Are you sure you know what makes a wheel a quality product or do you choose only based on the brand when buying a new pair of wheels?
Lightness, for example, isn't everything: performance is affected by several other components that are worth considering before choosing. If you're thinking about upgrading your racing bike, purchasing the best carbon wheels is probably the most important upgrade you can make.
But how do you navigate the various models and, above all, how do you avoid wasting your money?
In this article, we'll shed some light on how to choose the best carbon wheels for road bikes.
Lightness and performance of carbon wheels
When considering purchasing a set of carbon wheels for your road bike, you're generally looking for lightweight performance. However, you shouldn't be fooled into thinking only about weight: to find the best carbon wheel, it's important to understand how this factor affects the performance of your road bike.
It's commonly thought that the lighter a bike, the less effort a cyclist will need to make to complete the course. While the "one gram less is a second gained" theory is particularly important in time trial disciplines, you might not know that an excessively light wheel can flex more because it has a low profile and the fewest possible spokes.
It is therefore always advisable to find the right compromise between lightness and rigidity, to avoid having a wheel that does not satisfy you in terms of performance.
What kind of cyclist are you?
Every cyclist has different needs. To find the best carbon wheels for your road bike, the first thing we recommend is asking yourself what type of cyclist you are currently:
- If you're an amateur cyclist who rides 10,000 km a year without competing in races or GranFondos, you might not be willing to sacrifice comfort to shave a few grams, perhaps unnecessarily lightening your wallet.
- If your goal is competition , we recommend you continue reading this article.
Smoothness and stiffness: the importance of the hub in racing bike wheels
The hub is the technological heart of the wheel: this component directly influences the smoothness and handling of your bike. When looking for the best carbon wheels for road bikes, it's therefore essential to pay attention to its composition.
An entry-level or low-quality hub will result in a bike that's slow-rolling and unresponsive. If you're looking for a high-end wheelset, a hub made from Ergal 7050 is the right option. The excellent mechanical resistance of this material must be combined with the right bearings, which reduce friction during wheel movement. Ursus, for example, offers SKF bearings, which represent the highest quality available on the market today; you'll also find them in the TC37 and TC67 DISC .
TC37
TC67 DISC
How many spokes should a carbon road bike wheel have?
Another factor that affects the performance of carbon road bike wheels is the number of spokes used. The more spokes there are, the stiffer the wheel becomes and the heavier it becomes.
If your goal is the best weight-to-roll ratio, we recommend looking for a wheelset with 20 spokes at the front and 24 spokes at the rear.
Choosing a wheel with fewer spokes would certainly result in a lighter product, but it would be too flexible for racing and less reliable. If a single spoke breaks, you'd be forced to stop, ending your session prematurely.
Aesthetics and quality of carbon rims
Sometimes a cyclist might consider purchasing a set of carbon wheels to improve the aesthetics of their bike. Aesthetics are important to many cyclists, which is why the best brands of carbon road bike wheels offer two types of carbon: 3K and UD .
While the choice makes no difference from a technical standpoint, most cyclists today prefer the elegant UD rather than the characteristic 3K carbon weave.
The quality of a carbon rim actually lies in its composition. Proper fiber placement is essential to increasing the reliability and durability of the wheels.
Therefore, to avoid unpleasant surprises, it's crucial to opt for monocoque rims rather than those where small pieces of carbon are glued together. This is because the joints between one piece and another are more prone to breakage, especially in the nipple area.
There are also innovative rim construction techniques that can make them lighter and more resistant at the same time. This involves a type of bandage (called a Bending System) applied to the rim, allowing for even distribution of the weave across the entire surface of the carbon. Aesthetically, the only difference is noticeable on the braking surface, where the lines left by the carbon banding are visible.
Pay attention to the bead, too. Many inexpensive rims are made by overlapping and then cutting a series of carbon sheets. On a quality rim, the bead is finished by curving the sheets onto themselves. This makes it much more resistant to impact.
The third important point to take into consideration when talking about carbon rims concerns their profile , normally offered in different geometries.
While many people dream of medium or high profiles , which give the bike an aggressive look, there 's no single best choice. Different profiles correspond to different types of use. Obviously, choosing the best profile depends on the type of route or discipline you plan to tackle, and therefore can vary from person to person.
Conclusion
We've seen what features to keep in mind when looking for a new set of wheels for your bike. The best carbon wheels for road bikes are ultimately those that meet the requirements just listed, but the choice should always be made keeping in mind the type of use you intend to make of them and the type of route you'll be riding.
Ursus builds its wheels with these quality indicators in mind.
This is why our wheels are chosen every day by hundreds of professional cyclists all over the world.
