Carbon Wheels vs Aluminum Wheels: Questions & Answers

Aluminum rimmed Velocity wheel set.

Note: From time to time I get a comment from a reader that deserves to be answered in the format of a post here on the site. One reason being that the answer- or in this case answers- would take too much space up for a comment in the comments section. Secondly, the answer (s) may be of great use to a wider audience, and such answers would not be noted if they are buried in a comment section which many readers would not see. Finally, these sorts of topics are often searched on the internet and again- you won't come across my thoughts if they are buried in a comments section. So, today I attempt to answer the questions a reader asked.  

So, here we go. These are a couple of great questions that I will attempt to answer. Keep in mind that the answers may be different depending upon who you are, what your expectations are, and how you ride. While it is true that no one needs carbon wheels, we are not going to be taking that sort of an approach to logic today, because if we did, we'd all be riding fixed gear bikes with wooden wheels and solid rubber tires yet. Or you know.......walking. Anyway.... 

Question: Why do some folks think that they need carbon fiber rimmed wheels? 

Answer: Well, first of all, you have to be aware. By that I mean a couple of things. One- You need to understand why stiffer wheels in a lateral sense are a good thing. You have to understand why weight matters. You also may need to have ridden some carbon rimmed wheels to get the point driven home. Unless you care about those things, and have considered those things desirable in wheels for your bicycle, carbon fiber rimmed wheels are something of a joke. I mean, why spend more money than my entire bicycle costs? I was one of these people at one time. Spending hundreds of dollars on one rim? Are you joking? 

So, let's assume you were like that, like I was in my thinking about carbon fiber rimmed wheels, okay? What changed my mind? Well, a few things. One- I spoke with a rim manufacturer representative face to face at Sea Otter one year. His company was just coming out with carbon fiber rims for mountain biking. People were scoffing and laughing at this company for even thinking people would consider spending over 1500 for a pair of rims. The company man told me some things that made me think though. One story was that they had taken bare rims, held them above their heads, and smacked them on rocks as hard as they could to see if they could chip them. Beyond some cosmetic scratches, the rims were, seemingly, unbreakable. 

Aluminum rimmed wheels, like this Shimano GRX, represent fantastic value.

This made me pause. An aluminum rim would be destroyed by such an act. But I retorted that the price to get into their rims was still pretty ridiculous. He responded by saying that the wheels built with their rims were expected to last over a decade with daily usage. Hmm......pretty impressive. 

But still, I had built aluminum rims into wheels that had lasted over a decade with constant usage. Maybe not in mountain biking, but certainly as road and daily-driver wheels. And yes, I've actually worn through a rim side wall from braking all those years. So I get that part. But those wheels cost what? Maybe $500.00 back in the day? How many aluminum rimmed wheel sets could I get for 1500-2000 bucks? More than two, maybe three or four? Yeah..... 

So from a cost vs value standpoint, I needed more than some stories from a company man. Well, I actually got that 'more' when I was able to review a set of these rims for my old gig at Twentynineinches.com. I even was able to build these wheel myself. The lateral stiffness was off the charts compared to anything I'd ridden before. Why does that matter? Again- you have to consider these traits important to you and your riding style. For me, it was a game changer. The light weight at that sort of stiffness? You'd have to build an aluminum rimmed wheel with a much stouter- and heavier - rim to get this sort of performance. Hmm...... My mind was changing. 

Oh, and a quick aside on that particular carbon wheel set: I ran them for close to ten years, sold them, and they still are in active duty with no major issues that I am aware of. I never trued them. Not once after being built up. Try that with an aluminum rimmed wheel set that weighs 1400 grams or thereabouts.  

Now, was I ready to accept carbon fiber rim pricing? Not yet, no. I was still on the aluminum value bandwagon. Then came all this gravel road riding stuff. Time went on, things got far more competitive in the carbon rimmed wheel marketplace. I became privileged through my gig with RidingGravel.com to get my mitts on many different wheels. Some carbon rimmed, some not. And here is where I am at today with the value proposition. The next question takes us there......

Question: Help me understand how carbon is 10 times better than aluminum. 

Answer: This, for me, came down to noticing how much less energy it took to ride a carbon rimmed wheel set. And not because the wheels were lighter, although that is probably where our minds first go when we think about this. No, it was something else and had I not been riding on crushed rock roads, I doubt I'd have ever noted this, and I'd still be on the aluminum rimmed bandwagon. But I did note this and now I am definitely onboard with spending the money it will take to have my own carbon rimmed wheel set for gravel. Why? 

Probably the best money that you'll ever spend on a fat bike is for carbon wheels.

I rode a wheel set this past Summer for review and A/B tested it with a couple of different wheel sets. The aluminum rimmed wheel set, a Shimano GRX wheel set, is really a great value for the dollar. What are they? Sub $500.00 for the pair almost anywhere? Far less for a complete wheel set than any carbon rimmed wheel set, for sure. I rode those wheels, stopped to switch out wheels, then got on a set of FLO Cycling G700 wheels.  The difference in lateral stability was astounding. This 'wobbling' of the aluminum rimmed GRX wheels was causing me to have to expend a LOT more effort into handling the bike as I rode down the gravel road. The G700's were a cakewalk to ride in comparison. I have since noted a level of this with other carbon rimmed wheels as well. THAT makes it worth while to me. If I can ride a wheel set that makes riding gravel easier and with better handling? Sign me up. But there is another place where carbon rims really smacked my sensibilities upside the head. 

Fat bikes. Oh my! There is no comparison to having a tubeless carbon fat bike wheel to any aluminum wheel for a fat bike. The differences are so huge that any comparison is laughable. And by the way, I was one of the biggest critics of this idea several years ago. Take everything about why I would go carbon on a gravel bike for wheels and amplify that 10 times for a fat bike. The size and weight of this sort of wheel magnifies the good qualities a carbon fiber rim can bring to a level that, I'm pretty sure, even the biggest anti-carbon rim curmudgeon would have to agree is worth the bucks. It's so much easier to ride, and the lateral stiffness is awesome. 

Finally, it can't go without saying that carbon rim prices, and more specifically, carbon rimmed complete wheel sets, have dropped in price dramatically over the last 15 years. That FLO Cycling wheel set is well under 2G and I have seen some carbon rimmed wheel sets coming in under 1500 these days. Used to be that was the price of a pair of rims. So, value is getting better.

Conclusion: Is this the end of aluminum rims? Of course not! Aluminum will always have a place in my stable for rims and I will always have a set or nine(!) alongside the carbon rimmed sets. Aluminum is just too good of a value to ignore, and with careful choices and build up, you can approach the characteristics of a carbon wheel set for WAY less money. Plus, if you tend to crash out wheels a lot, maybe carbon is a bad idea then. Let's say you have a commuter bike, or you just don't ride a lot. Okay, carbon rims are definitely a stupid idea. Same if you don't care about weight, stiffness, or handling at the cutting edge. (At all or for a particular bike's use) If you are fine with your aluminum wheels, I get it. Like I say, I am a fan as well. It's just that for certain situations, I'd much rather be on a carbon rimmed wheel set. And as they say: Your mileage may vary.

Carbon Wheels vs Aluminum Wheels: Questions & Answers

Aluminum rimmed Velocity wheel set.

Note: From time to time I get a comment from a reader that deserves to be answered in the format of a post here on the site. One reason being that the answer- or in this case answers- would take too much space up for a comment in the comments section. Secondly, the answer (s) may be of great use to a wider audience, and such answers would not be noted if they are buried in a comment section which many readers would not see. Finally, these sorts of topics are often searched on the internet and again- you won't come across my thoughts if they are buried in a comments section. So, today I attempt to answer the questions a reader asked.  

So, here we go. These are a couple of great questions that I will attempt to answer. Keep in mind that the answers may be different depending upon who you are, what your expectations are, and how you ride. While it is true that no one needs carbon wheels, we are not going to be taking that sort of an approach to logic today, because if we did, we'd all be riding fixed gear bikes with wooden wheels and solid rubber tires yet. Or you know.......walking. Anyway.... 

Question: Why do some folks think that they need carbon fiber rimmed wheels? 

Answer: Well, first of all, you have to be aware. By that I mean a couple of things. One- You need to understand why stiffer wheels in a lateral sense are a good thing. You have to understand why weight matters. You also may need to have ridden some carbon rimmed wheels to get the point driven home. Unless you care about those things, and have considered those things desirable in wheels for your bicycle, carbon fiber rimmed wheels are something of a joke. I mean, why spend more money than my entire bicycle costs? I was one of these people at one time. Spending hundreds of dollars on one rim? Are you joking? 

So, let's assume you were like that, like I was in my thinking about carbon fiber rimmed wheels, okay? What changed my mind? Well, a few things. One- I spoke with a rim manufacturer representative face to face at Sea Otter one year. His company was just coming out with carbon fiber rims for mountain biking. People were scoffing and laughing at this company for even thinking people would consider spending over 1500 for a pair of rims. The company man told me some things that made me think though. One story was that they had taken bare rims, held them above their heads, and smacked them on rocks as hard as they could to see if they could chip them. Beyond some cosmetic scratches, the rims were, seemingly, unbreakable. 

Aluminum rimmed wheels, like this Shimano GRX, represent fantastic value.

This made me pause. An aluminum rim would be destroyed by such an act. But I retorted that the price to get into their rims was still pretty ridiculous. He responded by saying that the wheels built with their rims were expected to last over a decade with daily usage. Hmm......pretty impressive. 

But still, I had built aluminum rims into wheels that had lasted over a decade with constant usage. Maybe not in mountain biking, but certainly as road and daily-driver wheels. And yes, I've actually worn through a rim side wall from braking all those years. So I get that part. But those wheels cost what? Maybe $500.00 back in the day? How many aluminum rimmed wheel sets could I get for 1500-2000 bucks? More than two, maybe three or four? Yeah..... 

So from a cost vs value standpoint, I needed more than some stories from a company man. Well, I actually got that 'more' when I was able to review a set of these rims for my old gig at Twentynineinches.com. I even was able to build these wheel myself. The lateral stiffness was off the charts compared to anything I'd ridden before. Why does that matter? Again- you have to consider these traits important to you and your riding style. For me, it was a game changer. The light weight at that sort of stiffness? You'd have to build an aluminum rimmed wheel with a much stouter- and heavier - rim to get this sort of performance. Hmm...... My mind was changing. 

Oh, and a quick aside on that particular carbon wheel set: I ran them for close to ten years, sold them, and they still are in active duty with no major issues that I am aware of. I never trued them. Not once after being built up. Try that with an aluminum rimmed wheel set that weighs 1400 grams or thereabouts.  

Now, was I ready to accept carbon fiber rim pricing? Not yet, no. I was still on the aluminum value bandwagon. Then came all this gravel road riding stuff. Time went on, things got far more competitive in the carbon rimmed wheel marketplace. I became privileged through my gig with RidingGravel.com to get my mitts on many different wheels. Some carbon rimmed, some not. And here is where I am at today with the value proposition. The next question takes us there......

Question: Help me understand how carbon is 10 times better than aluminum. 

Answer: This, for me, came down to noticing how much less energy it took to ride a carbon rimmed wheel set. And not because the wheels were lighter, although that is probably where our minds first go when we think about this. No, it was something else and had I not been riding on crushed rock roads, I doubt I'd have ever noted this, and I'd still be on the aluminum rimmed bandwagon. But I did note this and now I am definitely onboard with spending the money it will take to have my own carbon rimmed wheel set for gravel. Why? 

Probably the best money that you'll ever spend on a fat bike is for carbon wheels.

I rode a wheel set this past Summer for review and A/B tested it with a couple of different wheel sets. The aluminum rimmed wheel set, a Shimano GRX wheel set, is really a great value for the dollar. What are they? Sub $500.00 for the pair almost anywhere? Far less for a complete wheel set than any carbon rimmed wheel set, for sure. I rode those wheels, stopped to switch out wheels, then got on a set of FLO Cycling G700 wheels.  The difference in lateral stability was astounding. This 'wobbling' of the aluminum rimmed GRX wheels was causing me to have to expend a LOT more effort into handling the bike as I rode down the gravel road. The G700's were a cakewalk to ride in comparison. I have since noted a level of this with other carbon rimmed wheels as well. THAT makes it worth while to me. If I can ride a wheel set that makes riding gravel easier and with better handling? Sign me up. But there is another place where carbon rims really smacked my sensibilities upside the head. 

Fat bikes. Oh my! There is no comparison to having a tubeless carbon fat bike wheel to any aluminum wheel for a fat bike. The differences are so huge that any comparison is laughable. And by the way, I was one of the biggest critics of this idea several years ago. Take everything about why I would go carbon on a gravel bike for wheels and amplify that 10 times for a fat bike. The size and weight of this sort of wheel magnifies the good qualities a carbon fiber rim can bring to a level that, I'm pretty sure, even the biggest anti-carbon rim curmudgeon would have to agree is worth the bucks. It's so much easier to ride, and the lateral stiffness is awesome. 

Finally, it can't go without saying that carbon rim prices, and more specifically, carbon rimmed complete wheel sets, have dropped in price dramatically over the last 15 years. That FLO Cycling wheel set is well under 2G and I have seen some carbon rimmed wheel sets coming in under 1500 these days. Used to be that was the price of a pair of rims. So, value is getting better.

Conclusion: Is this the end of aluminum rims? Of course not! Aluminum will always have a place in my stable for rims and I will always have a set or nine(!) alongside the carbon rimmed sets. Aluminum is just too good of a value to ignore, and with careful choices and build up, you can approach the characteristics of a carbon wheel set for WAY less money. Plus, if you tend to crash out wheels a lot, maybe carbon is a bad idea then. Let's say you have a commuter bike, or you just don't ride a lot. Okay, carbon rims are definitely a stupid idea. Same if you don't care about weight, stiffness, or handling at the cutting edge. (At all or for a particular bike's use) If you are fine with your aluminum wheels, I get it. Like I say, I am a fan as well. It's just that for certain situations, I'd much rather be on a carbon rimmed wheel set. And as they say: Your mileage may vary.

When More Is Too Much

Are inner rim widths getting out of hand?

 Wheels are an interesting subject. We've been doing a lot with regard to wheels on RidingGravel.com this year which has prompted me to take a closer look at trends for 'gravel' wheels and I have noticed something that concerns me. Are we getting to the point where our wheels have unnecessarily wide internal rim widths? My opinion is that the answer to that question is 'yes', and here is why........

Ten to twelve years ago, a decently wide trail bike rim for a 700c based mountain bike was about 28mm-30mm overall width. Note- we didn't ever think about rims in terms of inner rim width. That came about when carbon rims had to have wider rim bead/wall dimensions to withstand the beating the rims might undergo in use on mountain bikes. That made outer rim dimensions meaningless. So, we flipped to talking about inner rim dimensions. So, back in the day, how wide internally were those old trail rims? That is what we need to look at first. Here are some actual measurements of some older popular trail and XC 29"er rims.

• Bontrager Race Lite wheels- 18.5mm
• Bontrager Rhythm Wheels - 21mm
• Stans Flow rims - 21.5mm

Are you surprised? I was. These old mountain bike rim designs would be shot down in a heartbeat on a forum dedicated to gravel wheels. For further context, keep in mind that any good suspended trail 29'er back then was running Stans Flow rims. "Wide" mountain bike rims were maybe 30-35mm in overall dimensions back then, which in aluminum would have yielded an inner width of about 26mm-30mm maximum. 

Also keep in mind that things in the MTB world haven't changed all that much. Look up any decent XC hard tail and check the rim spec. 23mm or so internal rim widths are common, and for a full on trail bike? You are looking at around 30mm internal rim widths. Okay? What about current trends in gravel wheels?

This is interesting to note. Four years ago, I did a wheel build as a project for RidingGravel.com called "Project Wide Gravel Wheels", and for those wheels I used, what I thought of as then being, a ridiculously wide inner rim width of 25mm. Now given all of the above information, you might see why I was thinking that way. In 2016, a twenty-five millimeter inner rim width for gravel was unheard of. 

Project Wide Gravel Wheels used a 25mm inner rim width.

Since then, inner rim widths for 'gravel' category bikes has been creeping upward. 24mm is probably average now with some (FLO Cycling G700, which I recently tested) being 25mm and now we're seeing 26mm inner rim width being pushed as a 'gravel' wheel idea. Granted, materials technology advancements have allowed this to occur without the negatives of weight being an issue, but things are beginning to get out of hand, in my opinion. 

First off, when do we start calling these wheels mountain bike wheels? I'd say we're pretty much at that point. The Boyd wheels linked here are even marketed as 29" XC rated wheels. And then you've got to wonder how tires are being affected at some point. Width ratios are getting a bit out of whack when you look at the differentials between tire overall width vs. inner rim width. Consider that the Bontrager Kovee Comp rims, with an inner width of almost 23mm, has a 2.4" maximum tire width rating. Think about that for a minute in comparison to average widths of tires for gravel uses. 

But let's say the Kovee Comp is on the anemic side for XC use. Okay, maybe what? Go to 28mm inner rim width? 30mm? That's still only 3-5mm wider than where we are with current average gravel wheels which are using tires much smaller than an XC MTB will be using. 

Look, I'm not against experimentation and I happen to think about 24mm inner rim width is about 'right' for a gravel tire in the 38mm-45mm width range. I think 22mm is okay for a racing wheel, for sure, where lighter weight and all is paramount. But when we are talking 26mm inner rim widths? Hmm..... Do we really need that, and I have serious doubts that our tires are going to work correctly over that wide a rim if we are talking the sweet spot for gravel travel, which in my mind is still 42-45mm wide. But if you are in the 38mm-40mm tire crowd, that 26mm inner rim width or wider? Uh.....no. I think you've gone past the point of 'good' and your returns are diminished. But maybe that's just me......

When More Is Too Much

Are inner rim widths getting out of hand?

 Wheels are an interesting subject. We've been doing a lot with regard to wheels on RidingGravel.com this year which has prompted me to take a closer look at trends for 'gravel' wheels and I have noticed something that concerns me. Are we getting to the point where our wheels have unnecessarily wide internal rim widths? My opinion is that the answer to that question is 'yes', and here is why........

Ten to twelve years ago, a decently wide trail bike rim for a 700c based mountain bike was about 28mm-30mm overall width. Note- we didn't ever think about rims in terms of inner rim width. That came about when carbon rims had to have wider rim bead/wall dimensions to withstand the beating the rims might undergo in use on mountain bikes. That made outer rim dimensions meaningless. So, we flipped to talking about inner rim dimensions. So, back in the day, how wide internally were those old trail rims? That is what we need to look at first. Here are some actual measurements of some older popular trail and XC 29"er rims.

• Bontrager Race Lite wheels- 18.5mm
• Bontrager Rhythm Wheels - 21mm
• Stans Flow rims - 21.5mm

Are you surprised? I was. These old mountain bike rim designs would be shot down in a heartbeat on a forum dedicated to gravel wheels. For further context, keep in mind that any good suspended trail 29'er back then was running Stans Flow rims. "Wide" mountain bike rims were maybe 30-35mm in overall dimensions back then, which in aluminum would have yielded an inner width of about 26mm-30mm maximum. 

Also keep in mind that things in the MTB world haven't changed all that much. Look up any decent XC hard tail and check the rim spec. 23mm or so internal rim widths are common, and for a full on trail bike? You are looking at around 30mm internal rim widths. Okay? What about current trends in gravel wheels?

This is interesting to note. Four years ago, I did a wheel build as a project for RidingGravel.com called "Project Wide Gravel Wheels", and for those wheels I used, what I thought of as then being, a ridiculously wide inner rim width of 25mm. Now given all of the above information, you might see why I was thinking that way. In 2016, a twenty-five millimeter inner rim width for gravel was unheard of. 

Project Wide Gravel Wheels used a 25mm inner rim width.

Since then, inner rim widths for 'gravel' category bikes has been creeping upward. 24mm is probably average now with some (FLO Cycling G700, which I recently tested) being 25mm and now we're seeing 26mm inner rim width being pushed as a 'gravel' wheel idea. Granted, materials technology advancements have allowed this to occur without the negatives of weight being an issue, but things are beginning to get out of hand, in my opinion. 

First off, when do we start calling these wheels mountain bike wheels? I'd say we're pretty much at that point. The Boyd wheels linked here are even marketed as 29" XC rated wheels. And then you've got to wonder how tires are being affected at some point. Width ratios are getting a bit out of whack when you look at the differentials between tire overall width vs. inner rim width. Consider that the Bontrager Kovee Comp rims, with an inner width of almost 23mm, has a 2.4" maximum tire width rating. Think about that for a minute in comparison to average widths of tires for gravel uses. 

But let's say the Kovee Comp is on the anemic side for XC use. Okay, maybe what? Go to 28mm inner rim width? 30mm? That's still only 3-5mm wider than where we are with current average gravel wheels which are using tires much smaller than an XC MTB will be using. 

Look, I'm not against experimentation and I happen to think about 24mm inner rim width is about 'right' for a gravel tire in the 38mm-45mm width range. I think 22mm is okay for a racing wheel, for sure, where lighter weight and all is paramount. But when we are talking 26mm inner rim widths? Hmm..... Do we really need that, and I have serious doubts that our tires are going to work correctly over that wide a rim if we are talking the sweet spot for gravel travel, which in my mind is still 42-45mm wide. But if you are in the 38mm-40mm tire crowd, that 26mm inner rim width or wider? Uh.....no. I think you've gone past the point of 'good' and your returns are diminished. But maybe that's just me......

Addicted To Wheels

 Note: EXTREME nerding out again today on wheels. You've been warned!

 The Atomik/Berd Ultimate wheels.

I've probably written a post like this over the past 15 years of this blog. I don't remember, and you probably don't either. Ah! No searching! That's cheating. Gotta use the noggin. I vaguely recall something along these lines, so I'm betting I have before. Oh well..... Here goes!

Wheels. Everybody knows that there are good wheels, bad wheels, and wheels that make you all giddy in the......well.....I won't go there! You know what I mean. A good wheel set can really make your cycling experience a LOT better. I keep learning this all the time. You see, I have an issue that prevents me from being 100% on board with spending the big bucks on wheels. That is this practical 'gene' in my DNA that says to me "you can just get by with THAT wheel set! It's good enough for you". And I roll with that and believe it until I get these chances I get- and I know - I am totally blessed to have these chances - to get these chances to ride incredibly great wheels. Then I am blown away and think my inner voice is so full of BS that I must get these wheels! It's crazy, I know. But it is real. Both the voices in my head and what good wheels can do. Ha!

So, anyway, here's the thing. I am not the only person that should be riding really incredible wheels. It makes a huge difference in your riding experience. Again- because of what I do I get to ride various wheels and I have so-so ones, good ones, and the occasional great one comes along as well. Now here's the thing: The really great ones are not always from where you might think they should be from. 

I've ridden some really expensive wheels that were.....  Honestly? "Ho-hum" comes to mind. Especially compared to others I have used that were simply amazing. Some are a LOT less expensive as well. There are two wheel sets I am using right now that are the sort of wheels that make me think my inner voice, my practical gene inside of me, has it all wrong. These two wheel sets are great examples of really incredible wheels that would make a huge difference in anyone's riding. Not necessarily what I would call inexpensive wheels by any stretch, but good bang fer the buck anyway. 

Once again, I am reminded how much wheels affect our riding. It is crazy. My favorite example is the old 1X1 with those Velo Orange hubs laced to Velocity Cliffhanger rims and shod with those monstrously fat Extraterrestrials. That wheel set flew! There was no reason to think it should be so fun to ride those wheels. All the parts were decent, yes, but none of them were incredible or had any quality alone to recommend being wowed by the combination. But those wheels really did the trick. Andy is the owner of that bike now and I think he's been bitten by the bug those wheels have. He rides it quite often now! 

 These aero wheels from FLO Cycling are amazing AND aero.

To my way of gravelly thinking here, a 'great wheel set' needs to do three things really well: They need to be comfortable. That's number one on the list because if the wheels make your hands go numb, are too rough, or are a negative in the handling department, I don't care how light they are. Two? They need to be STIFF laterally. This is a huge deal! Wheels that lack this quality suck to ride on gravel, and the thing is, many people probably don't know they have this issue of laterally flexy wheels. Three? They need to have high quality, free rolling hubs. This is another forgotten quality of wheels that is absolutely a big, big deal. I've ridden some hubs touted as being really 'all that and a bag-o-chips'. Hubs I thought were the bomb at one time and I have been disappointed in how they perform on gravel. Not gonna name names here, but great hubs are not a given. 

You'll notice that weight has not been listed. Yep. Hold that thought, because the next thing I'm going to suggest trumps weight too. That is aerodynamics. In my mind, this will be the next big deal in wheels for gravel. Aero is real folks. You'd know it if you've spent time on a aero wheel set in a tri or on the pavement. Well, the very same things are in effect for gravel travel. Why wouldn't they be? Mark my words. Aero wheel set wars will be happening between the brands for gravel just like they do for triathlon and road racing. You don't need aerodynamics to have that great wheel set experience, but this is icing on the cake if you do. Trust me. I have felt this. 

Weight? Yeah, it is important, but it isn't THE most important thing like many think it is. Simply making a wheel set light isn't going to result in a great wheel set for gravel. Those things above here need to be happening, or that light weight? It won't matter a lick. Plus, there is such a thing as too light. There have been scientific studies to show this. A certain amount of 'fly wheel effect' is a very good thing for humans that cannot apply an even power stroke in 360° of rotation. Think about that. It makes a ton of sense. 

Of course, there are obvious things that I haven't covered here. Durability? Yes. VERY important. Wheel and tire fitment? Totally important. But any decent wheel set should have those things, or why bother? Looking good? Maybe. Some great wheels don't look anything special, in my opinion. But yes- aesthetics of the presentation may matter to many of us. So, yeah, three things of importance is really saying those are MY three top concerns with any wheel set. 

And I am an admitted wheel addicted dude. I LOVE wheels. Building them, fixing them, and especially riding them. I know there are many of you just like me out there too. You probably already know all about great wheels. But shouldn't everyone get to ride great wheels at least once? I think so. It is such a joy to try a great wheel set.

Addicted To Wheels

 Note: EXTREME nerding out again today on wheels. You've been warned!

 The Atomik/Berd Ultimate wheels.

I've probably written a post like this over the past 15 years of this blog. I don't remember, and you probably don't either. Ah! No searching! That's cheating. Gotta use the noggin. I vaguely recall something along these lines, so I'm betting I have before. Oh well..... Here goes!

Wheels. Everybody knows that there are good wheels, bad wheels, and wheels that make you all giddy in the......well.....I won't go there! You know what I mean. A good wheel set can really make your cycling experience a LOT better. I keep learning this all the time. You see, I have an issue that prevents me from being 100% on board with spending the big bucks on wheels. That is this practical 'gene' in my DNA that says to me "you can just get by with THAT wheel set! It's good enough for you". And I roll with that and believe it until I get these chances I get- and I know - I am totally blessed to have these chances - to get these chances to ride incredibly great wheels. Then I am blown away and think my inner voice is so full of BS that I must get these wheels! It's crazy, I know. But it is real. Both the voices in my head and what good wheels can do. Ha!

So, anyway, here's the thing. I am not the only person that should be riding really incredible wheels. It makes a huge difference in your riding experience. Again- because of what I do I get to ride various wheels and I have so-so ones, good ones, and the occasional great one comes along as well. Now here's the thing: The really great ones are not always from where you might think they should be from. 

I've ridden some really expensive wheels that were.....  Honestly? "Ho-hum" comes to mind. Especially compared to others I have used that were simply amazing. Some are a LOT less expensive as well. There are two wheel sets I am using right now that are the sort of wheels that make me think my inner voice, my practical gene inside of me, has it all wrong. These two wheel sets are great examples of really incredible wheels that would make a huge difference in anyone's riding. Not necessarily what I would call inexpensive wheels by any stretch, but good bang fer the buck anyway. 

Once again, I am reminded how much wheels affect our riding. It is crazy. My favorite example is the old 1X1 with those Velo Orange hubs laced to Velocity Cliffhanger rims and shod with those monstrously fat Extraterrestrials. That wheel set flew! There was no reason to think it should be so fun to ride those wheels. All the parts were decent, yes, but none of them were incredible or had any quality alone to recommend being wowed by the combination. But those wheels really did the trick. Andy is the owner of that bike now and I think he's been bitten by the bug those wheels have. He rides it quite often now! 

 These aero wheels from FLO Cycling are amazing AND aero.

To my way of gravelly thinking here, a 'great wheel set' needs to do three things really well: They need to be comfortable. That's number one on the list because if the wheels make your hands go numb, are too rough, or are a negative in the handling department, I don't care how light they are. Two? They need to be STIFF laterally. This is a huge deal! Wheels that lack this quality suck to ride on gravel, and the thing is, many people probably don't know they have this issue of laterally flexy wheels. Three? They need to have high quality, free rolling hubs. This is another forgotten quality of wheels that is absolutely a big, big deal. I've ridden some hubs touted as being really 'all that and a bag-o-chips'. Hubs I thought were the bomb at one time and I have been disappointed in how they perform on gravel. Not gonna name names here, but great hubs are not a given. 

You'll notice that weight has not been listed. Yep. Hold that thought, because the next thing I'm going to suggest trumps weight too. That is aerodynamics. In my mind, this will be the next big deal in wheels for gravel. Aero is real folks. You'd know it if you've spent time on a aero wheel set in a tri or on the pavement. Well, the very same things are in effect for gravel travel. Why wouldn't they be? Mark my words. Aero wheel set wars will be happening between the brands for gravel just like they do for triathlon and road racing. You don't need aerodynamics to have that great wheel set experience, but this is icing on the cake if you do. Trust me. I have felt this. 

Weight? Yeah, it is important, but it isn't THE most important thing like many think it is. Simply making a wheel set light isn't going to result in a great wheel set for gravel. Those things above here need to be happening, or that light weight? It won't matter a lick. Plus, there is such a thing as too light. There have been scientific studies to show this. A certain amount of 'fly wheel effect' is a very good thing for humans that cannot apply an even power stroke in 360° of rotation. Think about that. It makes a ton of sense. 

Of course, there are obvious things that I haven't covered here. Durability? Yes. VERY important. Wheel and tire fitment? Totally important. But any decent wheel set should have those things, or why bother? Looking good? Maybe. Some great wheels don't look anything special, in my opinion. But yes- aesthetics of the presentation may matter to many of us. So, yeah, three things of importance is really saying those are MY three top concerns with any wheel set. 

And I am an admitted wheel addicted dude. I LOVE wheels. Building them, fixing them, and especially riding them. I know there are many of you just like me out there too. You probably already know all about great wheels. But shouldn't everyone get to ride great wheels at least once? I think so. It is such a joy to try a great wheel set.

Fall Views: Harvest Begins

Wednesday was another back-to-back wheel testing day for me. I had the Atomik/Berd Ultimate wheels versus the FLO Cycling G700 wheels. I had a perfect day to test on as well. Couldn't have asked for better. Not a cloud in the sky and the winds were there, but nothing I couldn't handle. 10mph out of the West and upper 70's? How can you complain about that, I don't know. 

I launched from Prairie Grove Park and I used the same loop I set up from the last wheel test I did. When I got started I was in for a shock as some of the seed corn fields have already been harvested. One was being fertilized while another was seen to be getting disced up. I was a little bit surprised by this since it is kind of early for harvesting, but everything is drying down quickly and the way these hybrids are engineered now, I suppose anything is possible. Hey! I'm not a farmer, I just make observations here folks! 

Another observation: When they say "10mph winds", why does it always feel like it is more like a 20mph wind when you are riding? I remember once we had one of those portable weather stations on loan and used it for Trans Iowa recon once. I was amazed how the read out was saying "this is but a breeze" when in my mind I'm thinking it is pretty bad out! Maybe it is a cyclist thing, or maybe I'm crazy. Probably the latter. 

A big farm tractor pulling a big disc/field conditioner. 

 

More yellow corn in the fields here to the right. Brown Season is coming soon!

We've had some recent rain so the dust was tame compared to this past weekend. I gotta say, I don't mind that a bit! My Noble GX5 bike is in dire need of another cleaning from the rides I've done recently. So the gravel was perfect, really. Not too chunky or too dusty. Some bits were smooth and fast. 

It isn't just the corn that is drying down quickly. These soybeans are halfway dried up as well.

 

This fresh cut hay smelled wonderful- if you are into that sort of thing!

The wheel testing was a success and I learned a few things that surprised me. That will all come out later. Overall it was a great day out and just enough pedaling to keep me on track physically but not over doing it by any means. That's important as I want to get to be able to do those century rides I have planned. 

Fall Views: Harvest Begins

Wednesday was another back-to-back wheel testing day for me. I had the Atomik/Berd Ultimate wheels versus the FLO Cycling G700 wheels. I had a perfect day to test on as well. Couldn't have asked for better. Not a cloud in the sky and the winds were there, but nothing I couldn't handle. 10mph out of the West and upper 70's? How can you complain about that, I don't know. 

I launched from Prairie Grove Park and I used the same loop I set up from the last wheel test I did. When I got started I was in for a shock as some of the seed corn fields have already been harvested. One was being fertilized while another was seen to be getting disced up. I was a little bit surprised by this since it is kind of early for harvesting, but everything is drying down quickly and the way these hybrids are engineered now, I suppose anything is possible. Hey! I'm not a farmer, I just make observations here folks! 

Another observation: When they say "10mph winds", why does it always feel like it is more like a 20mph wind when you are riding? I remember once we had one of those portable weather stations on loan and used it for Trans Iowa recon once. I was amazed how the read out was saying "this is but a breeze" when in my mind I'm thinking it is pretty bad out! Maybe it is a cyclist thing, or maybe I'm crazy. Probably the latter. 

A big farm tractor pulling a big disc/field conditioner. 

 

More yellow corn in the fields here to the right. Brown Season is coming soon!

We've had some recent rain so the dust was tame compared to this past weekend. I gotta say, I don't mind that a bit! My Noble GX5 bike is in dire need of another cleaning from the rides I've done recently. So the gravel was perfect, really. Not too chunky or too dusty. Some bits were smooth and fast. 

It isn't just the corn that is drying down quickly. These soybeans are halfway dried up as well.

 

This fresh cut hay smelled wonderful- if you are into that sort of thing!

The wheel testing was a success and I learned a few things that surprised me. That will all come out later. Overall it was a great day out and just enough pedaling to keep me on track physically but not over doing it by any means. That's important as I want to get to be able to do those century rides I have planned. 

Country Views: Testing Session

 

#67, West High's Jacob Stevenson

Saturday was a gorgeous day to ride. That is, if you didn't have a son that was playing in a big team scrimmage. So, yeah, that pretty much took control of my day, and I didn't get out to ride Saturday. 

That's fine by me, as this may be the last time my son straps on a helmet and gets to play. I'd better be there to support him and to see this chapter in his life. I've got lots of time to be bicycling. His football season may not even get started, or may get cut short. Who knows? 

Just a reminder to any of my readers that may have young children: You've heard it said, "They grow up fast!" Well, it is no joke. You'll see........

So, any plans for riding had to be put off until Sunday morning. Fortunately, Sunday was to be a carbon copy of Saturday. (By the way, if you are young and reading this, do you even know what "carbon copy" is?) I made specific plans to test the FLO Cycling G700 wheels in a back-to-back test with my Shimano GRX wheels. I am not able to get my hands on 'fancy-pants' testing equipment, so this was going to be the best I could do. I brought a pen and paper along to jot down my impressions right away. I took everything down to Prairie Grove Park and got off a bit before 10:00am. 

The first up wheel set was the G700 set. I've been really impressed with these wheels and how they ride. Of course, these wheels are supposed to give the rider a big aerodynamic benefit. But surprisingly they are probably the smoothest feeling wheels I've ever ridden as well. I thought a deep section carbon wheel would be harsh to ride. I was totally wrong about that.

There were winds, which was a good thing to help me to determine what- if any- aerodynamic benefits these G700's might have over a standard wheel like the GRX. The winds were 10mph with gusts of 21mph out of the West-Northwest. Perfect! 

I could have ridden all day in this weather, but testing duties called.

This 'copter was spraying a hybrid seed corn field

Black Hawk County has been on-point with their gravel applications this Summer, that's for sure. All the roads have copious amounts of chunky goodness all the way across them. This was also good for the test, as it would help me to determine which wheel might be less damped. The only negative was that I didn't have two sets of the same tire, but it is what it is. Again- I cannot afford to spend 100's of dollars to test. Gotta run what I have to run. 

Not necessarily 'extra-chunky', but a lot of this over a hard base is pretty rough.

The helicopter crew off to the next fields to spray left me in their dust.

The testing proved to be pretty revealing, actually, and I got some really good notes. this sort of riding is completely different than when I just go out for a longer ride. Many times I devote a section of a longer ride to 'thinking about the review', but not for most of it, unless something really jumps out at me. No, this was 100% testing, and thinking, and comparing, and making sure I set things up the same, rode the same lines, and I even went as far as to hold the bars in the same places in the same sections. All for two laps of a short course I set up. I even went as far as to only use the same gears in the same places. 

It wasn't easy, but when you are trying to remove as many variables as possible, this is what you have to do. But in the end, many folks will just sit at their computers and bang out how I did it wrong and I should have done such-and-such instead. So, even just writing this down is dangerous. But whatever- I am the one doing the things. Read it or don't when I post the article. That's all you need to do with it. 

Testing and writing opinions based upon that testing is just going to result in a subjective opinion article in the end. And you know what they say about opinions........

Country Views: Testing Session

 

#67, West High's Jacob Stevenson

Saturday was a gorgeous day to ride. That is, if you didn't have a son that was playing in a big team scrimmage. So, yeah, that pretty much took control of my day, and I didn't get out to ride Saturday. 

That's fine by me, as this may be the last time my son straps on a helmet and gets to play. I'd better be there to support him and to see this chapter in his life. I've got lots of time to be bicycling. His football season may not even get started, or may get cut short. Who knows? 

Just a reminder to any of my readers that may have young children: You've heard it said, "They grow up fast!" Well, it is no joke. You'll see........

So, any plans for riding had to be put off until Sunday morning. Fortunately, Sunday was to be a carbon copy of Saturday. (By the way, if you are young and reading this, do you even know what "carbon copy" is?) I made specific plans to test the FLO Cycling G700 wheels in a back-to-back test with my Shimano GRX wheels. I am not able to get my hands on 'fancy-pants' testing equipment, so this was going to be the best I could do. I brought a pen and paper along to jot down my impressions right away. I took everything down to Prairie Grove Park and got off a bit before 10:00am. 

The first up wheel set was the G700 set. I've been really impressed with these wheels and how they ride. Of course, these wheels are supposed to give the rider a big aerodynamic benefit. But surprisingly they are probably the smoothest feeling wheels I've ever ridden as well. I thought a deep section carbon wheel would be harsh to ride. I was totally wrong about that.

There were winds, which was a good thing to help me to determine what- if any- aerodynamic benefits these G700's might have over a standard wheel like the GRX. The winds were 10mph with gusts of 21mph out of the West-Northwest. Perfect! 

I could have ridden all day in this weather, but testing duties called.

This 'copter was spraying a hybrid seed corn field

Black Hawk County has been on-point with their gravel applications this Summer, that's for sure. All the roads have copious amounts of chunky goodness all the way across them. This was also good for the test, as it would help me to determine which wheel might be less damped. The only negative was that I didn't have two sets of the same tire, but it is what it is. Again- I cannot afford to spend 100's of dollars to test. Gotta run what I have to run. 

Not necessarily 'extra-chunky', but a lot of this over a hard base is pretty rough.

The helicopter crew off to the next fields to spray left me in their dust.

The testing proved to be pretty revealing, actually, and I got some really good notes. this sort of riding is completely different than when I just go out for a longer ride. Many times I devote a section of a longer ride to 'thinking about the review', but not for most of it, unless something really jumps out at me. No, this was 100% testing, and thinking, and comparing, and making sure I set things up the same, rode the same lines, and I even went as far as to hold the bars in the same places in the same sections. All for two laps of a short course I set up. I even went as far as to only use the same gears in the same places. 

It wasn't easy, but when you are trying to remove as many variables as possible, this is what you have to do. But in the end, many folks will just sit at their computers and bang out how I did it wrong and I should have done such-and-such instead. So, even just writing this down is dangerous. But whatever- I am the one doing the things. Read it or don't when I post the article. That's all you need to do with it. 

Testing and writing opinions based upon that testing is just going to result in a subjective opinion article in the end. And you know what they say about opinions........

Country Views: Ride To Indy

Not a super early start, but early enough....

Saturday was forecast to be pretty darn pleasant. Upper 80's but minimal wind and no chances for rain until late into the evening. So, I earmarked the day about the middle of last week as a day to attempt a long ride. I had cues made for the ride- but not the kind of cues I would normally make. Just some handwritten notes I dashed off in a hurry. (This will come back to bite me later, stay tuned...)

I had my clothing laid out the night before, and I went to bed really early, (for me), so I did not set an alarm. I was pretty sure I'd wake up early enough to get a big ride in for the day. So, at about 5:30am, I crawled out of the sack, ate a little something, had a cuppa, and slipped out the door by 6:40am to ply the gravel roads of Southern Black Hawk County and beyond.

The first 30-ish miles I had committed to memory, but it wasn't too hard. The opening bits I've ridden, maybe hundreds of times by now? Maybe. At any rate, once I had escaped the city, I only had to make two turns to get out of the county and into Benton County. By the way, this is kind of an odd thing, but there are five counties here in this area that all have names that start with a "B". Weird..... Anyway.....

Another odd thing I noted was that there were huge flocks of Red Winged Blackbirds South of town. One had, at my guesstimate, about a 1000 individuals. They just kept coming out of the ditches with seemingly no end in sight. Smaller flocks numbering around two dozen individuals were also seen in several places early on into my ride. The only thing that broke up this parade of Red Winged Blackbirds was a hen pheasant and a fledgling chick that flew across the road in front of me.

One of the larger flocks, but not the largest, of Red Winged Blackbirds I saw.

Time for a 'nature break' along Quarry Road.

I eventually had to make a big Eastward push on Quarry Road where I came across some pretty fresh gravel tire tracks. N.Y. Roll? Tomcat? One of them, I bet. They seemed to keep going past where I ended up turning South at on Foulk Road, so I didn't see anything of bicycle tire tracks after that for a while.

Barns For Jason #1

Barns For Jason #2 A rare ceramic brick round barn.

Getting into Benton County, I started coming into an area I had never been in before. So, of course, I saw a few new-to-me barns. In one case it was a historic barn that is listed on the Iowa Culture app which you can download onto your phone. (Thanks to the reader here who suggested this to me recently) This round barn is one of three "McQuilken Round barns" sold by James McQuilken in his role as a representative of the Johnson Brother's Clay Works and was originally used as a cattle barn.

Barns For Jason #3

Pleasant View Cemetery

I came across an ancient cemetery, and by the looks of it I'd say there was once a church there as the gravestones were all pushed back along the fence lines. But I could certainly be wrong about that. Then shortly afterward I made another discovery.....

There was something familiar about this view......

I considered a jig-a-jog in the road ahead and memories started creeping back. As I rounded the sweeping right to left hander, I suddenly remembered. We had been on this road a couple years ago for a Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational! It was where we had seen a C Maintenance road we thought looked great. Anyway, I knew where I was for about a mile or so before that old route went back West and I kept truckin' Southward.

The only Level B road I was on Saturday. 

However; you might say that the Old Creamery Trail is essentially a one-lane Level B Road!

I reached the junction of the road I was traveling South on and the Old Creamery Trail which runs from Dysart, Iowa Southeast to Garrison, Iowa and then back Northeastward to Vinton, Iowa. I joined the trail about a mile East of Dysart where the trail starts. I ran it all the way to Vinton.

Someone left a mostly burned up heater here on the ledge. I did not take it.

Barns For Jason #4

In Vinton I had to stop at a Casey's General Store, (natch!), to resupply on water and I was going to contemplate getting something to eat too, but I was interrupted mid-pour by a man who stopped with his wife to admire my dirty bike. He then took note of me and realized he knew me. "Hey! Are you Guitar Ted?" It turned out that Tim is a reader of the blog here and he and his wife Carla (sp?) were there on a day trip to escape their home near Ames. Tim told me he rides gravel too and has a nice loop around his area. Well, we chatted for a bit, I then excused myself, and after I had filled the bottles I felt the urge to get going as I had over-stayed my time there, in my mind, so I high-tailed it up the road. Yep.....I forgot to get anything to eat. (This would be item #2 that would come back to bite me.)

Barns For Jason #5

So, I was nearing 50 miles into this ride just after I left Vinton. I had been burning up the road too. The course wasn't particularly hilly, and the rail trail kept climbing down to a minimum. Although I pedaled WAY more than I prefer to. At least on hills you get to coast. Anyway, even with the extended break in Vinton I was still only at about 4 hrs on the ride. MUCH faster than I typically go!

Add in the lack of a substantial food upload, the building heat, and having to climb out of the Cedar River Valley, I now was feeling a bit of leg fatigue. Then I made a wrong decision based on my incomplete cues. (Remember that from above earlier?) Then I started to get a mild head ache. Okay.... I stopped and ate some stuff I had, but it was not enough and too late.

Crossing I-380

Rest stop at Mile 64.

I managed to get back on route, despite my cussing myself out and dealing with a mile of busy county blacktop to get back on track. Okay, I settled in, but it was becoming increasingly apparent that I was going into a bonk. Bad! I decided to get at least a metric century in and then find a decent spot out of the Sun to rest a bit off the bike. All this time I had not been off my bike long and I had not sat down at any time to rest. And I was still waaaaay ahead of schedule even though I was slowing down purposefully so as not to do more damage.

This is the third time I've seen a crew baling 'square bales' this year. Weird!

I left the first rest stop, still getting in way over 60 miles before noon, and I was just shell-shocked. I was sore, tired out, and had a mild head ache going. All I wanted to do was go to sleep. I figured I had better stop again, only about five miles up the road, and eat more. I had some almond butter and dried fruit, so I ate that, then I made a bad decision and went a mile off course.

That also was accompanied by a nauseous feeling from my gut. Okay. That was all I needed to know right then and there. I was not clear headed, was feeling ill, and was very fatigued. Time to call in the rescue squad. I was about five miles from Independence, Iowa, so I called Mrs Guitar Ted and made arrangements to have her pick me up at, what else? A Casey's, of course!

This herd of Holstein-Friesians was smarter than I. At least they knew enough to get out of the hot Sun! 

Dirty!

Well, I was just shy of 75 miles in the end. Not a bad day on the bike. Not what I had envisioned, but a good day. I learned a few things (again) and I will decide better next time out. Now I have a big cleaning job ahead of me, so I better be rested up for that!