Originally Posted by
motosonic
I think the answer to your question is a resounding no. While I am definitely not a carbon expert, I have done some digging on the matter in the past because I'm not a 150lb rider and it seems that carbon generally has weight restrictions on the rider where most aluminum wheels do not.
This tells me a few things... carbon fiber has a much lower tolerance under higher weights. which as you can imagine increases your chance of catastrophic failure considerably. That's not to say ALL carbon wheels would have this issue. As there are different ways to build a carbon wheel. But, if that's a concern. Go aluminum.
The second thing my research tells me is that carbon fiber is susceptible to weakening, warping, etc. from heat. So, if you have rim brake carbon rims, even though they make special pads for CF, you're still introducing heat and friction to a laminated surface. Do the math. Disc brakes I believe would eliminate much of that risk though.
While there may be more.. I think these small points really hit at the difference between MOST aluminum and Carbon wheels. Again, there are probably exceptions, but the question was 'generally'.
I hope this helps
Yeesh....lots of half info in here. Now I understand how scientists and medical professionals feel when people talk about science or medical issues.
Originally Posted by
tyrion
All wheels have a weight limit. Whether or not that limit has been determined in good faith and published - that's a different story.
^-- This.
Carbon is just a material. We use carbon fiber layups (a composite of carbon fiber weaves and resins) to make carbon components. Taken on it's own carbon is a lot "stronger" than aluminum. This allows us in the industry to build more complex shapes in wider and deeper depths at lower weight for the same or improved strength.
Nothing will fix a bad design though. You can have that with any material.