Carbon Wheels - Rim Brake Thoughts

[evo111@comcast.net]

I am sticking with rim brake technology.

Like to hear your experience and thoughts on daily use carbon wheels - new or used. Looking at 35-55mm depth for aero effect, not looking for light climbing wheels. Tubeless, Clincher with tubes or tubulars?

Campy, Shimano, Mavic, Enve, Zipp, Hunt, Cole, Chinese brands?

TIA

[David Kirk]

I own two pair of Hunt 36 mm wheels. One had steel spokes and one has carbon. Both are light and quick and stable. I paved road bike uses a 28 mm tire and the wheels have the steel spokes. I'm using these with tubes.

My gravel/allroad/MRB bike uses 38 mm tires and the spokes are carbon. These are set up tubeless.

I've been using the steel spoked version for over a year on some very iffy surfaces and they have stayed perfectly true and I've never taken a wrench to them.

The carbon spoke wheels are newer with about 600 miles of gravel behind them at this point and they too have not needed a tweak

They are simple and light (carbon spoke version very light) and I love the way they go down the road and cut through the wind.

I'd buy them again.


dave

[weiwentg]

With Campy Bora WTOs, braking in the dry is quite a bit louder than on aluminum rims, but it is basically as good. In the wet, I would say it is about as bad as aluminum rims, perhaps a bit worse.

I think that in general, the good rim brake rims should be good enough braking in the dry. Of the ones you listed, I don't know about Mavic because they were basically out of the game for a long while.

[BdaGhisallo]

If you can find some second generation Enve rim brake rims - the ones with the textured brake tracks - you'll find the braking on them is very good and more than adequate in the wet.

Additionally, the Bontrager Aeolus XXX wheels with the laser sintered brake tracks are also really good and very good in the wet.

Many folks reference traditional aluminum rims as being better in the wet than carbon rims if you want to be able to slow down. Other than 1990s era Mavic ceramic coated rims, I never found any rim brake rim - carbon or aluminum - that braked as well as the two wheels I mentioned.

[pdonk]

I've just recently switched to a set of lightly used second generation ENVE 4.5 I picked up here a few weeks ago.

The textured track definitely makes for a less than quiet riding experience, but acts as a good "bell" on shared pathways. The depth of the rims also makes them very loud when riding.

They are definitely more aero and feel faster as well as being lighter than the belgium plus laced to dt 240s they replaced.

We'll see in a year or two and 2500-4000KM what I think of them.

[ojingoh]

Zipp 404 Firecrest clinchers. 1 mm larger than you're looking for, they're 56mm deep. 18/24 spokes, two cross in the back. 26.5mm outside width, 16.4mm inside. Steel bike.

I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Absolutely love these wheels. Definitely faster in a straight line with little to no side wind, which is to say sort of a non-predictable benefit. For my riding, 100% road on this bike, no downsides.

Braking in the rain is not great.

[cgolvin]

Last year I bought a set of from BTLOS; lightweight 35mm rims laced to Bitex hubs, clincher, 24F/28R, have put about 1500 miles on them so far all with tubes though they will work tubeless. I like them very much, they stop much better than the previous set of carbon rims I had (Shimano C35 tubulars), but definitely not as well as my aluminum (HED) rims. I have only ridden them in dry conditions.

One thing that has surprised me, because they are only slightly deeper than my HEDs, is that at higher speeds I notice crosswinds more.

As others have noted here, the customer experience through BTLOS is excellent.

[redir]

I like Zipp 303's, have two sets of them, used rim brake you can find them for song now.

[tootall]

I bought a pair of used 10 speed Zipp 404 Firecrests in 2016 to go on my new to me used Tarmac. I put over 16,000 miles on them in 7.5 years and NEVER touched them before breaking a spoke late last year right around that 16,000 mile mark. I don't know how many miles they had on them when I got them. I used that 1 broken spoke and being left stranded as a good enough excuse for a new bike (finally!), to which I recently added the new 404 Firecrest disc versions.

I live in an area of rolling hills, but we don't have to do much downhill braking so in general the braking performance is adequate for me. Not great in the wet though.

I'm 180lbs, rode a good bit of broken pavement and chipseal on them with 26's at 75f/80r psi.

[ah87]

I just switched from HED Ardennes RA Black to Elitewheels Drive 50V (which have a grooved brake track). The brake performance on the HEDs was the best I've ever experienced with rim brakes. The Drives are about as good as normal alloy rims so far, but I've only had them a few days and haven't ridden them in wet conditions.

[weisan]

I just bought a set of Bontrager XXX 2 Tubular wheels from Ryan pal. I thought he was over-selling a bit when I read his post (see below) but after I get the chance to try it for myself, I have to say everything he said is true especially the braking I dare say it's on par with alloy/aluminium wheels. I have Firecrest 404 NSW, Firecrest 303 - that's what I am comparing with.

"For those not familiar with these, they're in my opinion the pinnacle of rim brake wheels. They weigh in around 1160g and with the extra width, support the 28mm tubs to allow you to run them at 60psi without feeling squishy or vague. They corner amazingly and the brake track is simply the best out there. It's a great compromise between a smooth track and a textured one as it doesn't have the noise of the textured tracks."

https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=306167

[Jdm]

Chinese carbon rims with the upgraded brake track.

[deluz]

I have BTLOS with ARC brake track.
Really like them and very affordable.
They are noisy when braking and there is less braking power than aluminum but the pros outweigh the cons for me.
I went with 30mm deep because I wanted lightest weight.
BTLOS is very responsive and easy to work with.

[edgerat]

got my first set of lightweights recently, started with red campy pads (could be plenty better) swapped to yellow SS, riding in a bit to see if it improves the braking.

[djg21]

Originally Posted by evo111@comcast.net

I am sticking with rim brake technology.

Like to hear your experience and thoughts on daily use carbon wheels - new or used. Looking at 35-55mm depth for aero effect, not looking for light climbing wheels. Tubeless, Clincher with tubes or tubulars?

Campy, Shimano, Mavic, Enve, Zipp, Hunt, Cole, Chinese brands?

TIA

I use Flo 64AS rim brake wheels as my daily drivers. They are reasonably priced, and ride nicely. https://flocycling.com/collections/64-as. Flo makes on with a 49mm depth too. There is a 15% off promotion now.