Carbon spokes are in fashion, but how are steel ones better?

Until a few years ago, carbon spoke wheels were a rarity that only a few manufacturers, led by Lightweight, dared to use. The arrival of conventional carbon spokes has broken that barrier of exclusivity, leading more and more manufacturers to take advantage of their benefits.

Lower weight and better stiffness make carbon spokes more appealing

Although we have had wheels on the market with carbon spokes for years, they have traditionally been extremely exclusive models like those that make up the coveted Lightweight wheels, manufactured integrally so that spokes, hub, and rim formed an inseparable unit. In recent years, other brands like Syncros with their Capital SL have opted for this path with models of wheels that are extremely stiff and lightweight.

However, this type of construction has a drawback: the wheels must be manufactured in a practically artisanal way, which significantly increases their production cost and, therefore, their final price. Additionally, these wheels practically form a single piece, so breaking a spoke usually means the end of those expensive wheels. This is not very appealing to most customers.

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Fortunately, in recent years, conventional spokes made of carbon fiber have started to appear on the market, successfully combining the advantages of this material with maintaining the same construction as wheels with steel spokes. They have become such a disruptive element that even a spoke manufacturer like DT Swiss has turned to an external supplier to launch their new ARC 1100 Dicut in a lightweight version of these aerodynamic wheels.

As you can imagine, this is precisely the main advantage that carbon spokes offer over steel ones: weight, which allows for a reduction of about 125 grams per wheel in the final result, and best of all, it does so not only without losing qualities but actually improves the stiffness of the wheel due to the greater tensile strength of carbon fiber. This was acknowledged by a surprised Wout van Aert after competing throughout the Tour de France with wheels featuring carbon spokes, ultimately confessing that they allowed him to take corners and accelerate much more easily.

Obviously, the weak point is something you can probably imagine as well. Carbon has the unpleasant tendency to exhibit directional behavior, and all that is longitudinal strength becomes fragility in the lateral plane: wheels made with these spokes are more delicate against lateral impacts or the typical situation within the peloton when the pedals of another cyclist or the bike's derailleur in front of us ends up contacting the spokes. Fortunately, since they are conventional spokes, their replacement is as simple as changing a steel spoke.

Does this mean the end of steel spokes? Probably in the high-end range yes, but the price factor will continue to ensure that steel spokes maintain their reign in most wheels on the market. Additionally, there are also some voices arguing that in aerodynamic wheels, steel spokes will still be preferred as they can be made narrower, thus offering less wind resistance, although this seems a secondary factor given the little influence spokes usually have on the final aerodynamics of the wheel.