The Best Carbon Fiber Bicycle Wheels

The main characteristic of carbon fiber bicycle wheels that has made it quite popular is its lightness and toughness. It is strong enough to be safe as well as effective in transferring power from rider to the road. Because carbon is light, you can make the rim deeper and more aerodynamic, to reduce wind resistance, while keeping the weight down.

Some less expensive wheels lay the carbon over aluminum skeletons while more expensive ones use full carbon rims with alloy spokes and hubs. High-end wheels have carbon rims and carbon hubs while very light carbon fiber bicycle wheels use full carbon constructions with very little alloys. Usually titanium alloys are also included in the components of high-quality carbons.

Carbon fiber bicycle wheels can be bought at bicycle shops, online bicycle retailers and triathlon outfitters. If you want less expensive ones, you could easily look for them online. Carbon fiber wheels need specialized tools and components and local bike shops usually have mechanics that could perform high-end lightweight component adjustment, installations and repairs.

Online prices of inexpensive carbon fiber bicycle wheels go for as low as $300 but feature heavier designs and mostly alloy components. Good quality wheel sets featuring carbon fiber rims and alloy components could go from $500 to $1,000 a set while mostly carbon fiber constructions and lightweight alloy bicycle wheel sets cost between $1,000 and $2,000.

Some of the finest and most expensive carbon fiber bicycle wheels are the following:

The Lew Racing's Pro VT-1 is the lightest wheels in the world at 850 grams. Its wheels seem very quick to spin up and any power applied to the pedals is immediately translated to the rear wheel. The downside though is because of its lightness it felt a little bit skittish on the road. Its price of $6,000 is also one drawback unless you are the rider who has a lot of money to burn.

The Mavic R-Sys is a carbon fiber bicycle wheel that uses tubular-carbon spokes to resist both tension and compression. These wheels are the best when climbing steep grades since they are very stiff and responsive and goes at a reasonable price of around $1,399. The problem with this set is its noticeably slower speed, around 3-4mph slower, when coming down due to its boxy rim and large tubular spokes.

The Reynolds DV46C is considered to have the best balance cost, weight, aerodynamics and stiffness among the three. It weighs at around 1,500grams and costs $2,249, around one-third of the Lew ProVT-1. It uses clincher tires, which are much easier to use and repair compared to tubular tires, and costs a fraction less. It is light enough to go uphill and slick enough to come down fast.

Although many cyclists want to use carbon fiber bicycle wheels for training and full-time riding its expensive tubes could make a dent to the pocket and its fragile carbon component is usually conserved for race use only.