It seems more and more often people are talking about carbon wheels, but there hasn't been much written about buying them used.  Most reviews focus on the latest and greatest $2500 wheelset and essentially place them on an unattainable pedestal vs. reality.

I purchased a used set of Reynolds DV46t (latest version of which is here) mid-October for $500.  They came with "close to new" Continental Sprinter tires but no skewers.  Having recently ridden various combinations of Zipp 303s, 404s, HED Stinger 4s, 6s, and Reynolds MV32s I knew what to expect.  I chose the DV46 because I felt they were the best combination of strength, weight and price.  They would be perfect "all-round" wheels for someone who would be using one set for CX, crits and road/gravel races.  They were deep enough to be extremely stiff and aero but not so deep as to be overly sketchy which, in my mind, strikes the perfect balance for mixed riding.  Finding them for just $500 was a bonus as I'd expected to have to pay $100-300 more for a decent used set.

The night that I received delivery confirmation was one of my quickest commutes on record.  Once unboxed I was pleased to see the condition of the wheels was excellent.  The only signs of use were slight marks on the braking surface and 1/10 or less of tread wear on the rear sprinter.  The DT Swiss made, dt240 in custom ano, hubs spun very smooth and the wheels were perfectly true.  One of the "drawbacks" of this particular wheelset is that you have to remove the tire in order to true the wheels and that can be a pain with tubulars.  Therefore I was very careful to double check the true prior to gluing my Tufo Flexus Cubus 32s, not suprisingly, given the reputation of these wheels, absolutely nothing was needed.

I slipped my KCNC skeweres in and then glued them up.  The gluing process was complete in time to fit them on my Viner Vigor Cross for a quick Thursday spin around the neighborhood and then to jump right into racing that weekend.  I could feel the easier acceleration right away as compared to my older Zipps (clincher 404s which are built to be very durable with DT Swiss competition spokes laced to dt240 disc hubs).  This was no huge surprise as I believe that particular set of 404s weighs close to 1800g and these should easily come in under 1300g.  The overall precision and feel was excellent.  I was pleased to note that my Bontrager cork brake pads had plenty of stopping power on these rims, something which would hold true even in the snow, rain and mud later in my CX season.  An initial concern had been that the braking power would deteriorate too much in the rain and I'd find myself missing the machined aluminum surface on the Zipps.  The lack of rolling resistance on grass and gravel was awesome-  but that is mostly attributable to the tubulars and the tire pressures I was able to run.  I wish it were easier to separate the performance of the wheels from the tires, but that hasn't yet been practical.  I'm certainly happy with the performance of both thus far.  I'm sure I'll get a better sense for how "fast" these wheels are come gravel and then road racing season, but expect nothing but great things.

After 8 cyclocross races and 4 hard training rides they show no signs of the use.  My truing stand has them as true as ever, despite my 185 lbs and limited skills as a cyclocross rider.  I ran them into more than a couple of barriers and went over the bars hard three of four times.  One day at Jinglecross I went into a slide on the switchbacks, rolled over the bike down the fall-line put all my weight into the top tube in a rolling motion and side loaded the wheels enough that the bike sprung up into the air beside me. There is no reason not to expect these to hold up very well in the future.  I am also comforted by the fact that I know that I can make minor repairs if needed.

I believe that these wheels are probably nicer than someone at my level of skill really needs, they are certainly good enough not to slow me down.  That said, it would be hard to find something cheaper that wouldn't be worse, even used.  The DT Swiss hubs used in these wheels retail for close to the cost of the complete wheelset and I strongly believe they are worth that.  I have used other wheelsets with very similar DT Swiss hubs the last two years for virtually all my gravel racing and mountain biking and never once have they let me down.  Even after muddy endurance events like the Royal 162 they have spun perfectly and needed no work.  When you add in the other benefits of these wheels, or anything similar, and they start looking very attractive.

One might argue that custom wheels built by a local, expert, wheelbuilder are a better option and I can't really argue with that beyond pointing to the cost.  From scratch a wheelset like this is likely to run $2000+ if you are on good terms with the builder.  If you can afford to go that route you will get exactly what you want and need, but if you can't afford the good stuff through them why not buy used?  Buying some used high end wheels from your friend or teammate frees them up to buy another expensive new set from their LBS.  I look forward to testing these out with the appropriate tires for both gravel and road events next spring.