All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

Also need to shout out Dusty at Hubsessed. Super solid dude that makes a great wheelset. Was great to work with, and can smoke me on singletrack any day of the week...on a fatbike...towing his kid in a tagalong.

 

If I were to build a wheelset right now id be on the We Are One tip.

 

Because their marketing works well for you or?

Personally i'd be lookin at the Zipps.

 

No because I own two wheelsets with them already, and they also supply i9 with rims. We also work directly with them at the shop and they are good people, but go on.

 

I see so you're marketing for them. I've seen/heard good things, nearly got a set myself but my current wheels have been solid af and I got no excuses yet.

 

I’m not trying to rip on Enve as the wheels have been solid and they are made in the USA but understandable that they don’t fit everyone’s needs or budgets. Honestly wouldn’t have bought them but they came on the bike that I bought second hand.

lots of good options these days! If dont get them warrantied/replaced I’ll either go We Are One or Zipp.

 

Carbon wheels probably one of those things that never really needed to happen.. at least on MTB.. One of my best buddies builds those wheels so I know where some of that that $$$$ is goin..

 

I'm interested in a shootout competition with actual tests in controlled environments against the companies that build carbon hoops in house.
Similar to the test Pinkbike did with inserts.

Zipp, Enve, WA1, etc...

Does DT-Swiss build carbon hoops in house?

 

We should also have a shootout where all hoops are painted a uniform color/texture and riders have to guess which are carbon and which aren't. Yes there's pros/cons to both, but I'd wager the average rider couldn't tell the difference in most cases.

 

Obviously it's the logos...

 

Alright, I've had enough of pinkbike for now.
The French article is very eye opening on that the entire world is torn down the middle.

It's interesting seeing people in other countries responses though.

 

I have ridden a wide variety of wheels (carbon and aluminum). My thoughts:

1. Ride “feel” is more dependent on spoke count, spoke type, build quality, etc. Even that “feel” is minor comparable to things like tire pressure, suspension setup, etc.
2. Weights are very similar these days.
   
3. Carbon can be more impact resistant. (I even say this as the guy who kicked off this discussion with a damaged carbon rim).
4. Carbon wheels can be made with a hookless tire bead.
   
5. Carbon can be practically manufactured in house.
6. Carbon may require less maintenance like truing

I used to dent/bend (beyond repair) aluminum wheels about once per season. My second hand Enves lasted +2 years. I suppose you can argue that the cost/benefit isn’t there but it is for me because I don’t have to constantly rebuild wheels or hammer dents on the trail. Each his own though.

 

Yeah man I had a similar realization with Jalopnik. I realize it's always been a bit left-leaning but the article below was the final straw. Why can't we just have fact-based journalism without the biases?

https://jalopnik.com/thousands-of-stolen-packages-and-empty-boxes-littering-1848359318

(For clarity; I think the Pinkbike writers do a solid job at being unbiased but the comment section get's a little crazy for me)

 

Other there's def benefits for certain riders (yourself included). But those are the riders that can also tell you the differences between them. We all know there's a large market for the "carbon wheels to say they have carbon wheels" demographic was sorta my point.

 

How everyone wrongly feels..... Anyways

 

Oh 100% agree, lots of people riding carbon wheels when they actually might be better off riding aluminum.

 

I'd say biggest advantage of carbon wheels are maintaining spoke tension longer.
As someone who prefers to ride over wrench the longer service intervals I can have the better off I am.

Plus these professional wheel builder shops have spoke tension tools that cost as much as a wheelset, most local bike shops can't front that.

 

Speaking of hoops, I did not realize the Berd wheels we're $1900 for a set. i9 hubs and 1490g for a 29er "trail/enduro" version.

Side note: Got my i9 Enduro S Hydras for sale (157 Superboost and XD driver).

https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/3244913/

 

In the words of @ginseng27:

 

Prime time in Phoenix!