Vel 28 RL Alloy Tubeless Disc Wheelset

The Vel 28 RL Alloy Tubeless Wheelset is an ideal upgrade if you're on a budget or you want to put your bling carbon fibre wheels into hibernation for the winter months. The Vels are light enough to give decent acceleration and aid brisk climbing while being durable enough to take on the worst the UK roads can throw at them. Value hasn't been forgotten about either – they're some of the best road bike wheels you can get for the money.

What Vel has delivered with the 28 RLs is a wheelset that is a bit of a jack of all trades – light enough to sit well as a poor weather/poor surface set of hoops on your best bike, or as a reliable and trustworthy pair for your winter/commuting bike, or even as an upgrade to your stock wheels as the cycling bug begins to take hold.

> Buy now: Vel 28 RL Alloy Tubeless Disc Wheelset for £191 from Sigma Sports

At 1,620g on the road.cc scales (including a double wrapping of tubeless rim tape), they are light enough to not hamper speed on the flat or the climbs, and thanks to the quick engagement of the 102-tooth/6-pawl freehub internals, acceleration from a standing start or when rolling is also brisk.

Vel hasn't focused on aerodynamics with the 28 RLs, but that's not normally high up the consideration list at this sort of money anyway.

The 6066-T6 aluminium alloy rim is 28mm deep and 24.6mm wide externally, with a 21mm internal channel. This works well with tyres from 25mm to about 32mm wide, giving a rounded shape before entering the 'lightbulb' stage where the tyre looks bulbous when fitted.

The 28 RLs come fitted with rim tape, and setting things up tubeless wasn't an issue with a range of tyres from differing brands. They also work just as well with clincher tyres and an inner tube. (If you're looking for new rubber to go with your new wheels, check out our guide to the best road bike tyres.)

Vel has gone for 24 spokes (Pillar Wing PSR21 straight pull) front and rear, the same amount as we see on many gravel wheels, so it's safe to say that durability has been a consideration.

Along with the CNC-machined alloy hubs, the build feels strong and precise with a uniform spoke tension throughout. This makes for a stiff set of wheels, and even though they are towards the budget end of the market they can take plenty of power going through them from out-of-the-saddle efforts with no notable flex.

My local lanes, like most in the UK, are a mixture of smooth and broken tarmac, potholes and plenty of grit and gravel from the verges, so the wheels haven't had an easily life over the last six to eight weeks. The weather has turned as well, with warm summer temperatures making way for cold and wet days, just to give the hubs a bit of a workout.

When cleaning the wheels at the end of the test period there was no evidence of any water ingress to the sealed bearings, and everything was running as smoothly as it was at the start.

It's worth noting that because of the large number of engagement points the freehub is on the buzzy side, which I know from comments on here isn't to everybody's taste.

Another thing to bear in mind is that the wheels have a 110kg weight limit.

Value

So, they ride well, and they'll take plenty of abuse, but does that come at a reasonable price?

Yes, I'd say so. The rrp of £399, which includes a three-year warranty (up from two years if you register them within three months), looks a good deal. You also get a three-year crash replacement policy, which gives you 40 per cent off the rrp for the original owner.

For comparison, Fulcrum's Racing 5 DB wheelset costs the same as the Vels, but Jamie wasn't that impressed with his review set turning up with the rear wheel out of true. That aside, he found the wheels to be durable and dependable, and capable of all kinds of road riding, but they are also around 150g heavier.

Scribe's Duty-D is a similar wheelset, all-rounders with a shallow alloy rim. They come with a 130kg weight limit, and 28 spokes for the front wheel, 32 for the rear. I am a big fan of the 54-tooth ratchet system in the freehub, which gives instantaneous engagement, but they are a touch heavier at 1,790g, and they have jumped in price from £390 to £440 since I reviewed them last year.

It's worth a mention that Vel wheels are sold exclusively through Sigma Sports, and they are currently reduced to just £191, which makes them an absolute bargain.

Conclusion

Overall, the 28 RLs are very good wheels for all kinds of road riding, regardless of your budget. They are well built and have stood up to plenty of abuse throughout testing, while the brushed aluminium finish looks good and stands up well to knocks from rubbish road conditions.

Verdict

Very well built set of wheels that look good and will take plenty of abuse