Farsports C5 Review: Lighter and Cheaper than Ever Before!

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Farsports introduced their new C and S Series wheels a few months ago. I received their C5 for testing with a note that these wheels are game-changing. As always, I was skeptical because companies like to make strong claims, but the reality is often different. But what about the C5? I concluded in-house testing and rode them for some time to compare them with the competition.

My C5 wheels scoring at a glance:
Crosswind Stability 5/5 | Stiffness 4/5 | Riding Comfort 5/5 | Speed Maintenance 4/5 | Tire On 3/5 | Trueness 5/5 | Spoke Tension 5/5 | Dishing 4/5 | Price 3/5 | OVERALL 4.2/5
More about this road wheels scoring.

Farsports C5 Main Features

Here is a quick summary of the features and specs of the Farsports C5 wheels.

Farsports 2025 Wheels: What’s New?

In short, Farsports improved its wheelset line-up by reducing weight and price. On paper, the specifications are very good, beating basically most Chinese and Western competitors for a fraction of the price. The following table provides more details, or you can read this article summarizing the Farsports 2025 wheels lineup.

As you can see from the table, the rim width follows today’s standard. The question is whether they are future-proof enough because wheels like those from Reserve or ENVE are even wider to better fit 30mm and wider tires. I will talk about this a bit more later in this review.

First Impressions and Unboxing

Unlike the unboxing of Farsports wheels from wheelsfar.com (Farsports Wave), the wheels came in a black box. Black looks more premium than a standard brown one.

I was surprised that the wheels were packaged in simple wheel bags. This is not common. I will definitely keep them, for example, for transporting wheels by car. It makes sure the rims don’t get scratched. The package includes tubeless valves but no tubeless rim tape. This is due to the design of the rims. They don’t have holes for spokes, so the tape is not needed.

Straight out of the box, the wheels feel light and well-made, and they are accented with silver matte hubs and orange freehub dots.

In-House Tests

Lateral and Radial Trueness

I checked both wheels’ lateral and radial trueness on a truing stand. They turned out fine. Only in one place on the rear wheel, I observed a deviation of less than 0.5 mm.

Spoke Tension

The spoke tension was attacking perfection, especially the rear wheel. On the front wheel, I encountered 3 spokes outside the 5% limit from the average, but they still easily met the 10% limit. See the following charts for further reference.

Rim Centering (Dishing)

The dishing (how well-centered the hub is) was most surprising, however. The rear wheel hub was not quite well centered. The gap between the dishing pin and the hub end cap is clearly visible in the photo and reaches almost 1mm. This doesn’t affect the riding characteristics. I just wanted to demonstrate that even in Farsports, they are not perfect.

A Look Inside

Next, I also used the endoscope to look inside the rims. They looked clean and smooth. I found no epoxy residue, wrinkles, or anything else. Again, you can see the detailed photos below.

The Difficulty of Putting the Tire On

C5 wheels are tubeless-ready and don’t need tubeless rim tape. So, as always, I tried to put on Tufo Comtura 4 TR 28mm tires—this time brand new ones. I didn’t need tire levers for the rear wheel when putting them on the rims, but I needed them for the front wheel. I can’t explain this because both wheels have the same rim width and profile. Maybe a bad tire tolerance?

Considering the 24-mm internal rim width, I expected issues when seating them using a regular floor pump. And I was right; I couldn’t seat them with it, and I had to use an air compressor. Everything went smoothly with it.

Riding Experience

The first time I rode a C5 was in Italy at Lake Como. The plan was for about a two-hour ride, which ended up stretching to over four hours. Our vanity failed us, and instead of turning around at the end of the asphalt section of the local hill, we continued on the gravel road up into the clouds.

I wasn’t alone. I went with a friend from Belarus, who unfortunately didn’t have a repair kit, so when he got a flat, I lent him my RideNow inner tube. “These are Tufo Comtura 4 TR tires. I can’t get a puncture!” I bragged to him as he fixed his puncture. After the repair, we decided it would be wiser to turn around and go back. Drunk with confidence in my tires, I pushed the descent and got a puncture 500m later. However, I could not fix it as I didn’t have more spare tubes, so I began the most intense wheel test I had ever undertaken.

I rode carefully on an empty rear wheel for about 10 km, about 4 km of which were on gravel. The tire stayed on, so the rims didn’t touch the road. I risked damaging them, but I believed nothing would happen to them. And the result? Apart from a few scratches, no major damage or cracks. I think that says a lot about the durability of these wheels.

In terms of handling, they are comfortable even on worse roads, especially in combination with 28mm and wider tires. I was surprised, however, that the C5s are quite stiff despite their lightweight and Alpina Ultralite steel spokes. In a blind test, I would probably be unable to determine if I ride steel—or carbon-spoked wheels. That’s how marginal the differences feel (at least to me as I only weight around 68 kg).

I “enjoyed” more than enough crosswinds during this fall. However, these wheels are stable and behave predictably. The same is true at higher speeds (60 km/h and more).

What strikes me is the progress from the Farsports Ventoux S that I tested about 2 years ago. These were Farsports flagship wheels. Their design is about 3-4 years old. C5s cost about $700 less but provide similarly good, maybe even better riding characteristics. The market has progressed incredibly.

However, I’m sure you’re interested in comparison with the Elitewheels DRIVE wheels, which cost similarly and are one of my favorite wheels for climbers. So, what’s the verdict? I still find DRIVE a bit more agile. I don’t know how it’s possible they achieved such a low inertia, but the acceleration on them is still better. I notice it most on steep climbs or at intersections.

We are still talking about marginal differences that you will notice when riding the wheels side by side. The differences between Chinese wheels are gradually blurring. Most established Chinese brands already produce first-class wheels, and the difference is seen more in customer support and service.

Honestly, there’s not much to fault about these wheels—oh wait, I have a few. They just don’t feel that they can maintain momentum as well as other, heavier wheels. Again, it’s just a feeling, and we are talking about marginal differences. This can be a disadvantage if you live in a rolling terrain, so the speed you gain from the short descent won’t last as long when you start climbing again.

Another thing is the outer rim width, which is 30.4mm. The trend for road wheels in 2024 seems to be 30mm or more. For example, the Reserve or ENVE bikes used by Visma-Lease a Bike and UAE Team Emirates are even wider. Therefore, the question arises whether Farsports wheels are “future-proof” enough. In my opinion, yes, but in 2 years, I may say otherwise. We’ll see where the market goes from here.

Due to the lack of rim bed holes, spokes replacement will be much more difficult than on rims with holes for nipples. You (or the mechanic) will have to use magnets to guide nipples into the correct spoke hole. You can watch the following video for more info, but long story short, you don’t want to break spokes on such wheels.

It would also be nice to see an aerodynamic comparison with other Western or Chinese wheels, but I understand it costs a lot of money. So, it’s better to have a cheaper wheelset than to have these tests reflected in the final price. The differences are in the orders of magnitude of lower watts anyway.

Farsports C5 Alternatives

You can also check out the wheels in the following table, which shows the individual criteria of all wheels I tested and my rating.

My Verdict

For a long time, nothing new seemed to happen in the carbon wheel market. We were getting to a price point of around $1500 for carbon-spoked wheels weighing around 1350g at 50mm deep. However, Farsports have pushed the limit a little further. Their new lineup provides fantastic specifications at a very affordable price.

The ride characteristics of the C5 wheels are great and will suit a wide range of riders. They are comfortable, stable in crosswinds, and almost as stiff as carbon-spoked wheels. In a blind test, I probably wouldn’t be able to tell, but remember, I only weigh 68 kg, so I can’t push the wheels to their limits.

I see their disadvantages as not being able to maintain speed on flat and rolling terrain. But again, we are talking about marginal differences. It is also a pity that they are not a bit wider, which would make them more future-proof. After all, we can expect that 30, maybe even 32mm, will be considered the standard tire width on road bikes in a year or two. From that point of view, it is perhaps a missed opportunity.

Anyway, I hope you found this review useful. If you decide to purchase, please use the discount coupon and link below. It’s the best way you can save and support this website. Thanks a lot.

Farsports Wheels FAQ

The product for this review was kindly provided by the manufacturer. This did not influence my overall verdict or my opinion about the product. You can learn more about how I approach reviews here.