How to Replace Your Old Aluminium Wheels with 10PLUS Carbon Wheels
Swapping alloy wheels for carbon is one of the most common bike upgrades, and most of it is moving parts from one wheel to the other. Here's the whole job, from the tools to the first ride.
More than just fitting tyres
New wheels are often called the best upgrade you can make to a bike, but changing a wheelset properly is more than putting tyres on. If you want to keep your own rotors and cassette and leave the bike in a safe, well-adjusted state, you'll also be moving parts across and adjusting the brakes and gears.
This guide covers the whole job in one place. 10PLUS wheels are disc-brake only, so the focus is on disc brakes, and on tyres with inner tubes — if you're going tubeless instead, the tubeless-ready guide covers that setup. Check the right axle and freehub before you order with the 5-minute compatibility checklist.
What you'll need
- Two or more tyre levers.
- A pump: a mini pump works, a floor pump or electric pump is easier.
- A cassette lockring tool and a chain whip.
- Hex (Allen) keys.
- A Center Lock rotor tool — often the same tool as a bottom-bracket wrench, or sometimes the cassette tool.
- A torque wrench is welcome, but not a must.
- Gloves: catching your hand on the spokes while removing a tyre can hurt, and spinning rotors deserve respect.
- Some general-purpose grease.
- A repair stand is handy but optional — flipping the bike upside down works too.
You don't need soapy water or other lubricants to get tyres on and off.
Step 1: take the old wheels out
Deflate the tyres first. Before removing the rear wheel, shift onto the smallest chainring and the smallest sprocket: lift the rear of the bike, pedal forward and shift. On electronic groupsets, shift one gear at a time. Skip this and the rear wheel can get stuck on the way out.
Open the thru axles (or quick-release skewers) and take the wheels out, gently easing the derailleur back if the rear wheel catches. If it still fights you, take the chain off the chainring to give yourself more slack. The front wheel is the same job with fewer parts.
With the wheels out, don't squeeze the brake levers on hydraulic disc brakes — the pads can close up. If you're forgetful, slip a pad spacer or a folded piece of paper between the pads.
Step 2: move the rotors
There are two rotor mounts. 6-bolt rotors fix to the hub with six hex or Torx bolts. Center Lock rotors slide onto a splined hub and are held by a lockring, which needs the Center Lock tool.
A 6-bolt rotor can be fitted to a Center Lock hub with an adapter, but a Center Lock rotor can't go on a 6-bolt hub. Before fitting, check there's no plastic packaging spacer left on the new hub.
Step 3: move the cassette
Do the cassette before the tyres: with the tyre still off, there's nothing on the rim to get damaged while you lean on the tools.
Hold the cassette with the chain whip, fit the lockring tool (some need an adjustable spanner to turn them), and undo the lockring. 11- and 12-speed cassettes can fall apart into a pile of sprockets when they come off — don't worry, they only fit back on the freehub one way.
Watch the spacers. 8- to 10-speed cassettes usually need a spacer behind them on an 11-speed freehub, and a few 11-speed cassettes do too. A freehub made for 7- to 10-speed won't take an 11-speed cassette at all. Shimano HG is the most common standard; some SRAM cassettes fit HG too, but SRAM XD/XDR cassettes need their own freehub (same tools, though), and Campagnolo uses its own tools. The freehub guide explains which one you need.
Tighten the lockring firmly but not excessively — overdo it and you may struggle to get it off next time. A torque wrench takes out the guesswork. Finish by checking the cassette doesn't wobble.
Step 4: take the tyre off the old wheel
With the tyre fully deflated, push both beads in towards the middle of the rim all the way round — that gives you the slack you need. Start opposite the valve, never next to it.
Tight tyres are where the classic "one lever, hook it on a spoke" method fails. A more reliable approach: insert two levers at the same time, about 6cm apart, and lever them down together to lift the bead. Hook the first lever on the spoke on the same side, take the second one out, check the tube isn't trapped, then put it back in and slide it round to release the bead.
Never use brute force: a slipping lever can send your hand into the spokes, and flat aero spokes are sharp. If it's still a struggle, push the other side of the tyre off the rim instead.
Step 5: fit the tyre and tube on the new wheel
Mount one bead of the tyre onto the rim. Folding tyres can be fiddlier than wired ones because they don't hold a round shape.
Use a tube with a valve comfortably longer than the rim depth — on deep carbon rims this matters, and a longer valve also fits more rims and is easier to pump. Inflate the tube just enough to give it shape, then fit it into the tyre, valve first.
Push the second bead onto the rim by hand, working towards the valve, and use a tyre lever only for the last tight section, squeezing the tyre down into the rim's centre to make room. Pump to your normal pressure and check for leaks.
Step 6: fit the new wheels
Make sure the chain is sitting on the derailleur's guide pulley. Line the smallest sprocket up with the chain, push the derailleur back and lower the wheel slowly into the dropouts, guiding the rotor between the pads. Don't force it — if it doesn't go, lift it out and try again. Then close the thru axles.
Step 7: adjust the disc brakes
Rotors sit in a slightly different position on every hub, so some brake rub after a swap is normal. Loosen the caliper mounting bolts until the caliper moves freely, squeeze the brake lever with normal force and, while holding it, tighten the bolts again.
If it still rubs, line the caliper up by hand and by eye — with good light it isn't hard. Also check the rotor itself is straight: a bent rotor usually rubs and makes a noise at the same point every turn, and can be straightened at that point with a rotor tool or an adjustable spanner.
Step 8: fine-tune the gears
The cassette may also sit in a slightly different place. If the chain is slow to shift up to a larger sprocket, turn the derailleur barrel adjuster out by a quarter or half a turn. If it shifts quickly but rubs on the next sprocket, turn it back in.
Step 9: final safety checks
Spin both wheels and check they run true. If the rim wobbles by more than about 1mm and you don't know how to fix it, a bike shop can true it without costing much. The quality control page shows what 10PLUS checks before shipping.
If you only have one minute before a ride, check the stem bolts: a loose stem means you can't steer. And on longer rides, always carry a multi-tool, a spare tube, tyre levers and a mini pump.
Final thoughts
Swapping wheels is mostly a transfer job: rotors, cassette and tyres move across, then a few minutes of brake and gear adjustment. Give yourself an unhurried afternoon and do it once, properly.
The fastest upgrade isn't the lightest wheel — it's the one that's fitted properly.