Why choose carbon when alloy is this good? <\/p>
While many lust over exotic carbon fibre upgrades, high-quality aluminium wheelsets can often feel like a forgotten product category.<\/p>
However, to me, that doesn\u2019t seem reflective of the general cycling populace.\u00a0<\/p>
Many riders can be seen sporting carbon wheels on a typical weekend ride, but my observation is that the vast majority are still perfectly happy to stick with alloy offerings.<\/p>
This spurred our decision to run the rule over the latest alloy wheelsets in the \u00a3500 ballpark in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>
We wanted to understand just how much \u2018performance\u2019 you get for the money, uncover the relative positives and negatives of choosing alloy, and ascertain where the traditional bang-for-buck needle might now point.<\/p>
Spoiler alert: alloy wheelsets are still very much worthy of attention and offer compelling performance.\u00a0<\/p>
In fact, I\u2019d argue wheelset brands would be well-advised to divert more of their energy into developing their alloy offerings, rather than appearing to focus almost all development resources on carbon.<\/p>