Carbon wheels for descending?
Comments
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Same answer, in some ways - use a good pad, and have good technique, and you'll be fine. My carbon rims are all relatively old school tech (Vision TC24, DTSwiss RR, Enve 45, Zipp pre-FC) and all of them are perfectly usable in the wet. But...you have to have good anticipation. Initial braking force is pretty poor, until the pads have cleared the water on the rim, and they can be grabby. Riding with people you know, on roads with good sight-lines and little traffic - fine. Any situation that might need sudden braking - not so fine. I did the biblically wet RLS100 last year on the DTSwiss (with Black Prince pads) and survived, but there were some hairy moments when people with discs or good alloy rims slammed their anchors on in front of me for no visible reason. Sustained braking in the wet is not the issue - once the rim has dried, the heat is your friend (in fact, it's somewhat opposite to the right technique for carbon clinchers in the dry - you need to ride the brakes a bit to get them warmed and dry before really trying to slow for the corner). I should add that all my wheels are tubulars; I've no experience of riding big cols on clinchers.Would that commentary be equally valid in the wet? Black Prince are next on my shopping list, but I'd be hard to convince carbon works on long wet descents. Interested to hear if you found them ok in those conditions.
Peter0 -
I got down Monte Grappa on a pair of Miche SWR RC carbon clinchers. There's a fair few hairpins on the particular descent I went down.
If you choose some premium quality carbon clinchers, fit some Swiss Stop Black Prince pads and have good technique then you'll be fine.
Braking quality and durability has come a long way. Miche spent years developing their rim to withstand hard braking
Would that commentary be equally valid in the wet? Black Prince are next on my shopping list, but I'd be hard to convince carbon works on long wet descents. Interested to hear if you found them ok in those conditions.
Peter
I haven't ridden a big descent in the wet with these wheels. However has as been mentioned,in the wet the black prince have to clear the water, and then they bite really well, not much difference to dry performance. Just bear this in mind, brake earlier and softer.
One word of warning though. Black Prince wear down bloody quickly! But well worth the cost.0 -
For the past 2 years, our club has organised a week-long trip to the Alps - 20 or so riders. Against advice, about 5 bikes on each trip have come with carbon wheels. On both trips, someone has destroyed one or both wheels whilst descending - one Enve and a pair of Zipps. No one came off and the wheels were replaced under warranty but IMHO 20% failure rate isn't very good.0
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carbon wheels just equal death, be it descending or rain.
*This may be scare mongering and without factual basis*
you forget appalling braking technique. but actually you are right.0
