I've never really ridden anything other than stock wheels. Let's you have to sets of wheels that are the same weight with the same hubs and spokes, around 1500g. If one has a carbon rim vs. alloy on the other, in broad terms can you expect a difference in how they ride? Would the carbon be more compliant? Some other differing characteristic?

If they weigh the same the carbon ones should have deeper rims or something is probably wrong.

Or the carbon one is more overbuilt. Common on cheaper carbon wheels.

Some people say that carbon rims are more comfortable, but I have no idea what the reasoning is. Same with carbon seatposts. Carbon is not known to be more dampening than aluminum. The only other comfort factor I can think of is flex. But stiffness depends on how thick the material is, so I don't think you can say one way or the other without comparing actual specific rims.

If these wheels were to be used with rim brakes, I would go with alloy rims just for the benifits of the brake track.

He said same hubs and spokes.

If you're not getting either an aerodynamic or a weight advantage (preferrably both) then I cannot think of any reason to prefer carbon over aluminum.

Sorry, these would be disc wheels.

The rim width could also be different I guess.

In low profile clinchers you can find metal lighter than carbon. [MENTION=426966]noodle soup[/MENTION] said that was old news.

That is the only setup I'd use a low profile carbon clincher.

Sorry if thats news to you.

https://www.amclassicsales.com/amclas...less-road-rims

What is news to me - is that it is common knowledge / "old news".
I learned it about 1-2 years ago, but I regularly read "upgrade" to carbon when dealing with low profile clinchers.
I'm not really a clincher guy, so my experience is with just a few.

I do not think it is accepted metal low profile rims may be superior to carbon.
Carbon is viewed as lighter / better than alloy.

FWIW - the lightest stuff I do is alloy. The Extralite seat post, stems, hubs - alloy are way lighter than any carbon equivalent.

To the OP...
More personal logic, but if you want performance go tubular.
If you want to just ride, find a nice alloy - Ultegra and ride.

Op is talking about 1500g wheels which I'm sure you don't consider lightweight.

Lighter weight is not the only way that a new wheelset could be considered an upgrade.

After a lot of debate, I prefer Alloy.. simply for the braking surface. The RS81's I'm currently riding are a great combination of both, however. Call me weird, but I just don't trust carbon braking surfaces. (For rim brakes of course.)

That is why I brought it up. I bought a bunch in that range for the team - in both. At around that weight there are clincher choices. Medal, Carbon, Hybrid (carbon, metal brake track) in clinchers, while all current tubulars are carbon.
It has been argued by others on this forum that metal is a better material for clinchers than carbon. I agree with that having seen both in use from the same mfg, same time, same team in use.

Right. And paired with disc brakes as the OP mentioned, many of the carbon issues go away. For rim braked bikes I see more downsides with carbon than metal.

I think the main reason folks go carbon is aesthetics. As that is what the highest end rims are made of, this creates the impression carbon is always an upgrade. But in that middle ground if the focus is just on function there are pros an cons to each.

If I were buying now for function in the 1500g range, I'd go metal for rim brakes, or metal track and carbon for disc brakes.

I have 2 wheelsets that qualify for this comparison. Novatec hubs, 20/24 CX-Ray spokes, Kinlin xc279 vs Workswell CF (25mm wide/38mm deep). Wheel weights are about the same +/- 10 grams. The Kinlin wheelset has 291/482 hubs, and the Workswell wheelset has the SL version of the same hubs.

The only real difference that I notice is that the 38mm deep carbon wheels handle crosswinds better than the 28mm aluminum wheelset.

If the OP wants wide aero hoops in the 1500g neighborhood CF is the way to go.

FWIW, you won't find many CF w/aluminum brake track hoops that will build up to 1500g.

Alloy/Carbon Dura-Ace C24-TL claimed 1445g ~$750
Shimano C35 Carbon Road 1550g

I don't know if that is with/without skewer.

I've not weighed the all alloy Ultegra (which I have) but they are light and I've seen pretty cheap.

The key word is "many".

Are Dura-Ace C24-TL wheels disc compatible?

Sure it is. That's one reason photographers prefer carbon fiber tripods over aluminum. Weight is another obvious consideration and heat transfer can be an issue too, but it's long been known that you get sharper photos from a carbon 'pod than an alu one because of the dampening property vs wind and any slight motion from walking near the legs. "A tripod is your sharpest lens."

I don't think you can verify hearsay on a bike forum with hearsay from a photography forum.

Check out this 2001 article from the Journal of Materials Sciences. Specifically section 5, where the authors compare different structural materials' damping abilities. The gist is that carbon-fiber/epoxy matrices performed worse than aluminum in damping tests. If a filament "interlayer" is added to the carbon fiber to increase damping, the damping numbers are comparable to aluminum.

I trust my own eyes.

Where can I find Chinese carbon tripods?

What the hell do I know about tripods and sharp pictures anyway?