Carbon braking surface

jimcameron

Hey guys,

I've found some non-brand 'no frills' carbon wheels on eBay which I'm pretty sure i will be getting. However they have carbon clincher braking surfaces.

Can someone tell me what the difference is between carbon braking surface and a typical aluminium clincher braking surface?

Which is better in your opinon? Does it depend on the weather?

Cheers
Jim

seagulljez

jim, you do get what you pay for..
there are some real nasty carbon wheels around that seem on the outset as a real bargain.
carbon clinchers with a carbon braking surface are a bit rare, i think planet x used to do them but stopped becuase of having problems.
anyhow, with a carbon wheel the braking isn't as good in the wet, and can be a bit grabby and noisey.
a aluminuim service for braking is more predictable and reliable in my opinion, and if you have the money, some zipps like 404's that are an excellent lightweight wheel, very blingy and you have the option of a aluminuim braking surface as well.

Monty Dog

Carbon clinchers IMO are pointless -often more expensive, often heavier and typically more fragile - a sudden deflation and the impact can break a rim. With any carbon rim the brake performance isn't as good as aluminium because of the material properties and difficulty of getting a dimensionally high tolerance with the manufacturing process. The problems with some aluminium-rimmed carbon clinchers is that under excessive braking the heat build up can cause the tyres to burst! There is a reason why most people still prefer tubs for carbon rims.

jimcameron

i though tubs were carbon rimmed hence the lack of aluminium clincher material around the circumference. i'm probably wrong though.
this is the pair that i've spotted, seller also builds 80mm and 38mm rimmed wheels

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

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Crimmey

Tubs generally are used with carbon rims due to performance, higher pressure tolerances, cost ,relative ease of manufacture and the 'lip' needed for a carbon clincher is more fragile as previously said. I have some carbon clinchers (xxx lite) and use el cheapo brake pads (from bikefridge ebay), don't find the more expensive ones much better. The trick is not to use your brakes The pads wear extremely quickly hence the cheap pads, stopping power is terrible using DA7800 callipers ( know the road and think in advance, also do not tail gate cars). They seem to perform better in the wet. Ive had some bad experiences with alu rims in the wet. I find im always checking and cleaning the pads for road contamination as it can damage the rim. These are my everyday training wheel which are a pain in the arse with the amount of attention they need but absolutely love them. They do take some getting used to if you haven't used them before but the technique becomes 2nd nature after a few rides. The first time I ever used carbon rims I wore the pads down over 50%, its not a problem now knowing how to use the brakes.

BTW I was thinking of getting the same wheels from the same place before spring so let me know how you get on if you do get them.There is another set I am getting first though! Im a bit of a wheel freak Don't be put off by the no name branding, they are just like frames where most come out of asia and are of good quality usually.Just pray the wheel builder is up to scratch. Another place I was looking at is http://www.fuertebici.com/shop/wheels.html a little cheaper with choice of hub colour I guess thats the only real problem with these cheap carbon wheels, the hubs which will come from asia too but Im sure they will last a couple of seasons and they are easily changed/bearings replaced. I'm used to very good hubs so don't know how these compare.

jimcameron

hi Crimmey,

Thats amazing i just went to the same set of wheels on the fuerte bici website (50mm carbon clinchers) and the decription is eacatly word for word the same as the ebay ad. Cheers for the link

Jim