• One of the most popular upgrades, better wheels (and tyres) can dramatically improve your bike’s ride.

• Stock wheels are often heavy and of mediocre quality — upgrading can reduce weight and improve reliability.

• If you want to go faster, choose wheels with deep-section rims; aerodynamics is far more important than weight.

• You’ve a choice of clinchers, tubulars or tubeless, with matching tyres; each system has pros and cons.

• Wheels benefit from the human touch; the best handbuilt wheels are still superior to wheels built entirely by machine.

Upgrading the wheels is one of the first changes many people make to their bikes. Why are wheels so important and how do you choose a better set of hoops?

It's one of the bike industry's guilty secrets: the wheels on even quite pricey road bikes are often a bit ordinary. That means upgrading your wheels can make a big difference to the feel and performance of your bike.

There are several reasons why you might want better wheels. If you're doing a lot of commuting on bad roads (the potholed streets of just about any UK major city for example) you might want a set of beefy wheels for weekday riding, and to switch to something lighter or more aerodynamic for the weekend.

Or you might have decided to keep the run-of-the-mill wheels your bike came with for training and to fit better-performance wheels for sunny days and important events.

>> Read more: All wheel reviews on road.cc

Wheel construction

The basics of wheel construction haven't changed in decades because, quite simply, they work extraordinarily well. A bike wheel can carry hundreds of times its own weight; pretty remarkable structural efficiency.

Your basic tension-spoked wheel consists of a hub that houses bearings so the whole thing can turn easily, a rim for the tyre to sit on and steel spokes under tension that hold it all together.

The tension in the spokes is the vital factor. When you load a wheel, the tension goes down in the spokes between the hub and the ground. As long as it never hits zero, the wheel can support you and your bike.

Nevertheless, wheels have evolved in the last couple of decades, and now usually have fewer spokes and deeper rims, both changes that improve aerodynamics. The spokes themselves may be flattened to better cut through the air too.

Perhaps the biggest change is the use of carbon fiber for rims. That's made possible deep, highly aerodynamic rims with minimal weight penalty. Carbon wheels are still more expensive than wheels with aluminium rims, but prices have been steadily decreasing for the last few years.

Tubulars, clinchers and tubeless

In terms of how tyres mount, there are three types of wheel rim. Rims for tubular tyres — which have the inner tube sewn into the carcass — have a shallow dip where the tyre is glued on. These are the lightest rims, and tubular fans say their soft floaty ride is unparalleled. However, for the vast majority of people the faff of gluing, and the difficulty of fixing a punctured tubular makes them too much hassle.

Clincher or wire-on rims have raised sidewalls with a hook where the tyre bead engages, and the tyre has a separate inner tube. In other words, this is the standard bike rim and tyre we all know and love. Fixing a flat is a simple matter of changing the tube and swapping tyres just requires tyre levers and a pump.

Tubeless tyres are a special case of clinchers. Tyre and rim are manufactured to precise tolerances to enable an airtight seal. The rim has no holes and the tyre is coated internally with rubber so there's no need for an inner tube. Some manufacturers forego the rubber coating and base their tubeless systems around use of sealant. That has the advantage of making them more resistant to penetration punctures, in addition to their natural resistance to pinch punctures.

Weight vs Aerodynamics

If performance is your aim, there's strong evidence that you should put more priority on aerodynamics than weight. Way back in 2001 bike engineer Kraig Willett analysed the forces on wheels and concluded:

"When evaluating wheel performance, wheel aerodynamics are the most important, distantly followed by wheel mass. Wheel inertia effects in all cases are so small that they are arguably insignificant."

That goes against the long-standing conventional wisdom that wheel weight is vitally important to performance because wheels have to be spun up to speed as well as moved along the road.

But you don't do much accelerating when you ride a bike, and even when you do the speed changes involved are relatively gradual. That means you spend most of your time, and therefore effort, simply shoving the air out of the way, and you should choose wheels accordingly.

Pro teams have drawn similar conclusions, which is why you now see far more deep-section wheels in the peloton than you did even ten years ago. Aero wheels are free speed in a breakaway or sprint.

The big disadvantage of deep-section wheels is the effect of crosswinds, which can blow you off track. Some wheels are less affected than others. Zipp's Firecrest shape is widely considered to be among the least problematic thanks to its bulged sidewalls, and most wheelmakers now offer something similar.

Rim width

Just as tyres have become a bit wider in recent years, with the previously ubiquitous 23mm size giving away to 25, 26 and even 28mm tyres, so rims have spread out too. All other things being equal, a wider rim makes for a stiffer, stronger wheel and also makes the tyre effectively a bit fatter.

Wider rims are also claimed to be more aerodynamic because air flows more smoothly between tyre and rim if they are about the same size. Wheel maker Mavic has taken this to its logical conclusion with its CX01 Blades, plastic fairings that fill the groove between its Yksion CXR tyre and Cosmic CXR wheel. The UCI won't let pros use them, but that doesn't affect triathletes and UK time trial riders.

Can we build it?

Wheelbuilding (CC BY-NC-ND Cory Grunkemeyer:Flickr)

If you want your wheels to be durable, then how they were built is just as important as the components that went into them. For wheels to be durable, the tension needs to be high and even. If it's not high then spokes can come loose as you ride because the tension can drop to zero under load. If the tension is not even then the wheel is unlikely to stay round and true, even if it's that way out of the box.

A step in the wheel-building process called 'stress-relieving' also improves wheel longevity by preventing fatigue failure at the spoke heads. If your relatively new wheels start breaking spokes it's a good bet they weren't stress-relieved properly when they were built.

Most wheels these days are built by machines. It's possible to set up wheel building machines to get all of these things right, or very nearly right, but sometimes factories take short-cuts, especially when the objective is to build inexpensive wheels. The less time each wheel spends in the machine, the more wheels the factory can build.

Spokes (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Jon Bowen:Flickr)

That's why cheap machine-built wheels have a poor reputation, but if a wheel builder doesn't know what he or she is doing, humans can build poor wheels too. The most efficient way of mass-producing high-quality wheels seems to be to let machines quickly do the spadework and then finish them by hand, as Joe Graney found when Santa Cruz decided to build its own wheels.

Alternatively, you can get top-quality wheels that have been built by hand from start to finish, either off-the-peg or custom built. Barnoldswick parts-meisters Hope have been making well-regarded wheels for years, including road wheels, while Hunt Bike Wheels is a new entrant in the field. You'll find wheels built by several others in the selection below.

If you want something truly special, a wheelbuilder who really knows their stuff can help you choose exactly the right combination of hubs, rims and spokes for your needs. The doyen of this approach in the UK is probably Liverpool's Pete Matthews whose resume includes building wheels for Tour de France King of the Mountains Robert Millar, legendary rouleur Sean Yates and comedian Alexei Sayle. Many good bike shops have a similar if less storied figure lurking in the workshop, quietly crafting wheels that last until the rim sidewalls wear out.

Names to look for

The major wheel brands nevertheless produce good wheels, by and large. Riders report thousands of happy miles on wheels by Mavic, Bontrager, Shimano, Reynolds, Zipp, DT Swiss and many others. Here are some of our favourite wheels from the last couple of years.

The best road bike wheels

Prime BlackEdition 50 Carbon — £699.99

Prime's BlackEdition 50 Carbon wheels vastly outperform their price-tag, with stable rims, great braking, smooth hubs and easy tubeless setup. The rims are designed to work best with wider tyres. The 19mm internal width allows the tyre to be nice and fat and our tester was very happy running these at around 55psi, especially with 28mm tyres. The 27.5mm external width, in theory, creates a wind-cheating profile. Until we get a wind tunnel, all we can say is that these didn't hold us back. On the flat, they hold speed easily and glide over poor surfaces.

Read our review of the Prime BlackEdition 50 Carbon wheels

Just Riding Along Lark Light — £414.80

The Lark Light Road wheels from UK brand JRA (Just Riding Along) certainly live up to their name, weighing just 1,460g for the set. They're very responsive and JRA hasn't sacrificed durability to save the grams either. It's the perfect package for the rider who wants a classically styled, lightweight set of wheels for racing or training.

Losing 250g from a wheelset always seems to make much more of a difference to how the weight of the bike feels compared with dropping the same amount elsewhere, so swapping to the Larks from a set of winter rims made impressive differences to acceleration and climbing.

The JRA Light Road hubs run very, very smoothly on their stainless bearings and the pick-up on the freewheel is fast and precise, which all adds to effortless rolling whether on the flat or rolling terrain.

Read our review of the Just Riding Along Lark Light wheels

Token Prime Ventous Carbon Disc — £1,099.99

The build quality of the Prime Ventous Carbon Disc Road wheelset is excellent, they look great, perform really well and are pretty good value too. tester Sean Lacey rode them from Land's End to John o'Groats and found them smooth and quiet (including the freehub). They picked up well and gained speed noticeably quicker that the Ultegra wheels he'd been running; the ride was much better.

The wheels were stiff and did have a little give under pressure but weren't fazed at all by fast decents or hard climbs. They  continued on at pace whatever the gradient, the acceleration when cracking on at the base giving a welcome extra bit of speed to carry up.

Read our review of the Token Prime Ventous Carbon Disc wheels
Find a Token dealer

Vision TriMax 30 KB — £569.46

Vision's TriMax 30 KB tubeless-ready wheels are built to last, look great and stay that way thanks to a clever surface treatment. Weight-weenies might find them a shade heavy, but that's far less important than durability and reliability.

These are probably the most unobtrusive wheels I've ever tested – and that's a very good thing. For a start, they're straight and true, and the spoke tension is decent, which will help them stay that way. They're laterally stiff enough that I couldn't get them to rub on the brakes, even though I run the blocks close to the rim so they come on at a touch. They're unaffected by sidewinds because they're only 30mm deep, enough to give them a slight aero advantage over old-school square rims, but not enough to affect handling when it's windy. Even the freewheel noise is relatively quiet. Very easy wheels to live with.

Read our review of the Vision TriMax 30 KB wheels
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Just Riding Along Gecko — £850

Just Riding Along's (JRA) Gecko Carbon Wheelset is a very impressive set of hoops designed to take on the constant knocks and vibrations the roughest gravel tracks can throw at them, while still being so light that they won't hamper your performance on the road. With a claimed sub-1,400g weight and all the strength you could need, it's also pretty amazing that they come in at well under a grand.

Read our review of the Just Riding Along Gecko wheels

Bontrager Aeolus XXX 4 TLR — £1,906.80

Bontrager's Aeolus XXX 4 TLR clincher wheels are stiff, lightweight and steady in use and offer good braking in both wet and dry conditions. This is a great all-round aero wheelset that's suitable for a wide variety of conditions and it's light considering the rim depth, ours coming in at 1,420g for the pair.

The first thing I noticed about these wheels is their stiffness. With the brake pads set up stupidly close to the rims I could get some rub when throwing the bike around in a massive gear, but I got virtually none in normal use, not even when sprinting or leaning hard into a tight corner. No worries at all there.

The next thing to mention is their stability. Some aero rims can get knocked about by sidewinds, even when the yaw angle is quite shallow. Fluctuations in the speed and/or direction of the wind can have a large effect on the steering, making your bike's front end feel like a handful, upsetting your confidence and ultimately affecting your speed. The Aeolus XXX 4 TLRs have behaved well on super-windy rides.

Read our review of the Bontrager Aeolus XXX 4 TLR wheels
Find a Bontrager dealer

Mavic Ksyrium Elite UST — £454.99-£478.99

For 2018 Mavic's highly dependable all-rounder, the Ksyrium Elite, has become tubeless, using the French company's UST system like much of the range. The wheels have maintained their lightweight, durable persona from previous models and are still great to ride whether you are racing or tackling the club run, with a little bit of future proofing. A welcome addition is that the Yksion Pro UST tyres are now among the best tubeless tyres you can buy, and Mavic's Road UST system makes for smooth and simple fitting of tyres with just a standard track pump.

Read our review of the Mavic Ksyrium Elite UST
Find a Mavic dealer

Fast Forward F4R FCC Tubeless DT 350 — £1,159.99

These Fast Forward F4R FCC Tubeless Ready wheels are seriously good for their relatively sensible price tag. They're stable in strong winds, quick to spin up to speed and also quick to stop. What's more, you get great hubs and high-end pads. It's a great package.

Read our review of the Fast Forward F4R FCC Tubeless DT 350

Fulcrum Racing Speed 40C Carbon — £1,679.99

The Fulcrum Racing Speed 40C Carbon wheels are the company's high performance offering. They offer buttery smooth ceramic bearings, stable rims and brilliant braking. The only thing not to love is the price.

Read our review of the Fulcrum Racing Speed 40C Carbon
Find a Fulcrum dealer

DT Swiss PRC 1400 Spline 65 — £1,338.99

The new DT Swiss PRC 1400 Spline clincher wheels come with deep section 65mm rims for aerodynamic efficiency. They're well made and come with excellent internals, plus you can run them tubeless.

You are getting some seriously good wheels for your money here. Granted, these don't offer quite the aero performance of DT Swiss's ARC 1100 Dicut wheels but the PRCs feature excellent components, they're stiff, braking is good and, for their depth, they feel pretty stable in most conditions. This is a reliable high-performance wheelset that puts in a great performance in a variety of conditions.

Read our review of the DT Swiss PRC 1400 Spline 65 wheels
Find a DT Swiss dealer

Hunt Superdura Dynamo Disc — £539

If you're looking at a dynamo system for your road bike then the SONdelux hub dynamo is pretty much the best out there for low resistance and weight, and it's renowned for great build quality which is matched by the rest of the components on these excellent Hunt wheels. Considering how much the dynamo costs on its own, the price is excellent too. They might be a bit much for the odd night ride, but if you rack up the miles after dark they're an investment worth considering.

Read our review of the Hunt Superdura Dynamo Disc wheels

AlexRims CXD4 — £339.99

AlexRims knows a thing or two about making rims (the clue's in the name), so it's not a surprise that it's moving into the wheelset market. And if these CXD4s are anything to go by, you should definitely look at them as an option if you're upgrading your bike or speccing a new build.

On the road the wheels feel nice and stiff, with no obvious flex either from sprint efforts or heavy cornering. The bearings run smoothly, and whipping the cassette off showed that there's not very much notching on the alloy freehub body. The 1,580g all-in weight is pretty good for a disc wheelset at this price. Shimano's RX31s are 380g heavier for the same kind of money, and similar-weight wheelsets from the likes of Cero, Kinesis and Hunt come in at least £50 more expensive.

Read our review of the AlexRims CXD4
Find an AlexRims dealer

Hunt 3650 Carbon Wide Aero — £899

Going wide and deep, Hunt has created a set of fast, durable and light wheels in the 3650 Carbon Wide Aeros. With a specification of high-end parts and great build quality, Hunt isn't trying to reinvent the wheel but it is certainly refining it to a level of performance unheard of on sub-£1,000 wheelsets.

The name 3650 comes from how deep they are: 36mm at the front and 50mm at the rear. It's quite a common combination for many riders as it is so adaptable to various weather conditions and the topography of your chosen route.

The front gives you a slight aero advantage over a more standard box rim shape without getting battered around by crosswinds, and it also keeps the weight down for climbing.

Read our review of the Hunt 3650 Carbon Wide Aero wheels

DT Swiss PR 1400 Dicut OXiC — £661.50

The PR 1400 Dicut OXiC wheels feature a ceramic coated rim surface that provides reassuring braking performance in a range of conditions, making them ideal for year-round cycling in the UK.

The application of a hardwearing ceramic coating on the rim is nothing new: Mavic used to produce a highly regarded ceramic back in the day. DT Swiss, though, reckons its new OXiC treatment is able to deform with the rim, which means the coating can't become detached from the aluminium, a problem that plagued Mavic ceramic rims. DT is confident the ceramic coating won't wear our over the normal lifespan of the rim, and it won't fade in the sun.

Read our review of the DT Swiss PR 1400 Dicut OXiC wheels
Find a DT SWiss dealer

Shimano Dura-Ace C24 Carbon Clincher — £584.79

I've been running the C24s with 25mm Continental Grand Prix 4000 tyres (Shimano advises that you use tyres ranging from 23mm to 28mm with these wheels) and they've been very quick, accelerating fast, and the ride quality is hard to fault.

The C24s, which have just been given a graphics/aesthetics update to match Shimano's new R9100 components, have the shallowest rim heights of any wheels in the Dura-Ace range: the front is 21mm and the rear is 24mm. They're not particularly wide either: 15mm internal, 20.8mm external, whereas the new C40 and C60 clinchers are both 17mm internal and 24mm external, following the trend towards more width.

Read our review of the Shimano Dura-Ace C24s
Find a Shimano dealer

Hunt 30Carbon Gravel Disc — £899

I've been thrashing the Hunt 30Carbon Gravel Disc wheels around the roads and bridleways of the south west, as well as using them for a touring trip to Cuba where they endured all kinds of surfaces, pot-holes and being lashed to roof-racks with string. And I like them, a lot.

As the name suggests, the 30Carbon Gravel Disc wheels are aimed at the fast-growing new gravel/all-road/adventure bike category. Gravel bikes are aimed at riders who want to go quickly on the road, with the freedom to take a turn off the tarmac and explore further into the wild than you could on a traditional road bike. They're typically built tougher than a road bike, and consequently heavier. If you're looking for an upgrade to your gravel bike, wheels may be on your list, and with a weight of less than 1,500g, these are likely to be quite a bit lighter than most stock wheels.

Read our review of the Hunt 30Carbon Gravel Disc wheels

BORG22T Disc Road/CX tubular — £380

The BORG22T wheelset features 22mm-deep aluminium tubular rims and triple butted Sapim Force spokes laced onto Miche Syntium DX hubs. It's not a flashy package, but it bats well above its price tag – it's tough, fast and will suit riders looking for a brilliant cyclo-cross wheelset.

Sometimes a product will genuinely surprise you. Take a look at the spec list of the BORG22T wheels and you'd be forgiven for not expecting much, and certainly not at this price. But I put them on my bike and was surprised to find they're excellent. I wouldn't expect to find a tubular disc wheelset below the £1,000 mark; finding such a great set of wheels for £380 has made me question why I'd spend more.

Read our review of the BORG22T Disc Road/CX tubular wheels

Roval CLX 50 Disc — £1,848

Since Roval parent Specialized introduced the Roval Rapide CLX 40 wheels two years ago, they've been busy and the CLX 50 wheels are the CLX 40s' spiritual replacement. They're a marked improvement, too, with better aerodynamic performance and an impressively low weight for the disc brake version here.

The aim for the new Roval CLX 50 was to marry the aero performance of the deeper section CLX 64 with the lightness of the shallower CLX 32. At 1,415g with a 50mm-deep rim and disc brake hubs, they would appear to have achieved that objective.

This is a very attractive weight in a hugely competitive wheel market. They're not much heavier than the £4.8k Lightweight Meilenstein C Disc wheels, for example, and only a smidgen heavier than the so-called lightweight, shallow, rim-braked FFWD F3R carbon clinchers. You can have aero and low weight it would seem. And a Zipp 404 Firecrest Disc wheelset? That's a comparatively portly 1,715g.

Read our review of the Roval CLX 50 Disc
Find a Roval dealer

Halo Evaura Uni 6D — £348.98

Halo seems very proud of its new Evaura Universal 6D 700C wheelset, and quite rightly. These are well-made wheels that can be adapted for a variety of cycles and purposes. The ride quality is excellent, the weight modest and – despite the dishing needed to make it disc-brake compatible – it proved impossible to provoke them into twisting or flexing.

The idea behind this wheelset is to make it as adaptable as possible to the new rash of wheel and braking standards that is spreading across the industry. While most conventional road frames take a 130mm rear axle, disc brake-equipped bikes are commonly adopting the 135mm found on mountain bikes. (Mountain bike rear axles are themselves now getting longer, but that's another story...)

Read our review of the Halo Evaura Uni 6D wheels
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Fast Forward F3R Full Carbon Clincher Wheels — £1,799.99

Fast Forward F3R Full Carbon Clincher wheels are a lightweight option that provide excellent acceleration and a high level of stiffness, although the lack of aero credentials might put off some who aren't pure climbers.

Fast Forward bills the Full Carbon Clincher as a wheelset that's particularly suited to climbing. The carbon rims are 30mm deep and 22.4mm wide with quite a rounded profile and a blunt inner edge – far more U-shaped than V-shaped.

Read our review of the Fast Forward F3R Full Carbon Clincher wheels
Find a Fast Forward dealer

Knight Composites 65 wheels — £2,000

The Knight 65 Carbon Fibre clinchers offer very good stiffness, but their real skill is in cutting through the air at high speeds and feeling stable with it.

These wheels – Knight's own rims laced to DT Swiss 240 hubs – have a whole lot going for them. Okay, at 65mm deep they're never going to be particularly light, our pair coming in at 1,680g (including rim strips and skewers), but that's not unusual. For comparison, Zipp's 404s are a claimed 1,505g (you also need to factor in the weight of the rim strips and skewers) and Bontrager's 70mm-deep Aeolus 7s are a claimed 1,610g.

It's when you fire the Knight 65s up to speed that things get impressive. As tester Mat Brett put it: "I have a few routes that I ride regularly as personal time trials for reviewing bikes and kit – rolling rather than hilly – and I've used these wheels to help achieve consistently fast times over several weeks and in a wide variety of conditions. I measure power every ride and my view is that these wheels are offering impressive speeds for the wattage I'm putting out. It's unscientific and highly anecdotal, so take it or leave it, but this is my experience."

Read our review of the Knight Composites 65 DT Swiss 240 wheels
Find a Knight Composites dealer

DT Swiss RRC 65 Dicut clinchers — £1,999.98

They might be a lot of money but these DT Swiss RRC 65 Dicut clincher wheels are fast and stable, and they offer a good braking performance too.

These wheels are at their best when slicing along at high speed. They maintain pace beautifully with an appreciably lower resistance than shallow section rims. The RRC 65s also accelerate well, especially considering their 65mm rim depth. Weighing 745g (front) and 885g (rear) – excluding skewers; combined weight is 1,630g (DT's official total weight is 45g lower) – they spin up to speed with little fuss. For comparison, Zipp's 58mm deep 404 Firecrest Carbon Clinchers have claimed weights of 725g and 895g (1,620g total).

Some people might consider 65mm a little deep for general road use but we rode with these wheels on both a road bike and more occasionally on a TT bike for six weeks and they were superb. We really rate these wheels highly, and not just for racing against the clock.

Read our review of the DT Swiss RRC 65 Dicut clinchers
Find a DT Swiss dealer

Vision Team 35 — £233

Vision's Team 35s are competent and durable entry-level race wheels, with the added bonus of being very comfortable for a set of semi-deep-section alloy clinchers. The black anodised finish gives them a cool stealth look too.

The Team 35s are a revamped version of Vision's long-standing T35 model, and with a recommended retail price of £229.95 they sit right at that level of a first serious performance upgrade for a lot of bikes.

At first glance they seem a bit porky at 1,820g, especially considering the quoted weight is some 100g less than that, but the good thing is they never feel sluggish out on the road. You notice it a little if things get really steep or you ask for some rapid acceleration from a standing start, so if you're searching for a climber's set of wheels, look elsewhere.

Otherwise, the Team 35s are hard to knock. Considering the depth of the alloy rim, you'd expect them to feel harsh, but they don't.

Read our review of the Vision Team 35 wheels
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Swiss Side Hadron 625 — ~£1,200

"Hur hur hur your wheels are called Hard... oh no, wait, it's Hadron." To Swiss ears, the name may well conjure up the crowning peak of European scientific endeavour, but it's perilously close to something that provided regular amusement to the Sunday morning crew back at home. That's as may be, but the Swiss Side Hadron 625s are stonkingly good wheels, offering arguably the best performance in this price bracket on the market today.

They use a hybrid aluminium-carbon rim to give aluminium-rim brake performance and class-leading aerodynamic performance, at a price way below the big players like Zipp and Enve. And by god they sound good.

Read our review of the Swiss Side Hadron 625 wheels

Superstar Components Pave wheels — £299.99

The least expensive wheels we've ever given four and a half stars, the Superstar Pace 28s demonstrate that custom handbuilt wheels can be competitive on weight and reliability with any factory wheels. They have wide rims in the modern style and are built on reliable Icon hubs. They're comparable to substantially more expensive wheels from other manufacturers; light enough to race on while still managing to be as tough as old boots, and look how shiny they are.

Read our review of the Superstar Components Pave wheels

Hunt 4Season Aero V2 — £319

Hunt's entry-level road clinchers look like an excellent choice. They succeed the now-discontinued 4Season Dura Road wheels which we liked a lot, and like those wheels, these look to be a good first upgrade over heavy stock wheels, or as a good quality winter or all-round option, they're right on the money.

The 4Season Aero V2 wheels have the same hubs. We had no issues with the 4-pawl freehub, nor with the sealed EZO bearings. Everything ran smoothly in spite of being subjected to some biblical conditions. The supplied skewers are an external cam, with a nylon insert instead of the brass one you get on the more expensive Hunt wheels, but they do the job without any fuss.

Read our review of the Hunt 4Season Dura Road
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Pro-Lite Bortola A21 wheels — £272.99

The 1,540g weight of these wide, tubeless-ready wheels is impressive for an aluminium wheelset even if that is about 65g over the claimed weight. With the Bortolas Pro-Lite haven't sacrificed strength or durability to achieve it, it's more of a by-product of well chosen, proven components.

On the road, they're smooth and comfortable, but light enough to reward a little out of the saddle dig on a steep section while climbing.

Overall the Bortolas are perfect all rounder wheels that only really lose out in terms of aerodynamics due to that shallow rim.

Read our review of the Pro-Lite Bortola A21 wheels

Pro-Lite Revo A21W — £269.99

Road disc and gravel wheels are getting better, lighter and cheaper, and right at the forefront of that trend are the Pro-Lite Revo A21s. At 1,650g, with a Centerlock option, thru-axle compatibility and a wide track rim, they're a bargain, and pretty future-proof too.

Pro-Lite builds all its wheels by hand and the Revos arrived nice and true, with even spoke tension. The spokes are bladed and triple butted, and Pro-Lite uses a brass washer at the spoke head to better distribute the forces there.

The Revos use a 21mm deep rim (hence the name), which is 23.8mm wide externally and 19mm internally. That makes it ideal for 28-32mm tyres, although 25mm rubber and bigger chamber tyres will be fine too.

Read our review of the Pro-Lite Revo A21W
Find a Pro-Lite dealer

Stan's NoTubes ZTR Grail Team — £457.95

We've been hugely impressed with these wheels. With 25mm slicks at high pressures they're fast on the road, and they've proven extremely tough when riding with knobbly tyres at low pressures off-road. They're a decent weight, the hubs are easily interchangeable to different axle standards, and the company's Bead Socket Technology (BST) means getting a tubeless tyre inflated is a cinch.

The Grail rims are wide: 24mm on the outside, 21mm on the inside. The rims are also quite deep, 24.5mm, making them the company's deepest – and therefore more aero – rim to date. They're constructed from aluminium and weigh a claimed 460g apiece. The BST rim profile features a shallow seating area so the tyre bead locates right up against the side of the rim. Getting a Schwalbe One tubeless tyre to inflate was ridiculously easy – a slosh of sealant inside and a track pump to inflate the tyre.

If you want a disc- and tubeless-ready wheelset with a wide rim profile to make the most of the growing number of wide tubeless tyres, the Stan's NoTubes ZTR Grail Team wheels combine a competitive price, decent weight and impressive performance. Add in the easy tubeless compatibility and axle versatility, and they're seriously worth considering.

Read our review of the Stan's NoTubes ZTR Grail Team
Find a Stan's NoTubes dealer

Edco Optima Roches (22mm) Tubeless Ready Wheels — £400

Traditional looks meets modern width in these wheels from Swiss-based Edco, which have 22mm wide rims and are ready for Tubeless tyres like those offered by Hutchinson, Bontrager or Schwalbe.

There are a lot of clever touches to these wheels like the MultiSys freewheel body, designed to accept both Shimano/SRAM and Campagnolo cassettes so you don't need new wheels if you ever change gearing allegiance.

These wheels ride well, are a sensible 1,571g and come with a whopping eight-year guarantee.

Read our review of the Edco Optima Roches (22mm) Tubeless Ready Wheels
Find an Edco dealer​

Swiss Side Hadron 485 — ~£1,200

Hadron wheels (named after that big circular tunnel near Geneva, of course) are available in rim depths of 48.5mm, 62.5mm and 80mm (front)/85mm (rear). All share the same fundamental construction, with aluminium rims and carbon fairings. Swiss Side says it's done an enormous amount of work to perfect the aerodynamic design of these rims, focusing on aerodynamic drag and also minimising the sensitivity to side-winds.

They've performed well in a wide variety of riding. We won't pretend that we can accurately determine the difference compared with other quality aero wheels of a similar depth, but they certainly feel like they're in the same ball-park, holding speed really well and making a rather satisfying hum in the process.

Read our review of the Swiss Side Hadron 485
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Fulcrum Racing Quattro Carbon DB — £721.99-£859.99

The Fulcrum Racing Quattro Carbon DB wheels could well redefine the modern bicycle wheel. They're bang on trend for a broad range of today's disc brake-equipped bikes and promise the trinity of light, fast and strong.

First, they're the right material: carbon fibre, with a 3k core and unidirectional surface. And while Fulcrum doesn't tout them as tubeless ready, they are, with only the valve hole in the bed of the 40mm-deep aero section rims.

The broad carbon rims are laced with 18 spokes in the front and 21 in the rear – a number low enough to keep the weight down, but high enough to make the wheels feel bombproof.

Paradoxically, they ride like function-specific race-day wheels, all revved up and raring to rip up the road, and so, naturally, you expect them to be fragile and delicate, with a need to be guarded from harm and children's sticky fingers. In reality, they're street tough and ready for couple of pints and a scrap.

Read our review of the Fulcrum Racing Quattro Carbon DB
Find a Fulcrum dealer

Spin K2 Carbone XLR38 25mm Fat Boy Clincher wheels — £990.00

The closest equivalent to these wheels in the current Spin range is the DM8 Custom Shop Pro ThirtyEight Super Fly Boy. They're still 38mm deep, but now wider to give better support and shape to 25-28mm tyres.

The XLR38s offered bags of speed with a fat rim profile reminiscent of a Zipp or Enve but at a fraction of the price. We expect theSuper Fly Boys to be just as good, making them an ideal upgrade for anyone looking to invest in their first deep section carbon wheels.

Spin offers a choice of rim depths, laced to its own SPN Precision hubs. With the 38mm rims, they weigh 1500g per pair. That's a very competitive weight, certainly for the price. You won't get much lighter unless you're prepared to spend quite a lot more money. Braking with the supplied QuickStop Black Shadow brake blocks was excellent.

Read our review of the Spin K2 Carbone XLR38 25mm Fat Boy Clincher wheels

Specialized Roval Rapide CLX 40 — £1,199.00

Since the first edition of this guide a couple of years ago the range of tubeless-ready wheels available to you has doubled, to the point where this guide is becoming obsolete; you now have to make an effort to avoid tubeless-compatible wheels rather than having to hunt them down. We found over 200 different models listed by manufacturers, though they’re not all available in the UK yet. Let’s take a look.

What almost all tubeless-ready wheels now have in common is a shoulder in the rim well for the tyre bead to sit on, with a lip on the inside edge to keep it there. Subtle changes to the shapes of rims and the profiles of tyres over the last couple of years have made mounting tubeless tyres easier while simultaneously improving the security of their fit.

Acros

This German partsmeister has a range of four tubeless wheels, three with carbon rims and one in aluminium.

Aera

Aera Components offers a choice of 36mm, 46mm and 56mm-deep rims, on hubs from Hope, Tune and Chris King, and you can opt for a Son Schmidt dynamo with a Hope or Chris King rear hub. The weight you get therefore depends on which components you choose, but we were impressed with our rim-braked AR56 wheels which came in at 1,270g.

Alex Rims

Known for rims, Alex also produces a significant range of wheels, though few models are available in the UK. We hope that will change as we've been impressed by the performance and value of the Alex wheels we've tested

American Classic

American Classic has a substantial range of tubeless wheels, including some up-to-the-minute wide-rim designs, and some of the lightest aluminium-rimmed wheels around.

American Classic recently shut down its Taiwanese factory, but some of its wheels are still available through dealers.

Read our review of the American Classic Sprint 350 Tubeless wheels
Read our review of the American Classic Argent Tubeless wheels

Bontrager

Trek’s wheel and component brand was early to get on board with tubeless mountain bike tyres, so it’s no surprise there’s a wide range of Bontrager tubeless-ready wheels, from the entry level Affinity Comp right up to the all-carbon Aeolus range of racing wheels.

Bontrager has recently introduced two new lines of carbon-rimmed tubeless wheels, the Aeolus XXX and Aeolus Pro series.

Read our review of the Bontrager Aura 5
Read our review of the Bontrager Affinity Elite Disc wheels
Find a Bontrager dealer

Borg

The Cycle Clinic's Malcolm Borg builds his wheels in Suffolk, with great attention to detail and quality that comes through in any conversation. The warranty is rather special: Borg promises to replace anything that's failed – rim, spoke or hub – due to a manufacturing defect, for the entire life of the wheelset. If you crash them, Borg will repair for the cost of parts only – the labour's free.

Borg favours Miche and Carbon Ti hubs, and offers a huge range of options in rims, spokes and build details.

Campagnolo & Fulcrum

Campagnolo and subsidiary wheel brand Fulcrum call their tubeless system 2-Way Fit — sometimes shortened to 2WF — as it works with both standard tyres and tubeless tyres. Campagnolo says this allows a rider to “test which of the two solutions suits them best or use the clincher for training and the tubeless tire for the day of the race”.

There are nine models in the two marques’ ranges from the Campagnolo Zondas to the Fulcrum Racing Zeros. Four new disc-brake tubeless models were recently announced under the Fulcrum marque, along with one new disc-brake tubeless Campagnolo wheel, all with 2-Way Fit rims.

Read our review of the Fulcrum Racing 3 2-Way Fit wheels

Cero

The wheel brand of Derbyshire cycle shop Cycle Division, Cero has a range of five tubeless-compatible wheels with aluminium or carbon rims that represent very good value for money for the weight and performance on offer.

Read our review of the Cero ARD23 Aluminium Disc wheels

DT Swiss

All DT Swiss’ wheels appear to be tubeless-ready, a sensible move by the wheelmaker to broaden the appeal of its hoops. The range covers every imaginable road and cyclo-cross application and a huge price band from the budget R24 Splines at under £200 up to the ERC 1100 Dicut disc brake at £2,000 per pair.

Read our review of the DT Swiss R24 Spline disc brake wheels

Easton

With a starting point at almost £700, Easton's tubeless offerings are very much pitched at the high end and racing, and include three models with carbon fibre rims for speed demons.

Find an Easton dealer

Edco

Edco has a large range of tubeless wheels, not all of which seem to be available in the UK, but which includes the startlingly light Supersport Neggias at a claimed weight of 1,179g.

Find an Edco dealer

Halo

Some of your best-value options in tubeless come from British brand Halo whose range includes the Evaura 6D wheels we reviewed recently and two Uni models that can be used with either discs or rim brakes.

Read our review of the Halo Evaura 6D wheels
Find a Halo dealer

Hunt

New British wheel contender Hunt specialises in tubeless — in fact, it doesn't make anything else, aside from a couple of models for tubular tyres. The range comprises twelve models at the time of writing, six for disc brakes and six for rim brakes. We've been very impressed by the performance and value of the wheels we've reviewed so far.

Read our review of the Hunt 4Season Dura Road wheels
Read our review of the Hunt Race Season Aero Wide wheels

Just Riding Along

York-based handbuilt wheel company Just Riding Along has a small but tidy range of tubeless wheels, with plenty of options. You can choose CX-Ray spokes, for example, colour variants or nipple material.

Read our review of the Just Riding Along Lark Light Road wheels
Read our review of the Just Riding Along Gecko carbon wheels

Kinesis

To go with its well-regarded road and cyclo-cross frames, Kinesis has a range of four tubeless-ready wheels, two for cyclo-cross use and two for road, with disc- and regular-braked versions of the latter.

Read our review of the Kinesis Crosslight CX Disc wheels

Knight Composites

If these newly-released wheels from Knight Composites live up to their claims, the tubeless technology they embody could be a game-changer. Working with tyre maker Schwalbe, Knight has developed a hookless rim, drawing lessons from the design of automotive tyres and says fitting a Schwalbe tyre to a Knight tubeless rim is easier than Mavic's Road UST set-up.

Read more: Knight launch new TLA wheels, claimed to be the world's 'easiest and fastest'

Mavic

Mavic was surprisingly late to the road tubeless party given its wide range of mountain bike tubeless wheels, but as in June 2017 has gone all in with a new line-up of wheels that use a road-specific version of the UST technology Mavic pioneered for mountain bikes back in the 1990s.

Mavic says its UST wheels work best with its own UST tyres because the manufacturing tolerances of tyres and rims are very tightly controlled, but other manufacturer's road tubeless tyres will work.

The line-up has since been expanded and it's clear that Mavic almost certainly intends to convert its whole range to Road UST.

Mavic Road UST cross-section

Novatec

We've liked the Novatec tubeless wheels we've reviewed. As well as tubeless compatibility they have lots of thoughtful features such as compatibility with both Shimano and Campagnolo cassettes and a steel strip in the aluminium freehub body that stops sprocket splines from digging into it.

Read our review of the Novatec CXD wheels
Read our review of the Novatec Thirty wheels
Find a Novatec dealer

Parcours

Parcours has a four-wheel range, tightly focused on going fast.

Read our review of the Parcours Grimpeur wheelset

Prime

A component brand backed by the mighty buying power of Chain Reaction Cycles, Prime has a range of tubeless-compatible wheels ranging from workaday alloy wheels at £150/pair to aero carbon wheels at around £1,300. They've all come down in price since launch and some are now exceptionally good value; carbon wheels for around £500 is hard to beat.

Read our review of the Prime Race Road Alloy wheels

Pro Lite

Pro Lite has a big range of tubeless wheels, with at least seven models, but we've only been able to find a UK source for one of them the light but sensibly priced Bortola A21W.

Read our review of the Pro-Lite Bortola A21 wheels
Find a Pro Lite dealer

Reynolds

Acclaimed US carbon fibre specialist Reynolds has one of the larger ranges of tubeless-ready wheels, with an aluminium-rimmed wheelset kicking the range off.

Ritchey

Ritchey has a six-wheel tubeless line-up, comprising three Zeta models with aluminium rims and three WCS Apex models with carbon fibre rims. The tyre mounting tech may be bang up to date, but Ritchey has emphasised old-school reliability and durability with features like J-bend spokes and brass nipples.

Roval

Part of the mighty Specialized empire, Roval offers a full range of tubeless-compatible wheels, or 2Bliss in Specialized-speak. Even the 321 disc wheel (that's disc as in aerodynamic rather than disc brake) takes tubeless tyres.

Shimano

Despite partnering with tyre maker Hutchinson to develop tubeless tyres for the road in the early 2000s, Shimano hasn't gone all in, and just offers four models. They're good value, though with the Ultegra model wheels a particular bargain at the time of writing.

Read our review of the Shimano WH-6800 Ultegra wheels
Find a Shimano dealer

Stan's No Tubes

Tubeless pioneer and sealant maker Stan's NoTubes was quick to get on board when tubeless tech crossed over from mountain bikes to the road. Stan's claims the Bead Socket Technology used in its rims gives a more secure seal between tire and rim and a proper tire profile for lower pressures, faster cornering and less rolling resistance.

Read our review of the Stan's NoTubes Alpha 340 wheels
Find a Stan's No Tubes dealer

Token

Token specialises in nicely-finished components at sensible prices and its range of tubeless-ready wheels keeps right on that track.

Velocite

This Taiwanese carbon fibre specialist offers a range of keenly priced carbon wheels and an aluminium-rimmed model, all ready for tubeless tyres with the right rim strip and sealant.

Read our review of the Velocite RT50 wheels

Vision

The wheels and triathlon arm of component maker FSA has been quietly introducing tubeless wheels to its range over the last year or so.

Zipp

Famous for aero wheels, Zipp only recently made the leap into tubeless wheels with two models of aluminium-rimmed wheels, one for disc brakes, and one for rim brakes. It's bang up to date with a 25mm rim (external width) and there's an optional SRAM XD freehub body so you can fit a 10-42 cassette if you want to use a single-ring gear system.

In 2017 Zipp announced a tubeless, disc-compatible version of the 303 carbon clincher wheels.

Read our review of the Zipp 30 Course Disc wheels

We’ve previously taken you through the wheel ranges from Mavic and Fulcrum, now it’s time to turn our attention to Shimano’s rather large offering of wheels. Shimano wheels are frequently specced by bike manufacturers and they’re popular aftermarket upgrades, no doubt helped by being a common sight in the professional peloton - it supplies wheels to more teams than any other brand.

Your complete guide to Shimano groupsets

Dura-Ace R9100 and R9170 wheelsets

Shimano unveiled new Dura-Ace wheels with the launch of its latest groupset last summer. The new C40 and C60 wheels have a fashionably wide rim designed for improved aerodynamics.

The rims have a wider profile than the previous generation Dura-Ace wheels, following the current trend for bulbous profiles that are more stable in crosswinds than the older V-shape rims. Each is available in a clincher or tubular version, so you can emulate the pros if you want or be sensible and fit some inner tubes.

Alternatively, the R9170 versions of the C40 and C60 wheels are designed solely for disc brakes and use a 12mm thru-axle hub and a rim that is tubeless compatible. There’s also a tubular option as well.

If you want the lightest option, the R9100-C24 has a very shallow 24mm rim that keeps the weight low, making it an ideal wheelset for climbers. It's virtually unchanged from the previous R9000-C24 in case you're wondering.

Clincher

R9100 C24 — £691.99
R9100 C40 — £1,099
R9170 C40 Disc — £1,292
R9100 C60 — £999
R9170 C60 Disc — NA

Tubular

R9100 C40 Carbon — £1,376.98
R9170 C40 Disc — £1,473.98
R9100 C60 Carbon — £1,839.98
R9170 C60 Disc — ~£2,300.00

Shimano’s previous Dura-Ace R9000 generation wheels are still available if you shop around. There’s the C24 (£1,999.98) and C75 (£1,699.98), the classic C50 (£1,599.98) and finally the C35 (£1,499.98).

Review: Shimano Dura-Ace C24 Carbon Clincher wheelset

Ultegra RS700 and RS770 wheelsets

Along with the latest version of Ultegra 8000 launched this year, which follows closely in the wake of new Dura-Ace, Shimano released updated wheels. It’s offering two wheelsets under the Ultegra label, the carbon-laminate RS700 for rim brakes (£481.80) and the RS770 (£507.33) for disc brakes.

Both are tubeless-ready and the later is compatible with thru-axles. There are also new hubs to shed about 60g of weight compared to the old 6800 wheels, and there’s a lighter carbon layup in the new rims. Claimed weight is 1,568g for the rim brake wheels and 1,639g for the disc wheels.

RX830 35mm Tubeless Disc Brake wheelset — £349

The RX830 combines Shimano’s proven carbon laminate technology in a 17mm wide (internal) tubeless-ready rim optimised for disc brakes, so there’s no brake track on these rims. The hubs are cup and cone and ready for disc brakes with conventional quick release axles - so you’ll only see these on cheaper or older generation rim brake bikes, as most disc brake bikes are moving over to thru-axles. Shop around and you can find them discounted, as is the case for most of the wheels here.

RS610 24mm Tubeless wheelset — £276.13

This is one of Shimano’s most affordable wheels, and the rim is also tubeless-ready. They feature an offset rim design with wide flanges to provide a stronger wheel and the hubs are compatible with 10- and 11-speed cassettes.

RX31 Road Disc Brake wheelset — £226.80

The RX31 was one of the very first dedicated disc brake wheelsets available when disc brakes started appearing on production road bikes a few years ago. Shimano has built a solid wheelset around 24mm profile aluminium clincher rims with 24 stainless steel butted and bladed straight pull spokes in each wheel to best deal with the disc brake forces. Hubs are now thru-axle compatible with contact sealed bearings with an 8,9,10 and 11-speed compatible freehub.

- Review: Shimano RX31 wheelset

RS330 Alloy clincher wheelset — £207.83

Looking like a good upgrade option for many entry-level bikes, though you’re likely to see these wheels specced on a lot of mid-range bikes, the RS-330 uses a lightweight aluminium rim with a 30mm depth providing good aerodynamics, making them ideal for anyone wanting to inject a bit more speed into their riding.

RS11 Alloy clincher wheelset — £127.50

You’re getting a bit more technology in return for your extra £50 at RRP over the RS010 wheels below, with a 24mm profile aluminium rim and bladed stainless steel straight pull spokes - 16 up front and 24 our back. The hubs have labyrinth sealed angular contact bearings and low-friction seals for low rolling resistance and good durability.

RS010 Alloy clincher wheelset — £119

The RS010 is the most affordable in the RS line and uses much of the same technology as you'd expect higher up the range, and is a really good entry-level wheelset. You get the same 24mm rim depth as the more expensive wheels with 20 front spokes and 24 rear spokes and quick release hubs with wide flanges, contact bearings and steel axles.

RX010 Centre Lock Disc wheelset — £132.46

An affordable disc brake wheelset with 28 spokes in each wheel for extra durability and a 24mm rim for low weight, combined with Centre Lock disc rotor mounting system. The rim width is recommended for 25 to 38mm wide tyres. The hubs use regular quick release axles.

R500 24mm wheelset — £88.07

Shimano’s most affordable wheelset and one you’ll see on a lot of entry-level road bikes with 8 and 9-speed drivetrains. Combining 24mm aero and anodised rims with 20 black chrome plated spokes in each wheel and weighing 1,884g, it’s a solid wheelset.

Read more: 22 of the best road bike wheels

Tubeless wheelsets have become way more common recently, particularly since more tubeless tyre options arrived on the scene, and here are some of the very best that we've reviewed for under a grand.

A tubeless system is basically a clincher tyre inflated onto a rim with no inner tube. Instead of an inner tube holding the air pressure, an airtight chamber is created with a tubeless-specific tyre, developed with a special (commonly carbon) bead, and a compatible rim. 

Check out our guide to the best tubeless tyres 

The main advantage is the substantially reduced risk of puncturing if you use liquid sealant inside the tyre. This sloshes around inside and reacts with air if the tyre casing is punctured, and plugs the hole. It can seal most small holes caused by flint or thorns and while you might suffer a small drop in pressure, you can continue riding.

Find out more reasons why you should consider switching to tubeless

If you want to go tubeless you need the right wheels, and here are 10 of the best, some for rim brakes and some for discs.

Clicking on the heading of each wheelset will take you to a dealer.

AlexRims CXD4 700C Disc TL Ready Centerlock Road £339.99 

The CXD4 is an excellent mid-level alloy disc wheelset that's available in 6-bolt or Centerlock configurations. Weighing in at a very reasonable 1,580g, it's a chunk lighter than stock wheels you'll find on most bikes under about £2,000.

The rim is a tubeless-ready 23mm alloy extrusion, sleeve-jointed for extra strength. The rim shape is asymmetric to better balance the spoke forces, with the same rim being used front and rear. At the front the spoke holes are offset away from the disc side, and at the rear they're offset towards it, as the freehub moves the hub flange in more than the disc does.

Both front and rear are built up with 24 round stainless steel spokes in a two-cross pattern. The hubs have an alloy body and axle and sealed cartridge bearings.

We had these wheels set up with 30mm Schwalbe G-One Speed tyres for the duration of testing. Getting them to seal wasn't a problem and we had no issues with the tyres losing air more than normal.

On the road the wheels feel nice and stiff, with no obvious flex either from sprint efforts or heavy cornering. The bearings run smoothly, and whipping the cassette off showed that there's not very much notching on the alloy freehub body.

Read our review
Find an AlexRims dealer 

Fulcrum Racing 5 Disc £349.99 

The Racing 5 is a well-established wheelset, available in both disc and rim brake (£299.99) configurations. It is a decent choice for a first upgrade.

Within the Racing range, the 5 is the general-purpose road wheelset. They're a reasonable weight for the money – we weighed them at 1,640g compared to a claimed 1,610g – which makes them competitive with similar-priced wheels from Hunt and Kinesis, and usefully lighter than Mavic's Ksyrium Disc wheelset.

The rims are asymmetric, which Fulcrum claims "improves rim tension, balancing the forces from brakes and sprocket cassette". If you're after more aero benefits, the similar-priced Racing 4 has a deeper rim, while the Racing 7 is now targeted at all-road use, with a wider rim profile and a higher weight.

The Racing 5 has a 26mm deep rim, which is 21mm wide – wider than wheels were traditionally but not as wide as some. Fulcrum says that it'll take tyres between 25mm and 50mm, making it an option for cyclo-cross too, although it is marketed primarily as a road wheelset. 

If you want to run these wheels tubeless you'll need to buy the necessary valves and rim tape because they're not included, which is a bit mean. The Racing 5s should be used only with certain Schwalbe tyres, according to Fulcrum. We can't tell you to ignore that advice... but we did and things worked out just fine. 

The hubs are quality affairs, as befits a sub-brand of Campagnolo. They've got sealed bearings and Campagnolo's signature way of reaching them, via a collar with a tiny pinch bolt. They come with various adaptors to suit different axles, from 15mm thru-axle down to a standard QR, and they can be swapped pretty easily as they're just retained with an o-ring friction fit.

The Fulcrums were solidly built, reasonably stiff and generally easy to live with. A lot of disc brake bikes around the £1,000-2,000 bracket will come with relatively heavy wheels as stock, often around 2kg; you'll see a lot of entirely serviceable but quite weighty wheels such as Mavic Aksiums, own-brand hubs with Alex rims and so on. Switching to something lighter like this can save 400-500g; that won't transform the bike, but is enough that you'll notice the difference.

Read our review
Find a Fulcrum dealer 

Edco Optima Roches £400

Edco's Optima Roches are a tough set of tubeless-ready wheels that are built around Edco's own SuperG hubs. These hubs are guaranteed for a whopping eight years (the other components get a two-year guarantee), a strong hint at Edco's confidence in their durability. They use radial stainless ball bearings and are laced to the alloy rims with 20 Sapim Race double butted spokes on the front and 24 at the rear. You'll need Centerlock disc brake rotors for stopping.

That rear hub has Edco's own MultiSys cassette hub body, making it compatible with both Campagnolo and Shimano/SRAM cassettes. The hub body also has a hardened steel inlay to protect the aluminium body from being eaten by the sprockets. 

The rims are wider (24mm) than they are high (22mm), making them bang on the bigger tyres trend. Edco recommends using 25mm tyres. Although the rims are tubeless ready, we found that a bit of perseverance was needed to get them set up, 

The Optima Roches stayed perfectly true during testing, despite the fact that we loaded them up for touring over Edco's 110kg maximum weight limit.

These really are about as tough as they come, which is no mean feat for a pair of wheels that weigh 1,725g, have a low spoke count and spin up fast enough to enjoy sprints. They are stiff without rattling the fillings, making them perfect for any kind of riding that requires a fast wheel that will take a battering. Tubes and tyres come as part of the package, and the quick releases are really nice too! 

Read our review
Find an Edco dealer

Mavic Ksyrium Elite UST £539.00 

The Ksyrium Elite, Mavic's highly dependable all-rounder, became tubeless in 2018 with the French company's UST system, like much of the range. The wheels are lightweight and durable and are still great to ride whether you are racing or tackling the club run, with a little bit of future proofing. 

At 1,532g without tyres the Ksyrium Elite UST wheelset is light enough to be exciting on the climbs or under acceleration, and their stiffness certainly backs that up; you won't get any flex or brake rub here.

You get Yksion Pro UST tyres as part of the package, and they offer loads of grip. Mavic claims that its road UST tubeless system is different from other tubeless systems in that the wheel and tyre are designed together and there's tight control over production variances. Inflation was smooth and simple with the Yksions sitting snuggly against the rim with just the use of a standard track pump, and there were no leaks of sealant anywhere.

If you want a set of wheels to tackle a bit of everything, then the Ksyrium Elites are hard to fault. While you can get cheaper, this is a solid package that'll give you real peace of mind.

The disc version of this wheelset is priced £585.00.

Read our review
Find a Mavic dealer

Ritchey Classic Zeta wheelset £569.00

Ritchey has managed to build a tough yet lightweight package with its Classic Zeta wheels and they look the part too with their highly polished silver finish. Whether on smooth tarmac, broken back lane or potholed byway, they roll quickly and aren't shy of taking a knock or two.

What you get here is a pair of 6061 aluminium alloy rims, Phantom Flange hubs connected by DT Competition j-bend spokes and an all-in weight of 1,491g.

The rims have an external width of around 22mm which makes them more suited to larger tyres like 28mm or even Ritchey's own 30mm-wide WCS Alpine JBs, which were used for a lot of the test miles.

Fitting tyres to them is simple: we tried a few brands out and none was a struggle or faff to fit.

Ritchey has specced these Zetas for road, cyclo-cross and light adventure use. Whacking a pothole is pretty much inevitable these days and we smashed through a few on the Ritcheys without issue; they still ran true. They also saw some pretty hard miles on various sizes of gravel, from the small stuff through to bigger, rockier sections. Again, not a single complaint.

Thanks to their low weight, the Zetas perform across the board. Acceleration and climbing feel great as the wheels are just so quick to spin up to speed, and once up there they roll extremely well.

They're comfortable, too, as the handbuilt setup leaves enough give in the spoke tension to keep the wheels stiff for those hard efforts without being an overly harsh ride.

Overall, the Ritcheys are a very good showcase for getting what you pay for, with a great all-round feel of quality, durability and performance. These igh-performance wheels that are just as at home on your race machine as they are on your gravel hack.

Read our review 
Find a Ritchey dealer

Vision TriMax 30 KB £652.00

Vision's TriMax 30 KB tubeless-ready wheels are built to last, look great and stay that way thanks to a clever surface treatment. Weight-weenies might find them a shade heavy (we weighed them at 1,570g), but that's far less important than durability and reliability.

They arrived straight and true, and the spoke tension was decent, helping them stay that way. They're laterally stiff enough that we couldn't get them to rub on the brakes, even with the pads positioned close to the rim. They're unaffected by sidewinds because they'

re only 30mm deep, enough to give them a slight aero advantage over old-school square rims, but not enough to affect handling when it's windy. 

Out on the road, the TriMax 30s spin up easily and roll well, and the lateral stiffness of the wide rims – the internal width is 19mm – helps them stay on line in corners. It also bigs up your tyres. Our 25mm tyres ended up more like 27mm across, so we could run a little less pressure for more grip and better cushioning.

Braking is smooth and very powerful thanks to the machined sidewalls and oxide coating which increases friction with the brake pads. This is especially noticeable in the wet.

These are great wheels on a number of fronts: looks, build quality, stiffness, braking, durability and general practicality. They're perhaps overkill if you're a 60kg racing snake, but for those who aren't exactly svelte, the extra beef is very welcome.

Read our review 
Find a Vision dealer 

DT Swiss PR 1400 Dicut 21 OXiC £849.98 

These wheels feature a ceramic coated rim surface that provides reassuring braking performance in a range of conditions, making them ideal for year-round cycling in the UK.

We rode these wheels for several months in everything from glorious sunshine to freezing rain and everything in between, and they were excellent regardless of the weather.

Braking performance using the supplied brake blocks is very good in dry conditions and is similar to any good aluminium rim. The rims really start to make a case for themselves in rain, mud and grit-coated surfaces, the OXiC coating becoming a benefit with powerful, predictable, and consistent braking.

The other big benefit of a ceramic coating is a rim that is much more durable. Ceramic-coated rims should last for years.

The rims are laced with straight-pull DT aero comp spokes to DT's own hubs with star ratchet internals. They weigh just 1,500g – a little over the claimed 1,472g. Measuring 18mm internally and 22mm externally, they're not as wide as the widest rims currently available, but wider than traditional rims.

DT supplies the sealant and valves you need for running the wheels tubeless, and we found the setup easy. 

The hubs feature very wide flanges, intended to increase wheel stiffness, and spin on 240 internals. They are well proven and popular in many aftermarket hubs. The 36-tooth ratchet system in the rear hubs provides very swift engagement when you stamp on the pedals. 

These wheels are stiff and responsive, with no give or flex when putting the power down in a sprint or steep climb. The low weight puts many carbon wheels to shame and while they are pricey for an aluminium wheelset, they are a snip compared with most carbon wheels of comparable weight and performance.

For year-round racing, training and just riding, these are excellent wheels with highly impressive braking in all conditions. The appearance, build quality and attention to detail is first class, as is the durability.

Read our review 
Find a DT Swiss dealer 

Just Riding Along Gecko Carbon £850.00 

The Just Riding Along (JRA) Gecko Carbon wheelset is very impressive, designed to take on the constant knocks and vibrations the roughest gravel tracks can throw at them, while being so light (1,400g) that they won't hamper your performance on the road. It's also pretty amazing that they come in at well under a grand.

The Geckos are solid. We couldn't detect any feeling of flex on steep, short, sharp climbs, whether on the road or when scrabbling about on loose, large gravel.

The wheels took some big knocks during testing, and while sometimes the noise could be pretty scary, on inspection they had come away completely unscathed, remaining as true as they were out of the box.

The Geckos are built to order and the spoke tension is even throughout. They are comfortable as well, even 25mm tyres pumped up hard never giving a harsh ride.

The full carbon rims have an external width of 27mm and 21mm internal, meaning that tyres tend to size up a little bigger than their sidewall suggests.

JRA has specced Bitex hubs on the Geckos and they are a lovely piece of kit, spinning smoothly and freely.

Overall, the Geckos are excellent wheels for gravel use without being too overbuilt to stop them offering a great performance on the road.

Read our review 
Buy from Just Riding Along

BORG50C Carbon Clincher wheelset £910.00 

The BORG50C carbon clincher aero wheels are a sharply priced tubeless-ready option for going fast. Handling well in crosswinds and with an industry-leading lifetime warranty, for the money these are a serious contender for Best Starter Bling Hoops Deal Going.

When the wheels arrived at road.cc they were already shod with IRC's Formula Pro RBCC Tubeless tyres, valves and sealant – that's £910 all-inclusive. The full combo weighed in at 2,520g. Borg sells the BORG50C for £800 naked, which is a very good price for the rounded weight/performance/warranty package.

Malcolm Borg builds his wheels in Suffolk with great attention to detail. Borg promises to replace anything that's failed – rim, spoke or hub – due to a manufacturing defect for the entire life of the wheelset. If you crash them, Borg will repair for the cost of parts only – the labour's free.

Borg has gone for nice Miche Primato Syntesi hubs, with a micro-adjustment ring to take up any play. The rim measures 26.1mm at the aero bulge, and with the 25mm IRC Formula Pro tubeless measuring 23.9mm, there's a definite aero profile going on front to back.

We found it difficult to get some tubeless tyres onto the rim and you need to have a good compressor setup to hand.

The usual concern around 50mm rims is buffeting, but these wheels never got out of hand even when we rode them in strong (20mph+) sidewinds.

during the review period. My rim-braked test frame is a Velocity Selene, a fairly agile responder and therefore commensurately susceptible to external influences.

All in all, for £800 plus tyres of your choice, tubeless-ready and with a best-of-breed warranty and repair service, the BORG50C wheelset is a cracking choice and should be a serious contender for your cash.

Read our review 
Buy from The Cycle Clinic 

Hunt 30 Carbon Gravel Disc Wheelset £999

The 30 Carbon Gravel wheels use a disc brake-only rim design. They're built from unidirectional T24/30 carbon and are 30mm deep and notably lighter than most wide aluminium rims at a claimed 370g. Using carbon helps, obviously, but Hunt has also saved weight thanks to the absence of a brake track and bead hooks. 

At 26.6mm externally, and 21.3mm internally, these are wide rims, as befits their intended use, and Hunt says they're suitable for use with tyres from 25mm to 50mm, making them an option for a really broad range of riding.

A healthy 24-spokes at the front and 28 spokes at the rear, laced 2-cross, makes for a really strong, stiff build. Hunt gives a rider weight limit of 115kg for these wheels, and they've shrugged off everything we threw at them, including bridleways, towpath commuting, and touring with panniers on some pretty appalling roads. 

The 30 Carbon Gravel wheels are supplied taped and with tubeless valves included. Unlike the majority of road tubeless rims, there are no pronounced bead hooks, just small ridges to keep the tyre beads locked in position. Getting the tyre over the bead hooks is normally the fiddly part of inflating a tubeless tyre, but it's easy here with no bead hooks to get in the way. Using just a track pump, they were sealed within three pump strokes, and needed only a few more strokes to get them fully seated.

The hubs are based on those used in Hunt's 4season disc wheelset with uprated shielding and sealing on the EZO bearings to cope with off-road grot and the occasional jetwash. 

It's really hard to find fault with these wheels. Light, wide, rugged and dependable, with genuinely easy tubeless setup, they're exactly what you want from a gravel wheelset. Carbon rims and disc brakes is a great combination, too. If you're in the market for a posh set of wheels for your gravel bike, these are a great option. Hunt has set a benchmark with these superb wheels.

Read our review
Buy from Hunt 

Enve have launched another aerodynamic wheelset specifically made for wider tyres and mixed road surfaces, the SES 3.4 AR. Made to answer the need for a more versatile race wheel and shallower than the SES 4.5 AR launched in 2016, it's at home on mixed road surfaces and Enve say it strikes the ideal balance between durability, speed and light weight. 

34 of the best race wheels
Enve's new G23 carbon gravel wheels - Video First Look

Designed for "the modern road bike and where/how people ride it", the wheels are aerodynamically optimised for tyre sizes from 28mm to 32mm. As are most modern wheelsets they're also tubeless-ready, and the 25mm internal rim width is also optimised for tubeless tyres. The materials and construction were designed around disc brakes, with no rim brake versions in the pipeline. 

The SES 3.4 AR is an expansion of 'Enve's Smart All Road' wheel lineup, following on from the 4.5 AR which was released back in 2016. The depth of the 3.4's is 43mm at the rear and 39mm at the front, more crosswind-friendly and lighter but still with plenty of aero benefits. Enve's Brandt Furgerson explains: “The SES 3.4 AR comes in response to the requests from our customers who love the SES AR platform but desired a wheelset that was shallower, delivered greater versatility, and maximised weight savings. In other words, the people wanted an SES 3.4, but with the features and benefits inherent to the SES AR platform. Moreover, the SES 3.4 AR, despite its greater width and Wide Hookless Bead design, comes in at the same weight as the standard SES 3.4 Disc.” 

The wide hookless bead tech also appears on Enve's gravel-specific G Series wheels (you can watch our video about them here). The idea behind it is to prevent pinch flats on tubeless tyres, and Enve say this pretty much prevents them entirely. The rim beads work in tandem with the rim shape and carbon layup to dissipate the energy created when the rim slams into a hole, serving to protect the rim and prevent pesky pinch flats.

Enve claim the asymmetric rim geometries between the front and rear rims maximises aerodynamic performance. The front wheel is 39mm deep and 31.2mm wide externally, and the rear is 43mm deep with an external width of 20.5mm (both have a 25mm internal width). Enve concluded from their wind tunnel and CFD texting that wider rims lead to greater drag reduction when using higher volume tubeless tyres while maintaining stability.

The SES 3.4 AR is offered as a rim set or complete wheelset, with either Enve Disc or Chirs King hubs. We haven't seen them for sale in the UK yet, but on Enve's US website they start at $2,550 for a pair. 

• One of the most popular upgrades, better wheels (and tyres) can dramatically improve your bike’s ride.

• Stock wheels are often heavy and of mediocre quality — upgrading can reduce weight and improve reliability.

• If you want to go faster, choose wheels with deep-section rims; aerodynamics is far more important than weight.

• You’ve a choice of clinchers, tubulars or tubeless, with matching tyres; each system has pros and cons.

• Wheels benefit from the human touch; the best handbuilt wheels are still superior to wheels built entirely by machine.

Upgrading the wheels is one of the first changes many people make to their bikes. Why are wheels so important and how do you choose a better set of hoops?

It's one of the bike industry's guilty secrets: the wheels on even quite pricey road bikes are often a bit ordinary. That means upgrading your wheels can make a big difference to the feel and performance of your bike.

There are several reasons why you might want better wheels. If you're doing a lot of commuting on bad roads (the potholed streets of just about any UK major city for example) you might want a set of beefy wheels for weekday riding, and to switch to something lighter or more aerodynamic for the weekend.

Or you might have decided to keep the run-of-the-mill wheels your bike came with for training and to fit better-performance wheels for sunny days and important events.

>> Read more: All wheel reviews on road.cc

Wheel construction

The basics of wheel construction haven't changed in decades because, quite simply, they work extraordinarily well. A bike wheel can carry hundreds of times its own weight; pretty remarkable structural efficiency.

Your basic tension-spoked wheel consists of a hub that houses bearings so the whole thing can turn easily, a rim for the tyre to sit on and steel spokes under tension that hold it all together.

The tension in the spokes is the vital factor. When you load a wheel, the tension goes down in the spokes between the hub and the ground. As long as it never hits zero, the wheel can support you and your bike.

Nevertheless, wheels have evolved in the last couple of decades, and now usually have fewer spokes and deeper rims, both changes that improve aerodynamics. The spokes themselves may be flattened to better cut through the air too.

Perhaps the biggest change is the use of carbon fiber for rims. That's made possible deep, highly aerodynamic rims with minimal weight penalty. Carbon wheels are still more expensive than wheels with aluminium rims, but prices have been steadily decreasing for the last few years.

Tubulars, clinchers and tubeless

In terms of how tyres mount, there are three types of wheel rim. Rims for tubular tyres — which have the inner tube sewn into the carcass — have a shallow dip where the tyre is glued on. These are the lightest rims, and tubular fans say their soft floaty ride is unparalleled. However, for the vast majority of people the faff of gluing, and the difficulty of fixing a punctured tubular makes them too much hassle.

Clincher or wire-on rims have raised sidewalls with a hook where the tyre bead engages, and the tyre has a separate inner tube. In other words, this is the standard bike rim and tyre we all know and love. Fixing a flat is a simple matter of changing the tube and swapping tyres just requires tyre levers and a pump.

Tubeless tyres are a special case of clinchers. Tyre and rim are manufactured to precise tolerances to enable an airtight seal. The rim has no holes and the tyre is coated internally with rubber so there's no need for an inner tube. Some manufacturers forego the rubber coating and base their tubeless systems around use of sealant. That has the advantage of making them more resistant to penetration punctures, in addition to their natural resistance to pinch punctures.

Weight vs Aerodynamics

If performance is your aim, there's strong evidence that you should put more priority on aerodynamics than weight. Way back in 2001 bike engineer Kraig Willett analysed the forces on wheels and concluded:

"When evaluating wheel performance, wheel aerodynamics are the most important, distantly followed by wheel mass. Wheel inertia effects in all cases are so small that they are arguably insignificant."

That goes against the long-standing conventional wisdom that wheel weight is vitally important to performance because wheels have to be spun up to speed as well as moved along the road.

But you don't do much accelerating when you ride a bike, and even when you do the speed changes involved are relatively gradual. That means you spend most of your time, and therefore effort, simply shoving the air out of the way, and you should choose wheels accordingly.

Pro teams have drawn similar conclusions, which is why you now see far more deep-section wheels in the peloton than you did even ten years ago. Aero wheels are free speed in a breakaway or sprint.

The big disadvantage of deep-section wheels is the effect of crosswinds, which can blow you off track. Some wheels are less affected than others. Zipp's Firecrest shape is widely considered to be among the least problematic thanks to its bulged sidewalls, and most wheelmakers now offer something similar.

Rim width

Just as tyres have become a bit wider in recent years, with the previously ubiquitous 23mm size giving away to 25, 26 and even 28mm tyres, so rims have spread out too. All other things being equal, a wider rim makes for a stiffer, stronger wheel and also makes the tyre effectively a bit fatter.

Wider rims are also claimed to be more aerodynamic because air flows more smoothly between tyre and rim if they are about the same size. Wheel maker Mavic has taken this to its logical conclusion with its CX01 Blades, plastic fairings that fill the groove between its Yksion CXR tyre and Cosmic CXR wheel. The UCI won't let pros use them, but that doesn't affect triathletes and UK time trial riders.

Can we build it?

Wheelbuilding (CC BY-NC-ND Cory Grunkemeyer:Flickr)

If you want your wheels to be durable, then how they were built is just as important as the components that went into them. For wheels to be durable, the tension needs to be high and even. If it's not high then spokes can come loose as you ride because the tension can drop to zero under load. If the tension is not even then the wheel is unlikely to stay round and true, even if it's that way out of the box.

A step in the wheel-building process called 'stress-relieving' also improves wheel longevity by preventing fatigue failure at the spoke heads. If your relatively new wheels start breaking spokes it's a good bet they weren't stress-relieved properly when they were built.

Most wheels these days are built by machines. It's possible to set up wheel building machines to get all of these things right, or very nearly right, but sometimes factories take short-cuts, especially when the objective is to build inexpensive wheels. The less time each wheel spends in the machine, the more wheels the factory can build.

Spokes (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Jon Bowen:Flickr)

That's why cheap machine-built wheels have a poor reputation, but if a wheel builder doesn't know what he or she is doing, humans can build poor wheels too. The most efficient way of mass-producing high-quality wheels seems to be to let machines quickly do the spadework and then finish them by hand, as Joe Graney found when Santa Cruz decided to build its own wheels.

Alternatively, you can get top-quality wheels that have been built by hand from start to finish, either off-the-peg or custom built. Barnoldswick parts-meisters Hope have been making well-regarded wheels for years, including road wheels, while Hunt Bike Wheels is a new entrant in the field. You'll find wheels built by several others in the selection below.

If you want something truly special, a wheelbuilder who really knows their stuff can help you choose exactly the right combination of hubs, rims and spokes for your needs. The doyen of this approach in the UK is probably Liverpool's Pete Matthews whose resume includes building wheels for Tour de France King of the Mountains Robert Millar, legendary rouleur Sean Yates and comedian Alexei Sayle. Many good bike shops have a similar if less storied figure lurking in the workshop, quietly crafting wheels that last until the rim sidewalls wear out.

Names to look for

The major wheel brands nevertheless produce good wheels, by and large. Riders report thousands of happy miles on wheels by Mavic, Bontrager, Shimano, Reynolds, Zipp, DT Swiss and many others. Here are some of our favourite wheels from the last couple of years.

The best road bike wheels

Prime BlackEdition 50 Carbon — £699.99 (currently out of stock)

Prime's BlackEdition 50 Carbon wheels vastly outperform their price-tag, with stable rims, great braking, smooth hubs and easy tubeless setup. The rims are designed to work best with wider tyres. The 19mm internal width allows the tyre to be nice and fat and our tester was very happy running these at around 55psi, especially with 28mm tyres. The 27.5mm external width, in theory, creates a wind-cheating profile. Until we get a wind tunnel, all we can say is that these didn't hold us back. On the flat, they hold speed easily and glide over poor surfaces.

Read our review of the Prime BlackEdition 50 Carbon wheels

Just Riding Along Lark Light — £414.80

The Lark Light Road wheels from UK brand JRA (Just Riding Along) certainly live up to their name, weighing just 1,460g for the set. They're very responsive and JRA hasn't sacrificed durability to save the grams either. It's the perfect package for the rider who wants a classically styled, lightweight set of wheels for racing or training.

Losing 250g from a wheelset always seems to make much more of a difference to how the weight of the bike feels compared with dropping the same amount elsewhere, so swapping to the Larks from a set of winter rims made impressive differences to acceleration and climbing.

The JRA Light Road hubs run very, very smoothly on their stainless bearings and the pick-up on the freewheel is fast and precise, which all adds to effortless rolling whether on the flat or rolling terrain.

Read our review of the Just Riding Along Lark Light wheels

Token Prime Ventous Carbon Disc — £999.99

The build quality of the Prime Ventous Carbon Disc Road wheelset is excellent, they look great, perform really well and are pretty good value too. tester Sean Lacey rode them from Land's End to John o'Groats and found them smooth and quiet (including the freehub). They picked up well and gained speed noticeably quicker that the Ultegra wheels he'd been running; the ride was much better.

The wheels were stiff and did have a little give under pressure but weren't fazed at all by fast decents or hard climbs. They  continued on at pace whatever the gradient, the acceleration when cracking on at the base giving a welcome extra bit of speed to carry up.

Read our review of the Token Prime Ventous Carbon Disc wheels
Find a Token dealer

Vision TriMax 30 KB — £569.46

Vision's TriMax 30 KB tubeless-ready wheels are built to last, look great and stay that way thanks to a clever surface treatment. Weight-weenies might find them a shade heavy, but that's far less important than durability and reliability.

These are probably the most unobtrusive wheels I've ever tested – and that's a very good thing. For a start, they're straight and true, and the spoke tension is decent, which will help them stay that way. They're laterally stiff enough that I couldn't get them to rub on the brakes, even though I run the blocks close to the rim so they come on at a touch. They're unaffected by sidewinds because they're only 30mm deep, enough to give them a slight aero advantage over old-school square rims, but not enough to affect handling when it's windy. Even the freewheel noise is relatively quiet. Very easy wheels to live with.

Read our review of the Vision TriMax 30 KB wheels
Find a Vision dealer

Just Riding Along Gecko — £850

Just Riding Along's (JRA) Gecko Carbon Wheelset is a very impressive set of hoops designed to take on the constant knocks and vibrations the roughest gravel tracks can throw at them, while still being so light that they won't hamper your performance on the road. With a claimed sub-1,400g weight and all the strength you could need, it's also pretty amazing that they come in at well under a grand.

Read our review of the Just Riding Along Gecko wheels

Bontrager Aeolus XXX 4 TLR — £1,862.10

Bontrager's Aeolus XXX 4 TLR clincher wheels are stiff, lightweight and steady in use and offer good braking in both wet and dry conditions. This is a great all-round aero wheelset that's suitable for a wide variety of conditions and it's light considering the rim depth, ours coming in at 1,420g for the pair.

The first thing I noticed about these wheels is their stiffness. With the brake pads set up stupidly close to the rims I could get some rub when throwing the bike around in a massive gear, but I got virtually none in normal use, not even when sprinting or leaning hard into a tight corner. No worries at all there.

The next thing to mention is their stability. Some aero rims can get knocked about by sidewinds, even when the yaw angle is quite shallow. Fluctuations in the speed and/or direction of the wind can have a large effect on the steering, making your bike's front end feel like a handful, upsetting your confidence and ultimately affecting your speed. The Aeolus XXX 4 TLRs have behaved well on super-windy rides.

Read our review of the Bontrager Aeolus XXX 4 TLR wheels
Find a Bontrager dealer

Mavic Ksyrium Elite UST — £459-£519

For 2018 Mavic's highly dependable all-rounder, the Ksyrium Elite, has become tubeless, using the French company's UST system like much of the range. The wheels have maintained their lightweight, durable persona from previous models and are still great to ride whether you are racing or tackling the club run, with a little bit of future proofing. A welcome addition is that the Yksion Pro UST tyres are now among the best tubeless tyres you can buy, and Mavic's Road UST system makes for smooth and simple fitting of tyres with just a standard track pump.

Read our review of the Mavic Ksyrium Elite UST
Find a Mavic dealer

Fast Forward F4R FCC Tubeless DT 350 — £1,159.99

These Fast Forward F4R FCC Tubeless Ready wheels are seriously good for their relatively sensible price tag. They're stable in strong winds, quick to spin up to speed and also quick to stop. What's more, you get great hubs and high-end pads. It's a great package.

Read our review of the Fast Forward F4R FCC Tubeless DT 350

Fulcrum Racing Speed 40C Carbon — £1,499.79

The Fulcrum Racing Speed 40C Carbon wheels are the company's high performance offering. They offer buttery smooth ceramic bearings, stable rims and brilliant braking. The only thing not to love is the price.

Read our review of the Fulcrum Racing Speed 40C Carbon
Find a Fulcrum dealer

DT Swiss PRC 1400 Spline 65 — £1,338.99

The new DT Swiss PRC 1400 Spline clincher wheels come with deep section 65mm rims for aerodynamic efficiency. They're well made and come with excellent internals, plus you can run them tubeless.

You are getting some seriously good wheels for your money here. Granted, these don't offer quite the aero performance of DT Swiss's ARC 1100 Dicut wheels but the PRCs feature excellent components, they're stiff, braking is good and, for their depth, they feel pretty stable in most conditions. This is a reliable high-performance wheelset that puts in a great performance in a variety of conditions.

Read our review of the DT Swiss PRC 1400 Spline 65 wheels
Find a DT Swiss dealer

Hunt Superdura Dynamo Disc — £539

If you're looking at a dynamo system for your road bike then the SONdelux hub dynamo is pretty much the best out there for low resistance and weight, and it's renowned for great build quality which is matched by the rest of the components on these excellent Hunt wheels. Considering how much the dynamo costs on its own, the price is excellent too. They might be a bit much for the odd night ride, but if you rack up the miles after dark they're an investment worth considering.

Read our review of the Hunt Superdura Dynamo Disc wheels

AlexRims CXD4 — £339.99

AlexRims knows a thing or two about making rims (the clue's in the name), so it's not a surprise that it's moving into the wheelset market. And if these CXD4s are anything to go by, you should definitely look at them as an option if you're upgrading your bike or speccing a new build.

On the road the wheels feel nice and stiff, with no obvious flex either from sprint efforts or heavy cornering. The bearings run smoothly, and whipping the cassette off showed that there's not very much notching on the alloy freehub body. The 1,580g all-in weight is pretty good for a disc wheelset at this price. Shimano's RX31s are 380g heavier for the same kind of money, and similar-weight wheelsets from the likes of Cero, Kinesis and Hunt come in at least £50 more expensive.

Read our review of the AlexRims CXD4
Find an AlexRims dealer

Hunt 3650 Carbon Wide Aero — £899

Going wide and deep, Hunt has created a set of fast, durable and light wheels in the 3650 Carbon Wide Aeros. With a specification of high-end parts and great build quality, Hunt isn't trying to reinvent the wheel but it is certainly refining it to a level of performance unheard of on sub-£1,000 wheelsets.

The name 3650 comes from how deep they are: 36mm at the front and 50mm at the rear. It's quite a common combination for many riders as it is so adaptable to various weather conditions and the topography of your chosen route.

The front gives you a slight aero advantage over a more standard box rim shape without getting battered around by crosswinds, and it also keeps the weight down for climbing.

Read our review of the Hunt 3650 Carbon Wide Aero wheels

DT Swiss PR 1400 Dicut OXiC — £646

The PR 1400 Dicut OXiC wheels feature a ceramic coated rim surface that provides reassuring braking performance in a range of conditions, making them ideal for year-round cycling in the UK.

The application of a hardwearing ceramic coating on the rim is nothing new: Mavic used to produce a highly regarded ceramic back in the day. DT Swiss, though, reckons its new OXiC treatment is able to deform with the rim, which means the coating can't become detached from the aluminium, a problem that plagued Mavic ceramic rims. DT is confident the ceramic coating won't wear our over the normal lifespan of the rim, and it won't fade in the sun.

Read our review of the DT Swiss PR 1400 Dicut OXiC wheels
Find a DT SWiss dealer

Shimano Dura-Ace C24 Carbon Clincher — £749.99

I've been running the C24s with 25mm Continental Grand Prix 4000 tyres (Shimano advises that you use tyres ranging from 23mm to 28mm with these wheels) and they've been very quick, accelerating fast, and the ride quality is hard to fault.

The C24s, which have just been given a graphics/aesthetics update to match Shimano's new R9100 components, have the shallowest rim heights of any wheels in the Dura-Ace range: the front is 21mm and the rear is 24mm. They're not particularly wide either: 15mm internal, 20.8mm external, whereas the new C40 and C60 clinchers are both 17mm internal and 24mm external, following the trend towards more width.

Read our review of the Shimano Dura-Ace C24s
Find a Shimano dealer

Hunt 30Carbon Gravel Disc — £899

I've been thrashing the Hunt 30Carbon Gravel Disc wheels around the roads and bridleways of the south west, as well as using them for a touring trip to Cuba where they endured all kinds of surfaces, pot-holes and being lashed to roof-racks with string. And I like them, a lot.

As the name suggests, the 30Carbon Gravel Disc wheels are aimed at the fast-growing new gravel/all-road/adventure bike category. Gravel bikes are aimed at riders who want to go quickly on the road, with the freedom to take a turn off the tarmac and explore further into the wild than you could on a traditional road bike. They're typically built tougher than a road bike, and consequently heavier. If you're looking for an upgrade to your gravel bike, wheels may be on your list, and with a weight of less than 1,500g, these are likely to be quite a bit lighter than most stock wheels.

Read our review of the Hunt 30Carbon Gravel Disc wheels

BORG22T Disc Road/CX tubular — £380

The BORG22T wheelset features 22mm-deep aluminium tubular rims and triple butted Sapim Force spokes laced onto Miche Syntium DX hubs. It's not a flashy package, but it bats well above its price tag – it's tough, fast and will suit riders looking for a brilliant cyclo-cross wheelset.

Sometimes a product will genuinely surprise you. Take a look at the spec list of the BORG22T wheels and you'd be forgiven for not expecting much, and certainly not at this price. But I put them on my bike and was surprised to find they're excellent. I wouldn't expect to find a tubular disc wheelset below the £1,000 mark; finding such a great set of wheels for £380 has made me question why I'd spend more.

Read our review of the BORG22T Disc Road/CX tubular wheels

Roval CLX 50 Disc — £1,848

Since Roval parent Specialized introduced the Roval Rapide CLX 40 wheels two years ago, they've been busy and the CLX 50 wheels are the CLX 40s' spiritual replacement. They're a marked improvement, too, with better aerodynamic performance and an impressively low weight for the disc brake version here.

The aim for the new Roval CLX 50 was to marry the aero performance of the deeper section CLX 64 with the lightness of the shallower CLX 32. At 1,415g with a 50mm-deep rim and disc brake hubs, they would appear to have achieved that objective.

This is a very attractive weight in a hugely competitive wheel market. They're not much heavier than the £4.8k Lightweight Meilenstein C Disc wheels, for example, and only a smidgen heavier than the so-called lightweight, shallow, rim-braked FFWD F3R carbon clinchers. You can have aero and low weight it would seem. And a Zipp 404 Firecrest Disc wheelset? That's a comparatively portly 1,715g.

Read our review of the Roval CLX 50 Disc
Find a Roval dealer

Halo Evaura Uni 6D — £348.98

Halo seems very proud of its new Evaura Universal 6D 700C wheelset, and quite rightly. These are well-made wheels that can be adapted for a variety of cycles and purposes. The ride quality is excellent, the weight modest and – despite the dishing needed to make it disc-brake compatible – it proved impossible to provoke them into twisting or flexing.

The idea behind this wheelset is to make it as adaptable as possible to the new rash of wheel and braking standards that is spreading across the industry. While most conventional road frames take a 130mm rear axle, disc brake-equipped bikes are commonly adopting the 135mm found on mountain bikes. (Mountain bike rear axles are themselves now getting longer, but that's another story...)

Read our review of the Halo Evaura Uni 6D wheels
Find a Halo dealer

Fast Forward F3R Full Carbon Clincher Wheels — £1,499.99

Fast Forward F3R Full Carbon Clincher wheels are a lightweight option that provide excellent acceleration and a high level of stiffness, although the lack of aero credentials might put off some who aren't pure climbers.

Fast Forward bills the Full Carbon Clincher as a wheelset that's particularly suited to climbing. The carbon rims are 30mm deep and 22.4mm wide with quite a rounded profile and a blunt inner edge – far more U-shaped than V-shaped.

Read our review of the Fast Forward F3R Full Carbon Clincher wheels
Find a Fast Forward dealer

Knight Composites 65 wheels — £2,000

The Knight 65 Carbon Fibre clinchers offer very good stiffness, but their real skill is in cutting through the air at high speeds and feeling stable with it.

These wheels – Knight's own rims laced to DT Swiss 240 hubs – have a whole lot going for them. Okay, at 65mm deep they're never going to be particularly light, our pair coming in at 1,680g (including rim strips and skewers), but that's not unusual. For comparison, Zipp's 404s are a claimed 1,505g (you also need to factor in the weight of the rim strips and skewers) and Bontrager's 70mm-deep Aeolus 7s are a claimed 1,610g.

It's when you fire the Knight 65s up to speed that things get impressive. As tester Mat Brett put it: "I have a few routes that I ride regularly as personal time trials for reviewing bikes and kit – rolling rather than hilly – and I've used these wheels to help achieve consistently fast times over several weeks and in a wide variety of conditions. I measure power every ride and my view is that these wheels are offering impressive speeds for the wattage I'm putting out. It's unscientific and highly anecdotal, so take it or leave it, but this is my experience."

Read our review of the Knight Composites 65 DT Swiss 240 wheels
Find a Knight Composites dealer

DT Swiss RRC 65 Dicut clinchers — £1,999.98

They might be a lot of money but these DT Swiss RRC 65 Dicut clincher wheels are fast and stable, and they offer a good braking performance too.

These wheels are at their best when slicing along at high speed. They maintain pace beautifully with an appreciably lower resistance than shallow section rims. The RRC 65s also accelerate well, especially considering their 65mm rim depth. Weighing 745g (front) and 885g (rear) – excluding skewers; combined weight is 1,630g (DT's official total weight is 45g lower) – they spin up to speed with little fuss. For comparison, Zipp's 58mm deep 404 Firecrest Carbon Clinchers have claimed weights of 725g and 895g (1,620g total).

Some people might consider 65mm a little deep for general road use but we rode with these wheels on both a road bike and more occasionally on a TT bike for six weeks and they were superb. We really rate these wheels highly, and not just for racing against the clock.

Read our review of the DT Swiss RRC 65 Dicut clinchers
Find a DT Swiss dealer

Vision Team 35 — £249.99

Vision's Team 35s are competent and durable entry-level race wheels, with the added bonus of being very comfortable for a set of semi-deep-section alloy clinchers. The black anodised finish gives them a cool stealth look too.

The Team 35s are a revamped version of Vision's long-standing T35 model, and with a recommended retail price of £229.95 they sit right at that level of a first serious performance upgrade for a lot of bikes.

At first glance they seem a bit porky at 1,820g, especially considering the quoted weight is some 100g less than that, but the good thing is they never feel sluggish out on the road. You notice it a little if things get really steep or you ask for some rapid acceleration from a standing start, so if you're searching for a climber's set of wheels, look elsewhere.

Otherwise, the Team 35s are hard to knock. Considering the depth of the alloy rim, you'd expect them to feel harsh, but they don't.

Read our review of the Vision Team 35 wheels
Find a Vision dealer

Swiss Side Hadron 625 — ~£1,200

"Hur hur hur your wheels are called Hard... oh no, wait, it's Hadron." To Swiss ears, the name may well conjure up the crowning peak of European scientific endeavour, but it's perilously close to something that provided regular amusement to the Sunday morning crew back at home. That's as may be, but the Swiss Side Hadron 625s are stonkingly good wheels, offering arguably the best performance in this price bracket on the market today.

They use a hybrid aluminium-carbon rim to give aluminium-rim brake performance and class-leading aerodynamic performance, at a price way below the big players like Zipp and Enve. And by god they sound good.

Read our review of the Swiss Side Hadron 625 wheels

Superstar Components Pave wheels — £299.99

The least expensive wheels we've ever given four and a half stars, the Superstar Pace 28s demonstrate that custom handbuilt wheels can be competitive on weight and reliability with any factory wheels. They have wide rims in the modern style and are built on reliable Icon hubs. They're comparable to substantially more expensive wheels from other manufacturers; light enough to race on while still managing to be as tough as old boots, and look how shiny they are.

Read our review of the Superstar Components Pave wheels

Hunt 4Season Aero V2 — £319

Hunt's entry-level road clinchers look like an excellent choice. They succeed the now-discontinued 4Season Dura Road wheels which we liked a lot, and like those wheels, these look to be a good first upgrade over heavy stock wheels, or as a good quality winter or all-round option, they're right on the money.

The 4Season Aero V2 wheels have the same hubs. We had no issues with the 4-pawl freehub, nor with the sealed EZO bearings. Everything ran smoothly in spite of being subjected to some biblical conditions. The supplied skewers are an external cam, with a nylon insert instead of the brass one you get on the more expensive Hunt wheels, but they do the job without any fuss.

Read our review of the Hunt 4Season Dura Road
Find a Hunt dealer

Pro-Lite Bortola A21 wheels — £270.99

The 1,540g weight of these wide, tubeless-ready wheels is impressive for an aluminium wheelset even if that is about 65g over the claimed weight. With the Bortolas Pro-Lite haven't sacrificed strength or durability to achieve it, it's more of a by-product of well chosen, proven components.

On the road, they're smooth and comfortable, but light enough to reward a little out of the saddle dig on a steep section while climbing.

Overall the Bortolas are perfect all rounder wheels that only really lose out in terms of aerodynamics due to that shallow rim.

Read our review of the Pro-Lite Bortola A21 wheels

Pro-Lite Revo A21W — £269.99

Road disc and gravel wheels are getting better, lighter and cheaper, and right at the forefront of that trend are the Pro-Lite Revo A21s. At 1,650g, with a Centerlock option, thru-axle compatibility and a wide track rim, they're a bargain, and pretty future-proof too.

Pro-Lite builds all its wheels by hand and the Revos arrived nice and true, with even spoke tension. The spokes are bladed and triple butted, and Pro-Lite uses a brass washer at the spoke head to better distribute the forces there.

The Revos use a 21mm deep rim (hence the name), which is 23.8mm wide externally and 19mm internally. That makes it ideal for 28-32mm tyres, although 25mm rubber and bigger chamber tyres will be fine too.

Read our review of the Pro-Lite Revo A21W
Find a Pro-Lite dealer

Stan's NoTubes ZTR Grail Team — £457.95

We've been hugely impressed with these wheels. With 25mm slicks at high pressures they're fast on the road, and they've proven extremely tough when riding with knobbly tyres at low pressures off-road. They're a decent weight, the hubs are easily interchangeable to different axle standards, and the company's Bead Socket Technology (BST) means getting a tubeless tyre inflated is a cinch.

The Grail rims are wide: 24mm on the outside, 21mm on the inside. The rims are also quite deep, 24.5mm, making them the company's deepest – and therefore more aero – rim to date. They're constructed from aluminium and weigh a claimed 460g apiece. The BST rim profile features a shallow seating area so the tyre bead locates right up against the side of the rim. Getting a Schwalbe One tubeless tyre to inflate was ridiculously easy – a slosh of sealant inside and a track pump to inflate the tyre.

If you want a disc- and tubeless-ready wheelset with a wide rim profile to make the most of the growing number of wide tubeless tyres, the Stan's NoTubes ZTR Grail Team wheels combine a competitive price, decent weight and impressive performance. Add in the easy tubeless compatibility and axle versatility, and they're seriously worth considering.

Read our review of the Stan's NoTubes ZTR Grail Team
Find a Stan's NoTubes dealer

Edco Optima Roches (22mm) Tubeless Ready Wheels — £400

Traditional looks meets modern width in these wheels from Swiss-based Edco, which have 22mm wide rims and are ready for Tubeless tyres like those offered by Hutchinson, Bontrager or Schwalbe.

There are a lot of clever touches to these wheels like the MultiSys freewheel body, designed to accept both Shimano/SRAM and Campagnolo cassettes so you don't need new wheels if you ever change gearing allegiance.

These wheels ride well, are a sensible 1,571g and come with a whopping eight-year guarantee.

Read our review of the Edco Optima Roches (22mm) Tubeless Ready Wheels
Find an Edco dealer​

Swiss Side Hadron 485 — ~£1,200

Hadron wheels (named after that big circular tunnel near Geneva, of course) are available in rim depths of 48.5mm, 62.5mm and 80mm (front)/85mm (rear). All share the same fundamental construction, with aluminium rims and carbon fairings. Swiss Side says it's done an enormous amount of work to perfect the aerodynamic design of these rims, focusing on aerodynamic drag and also minimising the sensitivity to side-winds.

They've performed well in a wide variety of riding. We won't pretend that we can accurately determine the difference compared with other quality aero wheels of a similar depth, but they certainly feel like they're in the same ball-park, holding speed really well and making a rather satisfying hum in the process.

Read our review of the Swiss Side Hadron 485
Find a Swiss Side dealer

Fulcrum Racing Quattro Carbon DB — £829.99-£889.99

The Fulcrum Racing Quattro Carbon DB wheels could well redefine the modern bicycle wheel. They're bang on trend for a broad range of today's disc brake-equipped bikes and promise the trinity of light, fast and strong.

First, they're the right material: carbon fibre, with a 3k core and unidirectional surface. And while Fulcrum doesn't tout them as tubeless ready, they are, with only the valve hole in the bed of the 40mm-deep aero section rims.

The broad carbon rims are laced with 18 spokes in the front and 21 in the rear – a number low enough to keep the weight down, but high enough to make the wheels feel bombproof.

Paradoxically, they ride like function-specific race-day wheels, all revved up and raring to rip up the road, and so, naturally, you expect them to be fragile and delicate, with a need to be guarded from harm and children's sticky fingers. In reality, they're street tough and ready for couple of pints and a scrap.

Read our review of the Fulcrum Racing Quattro Carbon DB
Find a Fulcrum dealer

Spin K2 Carbone XLR38 25mm Fat Boy Clincher wheels — £990.00

The closest equivalent to these wheels in the current Spin range is the DM8 Custom Shop Pro ThirtyEight Super Fly Boy. They're still 38mm deep, but now wider to give better support and shape to 25-28mm tyres.

The XLR38s offered bags of speed with a fat rim profile reminiscent of a Zipp or Enve but at a fraction of the price. We expect theSuper Fly Boys to be just as good, making them an ideal upgrade for anyone looking to invest in their first deep section carbon wheels.

Spin offers a choice of rim depths, laced to its own SPN Precision hubs. With the 38mm rims, they weigh 1500g per pair. That's a very competitive weight, certainly for the price. You won't get much lighter unless you're prepared to spend quite a lot more money. Braking with the supplied QuickStop Black Shadow brake blocks was excellent.

Read our review of the Spin K2 Carbone XLR38 25mm Fat Boy Clincher wheels

Specialized Roval Rapide CLX 40 — £1,199.00

Fulcrum wheels are immensely popular, both as original equipment on complete new bikes and when bought after market. The range is broad and a little complicated so here’s our guide to navigating it.

Fulcrum is a sub-brand of Italian component manufacturer Campagnolo. It makes wheels that are compatible with Shimano/SRAM systems as well as with Campag’s own products.

This isn't a test, although we do reference our reviews where relevant. This is simply an overview of the range to tell you what's what and help you decide what's most suitable for you.

Prices are for wheels with Shimano/SRAM-compatible freehubs.

Racing 7 DB 2Way-Fit — £229.99

Fulcrum has dirt riding in mind with the disc-brake version of the Racing 7. It boasts rims with a 19mm internal width to work with tyres up to 62mm wide, and hubs that can be easily adapted to work with the various quick-release and through-axle standards.

Because the rims are shallower than the regular Racing 7's the claimed weight ends up slightly lower at 1,740g.

The  2Way-Fit designation indicates that the Racing 7 DB works with tubeless tyres, but there's a catch: Fulcrum says only Schwalbe Pro One and G-One tyres should be used with any of its  2Way-Fit (Road) wheels. They're great tyres, but Fulcrum really needs to tweak the design for greater flexibility.

There's also a 650B version (£244.99), as the gravel-bike alternative of smaller wheels with really fat tyres continues to gain traction.

Read our review of the Racing 7 DB  2Way-Fit wheels

Buy if: You want tough, fairly light wheels for your gravel bike — and you really like Schwalbe tyres

Racing 6 — ~£191

The Racing 6 is very similar to the Racing 7 but has an over-sized, drilled-out, drive-side flange on the rear wheel. Fulcrum's website in fact no longer lists the rim-brake Racing 7 at all, so the Racing 6 looks to effectively replace that model in the range. Like the Racing 7, the rims are 23mm wide (17mm internal) and slightly deeper on the rear wheel: 27.5mm v 24.5mm up front.

Fulcrum claims a pair of Racing 6 wheels weighs 1,760g.

Buy if: You want reliable, no-frills wheels for everyday riding and training.

Racing 6 DB  2Way-Fit — £199.99

The disc-brake version of the Racing 6 has a claimed weight of 1,690g a pair, shaving 50g off the Racing 7 DB thanks to 26mm tall rims with 17mm internal width. These are therefore more road-orientated than the Racing 7 DB.

Buy if: You want very sensibly priced disc-brake wheels for the road, and don't mind the Schwalbe-only rule.

Racing 5 — ~£220

When we reviewed the Racing 5s (RRP £289.99) we said, “They're strong and not too heavy, and have shrugged off months of wet miles with nary a whimper.”

Rather than round spokes, the Racing 5s come with double-butted steel spokes that are aero profiled – in other words, they’re flattened to reduce drag. They’re also straight-pull – there’s no bend.

Check out our Fulcrum Racing 5 review

A £270 disc brake version of the Racing 5 (RRP: £349.99) is also available. As well as the ability to take rotors (6 bolt or Fulcrum’s AFS – Axial Fixing System – design), the wheels have disc-specific rims with a 24.5mm external width for the easier fitting of fatter tyres. As with other disc-braked, tubeless-compatible wheels from Fulcrum those tyres will have to be Schwalbe if you're going tubeless.

Read our review of the Fulcrum Racing 5 DB 2Way-Fit wheels

Buy if: You want solid commuting or training wheels that roll well and don't cost the earth.

Racing 4 — £259.99

Racing 4 is the new name for the wheel formerly known as the Racing Quattro, with 35mm-deep rims and a claimed weight per pair of 1,725g. The idea is to improve aerodynamics and “increase torsional and lateral stiffness compared with a conventional profile, for improved high speed stability.”

The 21 rear spokes are arranged according to what Fulcrum calls its 2:1 Two-to-One system, with 14 on the driveside and 7 on the non-driveside. Fulcrum says that this limits the loss of rim tension when you pedal.

“Slackening and torsion are limited and the transfer of the athlete’s power is much more effective,” it says.

When we reviewed the Racing Quattros we said, “A lot of wheel for not a lot of money. Fast and durable, a great all-rounder.”

Check out our Fulcrum Racing Quattro review.

Buy if: You’re looking for something that’s strong and durable with a little extra rim depth.

Racing 4 DB 2Way-Fit — £299

The disc-brake version of the Racing 4 has 35mm deep disc-specific rims and a claimed weight of 1,690g. Like most of Fulcrum's disc-brake wheels it uses what Fulcrum calls Monoblock Hub For Disc tech, in which stiffening ribs inside the hub convey braking forces to the tangential drive-side spokes to reduce twist on the rotor side.

Buy if: You want semi-aero wheels for your disc-braked bike.

Racing 3 — £389.99

Racing 3s (RRP: £550) are quite a lot lighter than Quattros (the claimed wheelset weight is 1,560g) partly because of shallower rims – the front is 26mm, the rear is 30mm. The latest version gets an upgrade to rims with 17mm internal width to accommodate wider tyres.

Fulcrum no longer lists a 2Way-Fit version of the Racing 3, but they're still available from retailers at £425. You can fit either standard clinchers or go tubeless because there are no holes in the rim.

Check out Road Tubeless: Everything You Need To Know and also our Buyer’s Guide To Tubeless Tyres.

When we reviewed the 2-Way Fit version on road.cc, we called it, “A good wheel choice if you're taking the tubeless plunge – responsive, strong and well-made. Stylish too.”

Buy if: You’d like stiff and responsive wheels for training, sportives, and even racing duties.

Read our review of the Fulcrum Racing 3 2-Way Fit wheels

Racing Zero — £575

It’s a large step up in price to the Racing Zero (RRP £799.99), but this is a high-level aluminium wheelset with a 25mm-deep front rim, 30mm-deep rear rim, carbon front hub body, and USB ceramic bearings. Fulcrum claims these are 30% lighter, 40% more resistant, and 50% smoother than standard steel bearings.

The Zero wheelset is light at a claimed 1,495g.

Fulcrum no longer lists the 2Way-Fit rim-brake version of the Racing Zero (£824.99), but there are still a few in retailers.

Fulcrum has applied a plasma electrolytic oxidation treatment to the rims of the £799.99 Racing Zero Nite (RRP £1,049.99) that was unveiled a couple of years ago.

“The Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation process both hardens the metal, increasing its resistance to wear, [and creates] a surface that improves braking performance in both wet and dry conditions,” says Fulcrum.

Buy if: You’d like a lightweight aluminium wheelset and are prepared to pay for high performance.

Racing Zero Competizione — £899.99

Here's Fulcrum throwing almost all their technologies at a set of high-end go-faster aluminium wheels. They feature 2Way-Fit, 6082 T6 aluminium rims, hubs with carbon-fibre centre sections, CULT ceramic bearings, plasma-treated freehub body and weigh a claimed 1,475g. The rear rim is 30mm deep, the front 27mm and both have 17mm internal width.

Buy if: You want light, fast wheels with a splash of colour.

Racing Zero DB 2Way-Fit — ~£930

With 19mm internal-width rims and a claimed weight of just £1,590g these are Fulcrum's entry in the high-end do-everything wheels category. The rims are made from high-strength 6082 T6 aluminium, joined to the hubs with aluminium spokes, and like the rim-brake version they roll on USB ceramic bearings.

Buy if: You want light, modern tubeless-compatible disc-braked wheels

Racing Quattro Carbon — £824.99

The Racing Quattro Carbon wheelset (RRP £1,099.99) is designed to be aerodynamically efficient and reasonably light, weighing a claimed 1,555g. It has 40mm deep carbon-fibre rims that are 24.2mm wide to support tyres from 25mm to 32mm.

As with Fulcrum’s other non-disc carbon-rimmed wheels, the Racing Quattro Carbon has a 3Diamant surface treatment on the braking tracks. This is machining that, according to Fulcrum, “Eliminates the imperfections caused by the non-homogenous resin deposits and allows the brake pad to work directly on the woven carbon fibres.” The idea is to improve the braking performance in both wet and dry conditions.

The Racing Quattro Carbon is also available in a disc version (£928.20, RRP £1,199.99). When we reviewed them we described these wheels as “Light, fast, stiff and strong, and very, very versatile.” However, unlike other disc-brake Fulcrum wheels they're not tubeless compatible.

Read our review of Fulcrum Racing Quattro Carbon Disc wheels.

Buy if: You’re after lightweight and stiff wheels in a versatile depth.

Racing Zero Carbon — £1,130.24

The Racing Zero Carbon Clincher combines 30mm-deep/24.5mm wide carbon rims with aluminium aero spokes and carbon bodied hubs. The bearings are USB ceramic. The wheelset has a claimed weight of just 1,358g but the pair's supposed to cost a hefty £1,799.99.

There's a disc-brake version too.

Buy if: You want high-quality carbon wheels in a shallow depth.

Speed series

Fulcrum's top-end hoops, the Speed wheelsets have all-carbon aero rims for racing and against-the-clock efforts. There are five models of spoked wheel, plus the Speed 360 one-piece disc rear wheel.

Speed 40C — ~£1,400

The Fulcrum Speed 40C wheels offer buttery smooth ceramic bearings, stable rims and brilliant braking thanks to a what Fulcrum calls AC3 — All Conditions Carbon Control. They spin up effortlessly, handle well on windy days and weigh just 1,420g a pair. The only thing not to like is the price.

There's also a £1,782.47 tubular version — Speed 40T— which weighs just 1,213g a pair and it's available in a disc-brake version too.

Read our review of the Speed 40C wheels

Read our review of the Speed 40T wheels

Buy if: you're racing or going fast really matters to you, and it's hilly or windy

Speed 55C — ~£1,400

As above, but with 55mm deep rims for better aerodynamics. At a claimed 1,470g they don't surrender much to the Speed 40C wheels though we'd expect them to be a bit more susceptible to getting knocked off course in side-winds.

You can also get the 55C rear wheel in a pair with a 40C front for £1,572.76. Claimed weight is 1,450g.

If you prefer to glue on your tyres, there's a tubular version for £1,679.99 — Speed 55T— which weighs a claimed 1,280g a pair.

Disc brakes and tubulars? No problem. You want the Speed 55T DB you do. New stopping tech meets traditional tyres will set you back £1,711.32 and the pair is claimed to weigh 1395g.

Buy if: You're racing

Racing Speed XLR 80mm Carbon Tubular — £2,499.99

If you're doing a time trial or the bike leg of a triathlon, it's a calm day and you've a serious need for speed, then you want the deepest rims possible.

Buy if: You're racing against the clock

Speed 360T — £2,999.99

Finally, for those whose need for speed is only outstripped by the depth of their pockets, there's the 360T rear disc.

Buy if: You're racing against the clock and want to be ready for that perfect float morning

We’ve previously taken you through the wheel ranges from Mavic and Fulcrum, now it’s time to turn our attention to Shimano’s rather large offering of wheels. Shimano wheels are frequently specced by bike manufacturers and they’re popular aftermarket upgrades, no doubt helped by being a common sight in the professional peloton - it supplies wheels to more teams than any other brand.

Your complete guide to Shimano groupsets

Dura-Ace R9100 and R9170 wheelsets

Shimano unveiled new Dura-Ace wheels with the launch of its latest groupset last summer. The new C40 and C60 wheels have a fashionably wide rim designed for improved aerodynamics.

The rims have a wider profile than the previous generation Dura-Ace wheels, following the current trend for bulbous profiles that are more stable in crosswinds than the older V-shape rims. Each is available in a clincher or tubular version, so you can emulate the pros if you want or be sensible and fit some inner tubes.

Alternatively, the R9170 versions of the C40 and C60 wheels are designed solely for disc brakes and use a 12mm thru-axle hub and a rim that is tubeless compatible. There’s also a tubular option as well.

If you want the lightest option, the R9100-C24 has a very shallow 24mm rim that keeps the weight low, making it an ideal wheelset for climbers. It's virtually unchanged from the previous R9000-C24 in case you're wondering.

Clincher

R9100 C24 — £691.99
R9100 C40 — £1,099
R9170 C40 Disc — £1,446
R9100 C60 — £1,074.99
R9170 C60 Disc — NA

Tubular

R9100 C40 Carbon — £1,632.48
R9170 C40 Disc — £1,503.98
R9100 C60 Carbon — £1,979.98
R9170 C60 Disc — ~£2,300.00

Shimano’s previous Dura-Ace R9000 generation wheels are still available if you shop around. There’s the C24 (£1,999.98) and C75 (£1,699.98), the classic C50 (£1,599.98) and finally the C35 (£1,499.98).

Review: Shimano Dura-Ace C24 Carbon Clincher wheelset

Ultegra RS700 and RS770 wheelsets

Along with the latest version of Ultegra 8000 launched this year, which follows closely in the wake of new Dura-Ace, Shimano released updated wheels. It’s offering two wheelsets under the Ultegra label, the carbon-laminate RS700 for rim brakes (£486.10) and the RS770 (£498.26) for disc brakes.

Both are tubeless-ready and the later is compatible with thru-axles. There are also new hubs to shed about 60g of weight compared to the old 6800 wheels, and there’s a lighter carbon layup in the new rims. Claimed weight is 1,568g for the rim brake wheels and 1,639g for the disc wheels.

RX830 35mm Tubeless Disc Brake wheelset — £592.50

The RX830 combines Shimano’s proven carbon laminate technology in a 17mm wide (internal) tubeless-ready rim optimised for disc brakes, so there’s no brake track on these rims. The hubs are cup and cone and ready for disc brakes with conventional quick release axles - so you’ll only see these on cheaper or older generation rim brake bikes, as most disc brake bikes are moving over to thru-axles. Shop around and you can find them discounted, as is the case for most of the wheels here.

RX31 Road Disc Brake wheelset — £272.22

The RX31 was one of the very first dedicated disc brake wheelsets available when disc brakes started appearing on production road bikes a few years ago. Shimano has built a solid wheelset around 24mm profile aluminium clincher rims with 24 stainless steel butted and bladed straight pull spokes in each wheel to best deal with the disc brake forces. Hubs are now thru-axle compatible with contact sealed bearings with an 8,9,10 and 11-speed compatible freehub.

- Review: Shimano RX31 wheelset

RS330 Alloy clincher wheelset — £207.83

Looking like a good upgrade option for many entry-level bikes, though you’re likely to see these wheels specced on a lot of mid-range bikes, the RS-330 uses a lightweight aluminium rim with a 30mm depth providing good aerodynamics, making them ideal for anyone wanting to inject a bit more speed into their riding.

RS11 Alloy clincher wheelset — £159.98

You’re getting a bit more technology in return for your extra £50 at RRP over the RS010 wheels below, with a 24mm profile aluminium rim and bladed stainless steel straight pull spokes - 16 up front and 24 our back. The hubs have labyrinth sealed angular contact bearings and low-friction seals for low rolling resistance and good durability.

RS010 Alloy clincher wheelset — £119

The RS010 is the most affordable in the RS line and uses much of the same technology as you'd expect higher up the range, and is a really good entry-level wheelset. You get the same 24mm rim depth as the more expensive wheels with 20 front spokes and 24 rear spokes and quick release hubs with wide flanges, contact bearings and steel axles.

RX010 Centre Lock Disc wheelset — £132.46

An affordable disc brake wheelset with 28 spokes in each wheel for extra durability and a 24mm rim for low weight, combined with Centre Lock disc rotor mounting system. The rim width is recommended for 25 to 38mm wide tyres. The hubs use regular quick release axles.

R500 24mm wheelset — £81.55

Shimano’s most affordable wheelset and one you’ll see on a lot of entry-level road bikes with 8 and 9-speed drivetrains. Combining 24mm aero and anodised rims with 20 black chrome plated spokes in each wheel and weighing 1,884g, it’s a solid wheelset.

Read more: 22 of the best road bike wheels

Deciding on the most suitable wheels for you from the large DT Swiss range can be tricky, so here's a guide to help you get it right.  

The range has been restructured recently and many new models have been added. Here's how to navigate it.

DT Swiss naming system

The name of each wheel can give you a lot of information, as long as you know what everything means...

The first letter of the wheel's name simply tells you which category it belongs to:

A – Aero
P – Performance
E – Endurance 
G – Gravel

Then, an upper case R stands for Race and a C means that the rim is carbon. If there's no C, the rim is aluminium.

You'll almost always get a four digit number which gives you more info:

1100

• 240s based hubs
• Ceramic bearings
• Ratchet System freehub
• Carbon rims

1400

• 240s based hubs
• Stainless steel bearings
• Ratchet System freehub
• Carbon or aluminium rims

1600

• 350 based hubs
• Stainless steel bearings
• Ratchet System freehub
• Aluminium rims

1800

• 370 based hubs
• Stainless steel bearings
• Pawl system freehub
• Aluminium rims

The hubs are all DT Swiss's own, the 240s being the lightest of the ones mentioned here. The hubs with higher numbers use slightly heavier parts and aren't as expensive.

The Ratchet System mentioned is probably DT Swiss's best known feature. Most freehubs use spring-loaded pawls that engage with ratchet teeth when you pedal, but DT Swiss uses a different system in its higher end wheels. Ratchet System hubs instead use two star ratchets that lock together when you pedal – all the teeth engaging simultaneously – and glide over one another when you coast. Different hubs have star ratchets with different numbers of teeth – the higher the number the quicker the engagement when you start to pedal.

Other brands might disagree but DT Swiss says, "The Ratchet System is the best solution for a freewheel system, since it can transfer high loads while being super light."

Check out the new DT Swiss Ratchet EXP hub system here 

Each wheel name usually includes either 'Dicut' or 'Spline'. This refers to the interface between the hub and the spoke. Here's DT Swiss's explanation: 

Dicut DT Swiss’s lightest, stiffest and most aerodynamic hub and spoke system, aimed squarely at competitive road and track riding where speed is the overwhelming priority, uses custom Nailhead spokes that can hold much higher tensions.
 
Spline DT Swiss’s classic straight pull system, a great balance between stiffness, comfort, low weight and easy serviceability, ideal for everyday road or mixed terrain use and uses readily available standard straight-pull spokes.

The model name then usually contains a second number that refers to the rim depth in millimetres, while 'DB' denotes a disc brake model. 

All of the wheels below are tubeless-ready clinchers. Tubeless tape and valves are included when you buy them. 

This isn't a test, although we do reference our reviews where relevant. This is simply an overview of the range, containing the highlights, to tell you what's what and help you decide what's most suitable for you.

Prices

In the heading for each wheel we've given the cheapest price we've been able to find from a UK retailer. Click on the heading to visit that retailer's website. 

Underneath that we've given the RRP and a link to the relevant listing on www.freewheel.co.uk.

The Gravel wheels had only just been announced at the time of writing, so there are no links yet.

Performance category wheels

The Performance wheels are designed for racing and other types of road riding, with stiffness to weight and rolling resistance major considerations here. 

Both carbon and aluminium rims are available in this category, with depths ranging from 21mm right up to 65mm. Rim inner widths are 18mm throughout and DT Swiss recommends use with 23-28mm tyres.

Nearly all of the Performance wheels are available in both disc and non-disc versions.

PRC 1100 Dicut Mon Chasseral 35 £2,699.98

RRP £2,999.98

The top level Performance wheel is the lightweight PRC 1100 Dicut Mon Chasseral 35, available for use with rim brakes only.

The rims are made using a method developed by DT Swiss "to ensure continuous carbon fibres are aligned with the forces passing through the wheel, increasing strength and stiffness in use without adding weight".

The carbon hubs come with ceramic bearings and the 36-tooth version of DT Swiss's Ratchet System which engages in 10° when you start to pedal. 

This wheelset has a claimed weight of 1,406g.

Buy if: You want a lightweight wheelset especially designed for mountain riding

PRC 1400 Spline £1,199 

RRP £1674.98

The PRC 1400 Spline is available in two different rim depths – 35mm and 65mm – each of them in both rim brake and disc brake options (all versions are priced the same).

When we reviewed the 65mm rim brake version we called them "exceptionally good deep-section wheels that offer decent stability, good braking and plenty of reliability".

We added, "The PRC wheels use DT Swiss's well-respected 240 hubs (although the shell doesn't have the same level of aero efficiency that you get on the ARC models). The freehub features a ratchet system that works really well and durability is excellent."

Read our review

Buy if: You're after a reliable high-performance wheelset that puts in a great performance in a variety of conditions

PR 1400 Dicut OXiC £764.98 

RRP £849.98

These rim brake-only wheels come with aluminium rims in either a 21mm or a 32mm depth.

OXiC in the name refers to a process in which a ceramic coating is electrochemically applied to the rim surface.

When he reviewed these wheels, Dave Arthur said, "The chief benefit of the OXiC coating is the promise of improved and consistent braking performance in a range of conditions. Well, I've been testing them for several months through which they've seen everything from glorious sunshine to waterlogged roads and everything in between, ridden on the commute, daily training rides and weekend outings, and they've been excellent regardless of the weather...  In the rain and mud and grit-coated surfaces of my local roads, the OXiC coating becomes a real benefit. Braking performance is powerful and predictable, and very consistent.

"As well as greatly improved braking in the wet, the other big benefit of a ceramic coating is a rim that is much more durable, better able to withstand the abuse a bike is subjected to when riding in grim weather."

Overall, these are excellent wheels – stiff and responsive, with no flex when putting the power down in a sprint or steep climb.

Read our review 

Buy if: You're looking for excellent lightweight and responsive aluminium wheels with reliable all-weather braking

PR 1400 Dicut 21 DB £629.98 

RRP £699.98

The PR 1400 Dicut 21 comes with alloy rims (but without the OXiC coating), straight-pull spokes and DT Swiss's 240-based hubs, including the excellent Ratchet System 36 SL in the freehub. The claimed weight of the wheelset is just 1,470g.

Buy if: You want an aluminium disc brake wheelset with low weight and fast engagement

PR 1600 Spline 23 £427.48 

RRP £474.98

The PR 1600 Spline 23s use aluminium rims and DT Swiss's 350 hub internals which are a little heavier than the 240s used for the more expensive wheels in the range. The freehub system is DT Swiss's Ratchet System 18, meaning that 18 teeth in each of the Star Ratchets lock together when you pedal. You'll engage (begin to drive the rear wheel) in 20° when you start pedalling, whereas you'll engage in 10° with a higher end Ratchet System 36 SL.

These wheels are also available in a disc brake version: £214.99 (f), £279.99 (r).

Buy if: You'd like durable hubs, including DT Swiss's Ratchet System, on wheels that don't cost a fortune

P 1800 Spline 23 £301.48 

RRP £334.98

The biggest difference from the higher level wheels in the Performance range is in the rear hub. Rather than using any of DT Swiss's Ratchet Systems, the 1800 has a three pawl design, quite similar to that of many other brands: spring loaded pawls engage with the hub's ratchet teeth when you pedal, and slide over them when you coast. 

These aluminium wheels are available in a disc brake version too: £154.99 (f), £199.99 (r).

Buy if: You're after a reliable wheelset that offers tubeless compatibility and wider rims at a reasonable price 

Endurance category wheels

The Endurance category is designed for long-ride comfort and versatility – sportives, gran fondos, and general road riding – and it consists of disc brakes wheels only; there are no rim brake wheels here. 

The carbon and aluminium rims have inner widths of 19-20mm and DT Swiss recommends use with 25-32mm tyres.

ERC 1100 Dicut 47 £2,013.39 

RRP £2,069.98 

The ERC 1100 Dicut 47 was developed with aerodynamics specialist Swiss Side. It isn't aimed at the racing cyclist who wants the absolute fastest wheelset, it's aimed at the endurance cyclist who wants the aero benefit but doesn't want to compromise on stability, comfort and weight.

Reviewer Dave Arthur said, "The ERC 1100s are among the most stable and predictable deep-section carbon wheels I have yet tested. I rode the wheels in some very windy conditions and as a relatively lighter rider, I do feel the buffeting effect of deep section wheels more than some, but that wasn't the case with these wheels. Instead, they exhibited a calm stability normally only associated with much shallower profile rims."

The hubs are based on DT Swiss's proven 240 design, but they're wrapped in an aero shell and roll on ceramic bearings.

Read our review 

Buy if: You're interested in fast and stable wheels that are ideal for endurance bikes with disc brakes and wide tubeless tyres

ERC 1400 Spline 47 £1,464.98 

RRP £1,674.98

This wheelset uses the same 47mm-deep aero rim as the ERC 1100 Dicut 47 (above) but with Spline hubs/spokes. As with all other 1400-level wheels, the hubs are based on the 240s with DT Swiss's Ratchet System 36 SL freehub design.

Buy if: You're looking for an aero benefit with your endurance wheels and you want to save money over the top-level option

ER 1400 Spline 21 £659.98

RRP £699.98 

These wheels have the same hubs as the ERC 1400 Spline 47s (above), with a 36-tooth Ratchet System design, but they're well under half the price thanks to welded aluminium rims. 

Buy if: You're after tough aluminium wheels with a tried and tested hub design

ER 1600 Spline 32 £473.48 

RRP £494.99

The ER 1600 Dicut 31 uses aluminium rims and 350-based hubs that are slightly heavier than those used higher up the range. The freewheel features DT Swiss's Ratchet System 18 which doesn't engage as fast as the Ratchet System 36 SL (it drives the rear wheel in 20° following coasting, as opposed to 10°), but it's equally durable.

These wheels have a higher maximum recommended system weight (bike plus rider) than the more expensive models – 130kg versus 120kg. 

Buy if: You're interested in a durable disc wheelset at a reasonable price.

E 1800 Spline 23 £306.23 

RRP £349.98

E 1800 Spines are designed to be all-rounders for training and everyday use. The 370 rear hub uses a three-pawl system rather than the star ratchet system for which DT Swiss is better known.

Buy if: You're in the market for versatile wheels that prioritise durability

Aero category wheels

As the name suggests, the Aero wheels focus on aerodynamics, DT Swiss having collaborated with Swiss Side here. These wheels are designed for triathletes and time triallists as well as road riders. 
All of these wheelsets come with carbon rims with an inner width of 17mm. DT Swiss recommends tyre sizes of 23mm at the front and 25mm at the rear.

The Aero wheels are available in both rim brake and disc brake models.

Read all about DT Swiss's Aero wheels here 

DT Swiss tested its ARC 1100 Dicut 48 in both rim and disc brake versions and found the equivalent of a two watt difference overall, the disc brake version producing slightly more drag at all yaw angles. DT Swiss puts this down to the larger hubs necessary for the disc brakes.

ARC 1100 Dicut £1,862.98 

RRP £2,069.98

The ARC 1100 Dicut wheels are all about optimum aerodynamics and are available in three rim depths: 48mm, 62mm and 80mm (they're all priced the same). The 48 is intended for a wide range of conditions and terrains whereas the deeper section wheels are for flatter races and calm conditions. 

The 48 is obviously the lightest of the bunch, the disc version coming with a claimed weight of 1,490g.

All use an aero version of the 240 hub with ceramic bearings and the 36-tooth Ratchet System freehub design.

Buy if: You want carbon race wheels with a huge focus on aerodynamics 

ARC 1400 Dicut £1,465.61 

RRP £1,674.98

The ARC 1400 Dicut wheels use the same carbon rims as the ARC 1100 Dicuts (above) in the same depth options – 48mm, 62mm and 80mm – it's just the hub and spoke specifications that are different to bring the price down.

Whereas DT Swiss uses the DT Aerolite spoke – the lightest flat spoke in its range – for the front wheel of its ARC 1100 Dicut, slightly heavier DT Aero Comp spokes are used throughout for the 1400s.

The ARC 1400 Dicuts use a 240 hub but you get standard rather than ceramic bearings here, and an 18-tooth ratchet system in the freehub rather than the 36-tooth design that you get with the 1100s.

All of that makes the 1400s a little heavier overall, although you're talking about under 100g between equivalents in all cases, and sometimes as little as 40g.

Buy if: You want most of the aero benefits of the ARC 1100 Dicut wheels at a slightly lower price

Gravel category wheels

Gravel is a new category for DT Swiss, the lineup encompassing both carbon and aluminium wheels, and 650b as well as 700c sizing. 

The inner width of all the rims is 24mm, the idea being to provide plenty of support for chunky gravel tyres and also to reduce rolling resistance and increase traction.

All of the gravel wheels are disc brake-only – there are no rim brake models – and have a recommended maximum system weight (bike plus rider and any luggage) of 130kg (20st 7lb), so even the high end carbon ones can be pressed into bikepacking service if required.

The rear wheels feature a Shimano Road 11-speed freehub body but you can convert to SRAM XDR. 

GRC 1400 Spline 42 £1,724.98

The highest specced Gravel tyre has a 42mm-deep carbon rim that was designed in co-operation with Swiss Side with aerodynamics in mind. Reducing drag might not be a big concern if you're bike packing but it could be if you're racing on gravel – which is much bigger in the US than it is in Europe.

DT Swiss says that the GRC 1400 Spline 42 has an aerodynamic advantage equivalent to about five watts over its GR 1600 Spline 25 (below) at 45km/h (28mph) – although, it must be said, that's very fast on a loose surface like gravel.

The tubeless-ready rim is reinforced around the spoke holes while the hubs are DT Swiss's 240s with a 36-tooth Ratchet System freehub for fast (10°) engagement.

The 650b wheelset has a claimed weight of 1,545g while the 700c is officially 1,611g.

Buy if: You're after aerodynamic efficiency on your gravel bike

GR 1600 Spline 25 £494.98

The GR 1600 Spline 25 has a welded alloy rim with a reinforced base and flange. The hubs are 350-based with an 18-tooth Ratchet System in the freehub. They might not be as posh as the GRC 1400's hubs (above) but these are still high quality and extremely durable.

Buy if: You're looking for tough wheels for gravel riding, including well-proven hubs

G 1800 Spline 25 £349.98

The most affordable of the Gravel wheelsets also uses a 25mm-deep alloy rim but with 370 hubs.

The biggest difference is that you get a three-pawl freehub system here rather than a Ratchet System design.

The G 1800 Spline 25 wheelset is a little heavier than the GR 1600 Spline 25 too: 1,895g versus 1,811g (700c versions).

Buy if: You're interested in gravel-specific wheels for off-road exploring, and you don't want to spend a vast amount