login
Karbon Speed 50mm/88mm Carbon Aero Wheel Combo review
- Price Paid:$1,499.00
-
User rating:(4.8)
- Would buy again from this company: Yes
- Used product for: 2 months
- # of logged workouts:
"If you’re looking for fast wheels at a reasonable price from a great company that will put a smile on your face, these are the wheels!"love77
Ease of use
The Karbon Speed wheels are also available in 50/50 or 88/88 combinations but I thought the 50/88 would give me the most versatile set up since I plan to leave these on my bike non-stop for both training and tri racing. It doesn't get easier than that.
Quality of Construction
I'm certainly not a carbon fiber expert but per their specs, these wheels are Hugh TG carbon with a carbon to resin ratio of 58/42. What I can speak to is that these wheels are beautiful, zero imperfections. You get excited just unpacking them and looking at them.
Fit
Perfect, see the ease of installation.
Comfort
Tough one to answer, they are stiff which is what I prefer but I could see some people have an issue with that.
Durability
So far so good, I've been on some pretty rough roads so far (anyone that did the ChesapeakeMan Ultra can attest to that) and had no issues.
Value
From a cost perspective these wheels provide a lot of value. The price was significantly less than the cost of some Zipps; the average price paid for Karbon Speed wheels is $2100 compared to $2,749 for Zipp 404/808 Firecrest (wiggle.co.uk was my price check). A cost difference like that is a good start towards a future disk wheel for racing!
To hammer home their commitment to providing value, all purchases are shipped free, without sales tax (a boon for me since I’m in Texas – the state they are located in), and they provide four years of warranty coverage on the wheels. At just over 200 pounds, I plan to put that warranty to the test.
Appearance
Just looking at them on my bike puts a smile on my face.
Customer Service
Karbon Speed was super-fast to respond to all of my questions and even wanted to set up a time to talk to me live just to discuss my purchase. On top of that, it seemed like they put the wheels in the mail as I was talking to them, they arrived so fast! Of course, they are in Dallas and I do live in a Dallas suburb.
Performance
The Karbon Speed wheels themselves look super-fast with a modified v-shaped rim which is slightly wider at the back of the rim. Per their literature, this is designed to decrease drag from the standard v-shape used in older wheel designs. I don’t have access to an air tunnel so I can’t prove out the design but Karbon Speed provides a ton of data on its site. If you’re interested in reading their detailed white paper you can find it here: http://karbonspeed.com/assets/white_paper.pdf
Strengths
Fast, light, beautiful appearances, fantastic customer service.
Weakness
Stiff (if that is an issue for you); as of yet Karbon Speed does not offer a matching disk wheel (yup, I'm looking ahead).
- 0 people use
- workouts logged
- 0 miles / 0 hours logged
View profile
Add to friends
Go to training log
Go to race log
Send a message
View album
CONNECT WITH FACEBOOK
Ease of installation
Although Karbon Speed does provide tire installation before shipping for the reasonable price of $140, the choices are limited to either Continental GP4000S or GatorSkins. I already had my heart set on wheels with red trim (they have to match the bike right?). So I decided to do the tire installation myself putting Vittoria Open Corsa Evo CX tires on. The choice was twofold since the came in red and because they had the lowest rolling resistance of any clincher/Butyl tire combination on this report: http://www.biketechreview.com/tires_old/images/AFM_tire_testing_rev... If you haven’t seen that study it may help you select your next tire. The installation of the tires was tight but strait forward with no issues. Since the Karbon Speed wheels are 100% carbon, the installation also requires swapping out the stock brake pads for carbon specific pads. These were provided at no additional cost from Karbon Speed. I would have given installation a 5 but it was a little bit of a pain in the butt to get to my rear brake pad (Felt B2 2009).