Carbon wheels – worth it?

i got myself a Yeti SB5C which I think is brilliant. Considering buying a set of carbon wheels for it (27.5) but not sure of the difference. Currently have flow ex that could be used on another bike.

Two sets I have thought about are Enve or Easton Haven.

Any views on this apart from they are expensive?

Thanks

Love my LightBicycle wheels, no way in hell I’d pay Enve/Easton money.

I’ve got Enve M50 on my Czar and Enve AM on my flux. (I did get good deals on them both though.)

Difficult to convince someone of the cost, but I think they add so much to the ride quality.

I always justify expensive bike purchases as making me go out more on the bike as it becomes a better package each time. That in itself keeps me healthy. So a couple of grand becomes worth it to me.

Me and a mate are going to do an Enve / LB wheels swap soon.

Early days for me but

Love my LightBicycle wheels, no way in hell I’d pay Enve/Easton money.

+1

Me and a mate are going to do an Enve / LB wheels swap soon

be interesting to see what your thoughts are after this

I damaged some old ZTR355’s and rebuilt them onto LB UD carbon rims. Main thing i noticed was how stiff they were. Then rode on Enves that I borrowed and didn’t notice any difference. Lighter wallet perhaps. Haven’t had delam problems and i suspect they could be more problematic if i thrashed them but overall positive noises from me.

Love my LightBicycle wheels, no way in hell I’d pay Enve/Easton money.

i haven’t ridden mine yet but my 38mm LB rims on DT240s are lighter by a few grams and about £1000 cheaper than enves, so i’m in this camp already.

Looking at the Halo with DT Swiss 240 hubs. Seem a good match.

A year of riding and racing my light bicycle rims, tells me I made the right choice

So stiff id consider going for lighter spokes next time !

+1 LB

I have a couple of sets of LB ones. The 29er pair were the most noticeable, obvious weight loss but also much stiffer. 650b pair I have nothing to compare them too but considering they’re the 38mm wide version they’re essentially DH strength with more or less xc weight. I took the plunge as it wasn’t a huge cost to purchase. I genuinely wouldn’t have got any if it’d have been at enve prices

I’d also never ever fork out for some enve rims, I went for carbon rims just so I could get wider rims for the same weight as a set of Stans Arches, not to save weight! Went for a set of derby rims and love the ground they roll on!

I sold my ENVE XC and built up a set of 38mm LB’s with super light hubs – in all honesty I cant tell the difference, but have lost a few grams and saved a few pennies.

The question for me is are carbon rims too stiff for a rigid bike? Anyone riding LB rims on a rigid – too uncomfortable?

Looking at the Halo with DT Swiss 240 hubs. Seem a good match.

Heavier and more expensive than LB rims.

I would probably have got a set if I still lived down south and mainly rode on dirt and roots.

Deemed it too risky for the rocky trails I’m usually on now though.

What don’t you like about the Flows?

Superstar carbon AMs?
£360 at the mo, tempted to hit the buy button but want some feedback first!

Bought some superstars carbon wheels, used a couple of times now. Once for HONC once for trail centre stuff. Really happy so far, to be honest like others the difference i have found is they are noticeably stiffer and possibly a little harsher. Set some strava PB’s with them, but that could be a number of things.
I like them, if they made a 29er set i would buy some more for next build so will probably go LB for next set but only because SS dont make 29ers

Is the UD weave on LB rims the best bet for XC use?

Carbon MTB rims wouldn’t last 5 minutes up here in`t North Lakes….. 8)

The one thing that would bother me about (some) carbon rims is them being too stiff when you’re cranked right over in a turn and the suspension can’t work at its best.

Is the UD weave on LB rims the best bet for XC use?

Makes no difference, it’s cosmetic.

Carbon MTB rims wouldn’t last 5 minutes up here in`t North Lakes….

Believe it or not, they’ve made it that far before. AFAIK no one died from carbon shards to the heart.

I just (literally today) built up a set of the 25mm internal LB 29er rims onto Hopes: 1625g for about £550. Could have been less but I got LB to declare the full value to customs because I’m an honest type, oh well, duh. Enve M60s on Chris Kings (not exactly equivalent but you get the idea) apparently save a whopping 20g on that weight for nearly four times the money.

I’ve not ridden them yet; they feel very solid but when I do take them out they could still crumple like a Lib-Dem manifesto pledge, of course. And they don’t have massive dayglo stickers on like the Enves, which is a pity, cos I like massive dayglo stickers. But still, quite pleased so far.

+1 granny ring

Any views on this apart from they are expensive?

Ask yourself; will they make you happy? Really?

I’m a southern chalk and sand riding type but my lbs have survived a years worth of ukges, including the lakes, trips to Wales ews tweedlove and stuff
I’ve gradually got more confident about riding thru rockier stuff and am learning to love the carbon, though I’ve had to drop psi in my shocks as riding rock gardens, roots etc can get pretty rattly

The one thing that would bother me about (some) carbon rims is them being too stiff when you’re cranked right over in a turn and the suspension can’t work at its best.

eh?

mintimperial

what is the benefit of declaring full value to customs? Does it mean they have no reason to charge you (meaning you get the stuff quicker) when it gets to the UK, or that they charge you more because you’ve actually declared a larger sum?

Sorry if this is a stupid question!

Ben.

The import duty, VAT etc would be higher. It wouldn’t make it any quicker with the process of clearance.

what is the benefit of declaring full value to customs? Does it mean they have no reason to charge you (meaning you get the stuff quicker) when it gets to the UK, or that they charge you more because you’ve actually declared a larger sum?

Benefit, a clean conscience as your doing the right thing and contributing to the UK economy.
Outcome of not declaring the full value, no or a very low customs & excise duty, you still pay import VAT & Royalfail tax (clearance fee).
The main risk (other than customs finding out.. which is unlikey unless lots of ppl start shouting about it on the internet…), would be the package gets damaged during shipment/delivery & insurance wouldn’t pay out fully..but as LB have offered this service, it’s their risk not yours

Go buy on ebay and have a chat with Carolin

what is the benefit of declaring full value to customs?

If you don’t declare the correct value an HMRC officer jumps up and down on the box for five minutes.

Nah, I just like paying my taxes. Keeps the country going and that. Weird, I know. You can thank me next time the NHS patches you up for nothing. 😉

Who is Carolin?

bennn, from a practical point of view declaring full value or not full value will make no difference to the process just to the amount you are charged. You will get a letter asking for duty to be paid made up of (I think) 4.7% of the value in import duty plus 20% VAT on your goods and the import duty plus Parcel Force’s £13 handling fee. This can vary a bit, I have sometimes not been charged import duty only VAT and I have no idea why.

Who is Carolin?

I guess Carolin is LB’s person for handling eBay sales. Nancy does online sales and Kartrin handles despatch. It sometimes feels a bit like Superstars various ‘departments’

I’ve been quite surprised by the difference a carbon rim has made. Went from a WTB i23 to a Nextie 40mm. I’m not a light chap or light in riding style, so I flex things quite a bit. The i23s were OK but I could feel the wheel in corners. The Nextie is just more solid and I can lay the bike into corners more confidently. It’s not night and day but it’s noticeable and I like it.

Same hub, spoke type and builder for both wheels, and used on same bike for same riding.

The one thing that would bother me about (some) carbon rims is them being too stiff when you’re cranked right over in a turn and the suspension can’t work at its best.

eh?

If you look at other 2-wheel sports like moto GP the relationship between stiffness and flexibility has been explored a bit further. When leant right over the suspension isn’t really pushing you into the grund, more allong it, which is bad, it means the line you think your taking round the corner isn’t the same radius for your COG and the tyres, if you botttom out at the apex then your mass is doing a sort of squared off corner while the wheels percribe a nice arc. Generaly it’s bad as that means the wheels are most loaded latteraly (suspensions most compressed) just when you need some more grip (which is generated by the vertical load on the wheels). But with the suspension working almost parralel to the ground it’ can’t track over imperfections in the surface.

This is where the stiffness/flexibility comes in. You actualy want the headstock (headtube) and of the bike to flex sideways a bit to give it some movememnt at the wheel. Make the bike too stiff and the wheel won’t be able to move and will just lose grip.

In MTB’s it was suggested that this was one of the reasons why the Cannondale Prophet became a cult bike, despite being reviewed badly at first for the flexible rear end. That added flexibility probably contributed to it’s reputation for being stable in corners as much as the low BB and slack head angle did.

How much of your ride do you spend cranked over enough for that to make a difference? Berms don’t count cos angle between ground and tyre is not that low. MotoGP bikes are fast enough on smooth tracks with sticky tyres to be able to get that far over and for flex to matter, in not convinced anyone on a mountain bike, off-road, really ever is.

Now, flex that allow you to stay in ruts rather than ride up the edge, that’s another issue and not one is think related to wheel flex, more frame/fork. Interesting though.

MotoGP bikes are fast enough on smooth tracks

Not always as smooth as you’d think and there is an argument about needing some chassis flex to help. That is chassis rather than wheel flex though. Stiffer isn’t always better.

Love my LightBicycle wheels, no way in hell I’d pay Enve/Easton money

+1 Love mine

+1 for LB, have a set of 30mm AM’s (bought built, DTSwiss spokes, Hope Pro2 hubs = 1.61kg total) and they seem to handle the rock gardens of SE Asia well enough, cheap also.