Carbon spoke wheels guide: pros and cons
While carbon fiber is revolutionizing the bicycle industry, carbon spokes also represent the beginning of a new era in the same industry. The new wheel technology is not completely unknown, but it is important to know what special properties it offers compared to traditional steel spokes.
Carbon spoke wheelsets will be the latest generation of high-end racing and racing bike prototypes. There are only ready-made carbon wheels, but you can also upgrade your bikes with steel spokes to carbon wheels. While carbon fiber only came onto the market in the 90s, carbon spokes are also new to the market. But that doesn't stop them from living up to the hype - thanks to some amazing benefits of the material. We want to get to know them in detail.
What is a carbon spoke wheel?
While carbon fiber has come a long way since its introduction to the aerospace industry, carbon spoke wheels are also the result of extensive research. Much to your surprise, this is the same material used to build the huge Boeing airplanes. Like carbon fiber, carbon spokes are a futuristic material known for its stiffness and better fatigue resistance, with aerodynamics also playing a role.
The material represents a similar carbon fiber niche that offers a better riding experience than traditional steel spokes. The high tensile strength and flexibility of carbon spokes are unsurpassed and have a great impact on safety and comfort when driving. The truly amazing thing about carbon spoke material is that it can be tweaked into custom shapes, resulting in better aerodynamics and better wheel rolling.
What is the advantage of carbon spoke wheels?
Carbon fiber material comes in the form of superimposed pieces that are formed into a custom shape. The carbon spokes are attached to the rim using a unique process. The biggest advantage of this process is that you can tune the rim to achieve a custom level of stiffness that would not be possible with traditional steel spokes.
Carbon spokes are popular because of their low weight and can absorb stress well while driving. When comparing high-end carbon spokes to steel spoked wheels, it is believed that carbon spokes are better and more responsive. That's because they don't flex as much as steel spokes, meaning the force from your legs is transferred more directly to the ground. Carbon spokes are made from an incredibly strong and versatile material that has amazing tensile strength and stiffness.
Carbon spoke wheels compared to steel wheels
Carbon spoke wheels are more powerful than steel or aluminum spokes. You can achieve far greater lateral stiffness with carbon spoke wheels than with steel wheels, even if you reduce the number of spokes. This shows how powerful and flexible the spokes are while driving. Carbon spokes are more voluminous than steel spokes, which could be the reason why even fewer spokes can be more powerful than steel spokes. The lower weight and higher tensile strength give carbon wheels an edge over their competitors. In the production of carbon spoke wheels, a unidirectional structure is used, which allows the load limit to be increased from 125 kgf to 300 kgf. The design can also be more complex to improve performance and stability.
Advantages of using carbon spoke wheels
From aerodynamic efficiency to crosswind stability, there are many benefits to using carbon-spoked wheels or upgrading your steel wheels. If you as a cyclist want to be one step ahead of the competition, a carbon wheel is the right choice. The lightweight carbon wheel and spokes ensure better stiffness and durability, but performance also improves greatly compared to traditional steel spokes. The lighter and more aerodynamic wheel could begin to bear fruit both on the road and off-road on uneven surfaces. If you are a professional and want your wheels and spokes to be made for championships, think no further because carbon spokes can turn your ideas into reality as they can be formed into complex shapes for better optimization.
Disadvantage of carbon spoke wheels
Despite their efficient aerodynamics and good stiffness-to-weight ratio, carbon spokes come at a price: they are more expensive than steel spoke wheels. They are expensive due to their material, and the adhesive bonding technology makes the wheel difficult to maintain. It can be difficult to replace a damaged thread or spoke.
If you want your bike to be completely carbon from the frame to the spokes, that will burn a hole in your pocket. Like the material carbon fiber, the production of carbon spoke wheels is almost entirely manual work, and we still have a long way to go to automate it.
What about the stiffness test of carbon spoke wheels?
Wheels and spokes with carbon spokes are two times stiffer than traditional wheels with steel spokes. While the material is strong enough to increase tensile strength, the lightweight carbon spokes are good at absorbing vibrations. Increasing the stiffness of the wheel has several benefits. Higher rigidity goes hand in hand with better maneuverability and ensures targeted power transmission. Increased stiffness combined with the low weight of the frame can even reduce the number of spokes, and a wheel with carbon spokes can have higher lateral stiffness.
Is a bike with carbon spokes comfortable?
Unlike steel spokes, carbon spokes do a good job of absorbing the impact your bike makes when jumping off a small cliff or on bumpy roads. If you can get a tubeless tire and a carbon wheel, you will experience the ultimate riding comfort as your wheels run at lower pressures. This improves traction and allows you to maneuver efficiently through the terrain. Adventure wheels with a combination of flat and medium profile can be very useful for increasing ground resistance so that you always stay on the ground, even when riding on uneven surfaces.
Recommend carbon spoke wheels
The Pie Series Disc Wheelset is the latest addition to the ICAN wheelset collection. It features a hub with ceramic bearings and carbon spokes that make it lighter and stiffer. The wheelset is suitable for wider tires and offers the rider a more comfortable driving experience.
