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The most advanced and arguably beautiful wheels that Shimano produce (we won't talk about their Pro offshoot here) the 7850 50mm carbon wheels certainly catch the eye and with a price tag that places them neatly below rival hoops from Hed and Zipp.The first time I rolled along on the 50mm versions of the 7850 wheels they seemed to offer everything that I would want from a high end wheel set: uncomplicated yet uncompromising design, light weight, rigidity and silence. My current aero wheel set is a pair of Mavic Cosmic Carbones which are around 2 years old. With these I am used to the loud freewheel 'clicking' that drowns out everything around and the unmistakable "whoooom" (practice it and it will work!) that accompanies me anytime the wheels are over 25mph.The Dura Ace rims have neither. The free hub was silent and there was, strangely, no discernable sound created by the rims slicing through the wind. This made the long, fairly fast rides through the South Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and North Somerset countryside even more of a joy. I could hear birdsong, planes far above, the chatter of villagers when passing through picturesque hamlets like Castle Combe and Freshford. It felt good not warning them of my arrival with the usual cacophony of humming and ticking. To put it succinctly, I felt lucky.Fair enough the test bike wasn't too shabby, a Cervelo S3 adorned with Di2, so I was expecting lots from the whole package but especially the wheels. I have ridden several aero wheels in my time, Zipp 404s, a couple of types of Mavic, Spinergy Rev-Xs and more and these have been the smoothest of the lot. The best test that I could think of for all out pace was a bash at the castle combe duathlon where I would get 5 laps of a traffic free racing circuit, superb surfaces, wide straights and a bit of wind from every angle. I race this regularly on my Mavics so I know my lap times and the Dura Aces made me proud. A total of 58 seconds wiped off my best bike split, was it all in my head or did they make a difference... they did feel quicker.The aluminium clincher rim surface made braking smooth and reliable, even with DA 7900 calipers which have been taking a bit of a beating on some forums. The machined rim helps add strength for time triallers like myself to make the most of the wheels. Weight is 1580g per pair: certainly light, but there are skinnier offerings out there.The bladed spokes (16 front and 20 cross laced rears) improve aerodynamics and power transfer. The spokes are gripped directly with no need for 'elbows' to angle them toward the hub.As with all Dura Ace kit, the aesthetics are pretty flawless: simple, elegant yet modern. The decals are understated but confident. There's none of this new fashion for making wheels look like they have come out of Top Shop with lary colours and in your face print - okay, that's purely subjective and of course there's no performance benefits one way or the other, but for me at least their understated looks is a plus. They do their job well and quietly. This trend is continued with the hubs, machined aluminium shell with a simple 'Dura Ace' laser etched to the surface. At the rear this design and lightweight ethos is complemented by a titanium freewheel body.Inside the hubs we find borozone treated bearing races, with super mirror finished bearings to reduce friction to a minimum and offer an extremely precise action.As with most Shimano rims available now these can take an 8, 9 or a 10-speed cassette though I'm not sure how appropriate an 8 speed Sora cassette would be on these beauties.Overall these are wheels I could easily live with, and would be happy to. The clincher design makes them useable everyday rims for those of us who do many miles; they are not out of place on the weekend club run either. To be honest though, their home lies in the fast road race or tri/TT scenario where the wind cheating elements can come to the fore.Value wise you can buy them from the big online retailers for less than £1k for the pair at the moment which is outstanding value when compared to the Zipp 404 at nearly half as much again, similarly the Heds. They seem to keep value too, a pair (used and with damaged decals) went on eBay for £850 recently so a strong sell-on price can be assured. If I had £1000 for wheels right now, I'd order some. Unfortunately I haven't but I am saving – maybe the deeper version will be in the shops by the time I get the cash together... that would be an interesting choice.
The Dura Ace 50mm carbon clincher 7850 rim, all that a Dura Ace wheelset should be.These may be 'aero' wheels but they are the sort that you can live with on your normal road bike. As we are seeing with most of the pros now the wheelset of choice is deep rimmed. These offer comfort, speed and reliability yet seem unphased by crosswinds. Excellent.
With an asking price around the £200 mark, Miche's Xpress are a very worthy wheelset for mid to upper end road fixer builds. They might lack the outright rigidity of a deep section aero rim but machined sidewalls and super smooth CNC machined hubs complete with sealed cartridge bearings mean they'll laugh at the grottier months- they're good enough to double as track hoops too. Smart, contemporary graphics might clash with classic builds and draw unwanted attention to bikes locked for long periods in and around slum neighbourhoods but they're pretty much perfect for general road duties.Emerging from the box, the Xpress extrude trademark Italian flair-luxurious, deep anodising seemingly nonchalant subjected to the witches' brew of salt, grit and general road slime whereas the large flange hubs not only look gorgeous but deliver a responsive yet surprisingly forgiving ride over most surfaces. Double fixed will certainly warm a purists' heart, allowing a choice of ratios at the flip of a wheel but Miche also cater for the flip/flop fraternity. As you'd expect, machining is to very high standards and with a lick of lube, most sprockets breeze along the threads effortlessly but a generous application of marine grease is advisable to prevent potential seizing of alloy and Cro-moly offerings.Traditional 122mm spacing means they'll slot straight aboard Road Path/track frames but necessitates axle replacement on conversions and/or those with 135mm rear triangles. Thirty-two spokes laced two cross might lack the out and out zip of radial patterns but arguably strikes the best compromise between performance and reliability-the rims will even entertain 32mm rubber. Build quality has been tested by distressingly frequent encounter with pothole infested roads but I'm pleased to report no loss of tension or hint of the dreaded wobble, reinforcing increasingly positive feedback from the dispatch mob.Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?The Xpress are predominantly a road fixer wheelset, capable of track and TT duties with a choice between large flange, sealed double fixed or flip flop hubs and five anodized sidewall colours to suit most tastes and frame livery.Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?32 hole mid section rims with machined sidewalls laced two cross to CNC machined,sealed double fixed cartridge bearing hubs. Entertains tyres up to 32mm wide.Rate the product for quality of construction: 8/10Rate the product for performance: 8/10Rate the product for durability: 8/10Rate the product for weight, if applicable: 7/10 - 943g front 1,120g rearRate the product for comfort, if applicable: 8/10Rate the product for value: 8/10Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose:The Xpress certainly live up to their name, striking just the right balance between performance and reliability- quick on the uptake but strong enough for mean, pot-holed city streets. Throughout several weeks mid winter riding ours have laughed at the cocktail of salt, slime and pot-holes run with 700x24 tyres. Large hub flanges look great and contribute to a friskier ride-especially on the climbs, although there seems a slight trade-off in terms of comfort on longer commutes.Tell us what you particularly liked about the product:Great looks and excellent build quality makes for an extremely proficient one-does-all wheelset.Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product:Nothing, only the rims are just a fraction narrow should you feel the calling of fixed/singlespeed cross and 700x35c rubber.Did you enjoy using the product? YesWould you consider buying the product? YesWould you recommend the product to a friend? Yes
A fine pair of road fixer wheels with a moderate price tag .road.cc test report
You'll see loads of Zipp wheels anywhere that max speed is a priority, and after our testing on the 404's we know there's a very good reason for that. The 404's are a 60mm deep rim, not a 40mm, but you wouldn't know it from their weight or rapid acceleration. The deeper, dimpled surface section still gives excellent manoeverability. They stay stable even in gusting crosswinds too. The wider tyre track and a layer of shock-absorbing material makes them quietly comfortable on the road, so they work well for short-blast legs and long haul use. Kevlar thread reinforcement helps shrug off knocks and potholes and there's a 20 front, 24 rear spoke (rather than 16/20) 'Max' version for heavier riders. Our only grumble is with the supplied Zipp brake pads that aren't as powerful as other aftermarket options we're used.
Comfortable, confident and agile aero advantage wheel at a cracking price.
All-Carbon rim with carbon braking surface. A flat profile and dimpled finish increases aerodynamic efficiency of the wheel from all angles.
On the road they are very light, responsive and stiff. Braking performance is very good for a carbon rim. Price puts it at the expencive end of the group but high-quality manufacturing is evident.
These Fast Forward f9r wheels are a very deep, superfast, efficient offering designed to challenge the mantle of the zipp 808 as the standard bearer for deep aero wheelsets.The Dutch manufacturer has recently signed a deal with Quickstep to supply wheels for the coming season with the pro tour team likely to use a combination of f9r and f6r models for stage racing and time trials. It will be interesting to see how they perform in the hands of top class riders against the best in the world.With a retail price of 1500euros (which, with today's exchange rates comes in at around £1300) this 240s model undercuts the Zipp 808 wheel set by some £300 and is at the top end of the three versions of the f9r wheel set, however it is priced to come up against some very strong competition in the name of the Hed Jet V90 and the shallower the Mavic Cosmic Carbone SLR and Shimano Dura Ace 7850 to name but a few.Technically, FFWD have put a lot into their new range of wheels and the f9r is no exception. The test pair that we at road.cc have had are the 240s model. The 240s are the DT Swiss hubs that provide the high quality foundation for the wheel set. The 240s provide the standard for lightweight, reliable, high quality hubs. They retail for around £130 (front) and £240 (rear) and when laced to the super stiff DARC 90mm carbon fibre rim with DT aerolite spokes you can see where the price comes from.With 20 spokes at the front and 20 at the rear FFWD has sacrificed a little bit in the way of lightweight showiness in order to provide a stiffer, more compliant, more responsive wheel. The rear wheel uses 24 spokes instead of the 20 favoured by other brands and by ffwd on the front wheel. This slight increase in spoke count provides more of a dissipation of the power created by a rider when riding in an 'aggressive' way, such as time trialling. This power transfer obviously doesn't go through the front wheel therefore the spoke count can be optimum for aerodynamic gains.The DARC profile, says ffwd, employs a negative arc section which will compress the air, thus increasing the pressure, similar to the way the air pressure works on the topside of an aerofoil. With so many companies vying for your cash it is difficult to navigate your way through the minefield that is technological advances and their claimed performance improvements. If everything that is on my bike had the claim benefit then I would have shaved 20% off my 10mile TT time (that hasn't happened!) so I take each with a pinch of salt until it proves to me, without fail, that it makes the ride faster. The carbon rim is made from a few types of carbon, only the top layer is the 'pretty' 3k weave that is a common sight on top end bikes and wheels. Beneath this skin are layers of UDF (uni directional carbon fibre) in sheet form that when overlapped and mixed up a little creates an extremely strong material. The negative section on the DARC rim is visible and does make sense but how much it would impact on the 'normal' TT'er or triathlete was the question posed.Now, with the lovely winter weather we have been having you will forgive me for not taking my pride and joy Orbea TT bike out with these stunning looking rims on ice and snow...it just wouldn't have been worth it. However, with a few dry and clear days behind us I have managed to rack up some miles in the tuck position with promising results. During the summer I take part in the occasional sanctioned time trial near Clevedon, north Somerset and my 10mile target time of 23minutes on that course is normally a challenge. I went down there after a 150km-ish training ride at the weekend and clocked an unofficial 22:27 which I was extremely pleased with. Not much in the way of wind so no real handling issues to contend with but all in all a very nice ride. Compared to my usual Mavic Cosmic Carbone aero wheels the ffwd f9r's were surprisingly quiet and very smooth. The braking response when used with the supplied cork brake pads was very impressive, no sign of the 'jumping' tendencies of my old set of zipp 440's. When at speeds of over 40kph on the flat these wheels push the bike on, no sign of being a sluggish wheel set, make no mistake, when the speed increases these wheels feel more and more at home. They aren't designed to go up hills necessarily but out of the saddle, on the aero wings, sprinting up rises they really pull well.An attractive wheelset at a tempting price, not many online retailers stock them so you could visit the paligap website to find your lbs stockist and see what they can do. Zipp rims seem to be the weapon of choice for many but if your bank account cant stretch that far then these really do prove an able substitute.As with many expensive cycling purchases, they bling factor can't do any harm. These rims, with their carbon weave on show and ffwd decals under the lacquer coat cer
When paired with a top notch tubular you have a winning combination. Yes, they are fantastic to ride on, lightweight, fast, smooth, comfortable and undeniably good looking. These sure are a crowd puller, just got to make sure the speed of the rider matches the look of the bike. I am in the market for some 80-90mm deep rims and I will be seriously considering these to replace my Mavics.
The cheapest wheelset on test by a long way. Vision's alloy clinchers tip the scales at a promising 1,520g. They're hand built so maintenance and truing should be easy, and they come finished with high-quality Sapim aero bladed spokes. The 30mm rim isn't going to deliver any significant aero advantage and, out on the road, they don't give that slicing-through-the-air feeling or sound. That doesn't mean this is a slow wheelset, though. Despite their light weight, there was no flex and they delivered a springy and lively ride. When pointed uphill, they flew and we'd have no hesitation riding them on big mountain climbs. When you consider that you can spent £1,000 - £1,500 on a bike and only be specced a £100-£150 wheelset, these make a great value upgrade. You'd be happy to use them for everyday riding a they won't let you down on a race day.