FSA Afterburner AGX wheelset

The FSA Afterburner AGX disc wheelset is tough and durable, making it a very reliable option for off-road excursions and a bit of cyclo-cross action. You can get lighter and cheaper wheels, but this is definitely a set that puts your mind at rest.

• Pros: Solid and dependable build, smooth-running hubs
• Cons: Freehub can mark from cassette digging in

The AGX wheels are based on an aluminium alloy rim that's 25mm deep with an external width of 26.1mm – suited to the wider tyres used for gravel and adventure riding. The 38mm tyres I used for the majority of testing fitted easily and sat with a nice profile once inflated.

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Both rims, front and rear, have an offset spoke bed to accommodate the amount of dishing required for wide cassettes and disc brakes.

The rear wheel has the spoke holes offset towards the non-drive side, allowing for the drive side spokes to be laced at more of an angle between the hub and the rim, improving strength.

The front is offset to the opposite side to allow for the dishing caused by the disc rotor position.

Both wheels have 24 double butted aero spokes, laced two-cross. It's quite a low spoke count for a set of wheels designed to take plenty of abuse, but there were no issues whatsoever dealing with the rocky terrain of the local gravel tracks or hitting potholes on the road.

FSA has used brass nipples which is something I like to see on wheels that are likely to be used in all sorts of weather conditions. I've had alloy versions crack on me after a hard winter.

The rims were true straight out of the box and remained the same throughout testing. I didn't go out of my way to wreck them, but I took them to a couple of tracks that are really rough with sharp-edged rocks and deep holes for a bit of a kicking. Apart from a few horrible noises coming from some high-speed impacts there was no long-term damage.

Stiffness was also impressive, too, with hard efforts out of the saddle not seeing any issues with lateral flex.

At 1,789g (822g front, 967g rear) they aren't the lightest gravel wheels on the market but they don't actually feel that heavy. Acceleration and climbing were never a chore, and they were easy to spin up from a standing start over and over again.

Pawl engagement is quick and the sealed cartridge bearings run smoothly, with the wheels spinning happily in mid-air with barely any resistance.

The only thing I would like to see is a steel insert on the aluminium freehub as cassettes can dig into the slightly soft body under hard efforts. I've seen a lot worse, though, and even after two months of testing I had no issues sliding the cassette off the body and reassembling it.

The majority of brands have adopted Shimano's Centerlock for securing the rotors, which involves using something similar to a cassette lockring screwed into place to keep the rotor fixed to the wheel. It's quick and simple to use – much faster than the six-bolt system FSA has decided on here, which uses T25 Torx bolts.

As standard the wheels arrive set up for 12mm thru-axles front and rear, but there are adaptors available to convert the front hub to either 15mm thru-axle or quick release depending on your fork, and the rear to quick release if your frame isn't designed for thru-axles.

Value-wise, the Afterburner AGX will set you back £619.95 which, when shopping around, can look a little pricey. The package does include tubeless rim tape and tubeless valves.

> Buyer's Guide: 10 of the best tubeless wheelsets for under £1,000

The Halo Vapour GXC wheels were reviewed by our sister site off-road.cc and they cost £410. They are very similar in both weight and build (in 650B size).

Some of the best gravel wheels I've ridden are the JRA Geckos. Okay, they are carbon versus the alloy of the FSAs, but you do get a much lighter build for 'just' an extra £230.

> Buyer's Guide: 18 of the best gravel and adventure tyres

JRA has an alloy wheelset for the road that it says is tough enough for cyclo-cross and the like, the MAP Road Disc which, in the same configuration as the Afterburners, will set you back about £371 and 1,581g.

When all's said and done, while there are cheaper and lighter options out there, if I was out for a long haul on the gravel – an epic adventure into the wilderness – I'd be happy to rely on the FSAs; I reckon they'd see you through it without putting a foot wrong. Sometimes that's worth a little bit more than saving a few quid.

Verdict

Pricier and heavier than some, but a very reliable wheelset that can take plenty of abuse