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review

Edco Maloja Wheelset

9
£749.99

VERDICT:

9
10
Excellent carbon wheelset that performs across the board at a good price
A very good, strong build
Great braking surface
Weight: 
2,270g

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The new-for-2020 Edco Maloja is an excellent deep-section, 'everyday, all weather' wheelset. It's also very competitively priced for such a good quality pair of carbon hoops, and the braking performance is up there with the best I've used.

The last set of wheels I tested from Edco was the big ticket Brocon, a full carbon fibre wheelset (including hubs and spokes) designed for disc brakes that cost a cool £2,900!

> Buy these online here

The Malojas sit at the other end of the market at £749.99 (currently £649.99) but still exude the same levels of quality, both in terms of build and ride.

At 50mm deep they provide some aerodynamic advantage and certainly feel lively above 23mph, where the gains are more noticeable. On the flat they roll along very smoothly, and they also give a plush-feeling ride so if you are out for a long one you aren't getting battered by an overly harsh carbon layup.

Edco Maloja wheelset - rim.jpg

The 24-spoke rear and 20-spoke front build provides plenty of lateral stiffness paired with the 21mm internal width rim. The front is laced radially and the rear two-cross on the drive side and radially on the non-drive side. The spokes are from Sapim, aero-bladed with a j-bend at the hub.

Edco Maloja wheelset - front hub.jpg

Hard efforts when sprinting or climbing achieved no rubbing noises from any rim/brake pad contact, and as they only weigh around 1,600g (2,270g with tape, tube and tyres) they feel sprightly when you ask them to start spinning quicker.

Freehub engagement is pretty much instantaneous, something that you can feel when trackstanding at the lights, so when you want to power off the Malojas just go.

One place where carbon fibre rims can be a bit of a letdown, especially in the wet, is braking performance. The last few years have seen big improvements, though, with manufacturers adding various materials into the carbon resin mix to give a bit more of a modulated feel to slowing down, like you get on an alloy rim.

Edco's carbon blend is spot on and these are some of the best braking wheels I've ridden in both the wet and dry. In the wet you still need that wheel revolution to clear the water off like any rim, but once that's done the pads grip well and bring you to a stop quickly without feeling at all grabby.

Edco Maloja wheelset - rim 2.jpg

In the dry, the control you have over the braking is brilliant and gives total confidence should you need to come to a halt sharpish.

The rims are tubeless ready, and the width gives the 25mm tyres that ours came fitted with a nice rounded shape. It does increase the nominal tyre width by about a couple of millimetres, so you might need to bear that in mind if frame or brake calliper clearance is tight.

> Buyer’s Guide: 44 of the best road bike wheels

Another thing I was impressed with was how little the rims are affected by crosswinds. I was riding these back in the winter through the stormy season, and while I could feel a little slap from a gust past a gateway, on the whole the u-shaped profile doesn't get twitchy at all regardless of the angle of the wind.

As I said, ours came fitted with tyres, a pair of Vittoria Corsa Graphene 2.0s, and these were easy to get on and off. Trying others I've got knocking around from the likes of Schwalbe and Panaracer also went on fine, and some tubeless tyres popped onto the bead without issue.

The alloy-bodied hubs ran smoothly throughout the wet and dirty test period and showed no signs of noise or grumbling, which is impressive considering the amount of floodwater on the roads at the time.

Edco Maloja wheelset - rear hub.jpg

Our test models came with a Shimano/SRAM freehub but they are available with a Campagnolo freehub too.

Value

When it comes to value, it's a lot of wheel for £749.99. They compare very well to others such as Scope's R4c which are around 50g lighter but much pricier at £1,298.

Liam was really impressed with the Prime BlackEdition 50 Carbons – again, a similar sort of weight, and he was also a fan of the braking just as I was with the Edcos. They now have an rrp of £899.99 (currently £599), which still makes the Maloja's £749.99 rrp look impressive.

The very good Hunt 50 Carbon Wide Aero rim brake wheels are also around the same weight and share the Edcos' build quality (I tested the 3650s back in 2017). They currently come in at £759 although, as I mentioned earlier, Edco is currently selling the Malojas for just £649.99.

Conclusion

Overall, the Edco Maloja is a great set of wheels at sensible money, whether you are looking for your first set of carbon hoops or fancy a quality upgrade for your race bike.

Verdict

Excellent carbon wheelset that performs across the board at a good price

If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website

road.cc test report

Make and model: Edco Maloja Wheelset

Size tested: 50mm deep

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?

Edco says, "New for 2020! The all new 50mm Maloja wheelset, All day, everyday, all weather wheel set. 50mm deep, tubeless compatible.

"Competitively priced bringing EDCO performance to the masses.

"At just £749.99 this is the perfect upgrade and entry into the world of carbon fibre wheels and high end components. Giving your older bike a new lease of life, or upgrading the off the shelf wheels on your newest purchase."

I think Edco has created an excellent wheelset at a great price.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

From Edco:

Weight: Front 701 g : Rear 892 g

Rim brake only,

Tubeless ready,

Inner width: 21mm

24h rear hub, 20h front hub. J bend Sapim spokes

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
9/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
9/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
9/10
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
 
8/10

Edco lists weight for the front as 701g, and 892g for the rear – the weight we've shown at the top of the review is with tyres fitted.

Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
 
8/10
Rate the product for value:
 
7/10

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

A surprisingly good 'jack of all trades' performance for a deep-section wheelset.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Great braking performance.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Nothing really.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

They are cheaper than many other really good wheels like the Prime and Scope offerings I mentioned in the review, and are still competitively priced against the Hunts.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

With their quality, ride performance and braking surface, I'd be giving these a very decent score even if they cost over a grand. The fact that they are a fair chunk under that means they are very impressive indeed.

Overall rating: 9/10

About the tester

Age: 41  Height: 180cm  Weight: 76kg

I usually ride: This month's test bike  My best bike is: B'Twin Ultra CF draped in the latest bling test components

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed,

As part of the tech team here at F-At Digital, senior product reviewer Stu spends the majority of his time writing in-depth reviews for road.cc, off-road.cc and ebiketips using the knowledge gained from testing over 1,500 pieces of kit (plus 100's of bikes) since starting out as a freelancer back in 2009. After first throwing his leg over a race bike back in 2000, Stu's ridden more than 170,000 miles on road, time-trial, track, and gravel bikes, and while he's put his racing days behind him, he still likes to smash the pedals rather than take things easy. With a background in design and engineering, he has an obsession with how things are developed and manufactured, has a borderline fetish for handbuilt metal frames and finds a rim braked road bike very aesthetically pleasing!

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5 comments

Avatar
acjim | 3 years ago
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I've ridden my pair of these for approx 500km, they were bought to be sunny day wheels but have actually been out in pretty awful (UK) conditions with Summer showers. The braking is ok in the wet - but nothing like as good as alloy rims or discs. Good in the dry, just not much modulation.

They have improved my avg speed by a couple of kmh, more if the ride is flat, and have been fine in pretty high winds (40mph gusts). One of the best things I've noticed is that they have really smoothed the ride out, to the effect that I thought I had a slow puncture the first time out! They really add to comfort on long rides.

I'm waiting for my current tyres to wear out before splashing out on some tubeless rubber, but imagine that will be another improvement on speed and comfort.

Recommended, especially at the £650 discount price.

Avatar
bobbinogs | 3 years ago
0 likes

I think the summary data needs a small update:

"WEIGHT: 
2,270g"

~2.3kg would put these into the porky category whereas the actual weight quoted by Edco (~1.6kg) is a lot more acceptable to the market for these.

Avatar
Seanster replied to bobbinogs | 3 years ago
0 likes

Weight with rim strip no skewers 1540g.
Weighed a set yesterday. Btw for £649 they include tyres!!

Avatar
bobbinogs replied to Seanster | 3 years ago
0 likes

Ah yes, my bad.  Just noticed the text "the weight we've shown at the top of the review is with tyres fitted."  Doesn't do the suppliers any favours though as I think a few people will make the same mistake as me.

Avatar
Seanster | 4 years ago
0 likes

Review states Sapim spokes. Photos show Pillar Spokes!

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