Enduro carbon wheelset….worth it?

Hi All. Just throwing around some thoughts in my head about whether to get a carbon wheelset for my Enduro when the current ones give up the ghost. I wouldn’t want to spend top whack so would it make them a lot lighter than the current ones or would it just be a bit of pointless bling? If anyone fancies recommending some to look at that’d be great.

I got a set of DT Swiss 1500 carbons for my Occam to lighten it up a bit. I don’t do enduro as such, but love a techie, rocky mountain descent.

I was amazed just how much better the alloy wheels were than the carbon. So much more compliant and easy to ride difficult stuff on. Rocky gnadgery was sooo much easier.

The main factor was, of course, the fact that I ran lighter weaker tyres on the carbon, and probably correspondingly higher pressures,  but even allowing for that the alloys were miles better

PS, if you do go carbon then bear in mind that the DTSwiss warranty is worthless. They rejected mine as I had clearly ” hit a rock”

Nah, stick with aluminium.

What rims you got now? DT Swiss top alu rims might be a nice upgrade if you have OE wheels?

A reasonable pair of carbon wheels for enduro will weigh about 1.8 kg. Without knowing what the wheels on your bike weigh, or we’re the weight is, it’s difficult to say

the best thing to do would be to remove the tyres, rotors and cassette and weigh your wheels. Once you know what the weight difference would be then look at some options in aluminum and carbon.

look at warranties and read reviews. Some carbon wheels are very harsh, some are very flexible.

I’m in the same boat and could save 700g with DT XMC 1200s (and lots of pounds of money…). People seem to either praise or criticise carbon wheels, both for the same reason! We’re constantly after stuff like forks that are stiffer so why suddenly so we not want that with wheels??
Since our entire bike has suspension to flex and cope with the terrain I find it confusing that you wouldn’t want a light strong stiff wheel?

Even with suspension a stiff in the wrong direction wheel will still be noticeable. Aluminum or carbon. the ride could be harsher or the wheel may not track as well knocking the bike off line.

personally, I like carbon wheels. The only carbon on my bike is in the wheels.

We’re constantly after stuff like forks that are stiffer so why suddenly so we not want that with wheels??

Since our entire bike has suspension to flex and cope with the terrain I find it confusing that you wouldn’t want a light strong stiff wheel?

Try some and find out

I’ve had a pair of Zipp 3Zero Moto wheels for 6 years now and they’ve been excellent. They do weigh about 2kg though, but are incredibly compliant. The rear can feel a little flexy when pushing hard in berms but that’s why they’re so comfy.

My only gripe would be the almost comedically small bearings in the front wheel. They need replaced every year.

I’ma  fan of carbon wheels, and personally really like the ‘stiffer’ aspect people talk about. I’ve got front adn rear squishy fox bits to help wiht the compliance..
I like the directness of the carbon. Plus, they ARE lighter and feel ‘better’..

I’ve got Reserve 30s on my enduro bike, and Hunt proven on the XC bike.

And yes, i’ve broken both, but have had good warranty repair*

DrP

* – in fairness of the Reserve – a huge LOOSE rock strike damaged the inside of the rim..akin to puncturing it. So it didn’t ‘fail’ in ridiing per-se..

andylcFree

We’re constantly after stuff like forks that are stiffer so why suddenly so we not want that with wheels??

You want a stiff fork, because flexy forks bend, and bendy forks bind, meaning less compliant (plus) forks, causing a harsh ride

Stiff wheels can be a good thing, equally overtly stiff wheels can cause a harsh ride

Yeah you want the goldilocks stiffness in rims.

That’s the EX471 for me, with ex511 being perhaps a touch too stiff.

Rode some WTB carbon rims with a bit of a profile to them (not deep section but deeper than usual) and they were horrific. Felt like a pinball over roots and rocks.

I picked up some cheap carbon wheels years ago, could instantly notice the direct feel or lack of flex, felt like was on tracks when corning instead of an understeer feeling.

Recently had something go into the rear wheel and rip out the nipple meaing the rims shot, I have had something similiar happen to an alloy stans rim before. From speaking to the local shop have laced up a Ex511, apparently lighter and stiffer, I haven’t noticed anything initially from a few rides, so maybe the shop was right!

Right – so it’s good or bad, depending whether you like it. Makes perfect sense!

Sounds like they’re getting a bit of a thumbs down so that might save me a few quid. Current wheels are Roval on an Enduro. Don’t have a clue what they weigh.

Big thumbs down from experience for me… Not saying there aren’t decent carbon Enduro wheels on the market, but the only ones worth buying are crazy money, and still don’t offer much of a benefit over the best alloy rims these days…

For XC where weight is everything and strength not so important, then yeah go Carbon… For road…? Well if you want a rim deeper than about 30mm then anything alloy is going to be overly heavy, so carbon’s strength to weight ratio and its stiffness is arguably very desirable there…

But for Enduro… Unless you can afford to buy (and to crash) the likes of Zipp 3Zero moto’s or Crank Brothers’ Synthesis wheels (both of which in carbon are barely any lighter than a set of EX471’s built on decent hubs), then they totally aren’t worth it… In the carpark and on the smooth trail centres cheaper carbon wheels might feel impressive being stiffer and “more responsive”, but get them on the typical techy Enduro trails we all love to ride these days, and those qualities (much like a freehub with too much engagement) will prove detrimental rather than adding to the experience IMO.

Ok I’m gonna bite. What the flip is too much engagement?? Can’t say I’ve ever worried about higher engagement rates but I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of the idea that you can have too much??

I’ve been a fan of cheap carbon for a long time, I think I have 6 years on the front and 3 or 4 on the rear of my current set (broke a rear and got a crash replacemnent discount from Lightbicycle- was happy enough when it broke, it’d had a decent life and been hit a lot) They’re not for me noticably different from my 511s in terms of stiffness or any of that, it’s only the weight difference that I really feel in any way when riding and I like that very much.

But, if I was doing it today I’m pretty sure I’d just go with DT alu rims. Basically when I first started doing carbon, alu was a long way behind but these days that gap’s closed a lot. Not completely- I would absolutely rather have my carbon wheelset, day to day, if cost were equal. But close enough.

I can’t speak for more expensive ones, can’t afford ’em 😉 Wheels are always in the firing line, I just don’t want to sink that sort of money into something that sooner or later is definitely getting smashed off a rock. I’ve never had a problem with delicacy- I’ve ruined more alu rims than carbon- but cost for sure I have a problem with.