Aluminum wheels
Aluminum alloy is the most popular wheel material currently. It is easy to produce and easy to repair, which makes aluminum wheels the standard wheel for entry-level models. Maybe the entry-level car you bought a few years ago was equipped with aluminum wheels.
Advantages:
Cheaper: The price of aluminum wheels is often less than half of that of carbon wheels or even cheaper.
More durable: Aluminum wheels can withstand greater impact without damage, and the life of aluminum wheels is longer than that of carbon wheels.
Safer: Aluminum wheels (rim brakes) have better braking performance in wet conditions or on long downhill roads, and aluminum wheels have better heat dissipation.
More environmentally friendly: Well, aluminum is a good recyclable material.
Disadvantages:
Heavier: There is no doubt that in this era of pursuing the ultimate lightweight of bicycles, heavier means "slower".
Poor aerodynamics: Relatively speaking, the deeper the rim, the better the aerodynamics.
Insufficient rigidity: Compared with carbon wheels, the rigidity will be slightly worse, and poor rigidity will lead to insensitive control.
Carbon wheels
Pros:
Lightweight: The average weight of a carbon fiber wheel is about 300 grams lighter than aluminum.
Stronger: Rigid carbon fiber wheels are responsive.
More aerodynamic: Carbon wheels generally have deeper rims, and deeper rims mean better aerodynamics.
Looks cool: Although aesthetics is a subjective factor, riders seem to be on the side of carbon wheels on this point.
Disadvantages:
More expensive: The rich play wheel is not just a joke, tens of thousands of carbon wheels can buy a good road bike in minutes.
Not durable: Carbon fiber rims are brittle. Rim impacts may crack carbon fiber rims (lateral stiffness of carbon wheels). Carbon fiber rims will overheat and fail during long descents (wheel failures are often seen in grand tours).
Unrepairable: If there is a problem with the carbon wheel, then replacement is the only way out.
In short, if the carbon wheel is replaced well, there will be no worries about speeding up.
