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  • Only thing with imports from china/asia is you have no comeback/warrenty if anything does go wrong unlike buying from a named brand. Somoetimes its worth paying the extra for the warranty/comeback

    To quote a good friend and innovator of carbon wheels (Cees Beers) "there are lives on the line". Carbon bicycle components not engineered for safety are unfortunately all too common.

    Many carbon bicycle components vendors (especially Chinese but they are not alone) are, I've found, more focused upon responding quickly to market demand rather than spending much time on technical details especially when most customers can't tell the difference--- much less are prepared to spend any additional money or accept heavier products.

    The UCI impact testing is not a sufficient test of wheel safety--- as if these Chinese wheels have been UCI certified--- as it just tests frontal imacts such as hitting a curb (or wall). There is no testing of failure modes, fatigue or reliability. The wheel is not randomly selected but supplied by the vendor.

    The question one has to ask: "Why does one even want carbon wheels"? Especially when one is not a elite level competitor? Even when products are properly designed things can go wrong when some of the limitations are not correctly respected--- as Tyler Hamilton can attest after his 2002 crash.

    Warrenty is, I think, the least problem.

    Doing it right is pushing the envelope to extremes and "one size does not fit all". At Olympics level it can make sense to go the distance. The cost of a set of custom carbon wheels is small change among the total costs to the national squadra--- and the potential gains for the rider. In Olympic track wheels are part of a multivariate equation that includes frame design and even specific training.

    If one is keen on lightweight wheels I'd just look to "old school" alloy tubular rims, light spokes and good hubs. These rims might be obsolete for modern road wheels due to their extreme dish and dual-pivot calipers but singlespeed/track wheels don't, of course, have dish--- and bikes have no calipers to worry about.

    A wheel made with one of these rims and modern spokes is cheap, light and reliable--- and L'Eroica notwithstanding NOS old school rims are still about at affordable prices.

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