Budget carbon wheels
Discussion
I’m considering getting the wife a set of shallower carbon wheels to use on her road bike. It currently has the standard 55mm deep giant slr wheels fitted which can be a pain for her when it’s really windy. Also for use during winter
Can anyone recommend any budget carbon clinchers with a carbon braking surface? This will avoid the faff of changing pads over when she changes wheels.
Can anyone recommend any budget carbon clinchers with a carbon braking surface? This will avoid the faff of changing pads over when she changes wheels.
I’m one of the many who used 2011cycling2011 on eBay and bought some 50mm carbon clinchers on Novatec hubs. They’ve been fine. Don’t be conned into thinking the likes of CES sport etc are any better, it’s pretty much the same thing rebranded. It looks like 2011cycling2011 have gone but the Chinese sellers will all be offering Gigantiex rims on Novatec Hubs, mostly with Pillar spokes. For £300-£400 you can’t really go wrong.
link
link
pablo said:
I’m one of the many who used 2011cycling2011 on eBay and bought some 50mm carbon clinchers on Novatec hubs. They’ve been fine. Don’t be conned into thinking the likes of CES sport etc are any better, it’s pretty much the same thing rebranded. It looks like 2011cycling2011 have gone but the Chinese sellers will all be offering Gigantiex rims on Novatec Hubs, mostly with Pillar spokes. For £300-£400 you can’t really go wrong.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DT-50mm-Carbon-Clincher...
lYAAOSwt4VcurFg
50mm still a bit deep. Are these Chinese eBay specials not a nightmare if they go wrong? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DT-50mm-Carbon-Clincher...
lYAAOSwt4VcurFgIf they crack you can either contact the seller and they’ll send you a new one or you just accept it. Where I’ve read of issues, they just send another wheel, they cost so little to make it’s easier for them. That’s not to say the quality isn’t acceptable, more about the mark up the industry puts on components. I’ve abused mine with no issues. If 50mm is too deep to manage in crosswinds, try swapping the front on its own for something shallower. The rear is naturally more stable.
My old bike has 38mm carbon speed cycle - absolutely fine after 20,000 miles all weather use, never needed to true the spokes or anything. It is on discs so maybe rim brakes might have worn a bit in that distance. On a trip to NW Scotland I stayed cycling while one of our group on standard alloy rims was blown over onto the verge on an extremely gusty and wet afternoon. We were leaning into wind and crabbing at a pronounced angle. Type 2 fun?? We were all carrying a lot of baggage though.
Prior to that I was impressed with https://icancycling.com/ - slightly classier than carbon speed and good customer service for UK buyers. They email me with occasional discounts. Bear in mind, with any Chinese wheels you'll likely be hit for import duty (~£40 from memory) even if they include an invoice for a token $100.
The new bike is a Canyon on 45mm Zipp 303's. Again, very happy with them - perhaps they're a bit friendlier on the aero front. Hit some extreme winds/sandstorms in Lanzarote this Feb (which made the UK news channels) - challenging, but then no one else in our group ventured out that day. And one occasion when I decided to walk a few yards in a serious wind on a narrow road with only a 15in parapet between me and a 900ft drop over a cliff!
That said, is the o/h sure she needs shallower rims? I'm not a heavyweight at only 55kg but apart from the few incidents above, in conditions when many would stay at home, I've had no problems. But then I've not ridden 50-55mm deep. There's a bit of a learning curve but it soon became second nature to anticipate gusts - weight forward, pedal strongly and be prepared for a reversal. Here in the benign south, I get just the odd gentle reminder eg a slight twitch from a heavy truck coming the other way on a fast single carriageway or if a tree-sheltered road crosses an exposed motorway bridge.
Prior to that I was impressed with https://icancycling.com/ - slightly classier than carbon speed and good customer service for UK buyers. They email me with occasional discounts. Bear in mind, with any Chinese wheels you'll likely be hit for import duty (~£40 from memory) even if they include an invoice for a token $100.
The new bike is a Canyon on 45mm Zipp 303's. Again, very happy with them - perhaps they're a bit friendlier on the aero front. Hit some extreme winds/sandstorms in Lanzarote this Feb (which made the UK news channels) - challenging, but then no one else in our group ventured out that day. And one occasion when I decided to walk a few yards in a serious wind on a narrow road with only a 15in parapet between me and a 900ft drop over a cliff!
That said, is the o/h sure she needs shallower rims? I'm not a heavyweight at only 55kg but apart from the few incidents above, in conditions when many would stay at home, I've had no problems. But then I've not ridden 50-55mm deep. There's a bit of a learning curve but it soon became second nature to anticipate gusts - weight forward, pedal strongly and be prepared for a reversal. Here in the benign south, I get just the odd gentle reminder eg a slight twitch from a heavy truck coming the other way on a fast single carriageway or if a tree-sheltered road crosses an exposed motorway bridge.
z4RRSchris said:
Thanks will have a proper look at those sites when I get time. I’m a bit confused by import duty and stuff ED209 said:
Thanks will have a proper look at those sites when I get time. I’m a bit confused by import duty and stuff
All I know is it's complicated! Looking on the web, it seems there are different tariffs for different goods. https://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/threads/thinkin... (link is historic, maybe not current) Something I saw suggested 14% on bikes but 4.7% on bike parts from China. What I found on two occasions is you check the tracking system and see that the international carrier transfers to the local carrier (typically Parcelforce etc) when the (large) package arrives at the UK customs airport. You then get a text or email saying they won't release the goods until you've paid the required import duty - you pay online and then either collect from the depot or wait for delivery. In my case the figure seemed to be c. 14% of the actual purchase price, even though one vendor sent with the package an invoice for $100 only.I've just noticed that Ican now have a UK warehouse which takes the hassle out of this - and they say the price you see is the price you pay https://icancycling.com/collections/uk-warehouse I expect more of the bigger vendors will follow this route.
As a further tip, I've found wheels to be well-packed but if you can it's worth opening the box to check for any obvious damage before the courier departs.
carbon + rim brakes +descending = pay the money, i paid someone on a forum for some cheap carbons they made up, seemed ok, for Uk, took them to the alps and rims popped out of shape on braking down from a pass - roll on 2 years later on a set of HUNT's - same pass, same bike, hotter day - pefectly fine.
rider73 said:
carbon + rim brakes +descending = pay the money, i paid someone on a forum for some cheap carbons they made up, seemed ok, for Uk, took them to the alps and rims popped out of shape on braking down from a pass - roll on 2 years later on a set of HUNT's - same pass, same bike, hotter day - pefectly fine.
https://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/5808/spin-city-inside-carbon-wheel-maker-gigantexI’d wager Hunt use Gigantex rims. Gigantex are Taiwanese rather than Chinese, there’s a significant difference in quality, assurance and reliability. You can’t buy a product blind from “someone on a forum” and assume that standard is applicable for all wheels that aren’t a brand you recognise.
I have a set of Farsports on my Canyon Ultimate which I bought in 2018. Since then I have done around 8,000 miles on them in all weathers
Mine are built on DT Swiss 350s hubs (which are excellent) and Sapim spokes. I paid $666 which I think was around £500 at the time. They are 50mm deep and 25mm wide
I bought them after a lot of research on the Bikeradar forums
From ordering they took about 2 weeks to build and then a similar time to ship to the UK
They have worn pretty well, I'd say the rear is 50% worn at worst. Front looks barely worn to me and I expect it would outlast the rest of the bike. If used only in the dry then I expect wear would be reduced further
I think the rims are probably similar to buying something like "Hunts" but the hubs are way better and the overall cost is lower
Let me know if you have any questions on these
Mine are built on DT Swiss 350s hubs (which are excellent) and Sapim spokes. I paid $666 which I think was around £500 at the time. They are 50mm deep and 25mm wide
I bought them after a lot of research on the Bikeradar forums
From ordering they took about 2 weeks to build and then a similar time to ship to the UK
They have worn pretty well, I'd say the rear is 50% worn at worst. Front looks barely worn to me and I expect it would outlast the rest of the bike. If used only in the dry then I expect wear would be reduced further
I think the rims are probably similar to buying something like "Hunts" but the hubs are way better and the overall cost is lower
Let me know if you have any questions on these
rider73 said:
carbon + rim brakes +descending = pay the money, i paid someone on a forum for some cheap carbons they made up, seemed ok, for Uk, took them to the alps and rims popped out of shape on braking down from a pass - roll on 2 years later on a set of HUNT's - same pass, same bike, hotter day - pefectly fine.
I managed to descent Hardknott and Wrynose passes (both sides) in the damp on my cheap wheels with rim brakes without any issues so don't agree with this. The picture above is at the top of Hardknott!Different to the Alps but the trick with braking on any wheels is to avoid dragging to avoid heat build up. Short, sharp braking is better for the rims, albeit I'm aware that isn't going to be easy descending mountains!
To be honest if you do a lot of cycling on very large mountains I'd suggest discs instead of rims anyway
ED209 said:
z4RRSchris said:
Thanks will have a proper look at those sites when I get time. I’m a bit confused by import duty and stuff All of that aside, if you have rim brakes you would definitely be better with alloy rims in winter. I have carbon rims and so do most of my cycling buddies and braking is always worse in the wet - doesn't matter how much money you spend!
I would argue that alloy also more resistant to the associated crud, mud, salt, etc. which builds up on the pads in winter.
I would argue that alloy also more resistant to the associated crud, mud, salt, etc. which builds up on the pads in winter.
pavlovs-dog said:
All of that aside, if you have rim brakes you would definitely be better with alloy rims in winter. I have carbon rims and so do most of my cycling buddies and braking is always worse in the wet - doesn't matter how much money you spend!
I would argue that alloy also more resistant to the associated crud, mud, salt, etc. which builds up on the pads in winter.
Conversely though a lot of the wear on aluminium rims comes from the surface flaking off and embedding in the pads. This then adds a lot of wear to the rims. You don't get that with carbonI would argue that alloy also more resistant to the associated crud, mud, salt, etc. which builds up on the pads in winter.
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff