Should I Foray Into the World of Carbon Spokes?

[JZP]

The FFWD RAW was recently discontinued (after the holidays). While no news is on their replacement is publicly available yet, FFWD disclosed to me that the replacement will have carbon spokes, along with the internal alloy nipple design that the original RAW had. No other information was provided, other than that they will be released at the end of Feb. 2024. I'm a FFWD fanboy, but my excitement is mixed with some wariness.

For those that have experience with carbon spokes and/or alloy nipples - could you please share some information about what special (beyond simply wiping them clean) maintenance is required for your wheels? Please also include the primary conditions (weather + climate) in which you ride, and the distance/time intervals after which you perform maintenance.

Also - do internal alloy nipples somehow require less maintenance to minimize/prevent corrosion, by definition of their location inside the rim?

[RadB]

I have had two sets, riding in warm/humid conditions ~75-95f/80% humidity, but generally not raining. Not much to say. The feel a bit different, I notice most when accelerating. The question mark for any concealed alu nipple is how to monitor for galvanic corrosion, esp when running tubeless and given they are integrated/boneed onto the spokes. I'd prefer ext brass but not really an option. I don't think we've seen too many failures yet, which is good, or just too soon

[hannawald]

Those FFWD RAW had also aluminium nipples so nothing new in this regard. I have never had problems with aluminium nipples but I don´t ride when it is terrible weather (yeah, sometimes you can´t avoid the rain but not a regular condition to me) or cyclocross. Today most of the wheels have aluminium nipples. It would be weird if FFWD used brass nipples on a lightweight wheelset.
As for the carbon spokes there is no need to worry. Besides chinese brands Cadex uses them for years, also Scribe, Hunt...

You should be OK, FFWD makes durable wheels with normal weight limits around 120kg etc. - there is a big chance you don´t need to service the spokes. In case of crash etc. they are servicable so you don´t have to bin the wheels. It will be probably more demanding and you might need to send them to a service center but I would rather have better wheels than think about everyday home servicability. If you make 50 000 kms a year you might have different priorities:)

[JZP]

My mistake - I indicated earlier that the RAW's replacement would have internal nipples.

There are three versions of the new RAW - RAW 33, 44, and 55 - with carbon spokes, ceramic bearings, and external alloy nipples.

FFWD disclosed that the RAW 44 will weigh 1390 g. This is more than I thought, given the depth, 30 mm external rim width, carbon spokes, and DT 180 hubs.

[toxin]

Carbon spokes on dt180... very curious what kind of design they'll use

[hannawald]

My mistake - I indicated earlier that the RAW's replacement would have internal nipples.

There are three versions of the new RAW - RAW 33, 44, and 55 - with carbon spokes, ceramic bearings, and external alloy nipples.

FFWD disclosed that the RAW 44 will weigh 1390 g. This is more than I thought, given the depth, 30 mm external rim width, carbon spokes, and DT 180 hubs.

For some reason FFWD wheels are quite heavy, both road and MTB wheels. On the other hand you can´t compare it with CRW wheels which have 100kg weight limit incl. bike and all equipment. FFWD is normal 120kg weight limit, so not some flyweight edition of rims with a lot of brittle carbon...

[JZP]

Carbon spokes on dt180... very curious what kind of design they'll use

I might be getting ahead of myself.

The new wheels will have ceramic bearings, but it's not confirmed which hubs they will use. My mistake!

[Wildh]

I'm giving them a shot. Ordered a set of wheels off Ali. Genuinely curious how this set works out.

[Beebsta]

Carbon spokes on dt180... very curious what kind of design they'll use

FFWD announced that the wheels will use in house hubs with Ceramic Speed bearings.
Also, external width will be 31 mm.

[hannawald]

Carbon spokes on dt180... very curious what kind of design they'll use

FFWD announced that the wheels will use in house hubs with Ceramic Speed bearings.
Also, external width will be 31 mm.

Wheels are out but it is a poor launch. They didn´t publish any white paper, aero data, nothing. Just a very basic info.

[Beebsta]

I am not really sure if I have seen FFWD publising any aero data in the past. Before I aquired by DT Swiss ERC 1100 the other choice was the FFWD RAW, never seen anything more than basic stats.