Convince me on carbon fibre rims

Discuss light weight issues concerning mountain bikes & parts.

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TheRookie
Posts: 926
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 4:23 pm
Location: Midlands, United Kingdom

by TheRookie

I run my hybrid's tyres (700c rim by Alex, also used on MTB 29er) at 100psi, a rim is designed to go way over 75psi, still BS.
Impoverished weight weenie wanna-be!
Budget 26" HT build viewtopic.php?f=10&t=110956

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F45
Posts: 1077
Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2011 6:08 am

by F45

I don't see how it's relevant that you take a rim with a published 40psi max and crack it at 75psi.

I have seated the infamous Geax TNT with Stans rim combo at less than 40 psi.

It's a non issue.

My ride has a carbon tubeless wheelset, a carbon tubular set, and two aluminum sets. I can't tell much of a difference attributable to the rim material.

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CycloTron
Posts: 30
Joined: Fri Jul 28, 2017 12:34 am

by CycloTron

I run Mavic Crossmax on the 29er and Enves on the 26".

Carbon rims are lighter and stiffer, and very noticeable when climbing. For value for money, light-bicycle rims are hard to go past.

whyamihere
Posts: 71
Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2008 7:18 pm

by whyamihere

I went for the Nextie asymmetric carbon rims. They were disappointingly both about 30g above the quoted weight, which is almost 10% per rim. The build with Hope Pro4s and 28 3x DT Revs was very easy, partly because the asymmetric rims meant that all of the spokes were the same length.

Both wheels, with tubeless tape and valves installed, come to 1627g, and fitting TLE Ralphs was the easiest tubeless setup I've ever had. Not had a chance to ride them yet, only rebuilt the bike this afternoon.

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H2o
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2016 1:42 pm

by H2o

basiclly a carbon well might be good for soft trails, but i doubt it, for hard rocky trails.

my real well has a small bent, because off the rocks i doubt a carbon well would survive.

Im very curious, those enve carbon wells look so dope

justaute
Posts: 282
Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2013 7:17 pm
Location: UT/TX/PA, USA

by justaute

Convince you?

Go to a different forum (e.g. mtbr, pinkbike) where there is much higher traffic for opinions.

TheRookie
Posts: 926
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 4:23 pm
Location: Midlands, United Kingdom

by TheRookie

H2o wrote:basiclly a carbon well might be good for soft trails, but i doubt it, for hard rocky trails.

my real well has a small bent, because off the rocks i doubt a carbon well would survive.

Im very curious, those enve carbon wells look so dope

Or you could actually look at the material properties and know that a carbon rim will fail long after an aluminium alloy rim is bent beyond any usability.

Unless you subscribe to the Donald J Trump approach that science is only right when it agrees with my ill informed hunch?
Impoverished weight weenie wanna-be!
Budget 26" HT build viewtopic.php?f=10&t=110956

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nickf
Posts: 1428
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2010 10:34 pm

by nickf

The only thing i noticed going from aluminium to carbon MTB rim was the stiffness. Ran aluminium rims for well over 15 years, no issues with any of them BTW. Bike came stock with carbon wheels, you can feel the stiffness when hitting corners or going through slower technical sections. Bike seems to track a little better all around. Worth it if you can swing it. Durability has been fine so far. They are the Bontrager kovee pro boost wheels. They are on the heavy size.

zinedrei
Posts: 139
Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2017 7:36 am

by zinedrei

anyone seen the clip where they tested the santa cruz carbon rims?

TheRookie
Posts: 926
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 4:23 pm
Location: Midlands, United Kingdom

by TheRookie

With Danny McCaskill, yep, they certainly take some abuse!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfjjiHGuHoc
Impoverished weight weenie wanna-be!
Budget 26" HT build viewtopic.php?f=10&t=110956

morganb
Posts: 732
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2017 5:30 pm

by morganb

nickf wrote:The only thing i noticed going from aluminium to carbon MTB rim was the stiffness. Ran aluminium rims for well over 15 years, no issues with any of them BTW. Bike came stock with carbon wheels, you can feel the stiffness when hitting corners or going through slower technical sections. Bike seems to track a little better all around. Worth it if you can swing it. Durability has been fine so far. They are the Bontrager kovee pro boost wheels. They are on the heavy size.

Pretty much my experience with those same wheels, got them on a Top Fuel 9.8. Also they take some abuse for sure. I've cased some stuff where I would have trashed an aluminum rim and they haven't even needed a touch up.

joshpeck
Posts: 25
Joined: Thu Jan 11, 2018 11:02 pm

by joshpeck

If you're heavy, then you're the perfect candidate for carbon rims. The stiffness should outweigh weight for you in terms of performance.

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