Why Would Anyone Buy Carbon Wheels?*



I should start this by coming clean; I have a carbon fetish. I'm powerless to the pull of carbon frames, bars, cranks and brake levers. Even stem caps. Rims are a tougher sell to many but despite their exorbitant cost and several other issues (some related below) carbon rims make sense on several levels. The 6th element on the periodic table that is common to all known life, seems like the right material for the job. Carbon is a key component in graphite, diamond and graphene (the strongest material known) and it's plentiful, so how can it not be the right stuff?To get more news about Carbon rims, you can visit zpebicycle official website.

There were some seizures and growing pains in the early history of carbon hoops, including exploding sidewalls, melting rims (this still happens), bone shaking stiffness and bait and switch lifetime warranties, but lately it seems things are starting to settle. Quality, performance, and consistency have all been on the rise. The two factors we'd like to see spiraling downwards, weight and price, have sadly remained relatively constant.

Part of this infatuation relates to my experience. Thus far the wheels I have ridden have been very good. I've had one compressor-related failure while encouraging a tire to seat on an ENVE rim (huge explosion with sealant everywhere) but otherwise the performance and reliability have been excellent. Carbon is particularly good at staying true and round because unlike aluminum, carbon structures have no memory; rims don't strain to keep a circular shape because they have been laid up as circles from the beginning. Aluminum rims begin as long straight extrusions that are bent into a circular shape, often four at a time. If you have ever potato-chipped a rim you have experienced a rim trying to claw back to its unbent form. The counterpoint is that often, you can smash an aluminum rim back into rideable shape. Even one that looks like a Pringle.

Of course at the EWS level most riders and mechanics aren't paying a penny for their parts, and aluminum rims can be replaced frequently so there is no issue dealing with the usual afflictions of dents, flat spots and wobble that plague aluminum rims in abusive relationships. Jeff's point that aluminum doesn't conceal issues is particularly important for racers at the top level. The one team that has had no issues with carbon rims is Specialized because they apparently start with fresh ones ever race.

So the jury is still deliberating about carbo loading for this application. For riders who put less monumental demands on their wheels, the advantages of carbon are more easily identified. You have to have strong opinions if you are going to pour your life savings into building wheels out of carbon so I asked Dustin Adams, once Canada's top downhiller and now the proprietor of We Are One Composites, a Kamloops based startup making carbon rims here in Canada, what he felt the advantages of carbon hoops are: