I’ve never owned anything made from carbon fibre.

Do carbon wheels have a life span? Very nice Giant Anthem on eBay that still has  the factory carbon wheels still fitted. I can’t decide if this is bonus or not.

Am I right to be wary of the unknown use / abuse on a 3 year old item that could fail catastrophically ?
Or are they tough as old boots and if they were going to break they would have done so by now?

I’m riding 12 year old carbon wheels on my road bike and they’ve never even needed truing in all that time…

I’d not worry about it.

As above, however I do seem to remember reports of the Giant ones being well, err, shite.

It wouldn’t bother me.

I’ve found carbon XC wheels much more durable than aluminium rims of a similar weight. (Crests and podiums vs whyte and giant XC wheels).

As long as they aren’t cracked / showing signs of big impacts I probably wouldn’t worry about it too much. If you do break one it’ll probably be a crack rather than a horrific failure – in which case you could just re-rim the hub.

If you do break one it’ll probably be a crack rather than a horrific failure

Yes, I would expect a spoke to just rip out the rim rather than the rim to completely collapse.

Good to know. Thanks

Am I right to be wary of the unknown use / abuse on a 3 year old item that could fail catastrophically ?

Yes….

Very nice Giant Anthem on eBay that still has the factory carbon wheels still fitted. I can’t decide if this is bonus or not.

Bonus…. assuming you want the internal diameter.

Nov 2015 I had an accident with a height barrier and smashed a rim…. I had new Carbon (P-TRX1C) rims put on the hubs. These are still my main wheels… they’ve done BPW, Okeford, Revs and Havok though I prefer to use other wheels anyway with bigger/heavier tyres for daft stuff.

Why do i have a feeling we’re watching the same Anthem? 😬

Carbon is fine, the reality is that wheels are pretty much the easiest carbon bits to manage, rarely to the rims get a smack on the side, yes they get scuffed due to grazing, but that’s not even getting through the protective lacquer, let alone through the resin and into the strands.

Biggest issues i read on carbon wheels is when spokes pull through, or as per a normal rim, the rim gets hit through a heavy landing or sharp corner impact, and it’ll get damaged and potentially burp out the air, or deflate.

I wouldn’t buy a set that had been stated as ‘repaired’ though, as that just reads to me that they’ve got someone local to put bit of resin in and drill out, or GRP style repairs, so the wheel may contain weakness around that spoke (and others).

Why do i have a feeling we’re watching the same Anthem? 😬

Ooh what type is it? I have a 2018 Advanced 29er that I keep meaning to sell….. Large.

But to respond to the OP and the poster above, I also saw someone saying that the giant carbon rims are made of cheese, which worried me a bit. I tend to tone it down a bit but that’s the frame geometry and lack of dropper as much as the carbon rims.

Done loads of stuff like Wolftraxx ( not the black admittedly) Applecross, Ben Damh, Corrieyairack, Walna Scar, Grizedale, Cairngorms, CyB, llandegla etc and the wheels are still perfect. Fair enough some of the rides above are not exactly grarrcore, but thinking about it, they’ve also done Cavedale, Peak Lord of the Loops (112 km 4200 hm) and all sorts of other stuff with no issues

HTH

Its this one , which is definitely a stolen restickered Apollo and I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Giant-Anthem-1-Mountain-Bike-Medium-Frame-27-5-Wheels-2017-Excellent-Condition/203100140122?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1431.l2649

Looking at that the rims are nearly as new condition, was thinking it was going to be looking at some scuffed up second hand wheels!

As for the ‘giant carbon wheels are made of cheese’, doubt that, they’ll be made out of the same factory, and same process as a lot of the other carbon rims on bikes, i find the made of cheese argument is raised due to operator error on parts like this.

A lot of early (2016 ish?) Giant carbon rims failed, mostly under the TRX name I think. So many some models then came with DT Swiss wheels while Giant redesigned the rims. Later ones are stronger but also heavier and overly stiff so not much benefit over aluminium, depending on the model.

That Anthem doesn’t look like it’s had much use but obviously check for cracks. Also if they’re running true. Carbon rims don’t come far out of true unless damaged. I’ve had carbon wheels with half the spokes loose and didn’t notice because the rim was so stiff and still running dead straight.

That bike looks like an absute gem. My son has an Anthem 27.5 which he loves and is about ready to be passed on to his little brother as soon as I can find the next size up for him…..

Hang on a damn second. Size medium? That’s the next one up from size small isn’t it?

“Hi son, you need to give your bike to your brother, but here’s a replacement. It’s like your old one but with better brakes and gears. It’s lighter and it’s got carbon fibre bling bits. ”

And given that he’s only 45 kg there’s no chance of him killing the wheels.

Hmmmmmm

Let me know if you decide not to bid🤔

“But how can you know they are safe unless you’ve x rayed them?” As some would say