Looking to take your bike to the next level? We test 16 wheelsets that will pimp your ride SPOKES

Wheel upgrades Looking to take your bike to the next level? We test 16 wheelsets that will pimp your ride A  ssuming you have a decent frame, wheel...
Author: Elizabeth Cole
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Wheel upgrades

Looking to take your bike to the next level? We test 16 wheelsets that will pimp your ride



ssuming you have a decent frame, wheels are the most effective upgrade you can make, offering the greatest real-world gains in any chosen area, whether you want to achieve an aerodynamic advantage, climb faster, increase comfort or decrease weight. For this test, we chose 16 sets of wheels that would make an ideal first upgrade over those supplied with many entry-level machines. If you’re aiming to race, commute, crack your first century, or just get more from your riding, there’s sure to be something here to suit your needs. From bespoke hand built beauties to big name factory offerings, they’ve all been put through their paces. The majority have aerodynamic features, with a variety of rim depths, aero spokes and wind-cheating hubs, and alongside these generally narrow wheels are some wider rim designs, claiming to offer increased stability, comfort and durability. Spoke patterns also vary, from minimal to artistic, with different levels of comfort and functionality.

WEIGHT

SPOKES

A lighter wheel will be faster, right? Well, yes, but although reducing overall mass is important, the most critical factor is rotational weight, namely the rim, tyre and tube, and to a lesser extent spokes and nipples, but it’s a fine line between light and fragile.

Wide, bladed aero spokes are not essential for speed; butted, slim, round spokes can be just as efficient while soaking up more vibration. Spoke count and pattern will also make an enormous difference to performance and suitability for different pursuits.

RIM WIDTH

RIM DEPTH

There has been a realisation over the last few years that when it comes to rims, wider doesn’t necessarily mean slower, with companies like Zipp embracing wider rims for their improved aerodynamics, strength and the better grip of wider tyres.

Aluminium builds into heavier rims than carbon fibre, and therefore a highly aerodynamic aluminium rim will weigh much more. If you’re looking for an aero boost, ensure you don’t actually end up with weightier wheels, which may be slower when the road ramps upwards.

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ROAD

TESTED R I D D E N & R AT E D

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MAVIC KSYRIUM ELITE

£475 iAn oldie – but is it still a goodie? SPECIFICATION WEIGHT F/R 712g/892g SPOKES 18/20 RIM DEPTH 21/23.5mm RIM WIDTH 20/19.5mm SPOKE TENSION BEFORE good/good AFTER good/good

WE SAY...

The Elites still offer tremendous performance for the price

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hese aluminium wheels are no longer the lightest in their price category, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. With no spoke holes piercing it, the sealed asymmetric rim bed helps create a very stiff wheel, and Mavic’s well-proven bladed steel spokes keep everything taut, even under full power. The result is electric acceleration and very surefooted handling. A squared rim profile is less aerodynamic, but you’d be hard pressed to notice. Flat time trialling is the least suitable arena for the Elites for this reason, but it’s the only one, as they’re a true all-rounder for road or cyclo-cross. www.mavic.com HIGHS Fast, dependable, versatile LOWS Weight, square rim not so aero

RATING +++++

VISION TEAM30 £429.95

STRADA HANDBUILT £696

SHIMANO RS80 C24 £449.98

SPECIFICATION WEIGHT F/R 715g/875g SPOKES 20/24 RIM DEPTH 31mm RIM WIDTH 18.5mm SPOKE TENSION BEFORE good/fair AFTER good/fair

SPECIFICATION WEIGHT F/R 688g/866g SPOKES 20/24 RIM DEPTH 25.5mm RIM WIDTH 23mm SPOKE TENSION BEFORE perfect/perfect AFTER perfect/perfect

SPECIFICATION WEIGHT F/R 669g/903g SPOKES 16/20 RIM DEPTH 24mm RIM WIDTH 21mm SPOKE TENSION BEFORE perfect/fair AFTER good/fair



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ision’s premium aero alloy wheel has a 31mm deep rim that is aerodynamic enough to be a help, light enough on the climbs, and not an issue when it’s windy. Preload Reduction Hubs allow adjustment of the four rear and two front cartridge bearings without removing the wheel and are more aerodynamic. Wider flange placement gives the rear wheel extra stiffness, and it pays off in the corners or when leaning hard on the pedals. These handbuilt wheels are tough too, and would suit racing, training over rough roads or even cyclo-cross as they’re also available with a tubular rim. www.windwave.co.uk

est Sussex wheel maestro Strada handbuilt these lookers using 23mm-wide all-black alu H Plus Son rims. Our test pair came with stunning British Goldtec hubs, but for £525 you get Strada’s own good quality, easily serviced road hubs, with preload adjustable sealed Japanese bearings. With all-black tyres fitted they look stunning, and their perceived bulk is forgotten once on the bike. With the tyres pumped to 85psi, the wide rims give great ride quality, smoothing out evil road surfaces and increasing tyre stability and grip. Acceleration was very lively, climbing and sprinting keenly without noticeable deflection. www.stradawheels.co.uk

ith aluminium and carbon laminate minimising rotational weight, the RS80s accelerate and maintain speed with ease. Angular contact bearings spin smoothly and shrug off high loads, while the wide hub flanges and asymmetrically drilled rear rim offer great rigidity. The aluminium braking track and carbon rim, reinforced around the oversized nipple holes, gives predictable braking and low weight. The low spoke count may allow some rim deflection for riders over 85kg, and we saw a relaxing in tension post-test but the RS80s are great all-rounders that sprint, stop, corner and climb. www.madison.co.uk

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DT SWISS R1700

£599.98 i Precision Swiss spinning SPECIFICATION WEIGHT F/R 787g/940g SPOKES 18/24 RIM DEPTH 22mm RIM WIDTH 20mm SPOKE TENSION BEFORE perfect/perfect AFTER good/good

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WE SAY...

Wonderfully engineered Swissmade wheels with quirky features

ith their open crowfoot pattern, the R1700s are a firm but quick ride. The innovative Tricon hubs have a two-part design, enabling their silky bearings to spin more smoothly, and incorporating DT Swiss’s easy to maintain, high quality star ratchet system. The spokes are threaded at both ends, and are secured with rim inserts that keep the alu rim bed undrilled and tubeless-ready. The R1700s disguise those extra grams to roll beautifully, and respond well when pushed hard, resisting twisting forces to give a surging feeling when sprinting. Climbing and cornering are better than average, and build quality is excellent. www.madison.co.uk HIGHS Hub quality, construction LOWS Not the lightest for the price

RATING +++++

RITCHEY WCS ZETA £475

PRO-LITE BRACCIANO £349.99

HED ARDENNES GP £599

SPECIFICATION WEIGHT F/R 697g/929g SPOKES 20/24 RIM DEPTH 24mm RIM WIDTH 19.5mm SPOKE TENSION BEFORE good/good AFTER good/good

SPECIFICATION WEIGHT F/R 636/880g SPOKES 20/24 RIM DEPTH 27mm RIM WIDTH 19mm SPOKE TENSION BEFORE good/fair AFTER good/fair

SPECIFICATION WEIGHT F/R 710g/895g SPOKES 18/24 RIM DEPTH 25mm RIM WIDTH 23mm SPOKE TENSION BEFORE perfect/perfect AFTER good/fair

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utwardly conventional looks hide some quirky features here. A pencil-slim front hub is laced to the alu rim with spokes crossing once and never touching, and the rear hub has narrowly spaced large flanges, giving minimal dish, and a crow’s foot spoke pattern on the drive-side. The design is aimed at increasing lateral rigidity but allowing vertical compliance, and it succeeds, the wheels resisting sprinting and climbing forces well, but although they give great drive and fly along at race speed, they lacked a spark. That said, they’re stiff, fast and would suit a strong rider in need of do-everything wheels. www.paligap.cc

s well as being among the cheapest wheels on test, the Pro-Lites are also some of the lightest. Welded light 6066 alloy rims and triple butted aero spokes shed valuable grams, but with 20 front and 24 rear spokes, they don’t lack strength. The narrow-flanged, undished rear is built in a two-cross pattern on to the asymmetrically drilled rim, and although not the most direct, it’s quite responsive to acceleration with a fair degree of compliance. Two front and five rear bearings help the Pro-Lites to easily hold high speeds on the flat, and their confident handling makes them a fine choice for the hilly sportive rider on a budget. www.hotlines-uk.com

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ED’s take on the classic all-rounder introduces the alu C2 clincher rim. At 23mm it’s 5mm wider than some, aimed at making the most of your tyre’s grip. The profile of a 23mm tyre on a 19mm rim is lightbulb-shaped, whereas the more rounded profile on the Ardennes increases the contact patch for more cornering stability. Even with the recommended 85-105psi tyre pressure due to their greater volume, the HEDs are a very firm ride, possibly due to decreased sidewall deflection, but the pay-off for riders up to 95kg is increased cornering grip. Spoke tension relaxed post-testing, but the wheels stayed true. www.hedwheels.com

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ROAD TESTED R I D D E N & R AT E D

ATR CYCLES £400 i Handcrafted with fancy lacing

SPECIFICATION WEIGHT F/R 795g/937g SPOKES 32/32 RIM DEPTH 19mm RIM WIDTH 20mm SPOKE TENSION BEFORE good/fair AFTER good/fair

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he fanciest wheels on test show what some skill with a spoke key can produce. Hope’s Pro 3 Mono hubs, though noisy, are superbly sealed, the cartridge bearings buttery smooth. They’re laced conventionally at the rear to aluminium Mavic Open Pro rims and in a snowflake pattern up front. With paired spokes wrapped around each other, the shorter unsupported sections make a vertically stiffer and stronger wheel, but our mechanic thought they should have been pre-stressed a little more postbuilding. Ride quality is sublime: comfy over the worst roads, fast and bombproof. www.atrcycles.co.uk HIGHS Supple ride, stunning looks LOWS More freehub noise than most

WE SAY...

Sublime riding wheels that are faster than they look and will last and last

HOW WE TESTED

Measurements, mileage and more measurements First, we measured all wheels for lateral truth (side-to-side movement when spinning), roundness and vertical truth, spoke tension, and how much adjustment the hubs needed when new. For all tests we ran equally inflated Continental

23mm Grand Prix tyres. We used ‘lamppost sprints’ to test acceleration – sprinting from one post to another, starting at 15mph, to see which wheels felt quickest and easiest to wind up to speed. After putting in the same mileage riding each pair,

we took all the measurements again. We’ve listed before-andafter spoke tension for each, and indicated where anomalies in lateral or vertical truth or vertical alignment are significant. You can read the full figures at www.bikeradar.com.

RATING +++++

GIPIEMME TECNO 1.55 LIGHT £475

FULCRUM RACING 3 2-WAY FIT £549.99

HALO CALIBER £500

SPECIFICATION WEIGHT F/R 670g/854g SPOKES 20/20 RIM DEPTH 30.5mm RIM WIDTH 18.5mm SPOKE TENSION BEFORE perfect/perfect AFTER good/good

SPECIFICATION WEIGHT F/R 670g/920g (incl valves) SPOKES 16/21 RIM DEPTH 25/29mm RIM WIDTH 21mm SPOKE TENSION BEFORE perfect/perfect AFTER good/good

SPECIFICATION WEIGHT F/R 713g/994g SPOKES 16/24 RIM DEPTH 39.5mm RIM WIDTH 20mm SPOKE TENSION BEFORE fair/fair AFTER fair/fair



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imilar in style to the American Classics, the slightly shallower alu rim of the Gipiemmes and their lower spoke count make them lighter still. Undoubtedly fast to accelerate, and no slouches uphill, they gave a greater degree of lateral deflection when cornering or sprinting. The relatively tall tyre profile seemed to squirm a little during maximal efforts, which sapped confidence, especially in tight corners. Ride quality was decent for mid-section aluminium wheels with good vibration reduction, they excel at maintaining speed, are strong enough to handle some hits and are beautifully finished. www.osporto.co.uk

n extra 65g or so has been added to the Racing 3s to produce the 2-Way Fits. We ran them with conventional tyres and found them the tightest fit for our test rubber. With no spoke holes, the Fulcrums have ultra-rigid alu rims and right from go felt like a virtual training partner, egging us on. Differential rim heights and hub flanges produce a taut rear wheel, while the light front wheel is superb for placing just where you need, and changing direction fast. Climbing is very efficient and they’re uncompromisingly racy; you’ll feel the rough stuff, but glide over it – or go tubeless for more feel and lower rolling resistance. www.i-ride.co.uk

ith a rim depth of almost 40mm, these aren’t the lightest, but svelte hubs, Ti skewers and slim aero spokes do their bit for aerodynamics and mass reduction. The alu rims are joined with an internal sleeve rather than welded, but the finish is fairly smooth. The front has the same number of spokes as the RS80s, but here they’re slimmer and tensioned less, and there’s noticeable deflection when heaving up a climb. The rear has 24 spokes and performs well, but the extra weight dulls acceleration, despite instant pick-up from the 120-tooth Supa Drive hub. Our biggest gripe is the noisy freehub, though. www.ison-distribution.com

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EASTON EA90 SL

£580 iPro-approved aluminium wheels

SPECIFICATION WEIGHT F/R 665g/912g SPOKES 24/28 RIM DEPTH 22/26mm RIM WIDTH 20mm SPOKE TENSION BEFORE perfect/perfect AFTER good/fair

WE SAY...

Fine high mileage wheels that are suitable for all types of terrain



porting more spokes than most and differential rim depths, the EA90 SLs have Sapim round double butted spokes for increased durability. Easton’s sponsored pros use these for training, but for us mortals they’d be a fine race wheelset. We rode a pair in the Alps and they performed faultlessly, climbing keenly and certainly not hindering progress over many hours in the saddle. The svelte spoking keeps them surprisingly supple when the surface is rough, and they gave enormous cornering confidence on mountain hairpins at high speed. Back home they still perform, and are a firm favourite. www.extrauk.co.uk HIGHS Fast, light and comfortable LOWS More understated than blingy

RATING +++++

COLE ROLLEN ELITE £299.99

AMERICAN CLASSIC 420 AERO 3 £599

BONTRAGER RACE LITE £349.98

SPECIFICATION WEIGHT F/R 700g/926g SPOKES 20/24 RIM DEPTH 28mm RIM WIDTH 20mm SPOKE TENSION BEFORE perfect/perfect AFTER perfect/good

SPECIFICATION WEIGHT F/R 700g/885g SPOKES 18/24 RIM DEPTH 34.5mm RIM WIDTH 18mm SPOKE TENSION BEFORE good/good AFTER good/good

SPECIFICATION WEIGHT F/R 716g/1000g SPOKES 18/24 RIM DEPTH 23/22mm RIM WIDTH 19mm SPOKE TENSION BEFORE perfect/fair AFTER good/fair





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ooking like wheels costing twice as much, with their black rims, hubs and spokes, the Rollens – when rollin’ – could be mistaken for some shallow profile carbon numbers. Being aluminium they aren’t carbon light, but are lively nonetheless, with a compliant ride when the roads are rough, and a willingness to pick up speed. Their lateral stiffness easily copes with outof-the-saddle heaving, and keeps cornering neat and tidy, while climbing isn’t at all arduous. The 28mm profile doesn’t cause any crosswind dramas, and the rim width gives good stability and excellent braking. www.evanscycles.com

he 420 Aero 3s don’t beat around the bush with aesthetics or performance. The highlow flange rear hub equalises spoke tension across the wheel, and the slim front hub reduces frontal area. Broad bladed spokes and the knifelike lightweight 34mm aluminium rim are incredibly aerodynamic and tough – suitable for racing, training or even cyclo-cross. They don’t dull acceleration and exhibit next to no lateral flex when climbing out-of-the-saddle. Maintaining speed just feels easier, even when the road drags upwards. Braking is excellent, and if pink isn’t your thing, they’re available in two other colours. www.eurobike.uk.com



eaturing newly updated alu rims and hubs, the Race Lites have shed some weight, but still carry a few extra grams at the back. The 3.6mm bladed spokes assist aerodynamics, though their J-bend heads don’t, but they’re very strong and should prove durable. We found the front rim marginally taller than the rear, which is odd but insignificant, as they’re both built to last and have an excellent braking surface. On the flat the RLs accelerate reasonably well, but feel sluggish when climbing. They’re laterally stiff, not too harsh on broken road surfaces, and feel stable when cornering, but for racing we’d like more. www.bontrager.com +++++

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ROAD TESTED R I D D E N & R AT E D

SHIMANO RS80 C24

BEST VALUE BEST

LIGHTWEIGHT

EASTON EA90 SL

BEST ON TEST FULCRUM RACING 3 2-WAY FIT

THE VERDICT

WINNER i FULCRUM RACING 3 2-WAY FIT Versatile high performance wheels

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ack to back testing of this nature can surprise and disappoint in equal measure, proving that simply looking at wheels isn’t enough to predict their performance. Some impressively light wheels had few other distinguishing features, while some of the more unassuming models offered much more than expected. Even similarities such as spoke count are no predictor of a wheel’s ride quality, stiffness or speed, as there are so many other factors that can determine performance, such as spoke configuration, size and flange width. With their innovative hybrid rim, the SHIMANO RS80 C24s offer a great blend of gram-shaving structural carbon and effective aluminium braking surface, and are the best value wheels here. The shallow but wider than average rims are very stable under any riding

conditions, and do everything well, their aero qualities make up for it. They’re particularly when repeated accelerations are definitely worth considering if you want to go needed, due to their low inertia. They give a fast and long with more comfort than most. softer ride than some, but are more likely to But the FULCRUM RACING 3 2-WAY FIT suffer from brake rub under heavier riders. take the overall. Even with a little extra weight Belying their less aggressive looks, the to make them tubeless-ready, they are still EASTON EA90 SLs get on with very light and aggressively the job without any fuss. fast. Awesome performance Awesome Whether climbing Alpe d’Huez and slick handling put the performance and or descending a steep local Fulcrums out in front when slick handling put the used with the test tyres and climb, they are faultless, and take the top lightweight tubes. Tyre fitting and Fulcrum Racing 3 honours. The extra spokes are 2-Way Fit out in front removal is tougher with the reassuring when leaning into a tubeless-ready rims, but the steep corner, and give the sort added versatility of using of ride quality that really pays you back after tubeless tyres, with a puncture sealant and hours in the saddle. Although outright lower rolling resistance, could mean little acceleration can’t match the fastest wheels, need to remove them – and more chance to the Eastons are no slouches when pushed, and enjoy the ride.

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