If you’re shopping for carbon wheels, you know it’s a big investment. You want wheels that are light, stiff, and strong enough to handle the road ahead. But did you know the way the carbon is put together makes a huge difference in performance?
Most carbon wheels on the market are built using a traditional method called "hand-laying." At Venn Wheels, we use a more advanced, automated process called "filament winding."
Here is a simple breakdown of the difference—and why it matters for your ride.
1. The Traditional Way: Hand-Laid Carbon
Imagine building a paper-mâché model. You take pre-cut sheets of carbon fiber fabric (often soaked in resin), place them into a mold by hand, and overlap them to build up the rim's shape.
The Process: It's like a very expensive arts and crafts project. Skilled workers lay down hundreds of individual pieces of carbon fabric, one by one.
The Problem: Because it’s done by humans, it’s impossible to be perfect every time.
Inconsistency: One wheel might have slightly more overlap or resin in one spot than another, creating tiny imperfections or imbalances.
Hidden Weight: To cover up the seams and rough patches from the hand-laying process, manufacturers have to sand the rim down and add a heavy layer of paint or clear coat to make it look smooth. This adds weight that does nothing for performance.
2. The Advanced Way: Filament Winding (The Venn Method)
Now, imagine a high-tech robotic loom. Instead of placing sheets by hand, a machine precisely winds a single, continuous strand of carbon fiber around a mandrel (the core form of the wheel) under constant tension.
The Process: It’s like winding thread onto a spool, but with incredible precision. The machine controls exactly where every single fiber goes.
The Advantage: The result is an engineering masterpiece.
Perfect Consistency: The machine never gets tired and never makes a mistake. Every rim is structurally identical to the next.
Structurally Superior: Because the fibers are long and continuous—not chopped up pieces overlapping each other—the structure is inherently stronger and stiffer.
No Hiding: The finish you see on a Venn wheel is the raw carbon finish wheelset (vennwheels.com) carbon itself. We don’t use paint or clear coats to hide imperfections because there aren't any. What you see is pure, high-performance engineering.
The Bottom Line for You
Think of it like the difference between a knitted sweater and a woven technical fabric. One has seams and potential weak points; the other is a continuous, integrated structure.
By using filament winding, we create wheels that are lighter (no heavy paint), stronger (continuous fibers), and perfectly balanced straight out of the mold. It’s a more advanced way to build a wheel, resulting in a better ride for you.
Most carbon wheels on the market are built using a traditional method called "hand-laying." At Venn Wheels, we use a more advanced, automated process called "filament winding."
Here is a simple breakdown of the difference—and why it matters for your ride.
1. The Traditional Way: Hand-Laid Carbon
Imagine building a paper-mâché model. You take pre-cut sheets of carbon fiber fabric (often soaked in resin), place them into a mold by hand, and overlap them to build up the rim's shape.
The Process: It's like a very expensive arts and crafts project. Skilled workers lay down hundreds of individual pieces of carbon fabric, one by one.
The Problem: Because it’s done by humans, it’s impossible to be perfect every time.
Inconsistency: One wheel might have slightly more overlap or resin in one spot than another, creating tiny imperfections or imbalances.
Hidden Weight: To cover up the seams and rough patches from the hand-laying process, manufacturers have to sand the rim down and add a heavy layer of paint or clear coat to make it look smooth. This adds weight that does nothing for performance.
2. The Advanced Way: Filament Winding (The Venn Method)
Now, imagine a high-tech robotic loom. Instead of placing sheets by hand, a machine precisely winds a single, continuous strand of carbon fiber around a mandrel (the core form of the wheel) under constant tension.
The Process: It’s like winding thread onto a spool, but with incredible precision. The machine controls exactly where every single fiber goes.
The Advantage: The result is an engineering masterpiece.
Perfect Consistency: The machine never gets tired and never makes a mistake. Every rim is structurally identical to the next.
Structurally Superior: Because the fibers are long and continuous—not chopped up pieces overlapping each other—the structure is inherently stronger and stiffer.
No Hiding: The finish you see on a Venn wheel is the raw carbon finish wheelset (vennwheels.com) carbon itself. We don’t use paint or clear coats to hide imperfections because there aren't any. What you see is pure, high-performance engineering.
The Bottom Line for You
Think of it like the difference between a knitted sweater and a woven technical fabric. One has seams and potential weak points; the other is a continuous, integrated structure.
By using filament winding, we create wheels that are lighter (no heavy paint), stronger (continuous fibers), and perfectly balanced straight out of the mold. It’s a more advanced way to build a wheel, resulting in a better ride for you.