I always lust for new wheels and as a triathlete I love deep rims. I have had my new Ridley gravel ride for a few weeks, and love it! But…it is something unsatisfactory about the shallow rims and now I find myself googling for deep-rim disc break wheels. I “think†I can justify a second wheelset for daily commuting/training and racing and use the stock wheels for dirt tires in the summer and studded tires in the winter.
So, am I off the rails lusting for 60mm rims on a gravel bike? What is the perfect rim depth for a gravel bike? 45, 50, 60 or is it better to stick with shallower rims?
I always lust for new wheels and as a triathlete I love deep rims. I have had my new Ridley gravel ride for a few weeks, and love it! But…it is something unsatisfactory about the shallow rims and now I find myself googling for deep-rim disc break wheels. I “think†I can justify a second wheelset for daily commuting/training and racing and use the stock wheels for dirt tires in the summer and studded tires in the winter.
So, am I off the rails lusting for 60mm rims on a gravel bike? What is the perfect rim depth for a gravel bike? 45, 50, 60 or is it better to stick with shallower rims?
wow. you really hit on a topic. i’ve been thinking a lot about this. and inquiring of wheel companies. a number of companies nowadays are making aero wheels that are:
20mm or 21mm between the beads.
strong enough for paves, gravel, etc.
disc brake, thru axle, what you need for your bike.
tubeless.
in other words, the very same wheel you could use for your tri bike you could use for your road or even gravel bike. as of now, my everyday wheel on my gravel bike is a zipp 303, and i can’t kill it. this was designed originally to hold up in spring classics, so you could see how this would be a good gravel wheel.
The Belgian Waffle Ride, which is ~100 miles road and ~30 miles dirt was a great survey of approaches, everything from deep aero rims on road bikes to 650b frames with 50mm tires. I was soundly beaten by people on all of the above, so they can all work.
On gravel and single track, speeds are lower and the aero benefit of a deep rim is probably pretty low, and the rigidity would be a negative imo. From mountain biking, my favorite benefit of carbon rims is they are laterally much stronger however, they will hold a line over rocks and ruts much better than an alloy rim. I haven’t pulled the trigger on carbon rimes for my cx/gravel bike yet, but I’ll look at a depth of 25-40mm when I do - stiffness and durability over broken ground, and a aero enough for a road ride. There is no suspension on a road/. Gravel frame usually, so I’ll want some give on the wheels to absorb chatter
I was just looking at the ATR 700’s by Reynolds. Not sure they are deep enough for you, but nice and wide internal and external rims. I think they would mate really well with a challenger 36 and latex combo. Would be nice for a BWR type event.
I myself have hesitated going deeper, as I do some fairly rocky sections of trail and I’m worried about catching the fairing when I slide laterally down a rock face. So for now I have been on some HED Ardennes wheels and have been happy, but do feel I’m leaving something on the table when I’m out on the road.
LOL! We must be separated at birth or something…
I’m doing those same Google searches. 😉
I also have a Ridley gravel bike, which is awesome (will be 2 years old this Fall).
But the stock wheels are just ok, and fairly shallow.
The also supposedly can’t be run tubeless, but I’m pretty sure that’s manufacturer CYA, since you can convert almost anything these days.
(I run latex tubes w sealant as the next best thing)
I’ve thought about getting some Light Bicycle carbon rims built up for it (did this to great effect w my Ibis Ripley trail bike), but wondering what other good options might be out there.
Sounds like the consensus is 45mm, tubeless and 20mm + inner width.
The Enve and Zipps are out of my price range, but there are options that fit the bill for half the price. Anything I should look out for or try to avoid?
Folks out east here have great luck with the Boyd wheels. There are A LOT of the alloy Altamonts going around. That’s a great price for a wheel set. And they have their new 36mm carbon Pinnacle wheelset for $1650. I’ve ridden them, but don’t own them. I’m in your boat… I’ll need a better set than the stock wheels (Hed Tomcats…which are not the Heds we’re used to. They are solid and dependable, but heavy, and lower build quality. These were designed as OEM spec wheels and came on my Diamondback Haanjo).
In my brief gravel experience, tire selection is the dominant factor in how your bike performs. For tubeless setups, I’ve found Mavic UST rims with their sealed rim bed to be, by far, the most consistent and headache free when it comes to tubeless setup. I could write a multi-paragraph post about this but I’ll summarize it like this: I can change and set up a tire tubeless on Mavic rims as easily as I can change a tubed tire on a non-tubeless rim.
Personally for a gravel bike, I would probably go with November’s slightly less deep RCG36, or else the NOX Citico rim and DT Swiss 350 hubs (colorado cyclist can build these NOX rims with several other hubs as well and has a 10% discount on wheel builds at the moment.)
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Once culprit launches our stem and gravel bike frameset on pre order later this year we will offer a rim such as Dan suggests. He saw the wheel during our sit down in July.
It will be the following rim profile . Filament wound
Is there any information out there about the impact deeper wheels will have on gravel? Does the slower pace, increased rolling resistance, varied terrain, etc have any impact?
I just ordered a new Warbird and am in the Grand Rapids area so we are partial to Velocity wheels, but they don’t really have anything like everyone has described. I was going to go with an Aileron but scored a set of Blunt SS wheels for next to nothing… plus they are purple anodized so they look cool, which makes me faster! The Blunt is more of a mountain bike tire, but the guys who run it on gravel are a heck of a lot faster than I am, so I’m not too worried about it, but sometimes my inner triathlete screams at me.
While there may be plenty of reasons to ride carbon rims on an MTB , the ability to hold a line over rocks and ruts certainly isn’t one of them. That is simply a factor of a cheap rim. Plenty on guys riding the Enduro World Series and World Cup DH on aluminium rims.
Just a nod to those rims, very similar to the shape Bontrager recently developed for their XXX series.
…now figure out how to offer them with 21 spokes like Roval for the marginal aero gain and weight reduction oh, and please make sure they’re set up with tubeless tape from the factory. I’m soooo sick of taping rims.
The Avion line of wheels by Stan’s is a REALLY great choice. 21.6 internal width, and 40.6mm deep. They come with Sapim CX-ray spokes. The hubs sound great, and have 72 points of engagement (less important on gravel, but great for CX or singletrack).
The thing I like about Stan’s is that they really know tubeless, and all of their products showcase this. The wheels come with stan’s tape already installed, and getting tires to seat is easier than any other tubeless wheel I’ve tried. To this day, I still haven’t experienced a burp.
The thing I like about Stan’s is that they really know tubeless, and all of their products showcase this. The wheels come with stan’s tape already installed, and getting tires to seat is easier than any other tubeless wheel I’ve tried. To this day, I still haven’t experienced a burp.
Absolutely agreed. I think I have 7 Stan’s wheelsets right now. With all the carbon fiber upgraditis the last few years, I keep snapping up brand new or lightly used Crests for CX/gravel. I have been using them for the last 4 years and they are a fantastic blend of tubeless reliability and light weight for how wide they are. I think my current 4 sets of Crests (3 new) I’m in for under $1300.
oh, and please make sure they’re set up with tubeless tape from the factory. I’m soooo sick of taping rims.