Pacenti Brevet Wheel Set 700C Rim Brake Shimano

Pacenti's Brevet Wheelset offers a classic look with modern features and performance that exceeded my expectations. The weight is good, but this is a wheelset all about comfort and style, both of which Pacenti has got spot on.

• Pros: Classic style; wide rim; easy tubeless; handbuilt quality; great price
• Cons: No tubeless tape and valves; no skewers

Ever since carbon wheelsets rudely made an appearance in Paris-Roubaix, my love of a classic box-section rim has grown ever stronger. These days, Enves are more common on the club run than a classic, handbuilt wheelset and that saddens me. I've owned many shallow section wheels, the best of which were Ambrosio's Excellence rims laced with plain gauge spokes to blissfully silent Ultegra 6800 hubs.

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Pacenti markets these wheels as classic style matched with modern features, intending them to be used for a retro bike build that you can take to L'Eroica. What I see is a stylish set of wheels for getting the miles in.

The classic style is the main feature for me, and wow do these look stunning. The chrome box-section alloy rims are just 15mm tall and have 28 spoke holes holding silver Sapim D-Light J-bend spokes. These attach in a two-cross lacing pattern to the high-flange hubs.

It's all very classic then, but look down at the rim from above and you'll be struck by the modern width. These rims are following the trend for going wider and the 19mm internal width is perfect for pairing with 28mm tyres. It seemed fitting to pop some classic looking tyres on and handily I had a set of Bontrager's 28mm R4 Classics tyres with a cotton casing.

The rims are also tubeless-ready, though you'll need a tubeless kit to convert them. The rim tape here is for clincher only. Pacenti does a 10m roll of tubeless tape for £6.99 and 50mm tubeless valves for £11.99. It's not a huge upgrade cost and if you're looking to go tubeless, Pacenti will fit everything with new Continental GP5000 tyres for you. Do this and Pacenti will include the cost of the tubeless tape and valve in the price of the tyres.

As I had a roll of tape and some valves in the shed, I popped some sealant in Hutchinson Fusion 5 tyres and found that it was easy to seat the tyre and get retention of air overnight. Personally, though, I still prefer my cotton sidewalls!

By the way, if you want Pacenti skewers you'll need to buy them separately, or use ones you already have. I used my Shimano Ultegra 6800 skewers which aren't a huge outlay.

Thanks to the classic design, my expectation was of a very comfortable wheelset that would feel a little doughy on harder climbing efforts. My first thought was proved correct. These are very comfortable wheels and will suit an endurance/touring bike perfectly. There's just enough compliance to take the buzz out of surface-dressed roads, though I'm also benefiting from the improved tyre profile.

I was surprised to find, though, that the lateral stiffness is pretty darn good too – there was no brake rub when leaning the bike over, hauling up steep climbs. The spoke count, lacing pattern and high hub flanges certainly help to create a wheelset that performed much better than I was expecting. I'm well aware that this isn't the main purpose of the wheelset, but it's nice to know that they can easily handle a good stomp on the pedals.

These wheels replaced a narrow set of Mavic Ksyrium SL wheels that had been demoted to the role of hard-yard hoops. While they are quite a bit lighter, I much prefer the comfort gains found with the Brevet wheelset. The better support for wider tyres results in more cornering grip and a smoother ride over the broken Somerset B-roads, and I don't feel that this has been traded for too much climbing speed.

The freehub is a bit on the noisy side for me, but going in there to pop a bit more grease on the pawls allowed me to test the serviceability. Removing the freehub is an easy job, though, thanks to the EZO bearings, that's not something you'll need to be doing often.

Rivals for this wheelset are good and in the case of Mavic's Open Pro rims, well-proven. The newer Open Pro has been widened to 19mm internally and also been given the tubeless treatment. Unless you can build wheels, you'll be paying extra for a build, though. Strada wheels, for example, will build them on Aivee SR2 hubs for £440.

H Plus Son makes the TB14 rim which Malcolm Borg of the Cycle Clinic will build up from £262. That has a similar rim profile, but only comes in a 32H drilling and doesn't have tubeless compatibility.

> Buyer's Guide: 37 of the best road bike wheelsets

For classic styling with modern comforts, I really can't see past the Pacenti Brevet Wheelset. The looks are absolutely spot on and the performance punches well above what I was expecting.

Verdict

Super-stylish and brilliant performance – a great upgrade for a retro build or a training bike