March 13th, 2008 by 
Karl Etzel
I’ve been on the Reynolds MV32C’s for a about a month now and thought I would share a few impressions. Before I go any further I’ll engage in some journalistic housekeeping - the bike studio I own is a Reynolds dealer. But since I get to make the call on what brands we carry, you can probably guess that we carry products I believe in, not the other way around. In any case, I’ll clearly separate out fact from opinion in this review.
Just the facts: Reynolds does not make any rims with carbon fairings over an aluminum rim. The MV32C’s are a full carbon clincher, no aluminum in the rim at all. Reynolds has a long history with carbon design and manufacturing so they like to put it to full effect. Advertised weight for the pair is 1400g although wheel manufacturers usually quote with no skewers or rim strips. My measurements include skewers (the ones that Reynolds provides with the wheels, of course), Velox rim tape, and the rear wheel magnet for my SRM. Take out the skewers and the wheels + rim tape are right in at 1465 grams. I measured the skewers separately at 115 grams. Factor in the tape and the magnet and the advertised/actual are probably right on.
Here they are on the scale:
Reynolds seems to stick with something standard if they can’t substantially improve on it, and the spokes are standard DT Aerolite bladed (DT Comp on the drive side).
Nipples are alloy and recessed, and the necessary spoke wrench comes with the wheels. The hubs are Reynolds design but built by the hub experts at DT around the DT240s design.
If you are a power junkie the entire Reynold’s line is available built up with PowerTap 2.4 (wireless) or Pro (wired) hub systems. And of course the wheels are available in a tubular option if you must have the ultimate in light weight. The tubular option is actually less expensive by about $500, not a trivial savings and if you are experienced with gluing sewups something to seriously consider. MSRP on the MV32C is $2250 for the pair.
Opinions:
One of my biggest impressions of the wheel is the braking performance, which I found to be excellent with the Reynolds carbon specific pads (included when you buy the wheels). I really don’t feel that running the full carbon rim involved any compromises in braking relative to my aluminum wheels. The only thing I can’t comment on is braking in the rain, I just don’t ride in the rain much anymore. Maybe I can rig up a parking lot brake test with a hose to spray the rims and spare my wimpy self from getting wet…I’ll let you know.
It’s really important to use the carbon specific pads and to make sure that you keep them away from aluminum rims. Make the time to swap the pads (although the wheels are durable enough that you may not feel the need to swap them out for training). This photo shows why:
Those aluminum shards got embedded after a few rides of using the carbon pads on an Al rim - the braking worked ok (although not as good as with the carbon rims) but before you switch back to the Reynolds wheels, clean them out with an Exacto knife and spare your carbon rims! I filed the pads down a bit to clean them and they were good-to-go. This might be necessary in a race situation if you were to flat so it is good to know you can drop in an aluminum wheel, finish out the race, and then put the carbon wheels back on later after just a couple of minutes of pad cleanup.
As far as construction goes, I really like the standard (and easy to repair) J-bend spoke design. There are so many wheels out there with unique spokes that don’t seem to offer much in the way of performance gains. “Different” does not always equate to “better” and DT spokes are hard to beat. The hub’s DT pedigree is also a confidence booster, Reynolds again paired a premium quality hub to go with their premium quality carbon technology.
Reynolds does a nice job of packaging the wheels, they come with rim strips, plastic tire levers, ti skewers, and a spoke wrench to reach the recessed nipples so you don’t get nickle & dimed after buying a set of top-shelf wheels.
I found the wheels to be plenty stiff when accelerating & cornering but where I really like them is in surging uphill. Their light weight gives them plenty of snap and the aerodynamic profile does an admirable job at higher speeds on the flats. They struck me as the perfect all arounder wheel although for a really flat race I’d probably prefer an SDV-66 wheel on the back for more aero kick with the slimmer profile MV32 on the front to reduce cross wind push-around. You’ll see many pros running just such a setup in road races these days.
Summary - If you are looking for a top shelf carbon wheel that is light, strong, and versatile, the MV32C deserves serious consideration. It strikes a great balance between aerodynamics, weight, and durability, and the folks at Reynolds really know their stuff when it comes to carbon. They aren’t just slapping a label on a carbon rim that someone else developed & tested, and let’s face it there are plenty of carbon bikes & components these days in that category.
March 14th, 2008 at 9:27 am
I can’t quite get my head around why people want carbon wheels. Ride quality? Certainly can’t be weight. These are beaten down by even standard wheels. Price certainly isn’t the factor. Someone please enlighten me.
March 14th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Do you ride an Alum bike? If you do, and like the beating, great for you.
March 17th, 2008 at 12:16 am
There are plenty of reasons that people - especially racers want carbon wheels. The most obvious is that there aren’t any 46mm deep alloy rims in production - I can’t think of any deeper than 34mm. There are some lightweight alloy options out there, but even the most deep rimmed carbon tubulars are as light or lighter than the ~1350 gram alloy wheels.
The bigger question is why carbon clinchers. The weight and cost combine with the inherent poor braking of carbon to make a wheelset with only a few advantages. There is no advantage for a wheelset like the MV32cs over a lighter alloy wheel with a 34mm like the Rolf Vigor or American Classic 420s. You can still get a deep rimmed carbon clincher. I wouldn’t consider the MV-32C to be a deep carbon rim, but there many options for deeper rims such as the DV-46C or the SV-66C by Reynolds. That aerodynamic advantage combined with the convenience of a clincher and the fact that most clinchers are tested to have lower rolling resistance than most tubulars gives them some advantage. They certainly aren’t the best option, and from a purely anecdotal perspective, I don’t think that carbon rims make a very good every-day wheel. I’ve seen more than a few folks breaking carbon clinchers. That’s not to say that carbon tubulars are more durable, but most people don’t put a huge number of miles on them.
Regarding ride quality. I’ve never ridden a carbon clincher, but I’ve ridden more than a handful of carbon tubulars and many alloy wheels. The rim material has very little impact on ride quality. Tire pressure and the kind of tire will make a bigger difference than anything. The construction of the wheel - mainly spoke tension - makes a huge difference. Compare the ride of a handbuilt 32 spoke wheel with lower tension to a 24 spoke high tension wheel - the difference is immediately noticeable. I doubt anyone could honestly tell the difference in rim material.
March 21st, 2008 at 8:00 pm
whoa! From the moment I got on my Reynolds I knew they were not as advertised. I got an aweful squeeking/clicking noise every time I stood up on the pedals. Shop said the spokes were rubbing together, put some teflon tape between them, ok for a while. Why in the world would wheels of this level even have this problem. The noise finally got the best of me and I gave them to my wife. They still creaked when she stood up and pushed hard(she weighs 130lbs.). I went w/ the Campy Boras and just plain out no prbs to report.Contacted Reynlods about this and they said sorry. We ended up sodering the spokes of the Reynolds together to eliminate the noise. Forget it, got her some new Tolino’s, super quiet, roll great and mom is very happy. Maybe I got a bas pair, who knows but it was a pretty disappointing experience. Hope you have better luck.
March 28th, 2008 at 6:09 am
I’ve been riding my Reynolds 46 aeor carbon tubulars for 3 years on almost every ride and have never had to true them. I weigh about 175 pounds and have no concerns at all about durability, even with the low spoke count of 20 front and 24 rear that I continue to use. If you have not ridden a good set of carbon wheels (there are many bad ones out there) you’re missing on the advantages of Reynolds carbon rims. They are light, stiff, bomb-proof, and provide an incredible amount of vibration dampening. I’ve used Schwable Stelvios exclusively on my Mavic Open Pro clinchers and Reynolds tubulars, so the ride difference is not tire related (maybe slightly from clincher and tubular difference) even though I keep my tubular pressure 20 pounds higher. The only time I’ve seen failure of Reynold wheels are in MAJOR crashes at race events. I have had absolutely no noise from spoke pop, or anything else on my wheels. Braking is great with the carbon pads, and as good as anything aluminum in the wet. Are they worth the price, YES. Though I’d go with the tubular over the clincher, using Tufo tubular tape (which I’ve been using for 4 years and never rolled a tire) for less expense and better ride quality. One more note, these guys are making carbon rims and other components (seat posts, tubes, forks) for many other manufacturers (Trek, Specialized, Calfee, Serotta, etc…). Bottom line, they are bullet proof and worth every penny.
March 28th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
My Reynolds DV46-ULs are 3 years old and are fantastic with Tufo Tires and yes the Tufo tape. They claim to weigh in at 1170 and are stiff and aero. Try that with an aluminum clincher. Anyhow, I race’m and I love’em. It’s just that simple. I pull off my current aluminum clincher set and put on my Reynolds and my bike is one pound lighter and certainly rolls up nice at speed.
I plan on racing and training on DTR1.1 clinchers (just ordered this week) with the Power Tap SL2.4 then getting another Reynolds rear with a Power tap (will order later this year).
Then i’ll have two sets of Power tap wheels one aluminum clincher and one carbon semi deep race.
April 19th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Don’t buy into the nonsense about carbon rims on wheels providing lots of vibration damping,……. If you believe that I have some good swamp land for sale in cental Texas, a builders dream I promise. LOL
April 26th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
My Reynolds carbon have great breaking performance. i have raced and trained on them in all conditions and with the right pads they work great.As far as why clincher.. well you can train and race on the same wheel.. just switch to race tires.. These wheels have been solid for me. Tubs are nice but i cant afford to have a set of wheels i will only use 4-6 times a year!
May 4th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
I’ve been riding the Attacks for two years. Blew a spoke out on a sprint finish last year but no problems since. Second wheels are Ksyrium ES and without question the Attacks provide a higher level of dampening as well as better aerodynamics. This is most notable on downhills. For most courses and applications this is of negligable benefit, but for long road races they really do provide a benefit.