Rim brakes with carbon wheels

Equipment
4

I’m looking at a similar question and basically:

  1. The older style braking tracks (basalt or whatever) don’t work so great. They take a bit of extra time to stop you and some of them really seem to be hazardous depending on the conditions or terrain you ride regularly.

  2. Alu inlays are a workable solution, though they add some weight. My favorite of these are from HED.

  3. The newer style braking tracks found from Zipp (Showstopper), Campagnolo (AC3) and Bontrager (on the Aeolus XXX) seem to have solved the braking issue. They may consume braking pads faster, but they are supposed to have some serious stop to them.

Personally, I’m deciding between the #3 options. I don’t really want the weight penalty of the aluminum inlay and most of the alu inlay rims are done using “yesterday’s” wheel dimensions (17mm internal, 22-23mm external). For me, I’m deciding between the Zipp 303 Firecrest Showstopper and the Campagnolo WTO 45s.

As for the Hunts - the price is great, but the hubs are not fantastic. I haven’t really read a lot about the braking but from the pictures they don’t seem to be using the sort of techniques that Zipp, Bontrager and Campa did (basically, removing a lot of surface resin and adding texturing).

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