Ok, so it seemed like when carbon spokes came out, there was a little hesitation and pushback. I remember reading concerns over longevity, and durability, safety. Then also came the opinion that they were too stiff and harsh. It was mainly Chinese brands using them but now almost every western brand apart from ENVE maybe has a carbon spoke option. Even Reserve just released their latest wheel with carbon spokes.
They’re lighter, stiffer, can be made to be aero. But there’s also some thoughts that they’re too stiff and don’t flex like they need to. Peak Torque has a video speaking to this.
So what do y’all think? I don’t know if I have a preference. I have two wheelsets that are both carbon spoked. I’m in the market for a new wheeset and wondering if going back to steel is losing out on something. Anybody go back to steel spokes after using carbon? Anybody have a strong opinion one way or the other?
Also, does ENVE know something that would explain why they don’t make a carbon spoke wheel?
I have two wheelers with carbon spokes and deep rims. They are not harsh compared to steel Spokes at all. Total stiffness is nuanced between the two but I’d say the carbon spokes do seem very responsive though placebo affect could be at play. I see no reason why durability outside of physical damage would be any concern at all. From my own point of view the wide adoption of carbon spokes has much to do with consumer demand for lighter high performance wheels. They have been on the market long enough to be pretty welL sorted tech. The fact that Enve has not chosen to use them from my perspective means nothing. I don’t perceive Enve above any other wheel company. I have seen enough problems with Enve wheels in friends bikes that I would never buy them, carbon spokes or not. Obviously my opinion is will not be a popular one but just a different take.
I touched on this briefly in another thread; here’s the comment I am referring to:
To expand on that a bit: I don’t currently see a strong reason not to run carbon spokes on road or gravel wheelsets. In those use cases, the loads and impact risks seem well within what current carbon spoke designs are meant to handle.
Where I’m more hesitant is MTB. At this point, I wouldn’t recommend carbon spokes for mountain bike wheels unless they’re strictly race-only setups. MTB wheels face a much higher risk of spoke strikes from rocks and debris, which could compromise the epoxy structure and eventually lead to failures. Combine that with the fact that MTBs routinely see large impact loads from drops, jumps, and hard compressions, and the margin for error gets pretty small.
As for why Enve (or others) aren’t selling carbon-spoked wheels yet—it’s likely less about feasibility and more about timing. It could be a marketing consideration, inventory constraints, or simply waiting until the tech and failure modes are better understood before committing to a production product.
I even managed to throw my derailleur cage into spokes, cut one spoke and damage another one. I replaced the cut one, I haven’t got a replacement for the damaged one (a lot of loose fibers) so I just glued it with a super glue to not delaminate further. Then I forgot to order replacement part. 1,5 years since then and it still handle the forces so I really can’t see any disadvantages except you can’t find replacement spokes locally. You have to order it and wait for it in case of trouble.
And they are chinese wheels so cheap ones.
I wouldn’t care if its for MTB wheels as well. I prefer carbon rims in MTB as it’s so hard to damage them. With alu wheels a really hard pinch flat always meant slightly bent rim edge and a sealing problem. Never happened to me with carbon rims. If I hit it very hard I can totally damage a tire, but never destroyed a rim. I expect similar results with spokes.
Here is the one I have still in my bike, just glued those loose fibers together. Still works fine. I just forgot to replace it
For what it’s worth, I get more significant rock strikes racing gravel than MTB. Big packs at high speeds and chunky gravel can be like riding through an asteroid field (my shins and frame have the scars to prove it). Not as likely to get a baseball+ sized rock in the spokes on gravel, but lots of golf ball sized stuff flying around and the speeds are generally much higher. But I’m also racing marathon MTB more than XCO, so not as much tech or group racing. I don’t run carbon spokes, so can’t speak to the durability. I’m not much on shaving grams and I’m pretty comfortable building/maintaining wheels with regular spokes, so no burning desire to go carbon here.
Good comment, maybe my statement would have been better suited as “Gravel” depended as everyone interprets and rides different types of Gravel.
My main focus on rock strikes was not rocks jumping/bouncing up, but more embedded rocks (or stick’s getting stuck in the rim) that over hang that you can catch spokes on.
Thanks for pointing out that everyone has different situations! The short story is if the carbon spokes are going to get hit a lot they have a higher risk to fracture.
I have a friend with a high-end Scott Spark (xc mtb) build with carbon wheels and spokes. Twice he has got a stick caught in the rear wheel and destroyed multiple spokes. I believe the spokes are bonded to the rim and basically the wheel is written off. Something like this I would avoid at all costs.
Replaceable carbon spokes are probably not as bad - they’re still brittle to impacts compared to steel and personally I wouldn’t fancy using them off road.
Been thinking about this topic and going back and forth as I’m looking into a new race wheelset (XC MTB)
I think where I am - I’ve had great luck with Berd, so will probably buy a set of rims (Nextie?) and swap over the DT180’s that I have. Who knows, maybe I can even re-use the existing spokes.
I’ve had a rock kick up and bend a derailleur hanger to the point where I lost my top gear (At Leadville, which I wouldn’t consider that risky for that), so I’d be worried about it happening and breaking a carbon spoke.
Funny, but the Dyneema spokes have a greater percentage of carbon by weight than typical carbon fiber composite. Anyway, they’re very light and I’m quite happy with them on my gravel bike. I get no sense of springiness or flex with pedaling and fast corning on pavement, but they do take some of the edge off road and trail harshness.
