Every gram of weight reduction may mean a breakthrough in the era of road cycling that pursues speed and lightness. Our lightest CSK05 carbon titanium spokes weighs only 1.6kg. Among the many upgraded parts, carbon fiber spokes are gradually becoming the "secret weapon" of cycling enthusiasts and competitive players.


**Why choose carbon fiber spokes? **


Although traditional metal spokes are strong and reliable, they are close to the limit in terms of weight reduction and rigidity control. Carbon fiber, as an aviation-grade material, is becoming a new focus of bicycle wheel upgrades with its extremely high strength-to-weight ratio, excellent fatigue resistance, and good vibration absorption.


During the 2024 Tour de France,wheels with carbon spokes recorded a 1.2% failure rate ,compared to 1.8% for traditional steel spokes.


**We have summarized several key advantages of carbon fiber spokes.**


Extremely lightweight: more than 30% lighter than steel spokes, each turn is lighter when climbing

Stronger rigidity, more direct power transmission: every bit of force you step on will not be wasted

Smaller deformation: As we all know, the rim is elliptical rather than circular during riding. If the deformation of the spoke material is low enough, riding is more efficient, and you don’t need to maintain the wheel frequently, such as adjusting the spoke tension.

Smoother riding and improved comfort: Effectively filters high-frequency vibrations, no more numbness in your hands during long-distance riding.


Figure 2. The elliptical shape of a bicycle wheel during riding.


**Are carbon fiber spokes more aerodynamic? **


The lower the contact surface with the air, the lower its air resistance. When we discuss this, we should not only focus on the air resistance on the front of the wheel. During riding, the air flow angle is not fixed. Therefore, to a certain extent, spokes with wider cross-sections have greater air resistance. But flat spokes are more durable, which is why most bicycle brands choose flat, wide spokes, such as our CSK02 blade carbon Spokes with small cross-sections, such as CSK05 and CSK06 Steel Carbon Bike Spokes, have better aerodynamics according to our customer feedback. I recommend CSK06 because it is more durable than CSK05.



Attached 3, air turbulence diagram comparison of CSK06 and Sapim CX-RAY spokes.


Download CSK06 steel carbon fiber spokes test report


**Is it durable? This is the key**


Some people worry about whether carbon fiber is durable enough. High-quality carbon spokes have been designed with full consideration of the actual use environment:


Professionally tested, the service life is more than 100,000 kilometers


Torsion resistance and impact resistance are much higher than aluminum alloy spokes


Regarding the manufacturing process of carbon fiber spokes, the market feedback in recent years shows that the tensile strength and durability of mortise and tenon structures and adhesive structures are comparable.


**Wide flat carbon fiber spokes vs carbon titanium spokes vs carbon steel spokes**


We conduct simple destructive tests, such as twisting and bending.



The video does not show which spokes is better. You can choose the spoke that suits you according to your personal needs.


Maintenance is essential. If you want to use carbon fiber spokes, you can refer to the carbon fiber bicycle spokes instructions.


**Future development trend of carbon fiber spokes**


Whether it is steel spokes, carbon spokes, or flexible spokes, they all have their advantages and disadvantages. It is difficult to say which one is better. If the trend of getting lighter and lighter continues, I think there will be wheels with fewer spokes or wheels without spokes in the future, such as magnetic levitation.