Carbon wheels do not need truing like aluminum wheels because they do not bend and deform and they do not wear down or break that easily wither compared to aluminum and steel rims.
because their durability is higher than that of other wheels, you could say that 10 aluminum wheels (as in a saying way, not a practical comparison) are equal to a signal carbon wheel in durability competition. carbon wheels have greater stiffness which puts less stress on the spokes and spoke nipples.
Carbon wheel’s bigger advantage to me is that you can run very low pressure on your tires without denting or damaging the rim but of course, there are your tires as well which you still have to be careful
and unlike bikes made of metal (aluminum, steel, alloy) wheels which rely heavily on the spokes carbons wheels have carbon spokes which are tougher than aluminum spokes and do not easily break as well
How to maintain carbon wheels
In any way, if you want to maintain the carbon wheel for better truing then here is an easy method, firstly you can uninstall all the spokes along with spoke nipples, and inspect all of these components, if there are any deformed spoke then change it with a new of the same size as the other spokes of the wheel.
after that place all of these spokes in line so that their heads will match each other and mark those places of the spokes which you are going to mount within the spoke nipples and the wheel, this method is known as resizing of spokes, now you can pick all the spokes one by one and mount them on the wheel, also note that maintain the tension and stretch equally on all the spokes, other than spoke tension and spoke braking the rim itself is tough and won’t go untrue or bend
Carbon wheels have thicker material which does not allow the wheel to go out of true in any situation, the thick and deep manufacturing of carbon wheels differs them from the other wheels.
One other thing to keep in mind is that when you are replacing a spoke always match the tension of the spoke the best way to go around this is by calculating how many turns it takes to tighten a spoke and make sure that it stays the same on all the spokes write down that number on a memo pad or somewhere safe as a future reference
Maintenance of Carbon wheel :
Most of the time spokes of the wheel bend and break which can easily be replaced by a new set of spokes and nipples.
After opening the wheel for maintenance and for other purposes like maintaining brakes, and pads levers, removing and mounting tires, changing spokes and spoke nipples, and their loosening, and tightening all these factors do not bring any change in the carbon wheels and remains smooth as it was before maintenance.
When the tire goes flat after pinching anything within the tire on hard trails you will notice carbon wheels are not affected and the rim remains smooth and safe.
Carbon wheels are not stretchy and elastic, this factor does not allow them to bend and deform.
Untrue carbon wheels require a large force in truing them because their elasticity is lower than the other wheels because carbon wheels contain fibers that have their own working property in rotating the wheel in a specific direction and the amount of tension also depends on the material of the bike wheel.
Carbon wheels have a lighter weight which usually does not reduce bike speed in racing, most racers have carbon wheels installed in their tires for durability and stiffness.
Tensioning in the rim and spokes totally depends on the material and durability of the bike wheel for better performance on the trails.
Carbon wheels remain true even riding a bike for thousand miles on the trails because of their stiffness and power.
You can always hear about the carbon wheels which have trued rarely as compared to the aluminum wheels which are quite often true.
Material of Carbon wheel :
Carbon is not a metal, plastic is mixed within the carbon wheel but is not fully plastic. some carbon wheels are not bent but some are bent at a very low angle carbon can also expire over time, as time passes carbon wheels’ performance also becomes lesser. the plastic material used in the carbon wheels is known as carbon fiber reinforced plastic(CFRP). metals have enough weight but carbon is not heavier just because of this composition of carbon.CFRP includes many components and many materials used for the manufacturing of different components of bikes and for other purposes, these materials are resins, resinoids, derivatives, and polymers.
While some carbon wheels have fiber material rather than plastic, so it depends on your choice of picking carbon wheels that you can feel easy and safe in the future ride, fiber is somehow different from the CFRP.
The weight-bearing capacity of the Carbon wheel :
Carbon wheels are restricted in weight category one of the flaws of carbon wheels when lifting weight as compared to aluminum metal rims, these can hold 100kg to 120kg of weight but aluminum wheels can hold 120kg to 150kg of weight. on a comparative note, carbon wheels usually have lighter weight and the other reason is that these do not bend and deform, their spokes directly break from any place but dont bend.
these properties of carbon wheels differ from the other wheels. the lightweight of carbon wheels increases bike speed on the terrain much faster as compared to aluminum wheels.
Cheap carbon and expensive carbon wheels for truing :
There are many kinds of carbon wheels with different properties, characteristics, and price ranges, all are good but never buy cheap carbon wheels online or at any bike store, because they are too difficult to true their wheels usually always have a marginal untrue less than 1mm untrue like 0.2mm, 0.4mm, 0.6mm 0.8mm
these values are too small but these can be hardly trued and mostly remain untrue or become untrue even after servicing, especially for cheap wheels but usually, its the opposite with a little better wheels course the price is too consider as well but its best to save up for a better wheel than to fall into a pitfall of repairs every day.
Do Carbon Wheels Stay True Compared To Alloy Wheels?
After trueing of carbon wheels, these can run on long trails with many thousand miles without any trouble and damage and you do not need to stay alarmed after every ride about these carbon wheels because they can hardly bend and deform even after a big crash or hit but running on the trails is usual for them.
but if these have got any damage or any big crash then these will suddenly break and it would be impossible for the bike to make them further usable for trails.
There is a difference in comfortability level between both wheels aluminum wheels provide more comfort zone than carbon wheels other than that there is not any difference felt on trails in riding style between carbon and aluminum wheels.
If you want to spend your bucks on bike wheels just a single time then it is not a bad idea to order expensive carbon wheels for your wheel rather than aluminum metal and is recommended for every kind of biking including road bikes, mountain bikes, and gravel bikes.
Once at a bike racing festival, bikers asked a question from the wheel builders and wheel mechanics about which type of wheel always comes to them for truing, 75% of wheel builders replied with a single answer, they said we made hundreds of aluminum wheels and corrected their dents, truing, spoke tension and other major problems of wheels like brake system and brake pads.
Carbon wheels are not used for learning and increasing the performance of the mechanic builder, because these are sensitive and these cannot be bent and straightened many times while checking them, otherwise, these will break suddenly and make a sound of “click” and breaks while aluminum rim does not perform like this and it can bend and deform to alarm the rider about the wheel that is near to cause trouble.
Carbon rims are not hand-made while the aluminum wheels are hand made and now there is a huge difference between them, if you are going to lift a heavy weight of more than 120kg then the brakes of carbon wheels do not perform and work especially on the aggressive trails, and aluminum wheels will cooperate with the rim brakes and responses better than carbon wheels.
Always avoid wider tires and narrower carbon rims and vice versa on aggressive and rough terrains but for road bikes, you can easily make this setup without any regret.