Carbon spokes - how to choose good wheels without going crazy?

 The beginning, project CarbonOne

Exactly three years ago, on January 13th, 2023, I published a blog post about the CarbonOne project.

In fact, I built my first wheels with carbon spokes for myself back at the beginning of 2022. At the time, these were the first carbon spokes available for non-system wheels. In general, this was not the beginning of carbon spokes on the market, as brands such as Mavic or Lightweight had been building such wheels for many years.

So what made the CarbonOne project spokes different? The key difference was the ability to use virtually any hub, because on the hub side these spokes had exactly the same dimensions as traditional steel spokes.

The project sparked huge controversy. Most people claimed that carbon spokes would never work. Today, three years later, practically all major companies have introduced such wheels into their offerings — including DT Swiss.

However, there is one crucial factor that determines whether such wheels will be better or worse than traditional ones, and that is what today’s post is about.

Goodbye 2023 and hello 2024!

Time flies! I still remember the beginning of 2023, and now, it's already over and we are entering 2024. 

It's a good moment to reflect on the past year and plan the next twelve months. 

Get ready, this will be a long post ;-)

Project CarbonOne - wheels on carbon spokes

Dreamed wheels of every rider?  Stiff, light, long lasting and good looking. Most of us would say so. Stiffness and lightness is subjective. You consider wheels as light and stiff until you come across lighter and stiffer ones. This is exactly what has happen to me, when I came across carbon spokes for the first time. My definition of top notch wheels changed dramatically and all wheels I had in my hands with steel spokes didn't feel that stiff anymore...