Seems to me there appears confusion between what people can afford and what people are prepared to pay based on benefit and value for money.
Im not a 'can't afforder', i'm not rich but I have spent way more than the cost of a set of Enve rims on my hobby so far.
If someone could prove to me that they'd make me go noticably faster than on an equivelent pair of LB rims then I'd probably buy a set tomorrow. But they can't, because they won't. And at 6xs the price thats why I think they are a waste of money.
That said I have nothing against people buying them, just don't try to pretend they are considerably better than kit at a fraction of the price.
^^ this. Totally.
I could get carbon wheels, but really, really struggle to justify the almost 10x the cost a set of hope hoops would cost me. Though i have a similar mentality when it comes to groupset/frames etc etc.
I'm glad to see some STWers are making some sensible comments in terms of stiffness, wheels make up part of your "compliance system", for want of a better phrase. Is the bike already stiff? stiffer wheels might be too much.
Then what is stiff or too stiff is different for everyone.
10% faster 🙄 road sprint on smooth tarmac?
I could get carbon wheels, but really, really struggle to justify the almost 10x the cost a set of hope hoops would cost me. Though i have a similar mentality when it comes to groupset/frames etc etc.
But they're not. Enve rims are 10x the price of Stan's, but LB, Derby et al are more like 1.5x the price. The question isn't so much "are carbon rims worthwhile", it's "are Enve rims worth 6x as much as other carbon alternatives, which are invariably lighter". I remain unconvinced on the latter, and most of the defences seem to be about the "if you can't afford them wah wah wah...". See Rone's post.
in what way and which rims? just curious
I explained about the U.S.E rims ?
I meant in what way did they feel different as you didn't go in to a huge amount of depth, and I was wondering if your experience was any wider than those two brands and models or if you had any thoughts on others
The one thing it seems to be hard to get with carbon rims is actual real world info and opinions from people who have tried a decent variety of products over a decent time. Many people have tried a fair few normal alu rims over their biking time but in some part due to cost, and in another due to the relative age of he technology there isn't such a wealth of info on the carbon products, lots of people with limited experience of just he product they have purchase or limited ride time but rarely a wide cross section of products over a decent length of time
Enve are awesome at marketing, right place right time right publicity, doesnt mean they are an awesome composites manufacturer,well at least not a league apart of any of the others IIRC the head honcho was a great marketing bod they learned composites on the job
