My Recommendations & Opinions on Carbon Wheels

Thinking of upgrading your wheels? You should be, because it will make the single biggest difference to your road bike. In this video I share my buying advice for wheels ranging from £350 to over £3000.

We discuss wheels from big reatailers
VEL+ from Sigma Sports
Prime from Wiggle and Chain Reaction Cycles
Merlin from Merlin Cycles

we discuss the eastern brands like Winpace, Superteam, Farsports, etc and the western alternatives like HUNT ands Scribe

We also talk about the mainstream brands like FFWD, ZIPP, and show the difference between the budget range like the FFWD Tyro compared to the FFWD Ryot.

We discuss getting your wheels made by your local bike shop or by somewhere like @RyanBuildsWheels

Finally we give some input about navigating the minefield of extremely premium wheels and making sure you know exactly what it is you want or need from your wheels. Discussing brands like Enve, Lightweight and Mavic.

[seryozhasteve]

I’m really enjoying this straight talking channel which I discovered recently. I’m getting back into cycling after a 3 year break to manage my osteoarthritis and a few ops and I’m now looking to replace my 12 year old Bianchi road racer. Getting a mechanical view of what is and what isn’t up to snuff is really helping, (and slowing) the decision making process. Keep up the great work!

[n.eilo_rides]

Swapped out a pair of Tokyo wheels at 50/60mm for a pair of Winspace Hyper 38s. Save 400g on the pair, added in so much more stiffnes and acceleration. 2 years in they are super reliable and easy to service. Those were factory direct, we now have an Australian agent who i recently purchased a set of Lun Grevil wheels for my gravel bike. Good communication and quick delivery. Couldn't recommend them any higher.

[Paddystyx]

Before I knew about your channel I bought a wheel set from Parcours. I seen an interview with Dov, the owner and I was very impressed. I wanted to order the Ronde (35/39) but as the wheels were going on my front wheel drive recumbent bike I needed the front wheel (35) as my drive wheel and my back wheel (39) non drive wheel. I contacted Parcours and I got excellent service from Dov. The recumbent bike manufacturer was recommending a 28 spoke minimum but Dov assured me his wheels at 24 spoke were fine. The wheels were also Hookless and I had no problem getting my local bike shop to fit tyres etc. I can honestly say excellence wheels.
After getting to know your channel, which I love and seen one of you videos on Fast Forward and if I’m right you had said that they actually manufacture their own wheels in Holland (I think) so anyhow I contacted them and I ask the question and like most companies I got a politicians answer so that slightly put me off.
Moving on to the last few weeks and days I have got a new LOOK 765 (2022 model) but was using alloy wheels for the first month while waiting to sell my Basso. The bike bike shop offered me a trade in on a new set of wheels but my choices were only with companies they dealt with so I opted with Corima Essential 40 All-road Hookless. I went for Corima because they actually do manufacture their wheels in France. I’ve only ridden them twice, last Thursday and today. The verdict is still out but I can highly recommend my Parcours Wheels and I thinks if I was to go again I’d just go for the Parcours.
Thank you as always for your great content.

[GCPerformance]

1000 percent on the hookless, I have had so many giant owning customer come into my store with 100psi without them knowing they have a hookless wheel. It’s crazy. And I don’t blame the consumer, it’s the staff that’s selling it. It needs to be made known to the consumer and they should be educated on what to do with there wheels

[shepshape]

I have a 38mm set of SuperTeam carbon wheels that I bought 5 years ago off of Amazon. They were on sale for $275, down slightly from their normal price of $325. You can still buy a set of their wheels for around $300-$400. 5 years and many thousands of miles later and they still look great, are still extremely true, and I would buy another pair if these ever break/fail/whatever. There is absolutely no reason to spend over $1, 000 on a pair of wheels unless you are getting paid to race on them, and even then, I just can't see it making that big of a difference. RIding a bike comes down to 15% equipment and 85% the motor. You can't buy speed. You'd be better off buying the wheels I have and just learning to be in a more aero position on the bike. It's free and will save you way more time and watts than any set of wheels ever will.

[paulstuart]

Many of the risks associated with wheels upto the £1000 mark are negated when you can build and maintain them yourself. I bought a couple of sets of Light Bicycle aero rims based on PT's build and they're very good. Using DT hubs and cx-ray spokes.

[jevgeniardassov]

Purchased Elite gravel G35 wheels. My points were, they are 35 mm high, so not very affected by crosswinds, I live ashore, it is mostly very windy here. I wanted them to bare at least 110kg, system weight and those had 120 kg, bikepacking plus I myself am a 85 kg rider. Weigh is 1450 grams a pair, did not want carbon spokes, parts are hard to get since I live at the end of the world, sapim race CX bladed spokes, brass nipples. Wheels use off the shelf bearings as well. And the price was 700.- euros, so I went for it. Yes, they are not the widest, fastest, lightest or the stiffest but they fit my budget and I basically did not have to compromise on anything. Not overexpensive, sturdy and easy to repair (Sapim spokes, catalogue bearings, brass nipples) rated to 120 kg… Not a pain in the a*** in crosswinds, which is 99% of the time where I live…

[markmccann-wood]

Regards rim brakes...
15+ yr old Campagnolo Neutron Ultras absolutely bomb proof, never adjusted them once, still on original bearings & freehub - well over 15k mls.

Hunt 38mm, 2nd set of rear bearings & freehub. Replaced under warranty but took ages. Good braking service - wouldn't buy another set based on reliability.

60mm Yoeleo DT Swiss hubs/sapian spokes. Absolutely brilliant! About 5yrs old, no adjustments required at all. Super smooth, very comfortable with a wide rim. Stable in cross winds & light enough to climb in the Dolomites with (over 4k accent in a day) highly recommend

[athleteservice_henley]

Great minds think alike! FFWD Ryot 33/44/55 are our go-to wheel for value for performance with DT Hubs. And more often now on Time frames too! I (as a bike shop owner and can choose nearly anything) ride a Time ADHX with FFFWD Ryot 55/DT240 hubs as road setup (28mm GP5000) setup is fast, comfortable, great handling and reliable (ride outside all year none of the indoor nonsense).

[Dali]

Enjoy you channel & great content. I’m also an owner of 2 year old Winspace Hyper 50 wheels. To date they have traveled approx 15 thousand tough Km & must say haven’t missed a beat. They still roll true & smooth. Highly recommended 👍

[quarkonium]

I would contest the assertion that Carbon Wheels should be the first upgrade you make to your bike, at least if you bought a lower-end bike. Apart from things that don't go on the bike itself like clothes or shoes, the first upgrade I would choose would be the saddle since low-end bikes are typically fitted with below-average saddles that won't usually suit the rider. They are often below $50 and I'd look to upgrade to something in the $100-$200 range unless the saddle works well for you immediately (unlikely). Next would be tires. Tires are cheap enough and bring such an improvement to speed (more so than most wheel upgrades) that in my opinion it's worth picking up something like a pair of GP5000s as long as you can afford them. Then I would start thinking about wheels

[RB-xvsi]

My Bora Ultra WTO 60s have been great. Very stiff, aero, and not too heavy given their depth. Their hub bearings are amazingly smooth. Like glass.

[Robutube]

This was excellent. I'm much more 'arts and crafts' than engineering savvy and so really appreciate this no nonsense, well explained guidance. Good job Paul!

[swites]

Bora's are one hell of a good wheel. Still remember being blown away by how good the braking was for a carbon rim brake wheel after borrowing them from a mate for a few days. So obviously lots spent on R&D to make a great wheelset.

[matsrekdal]

Had my 1170$ Winspace 2023 Hyper R33 set for almost a year now.

Light, super stiff, delivered with 3 spare carbon spokes and even with my 97 kg's, there was practically no tuning / adjustment needed when i had them serviced recently.

Very happy with them.

[danc]

I own a set of campy Bora wto rims and shamals (rim brake)

Agree with your comments excellent climbing wheels and the boras imo are some of the best looking wheels with the exposed carbon. The braking on them is FAR BETTER than any wheelset I've tried to date.

Only down side is cost.

The shamals like the boras also an excellent wheel and just as light which is very impressive for an alloy rim.

[raykleiner]

Really good video. I bought a new set of carbon MTB 29° wheels with DT Swiss hubs for Eur 1, 500 from local wheel builder. They are so sweet to ride, and are fully supported. You are spot on.

[shannonparker]

Just gold. Buying wheels is a minefield and the confusing marketing bs out there has overwhelmed me. Thankyou for putting the effort into this. This channel is excellent. Now, to see if ffwd support is as good in Australia as it is in the UK...

[nicknick]

I got some Mavic Cosmic SLR 45's at a very good price and initially I was disappointed with how even a 25mm tyre 'lightbulbed' and the bead but when I switch them between my other wheels including Zipp 303, the Mavic ride quality is far superior and make the bike feel much more agile. I've had no problems either. And no rim tape is required 💪

[saidabdul-rahman]

I received my ffwd Ryot44 wheels yesterday and I'm really impressed with them. I bought them eyes closed after watching this video. You're a star! I'm going to follow your advice on aluminium wheels to get a set for an old rim brake bike that I'm modernising a bit. It's a Trek 1000SL that sparked my journey in cycling.