This carbon wheel issue has been burning a hole in my soul for so long. The twin headed snake of thrift and indecision (not such an impressive snake as far as twin headed snakes go) held me at the impasse for years. Having @mauibike commit to all carbon for his lifetime wheelset needs got me hot. Seeing Fabs winning Paris-Roubaix and the Ronde on his Aeolius 5.0 wheels made the fever burn higher.
Maui is a very gusty place to ride and I was loath to own some deep section rims that would be the death of me. Looking pro while getting blown off the road at speed, uncool. Bontrager has the budget to blow on high speed computing and wind tunnels to make sure Gianni is not buffeted unduly. They also use Alpina spokes with plastic inserts so the the wheel should be truable for years.
Ebay is full of people who buy tubular wheels then sell them after very light use (or their first flat tire). Voila, Gianni finally owns Fabooo’s tubular wheels.
The first impression on the first ride was holy smokes, these float uphill. The weight difference was what impressed me immediately. I take off the front wheel when transporting the bike and I still marvel at its lightness. This lightness is also noticeable when cornering and not in a good way. The flywheel effect of a heavier aluminum rim is diminished making the steering, for lack of a better term, whippy. I’m used to it now but for the first few weeks the front end felt less stable.
My wife was quite vexed that I was undroppable on climbs; these wheels were feeling better and better. The improved climbing alone was enough to make me embrace the benefit of carbon construction.
It was during the first descent of Haleakala volcano where the other lightbulb switched on in my dim brain. Unintentionally I was going into every corner faster than usual. My V-meter does not give me data to substantiate the feeling but these wheels are more impressive going down than they are going up. They are fast. When you get off the brakes on a descent the bike just hauls more ass. To add to their list of wonders, they are very stable in gusty crosswinds too. The windtunnel testing was money well spent. Score one for the boffins.
I have not done enough riding in wet weather to have an opinion on rainy day braking. This is my number one bike after all and I’ve avoided the real steep descents if I have a choice.
To address the original question in the original article; can carbon wheels be one’s everyday, go-to wheels? I now say absolutely. These aero wheels are faster in all directions, why would you deny yourself that pleasure everyday. They do cost a huge amount to money new. That is their one massive downside. They can be had reasonably if one looks at slightly used tubulars, what is not to love about that? If one buys the premise that wheels are the most important upgrade to a bike, then buying light, aero, carbon wheels is the way to go.
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@Ken Ho
I am not gonna sit here and say that helmets look good. They surely do not. But in my 20+ years of racing..helmets have saved my life on 3 occasions, and when I hit the deck I was going far faster than 20kph...
As for the mirror...well...nevermind.
@davidlhill
Yes, there are quite a few of those out there as well, but I have watched people run into things because they were trying to use their subtle, inconspicuous mirrors Or, just as bad, crash because they hit the mirror on something.
RE: Mirrors. I hate them for the same reason I hate tinted windows. Because I'm not sure if you've seen me or not. If I come up on another cyclist with a mirror, I have no idea if they're even looking around. But if I see them do a crazy-Ivan, I can be reasonably sure they know I'm there. If I'm going to make a left turn across a lane, then a head check alerts anyone behind me that I'm looking for a line and I mean business.
Carbone wheels with disc brakes actually makes zero sense if you remember why you're buying the carbone wheels in the first place. You're paying a massive sum of money to have a wheel that is more aerodynamic than an aluminum wheel... then you're paying a small fortune more to add dick breaks that negate (and then some) any and all aero advantage that your grossly overpriced wheels provided. So what are you left with? A very thin wallet and a bike that is no lighter and no more aerodynamic than the guy that only spent a few bucks on decent aluminum wheels. So where's the benefit? Is it purely to maximum Fredliness and show everyone that you're on the cutting edge of bike technology? I'll stick to rim brakes if I decide to go carbone. In fact, since it looks like most people will be going carbone and disc by next year, I could even stick to my aluminum wheels and suffer zero performance disadvantage.
Useless people are useless people, regardless of equipment.
Nice Firefly reference.
@Ken Ho
Indeed. I tend to think carbon wheels, at least the deep dish variety, should only be ridden by a racer (preferably professional).
@ChrissyOne
Spoken like a motorcycle survivor.
@therealpeel
Really? So I rode/trained/raced on my mid range alloy bike complete with Sora and box section 32spoke rims for a couple of years. Got me all the way into the pointy end of B grade even. After that time I had saved some money and bought an all carbon, second from the top of the range aero race bike complete with 60mm full carbon clinchers. That's how it comes, I didn't spec those wheels although why wouldn't you?!
So, I can't bring that bike on bunch rides? I have to go and buy a set of box section rims to do that? I sold my old bike to fund the new one so no going back to those wheels and why would I want to anyway? Why would I want to sully the ride of this bike by putting shit wheels on it? Do I have to go and buy a set of training wheels do I? Maybe I have to go and spend $1000 on some C24's so I can have some nice wheels that meet your requirements of appropriateness? Since low profile alloys can be quite expensive on the top shelf, your argument cannot be based on price snobbery, but maybe should extend to ultra light alloy rims too? They give a performance boost especially in the hills where my deep section carbons won't.
Next time you scoff at a ride on what you consider in appropriate wheels, just maybe they are the only wheels they have? Just lucky for me I have improved more and now race A grade so at least around these parts I don't get dropped if someone with low profile alloys gets offended at my deep section carbons and pushes up the pace. I can deal.
I find myself telling my kids "don't worry about what others a doing, just worry about yourself" I think some people need to take that advice and forget about what equipment people are on and just be happy they are along for the ride.
@Puffy
Hey, I'm down with people using what they like. I surely do.
I was more suggesting that a lot of people will make snide comments or give people crap for using gear that outranks their skill level.
The expression, "carbon craplet", is evidence of this tendency.
@Puffy,
Having "over-speced" gear is not peculiar to cyclists, how many people do you see toting a DSLR around which they always use on auto mode? How many people wear full alpine clothing to walk down to the shops in the rain and how many of us are using computers/tablets/phones which we only ever use to do simple typing and browsing, ignoring the other 99.99% of their ability?
We are all guilty of desiring male jewellery to some extent, the only problem comes when we convince ourselves that having newer, shiner kit makes us better at what we are doing, when in reality it all comes down to rule V.