Is it worth upgrading to a carbon wheelset?
 

Hi all,

I have a set of DT Swiss Spline 1600 alluminium wheels on my 2021 Giant Defy. I upgraded the wheelset early on and have no compaints. They have a DT Swiss 350 hub and bladed allu spokes. However, I've started to think about upgrading to a carbon wheelset and like the look of the DT Swiss ERC 45 1400's. These have a 240 hub and a much deeper rim than my current set up. Do you think this would be a worth while upgrade? Can currently get a set from Merlin for around £1500 but I've never had carbon wheels before so unsure what to expect/ whether there would be a noticable improvment to the ride.

Thoughts appreciated.

“Noticeable Improvement ?”, maybe a stretch if you have good light aluminum currently. I upgraded to some basic Hunt 50 carbons, saved about a pound and a half over the OEM WTB wheels that came on a Cannondale. That was noticeable, I didn’t notice as much difference when I swapped to the same wheels on my Emonda that came with Bontrager 37’s, though roll out seemed to improve, the Hunts being more aero. Downhill at speeds in the 30’s did seem to be faster, but that’s not a typical downhill for me. Durable wheels for sure and carbon in my mt. bikes are certainly an improvement over the OEM aluminum wheels they replaced.

Ride quality- hard to tell and will probably vary from rim to rim. Spoke layout, Carbon layup…

I went from garbage stock wheels - heavy, shallow, bad hubs… to a decent, not top end, set of Roval 38mm deep. 3/4# lighter, faster in all situations. About 1/3-1/2 MPH faster on the flats at 20MPH. And gets better the faster you go, aero comes into play more. And the ride is better, less vibration and stiffer under acceleration.

Depends on how you ride as well. Speed, how strong or big you are. I can flex rims/often break spokes. The CF wheels are just better in that regard.

You have a better starting point than I did. The difference or noticeable difference may be less.

Modest but real benefits. It’s your money. Better bang for your buck is get good tires/tyres and proper pressure.

Well I just swapped back from my 50mm deep carbon wheels to my nothing special fulcrum alum wheels and the only difference I noticed was I wasn't getting blown all over the road in the wind anymore, it was a windy day too. I cracked my rear carbon wheel was the reason for the swap. If I ever buy another set of carbon wheels for the road bike they will be 30mm and no deeper. I'm not fast enough for the DEEP to matter so the only real benefit was they looked cool.

This is another consideration, carbon can crack and alum would just dent.
The cracked rim is toast and a dented rim maybe usable and fixable?

Talk about how you ride...performance, fast group rides, just ride along, etc.
If you just ride along you may get a better ride with a pair of shallow depth carbon wheels...ie 30mm and a nice pair of 28+mm tires, tubeless, and low psi...you get comfort, traction and some aero efficiency.
If you are a performance rider a set of 45mm+ deep carbon wheels will provide a fair amount of aero efficiency depending on speed/sustained speed over shallow depth wheels.

I like the look and sound of carbon rims. An added side benefit is the less frequent truing.

What benefits are you wanting? And how much increase in those benefits will make it worth it to you?

And part of the answer will also depend on how hard and how long you ride your bike each time.

Much will depend on you, as a rider. Most all mentioned by others here.
Comparing my CF wheels to my HED Bastogne wheels (very 'sturdy' wheels), they are a bit 'lighter' weight. But, at 50mm rim depth, I notice speed benefits staring when I'm in the higher teens of riding speed.
At 20+, the aero benefits are very recognizable.
A lot depends on your tires and the pressures you're riding them.
I've also found then CF wheels to be quite durable and true, after many thousands of miles.
Haven't ridden the HED Alu wheels in over 2 years - I'm prompted to put a cassette on them and now try then again, to note any difference...
Never having ridden the DT Swiss wheels you have, I can't say what the 'upgrade' might provide.
I do know that the very 'sturdy' set of stock wheels (2 + kg) on my New Roubaix 105 sport, were appreciably heavier and slower than even medium weight set of CF wheels.
A lot depends on the tires and pressures you will ride - I'm not a big proponent of 'Wide' tires ( I am relatively light and keep my tires narrower than the recent swing to 'wide'), but the combination of appropriate tires at appropriate pressures on good wheels is a key to max benefits.

Ride on
Yuri

Is it worth upgrading to (fill in the blank) ?

Always.
Never.
It depends.

This is the correct answer to most questions posted here. Depends on goals/budget/priorities.

There are a lot of variables to whether the performance benefits are worth it to you. That being said, there is often an emotional component to bike/equipment choice. If you like the way deeper carbon wheels look and sound, and you can afford it, there isn't anything wrong with the upgrade to carbon wheels.

Yes, 100% BUT those wheels are okay in terms of what you are getting. I like the 45mm depth and they test well aerodynamically but a 22m internal and 28.5mm external in 2026 is just meh and 1520g IMO is just a waste of money at $2400.

IMO this is where Western brands still lag behind but a vast margin. I just picked up a pair of ICAN G24 SL wheels with a 25mm internal and 32mm external at 1300g. They have a 50mm G25 SL version at 1350g which I would gladly run with a 30mm or 32mm tire and they have a 25mm internal and 31.5 external. The kicker is that these wheels are shipped from their US warehouse, no tariffs, have Titanium Freehubs, brass nipples, and with 5% code come to $730 shipped. I 100% would rather pay $730 on a very progressive light wheel that could be used for both road and gravel than pay $2400 for something that is already dated

Aluminum is also known to crack at the spoke holes. I’ve had that happen with Trek branded Matrix rims as well as Mavic Open Pros

I don't race but enjoy pushing myself to get fatser. I usually ride 15 - 17 mph avg on undulating terrain and regularly ride long distance 50 - 100 miles

I don't know what to expect. I just see people talk about how a wheelset upgrade makes such a huge difference to your bike so thought this would be a more worth while upgrade than something like Di2 (Currently on Ultegra R8000 mech). I ride about 2500 - 3000 miles a year and enjoy long distance rides.

Well, sure, eventually any metal rim will fail. But it's uncommon on good rims within a reasonable lifespan.

As far as the OP is concerned, only the individual can determine "worth" since it is subjective. As datlas pointed out, it depends on the individual. (It's funny that so many respondents discuss their own decisions as if they have any bearing on the OP.)

This pretty much sums it up for me. I like carbon rims. How they look and sound is very much a part of it. I think there is something about ride feel, but I can't say for sure that is real. And absolutely they just stay true.

There are known aero gains with modern shapes and medium to deep (> 30 mm), and generally less weight. These aren't huge, but if you want to get that last bit of performance...

If the money is a stretch, I would spend it elsewhere as I don't think you'll notice some huge difference other than the sound. Carbon rims sound cool. But if you have the money and just like the look and general idea, go for it.

Its called offering a perspective. "Is it worth it" question pops up - people offer the perspective that may or may not make it worth it to them. Noting actual gains/losses, noting actual performance or qualities...

It's exactly the kind of feed back some of us look for when posing such questions - it's exactly why these types of message boards are so helpful.

One can pull the good and bad from the responses, decide on our own - using our own brain power - that a point or two from a poster may or may not apply...

What is absolutely worthless feedback? "only you can determine worth". Great. Thanks. I guess I have to go spend $$$ on the product, blindly, and find out on my own.

If you are looking strictly performance - speed, ride quality, handling - IMHO, tires first, wheels second, groupset last. DI2, while nice, does nothing for overall speed and performance. Wheels and tires can make a fairly significant impact.

yes, get the kind with rim eyelets (also known as ferrules or sockets) are metal reinforcements placed in the spoke holes of bicycle rims to distribute stress, prevent spoke nipples from cracking the rim bed, and allow for smoother tensioning. They improve wheel durability, particularly on high-tension or lightweight rims.

imo you won't get the 'advantage' the deeper aero carbon rims provide at the speeds you say you generally ride at.
imo you will get a more comfortable ride, perhaps a bit less harsh, on a carbon rim of 30ish mm deep with a 28+mm tire and your choice of inflation device...ie...tubeless or light weight tubes ie tpu etc.

good quality wheels/tyres will provide a better overall ride again imo

good luck and tell us what you settle on

You'll probably get some real benefit then. Mostly in watt savings that you will either use up as a fraction of or maybe just over 1 mph (1.6kph) or you will find you have more energy left at the finish line to use for a faster or longer sprint.

Put a Continental Aero 111 on the front for even more benefit if the hoop la can be believed. I use them front and rear. But only because I'm not ready to have different logos front and back. And because the Aero 111's were the same price as the GP 5000 TR at the time I bought them. They do seem grippier on wet than my GP 5000 tubed tires were. But only a little.

You also should find the road feel changes with carbon fiber wheelset and what it tells you when on a fast turn. Whether it adds or subtracts much will be how you perceive that change.

If you ride alone, and the 'undulating terrain' has some significant sections with either length and/or pitch of 'uphill', then 15-17 is a solid pace.
Given some 'age' consideration, which 'slows' a rider quite a bit, but doesn't make it easier... Uphills, elevation gains, especially pitches above 5%, will slow avg speed/time down quite a bit.
So 'aero' becomes a benefit...
If you are riding at 18+ and hovering in the 20-22 mph range on flats, for some distance, then 'aero' has sizeable benefits.
BUT you have the most gains, from as aero a position/posture as you can hold, then wheels...
A gain of 100g in wheel weight is not much. likely not very discernible. 300 - 400 g would be noticeable, especially on uphills because every inch/cm you ride uphill is 'acceleration'.
Tires..
You don;t note which tires you're using... ?

Honestly , $2400 USD + for a wheelset weighing 1500 ish g seems quite a bit overpriced... for 45mm.... I'd be expecting something in the 1200g ish weight range.
AS for width... internal rim width especially, 21 - 23 is more than adequate for up to 30mm tire width, go wider if you're carrying 'weight' (over 185 - 190 lbs)

There are many nice wheels out there, i recommend not getting hung up on one particular brand.

Ride On
Yuri