Carbon Fiber Wheels Terms & Conditions

We made the decision to offer carbon fiber tubular and clincher wheels because we believe that carbon fiber engineering and manufacturing has progressed to the point where the material can be used to make wheelsets that provide high performance and reliability for most riding and racing conditions.

Most conditions - not all. We offer a range of wheelsets because not every one is suitable for each type of conditions. You wouldn't use your knee-deep RFSC 85s on a race with narrow roads and howling crosswinds, for example. Catching a gust that knocks you 8" off your line could put you or the three racers next to you into a muddy ditch.

Similarly, there are conditions for which carbon wheels of any rim type and depth are not suitable. Dirt roads, gravel, and cobbles are all surfaces for which the use of carbon wheels is unwise. Yes the pros use them, but the pros get their wheels for free and throw many of them out immediately after the beating they take at Flanders and Roubaix. For them, the threat of wheel failure is measured by the wait in seconds for the team car with a replacement. The expense and inconvenience in the real world is measurably greater. 

Carbon wheels - particularly carbon clinchers - are also not suitable for long and technical descents. While significant improvements have been made in carbon rims' ability to dissipate heat, they are still far more prone to failure than their alloy counterparts. Heat buildup from extended braking can lead to tube and rim blowouts and can compromise the braking surface of carbon rims. These instances are very rare, but they do happen. No matter whose wheels you are riding, we don't want them to happen to you.

We know it's a little unorthodox, but we require our customers read and accept these terms and conditions prior to buying a set of our carbon fiber wheels. It's not to cover our asses - it's to help ensure you ride our wheels safely, and for a long time. 

Terms and Conditions:

• Warranty coverage for use in Gran Fondos, Centuries, and Alpine tours is specifically excluded.  Rides such as these regularly require riders to limit their speed down hills for significant periods of time, which dramatically increases the risk of rim damage. Some of these events have begun to exclude use of carbon clinchers by participants. 
• Heat related damage when used by riders weighing over 200 pounds is specifically excluded. 
• Use in events with downhill neutral roll outs is specifically excluded.
• Heat related damage while using other than the supplied brake pads is specifically excluded.
• Off road use or use on unpaved roads is specifically excluded. 
• The carbon-specific brake pads provided with November wheels are optimized to help dissipate heat on the wheels' carbon fiber braking surface. Damage caused from heat buildup when other brake pads are used is not covered by the wheel warranty. Replacement carbon-specific brake pads for your November wheels are available at no charge from November bicycles, for the life of your carbon fiber wheelset. Request additional brake pads (when needed) here. 
• Any damage to November carbon fiber wheelsets under the conditions listed above that is not covered by the warranty is still covered by our Crash and Damage Replacement policy. 

Our intention is not to scare you out of buying our carbon fiber wheelsets - or anybody else's for that matter. Carbon fiber wheels from other manufacturers are subject to the same limitations (anecdotes available upon request). We believe our wheels are no more susceptible to damage under these circumstances than other wheels available at 2x - 3x the price. But you bought our wheels because you care about how much you pay, and there's no point in saving money if a lack of clarity about a product's limitations causes it to break. 

Race smart.