lifetime warranty (see same link above).

Just to be clear I have zero affiliation with Nobl - just like their stuff and as a Canadian I like to support some local Canadian businesses.

 

[Peter1979]

I have a set of Reynolds carbon wheels on my canyon spectral (non ebike). I would say that I don't really notice any difference between them and my last set of decent alloy rim wheels but then those were dt Swiss ex1501 which to me are the best wheels I've ever had.
I would say that if you are upgrading an average set of wheels to a carbon set, you'll notice the difference in rolling speed and pick up. But it's not worth it if you have a pretty decent set of alloy wheels anyway.
If I had to choose I'd go with a set of dt Swiss 1501 over carbon. My carbon wheels have a slight buckle to them at the moment, plus the feeehub bearings were shot after less than a year and both wheel bearings too (this is probably just an issue with the Reynolds hubs and not a criticism of carbon wheels), however I'd not put a single dent or buckle in my dt Swiss wheels and they took a real beating on ricks and rooty trails and winter riding and never needed a bearing change.
But, if you want some bling then go carbon, just make sure you have a decent warranty tho.

 

[PetrD]

Yes, but that carbon cars (and aircrafts) are properly serviced and prepared between every racing.

 

[RoktMyDog]

On my Levo SL, which I think stands for "super light", it was totally worth it.
I had carbon fiber wheels along with a lighter derr/cluster my old acoustic and those swapped straight over saving me just over a kilo. My bike is a tad under 38lbs now and my old bike sold for over half what I originally paid for it after riding the piss out of it for 3 yrs.
I predict the *lightweight* EMTB genre is going to be huge.

 

[KSL]

On my Levo SL, which I think stands for "super light", it was totally worth it.
I had carbon fiber wheels along with a lighter derr/cluster my old acoustic and those swapped straight over saving me just over a kilo. My bike is a tad under 38lbs now and my old bike sold for over half what I originally paid for it after riding the piss out of it for 3 yrs.
I predict the *lightweight* EMTB genre is going to be huge.

What's it like downhill? That's always my concern when bashing rock gardens.

I've waffled so many times on whether I should go carbon that I probably need therapy at this point. My mind always tends to go to the far extreme of being stranded miles away with a destroyed rim. My local fav riding hole is on a mountain, so while only 2.5 miles away from my vehicle, the thought of trying to limp back a 44 lb MTBon super tight singletracks, over rock gardens and with 20 + % grades up and down usually detours me from jumping on the carbo bandwagon, but man, I sure would like to try a set!

 

[RoktMyDog]

What's it like downhill? That's always my concern when bashing rock gardens.

I've waffled so many times on whether I should go carbon that I probably need therapy at this point. My mind always tends to go to the far extreme of being stranded miles away with a destroyed rim. My local fav riding hole is on a mountain, so while only 2.5 miles away from my vehicle, the thought of trying to limp back a 44 lb MTBon super tight singletracks, over rock gardens and with 20 + % grades up and down usually detours me from jumping on the carbo bandwagon, but man, I sure would like to try a set!

I'm only 155 lbs but never worry about breaking a wheel wherever I go. I'm not a huge hucker but ride alot of the bandit trails in Santa Cruz which have many airy "features"...
A 36mm fork and the added rigidity interests me but not $1000 worth yet.

 

[KSL]

I'm only 155 lbs but never worry about breaking a wheel wherever I go. I'm not a huge hucker but ride alot of the bandit trails in Santa Cruz which have many airy "features"...
A 36mm fork and the added rigidity interests me but not $1000 worth yet.

I only ride with 38's now on my bikes.

 

[ccwilli3]

another late vote here for 'worth it'. Could you spend the same money on other stuff? Sure, maybe but once you get to a particular spec of a bike, it just make sense.

I have Santa Cruz reserve wheels (with DT hubs) and they def are stiff/rigid and as a big guy, was slightly worried about damage but they've been bulletproof. SC backs them up with lifetime warranty too, so if you can swing it, do it, tomorrow isn't a promise to any of us!

I too have experience on track day sport bikes with aluminum wheels and on the same bike then compared to magnesium or CF wheels. Night and day difference when you're trying to transition from side to side on a 1000cc twin at 100+mph. Not the same as on a MTB, but still worth it also!

 

[RustyIron]

What's it like downhill? That's always my concern when bashing rock gardens.

One man's epic rock garden is another's Girl Scout Troop warm up. It's not a thing you can really evaluate on the interwebs, but there's this kid named Danny who likes carbon rims. The video is below.

Yes, but that carbon cars (and aircrafts) are properly serviced and prepared between every racing.

Yeah... I'll admit to not even knowing how to service carbon rims, carbon frames, carbon bars, carbon levers, or carbon cranks. I wipe 'em off with a rag, but that's about it.

 

[KSL]

One man's epic rock garden is another's Girl Scout Troop warm up.

Nice analogy.

 

[ccwilli3]

great video, probably sells more reserve wheels than other marketing material.

 

[KSL]

another late vote here for 'worth it'. Could you spend the same money on other stuff? Sure, maybe but once you get to a particular spec of a bike, it just make sense.

I have Santa Cruz reserve wheels (with DT hubs) and they def are stiff/rigid and as a big guy, was slightly worried about damage but they've been bulletproof. SC backs them up with lifetime warranty too, so if you can swing it, do it, tomorrow isn't a promise to any of us!

I too have experience on track day sport bikes with aluminum wheels and on the same bike then compared to magnesium or CF wheels. Night and day difference when you're trying to transition from side to side on a 1000cc twin at 100+mph. Not the same as on a MTB, but still worth it also!

I've yet to meet anyone that rides Carbon's who doesn't have at least one story of a catastrphic wheel failure, followed by pics. Then the converstion quickly turns to warranty.

I'm convinced Carbon wheels probably feel nice and work well overall. I just haven't jumped to the dark side yet with such a large $$$ outlay, knowing there's a possibility of a failure at some point. May never happen, but it may. The other observation is that not all carbon wheels feel the same. I've seen ride reports of wheels that are simply "too" stiff, and others that are a good balance of rigidity and compliance - usually by going with 28H spokes to provide more flex, which is why most went to carbon's in the first place (headscratch).

 

[VWsurfbum]

As a wheel builder and a rider of Carbon wheels for over 6 years (maybe 8??) I haven't broken any rims, replaced any broken carbon rims, or had any first-hand experience of seeing them fail. Only one of my close riding friends who has had one fail was on an ENVE wheel where the spoke hole blew through. That was a DH bike and a very rough rider.

What I have had are loads of bent alloy rims, rim repairs, rim replacements, and full-on wheel builds.

I also believe it's horses for courses around what wheels feel good to the type of riding you do. Big fan of Nobl wheels, they were faultless through the 3 years of ownership and felt great on my 29er enduro bike (Carbine) but put them on my Chameleon and they were far too harsh and made the bike feel horrible.
I currently have 2 sets of NEXTIE rims and can honestly say they are fantastic and well worth the money, built for speed and weight on 28hole hubs on one bike and strength and rigidity on the Ebike.
Check my page below for some examples.

 

[Hob Nob]

I've yet to meet anyone that rides Carbon's that doesn't have at least one story of a catastrphic wheel failure, followed by pics. Then the converstion quickly turns to warranty. I'm convinced Carbon wheels probably feel nice. I just haven't jumped to the dark side yet with such a large $$$ outlay, knowing there's a possibility of a failure at some point. May never happen, but it may. The other observation is that not all carbon wheels feel the same. I've seen ride reports of wheels that are simply "too" stiff, and others that are a good balance of rigidity and compliance - usually by going with 28H spokes to provide more flex, which is why most went to carbon's in the first place (headscratch).

Not really, there are plenty of reviews out there with the chief complaint of them being 'too stiff / too harsh'.

Having tried, and broken a lot of them over the years I would actively choose not to run them any more. I cannot see the point when there are really, really decent (albeit not cheap) aluminium wheelsets (DT Swiss) which weigh as much as a set of carbon wheels, IME are considerably more reliable, and ride better.

 

[galaga187]

As a wheel builder and a rider of Carbon wheels for over 6 years (maybe 8??) I haven't broken any rims, replaced any broken carbon rims, or had any first-hand experience of seeing them fail. Only one of my close riding friends who has had one fail was on an ENVE wheel where the spoke hole blew through. That was a DH bike and a very rough rider.

What I have had are loads of bent alloy rims, rim repairs, rim replacements, and full-on wheel builds.

I also believe it's horses for courses around what wheels feel good to the type of riding you do. Big fan of Nobl wheels, they were faultless through the 3 years of ownership and felt great on my 29er enduro bike (Carbine) but put them on my Chameleon and they were far too harsh and made the bike feel horrible.
I currently have 2 sets of NEXTIE rims and can honestly say they are fantastic and well worth the money, built for speed and weight on 28hole hubs on one bike and strength and rigidity on the Ebike.
Check my page below for some examples.

@VWsurfbum is there a link to your page?

 

[VWsurfbum]

in my signiture