Diving deep: Reviewing Berd polymer vs steel-bladed spokes
Read the original at Escape Collective (members only)
My take
I briefly considered BERD polymer spokes for my first 32″ wheelset due to the low weight and ride quality. But I am now leaning towards bladed carbon for the potential aero advantage and since I don’t do much super technical riding on rocks etc. where polymer spokes seem to have a clear advantage.
What the article reports
Dave Rome compared two otherwise matching gravel wheelsets from New Zealand builder Wheelworks: one with BERD PolyLight polymer spokes and one with DT Swiss Aerolite bladed steel. He found the BERD wheels lighter and noticeably smoother over small bumps.
His review also describes higher cost, more demanding wheel builds and maintenance, and an aerodynamic compromise. He favours BERD for rougher off-road riding, but would choose bladed steel for smoother, faster gravel races. He cautions that the stiffness of carbon spokes is not automatically a benefit off-road.
This was a polymer-versus-steel comparison, not a test showing that carbon spokes are faster than BERD.
This is an AI-generated summary.
A BERD polymer spoke. Photo: Josh Weinberg / Escape Collective. From Dave Rome’s original deep dive.
A BERD wheel with polymer spokes. Photo: James Huang / Escape Collective. See the original article and its image credits.