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review

Edco Brocon disc brake wheels

8
£2,900.00

VERDICT:

8
10
Excellent ride comfort and overall performance from a very top-end set of wheels
Weight: 
1,500g

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

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The new Edco Brocon Disc Brake wheelset certainly pushes the boundaries when it comes to the design and use of carbon fibre pretty much throughout. The wheels are light, strong and offer a wonderful ride feel, but you do have to pay nearly three grand for them.

  • Pros: Carbon spokes give a smooth feel, durability
  • Cons: Recommended max tyre width of 28mm could be offputting for some

For the Brocons' construction, Edco has used a 10k carbon weave design rather than a uni-directional one (woven, rather than all the fibres travel in one direction), saying that the higher shield strength of the woven material increases the impact strength. It's certainly a strong set of wheels and they feel absolutely solid.

> Email: info [at] edco-wheels.co.uk (info [at] edco-wheels.co.uk ) to place an order

The Brocons are based around 28mm-deep, tubeless-ready carbon rims, which means they are more of an 'all-rounder' than a deeper pure race wheel, although that does keep the weight down. (Ignore the name on the rim – we were sent an early set, incorrectly labelled.)

Edco Brocon disc brake wheels - valve hole.jpg

The pair weigh just 1,500g including the supplied tubeless rim tape, which is pretty impressive for a disc brake wheelset. They are generally heavier than a rim brake design, often needing more spokes and beefier hubs because of the higher braking forces.

With an inner rim width of just 17mm they aren't the widest wheels we've seen, especially with the way rim width is continuing to grow. It's not a massive issue unless you are a big fan of fat tyres, as on the paperwork I received with the wheels Edco recommends tyres up to 28mm wide.

Edco Brocon disc brake wheels - rim bed.jpg

What really sets the Brocons apart from many other wheels is the use of carbon fibre for the spokes.

Edco Brocon disc brake wheels - rim 2.jpg

Edco says that the wheel is built in exactly the same way as one using alloy or steel spokes, and unlike other carbon spoked wheels I've ridden in the past they are easily replaceable rather than being bonded to the rim.

The spokes themselves are made from a single piece of carbon fibre with a threaded steel end added to allow it to be screwed into a standard 14g nipple. This makes the wheels easy to true should you have any issues after hitting a pothole or suchlike.

Edco Brocon disc brake wheels - rim.jpg

A lot of top end wheels that we see use carbon fibre for the hub shells, but Edco has gone down the aluminium alloy route.

It's a brand new design for Edco, with a special drilling pattern to work with the straight pull carbon spokes. With NBK bearings and water resistant o-rings they roll very smoothly indeed.

Edco Brocon disc brake wheels - front hub.jpg

Most frame manufacturers have settled on 12mm thru-axles front and rear on disc brake-equipped bikes and Edco has followed suit with the Brocons, although you can get adaptors for quick release and 15mm thru-axle setups.

The freehub has some options too, with Campagnolo 11 and 12-speed compatible offered alongside the standard Shimano/SRAM version supplied.

Edco Brocon disc brake wheels - rear hub.jpg

So, that's the technology – but how does that translate to the road?

Very nicely indeed is the answer.

The Brocons are a very stiff set of wheels and there is absolutely no feeling of lateral flex when you are absolutely giving it everything in a sprint or on a climb. This stiffness doesn't translate to harshness, though, as the carbon fibre spokes give a plush ride taking out any road buzz.

The Edcos are solid and feel very strong. I didn't go out of my way to try to destroy them, but I was taking rougher lines through broken tarmac and small potholes than I would have if I'd just landed this much money on a set of wheels myself, and they stood up to all of the abuse, remaining true.

The hubs feel very smooth and the freehub pawl engagement is brilliantly quick – exactly as I'd expect for a top-end set of wheels.

After 500 miles of testing, removing the cassette showed minimal indentations into the body, helped by the steel insert added to stop the cassette digging in under hard efforts.

Value

There is no getting around it, £2,900 for a set of wheels is a very large outlay, but how do they stack up against the opposition?

Against the eye-wateringly priced Lightweight Meilenstein C Disc wheelset (£4,779) the Edcos don't look so bad. They offer loads of stiffness like the Lightweights and are only 130g heavier, plus the Edcos are user-serviceable.

> Buyer's Guide: 34 of the best road bike wheelsets

For nearly half the money, though, you could get the Acros Road Disc C 28 wheelset if you're happy to forgo the carbon spokes. The Acros weigh 10g less and I was very impressed with their stiffness too.

Conclusion

On the whole, the Edcos are a very good set of wheels and although the price is high, because of the technology and materials, it's not necessarily excessive for what you are getting.

The ride from the carbon build is very impressive, but I'm not sure the extra outlay over other builds with standard spokes would swing it for me personally.

The Brocons will be available from early April, but you can place an order now.

Verdict

Excellent ride comfort and overall performance from a very top-end set of wheels

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 Brocon disc brake wheels

Size tested: Thru axle, 700C

Tell us what the wheel 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, "Carbon rim, carbon spoke and a special designed hub - as a result a innovative wheel set (FW/RW) for your bike. Brocon are fully tubeless ready, great looking by using a 10k carbon weave design."

It's a very good all-round set of wheels, and well built too.

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

Edco lists these details:

10k carbon fibre rims

28mm deep, 17mm internal width

Carbon fibre spokes, 24R/20F

6061 Aluminium Alloy hub body with 7075 axles

12mm Thru Axle (adaptors available)

Shimano/Sram freehub (Campag available)

Rate the wheel for quality of construction:
 
8/10

Solid build throughout.

Rate the wheel for performance:
 
9/10

The Edcos deliver on all of the above, even when on the absolute limit of the power I could put out.

Rate the wheel for durability:
 
8/10

Solid performance and no issues during testing.

Rate the wheel for weight
 
8/10

1,500g is pretty good for a strong set of disc wheels.

Rate the wheel for value:
 
5/10

About what you'd expect for the technology and materials used.

Did the wheels stay true? Any issues with spoke tension?

Yes, no issues at all.

How easy did you find it to fit tyres?

Tyres fitted easily onto the rims.

How did the wheel extras (eg skewers and rim tape) perform?

The wheels came with tubeless rim taped fitted and it worked exactly as expected.

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

As all-rounders the wheels perform well whether sprinting, climbing or just cruising along on the flat.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the wheel

Comfortable ride.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the wheel

For me it's the price.

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

For the technology used in the design and construction of the Edcos the price isn't excessive when compared to the likes of Lightweight and its carbon wheels and spokes, but when it comes to stiffness and performance they are near-matched by plenty of standard spoke wheels for half the price.

Did you enjoy using the wheel? Yes

Would you consider buying the wheel? Probably not, it's a big outlay.

Would you recommend the wheel to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

The Brocons deliver a very good all-round package, especially when it comes to comfort. The performance gains are minimal over much cheaper alternatives, though.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 40  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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2 comments

Avatar
edcoSalesTeam | 5 years ago
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here is a response from edco - customer satisfaction is a No. 1 priority to us. We are using high-quality bearings in our hubs. By normal use there should be no problem with the wheels. In case of any issue we are happy to support our customers. 

The hubs used in the Carbon spoke wheels Brocon & Cereda is completly different to all other edco hubs being sold with our wheel sets so far. 

If you still have an issue with your wheels get in contact with us and we will support you. 

Our wheels are not only on trek we sell our wheels all around in the world as an upgrade option to the existing standard wheels on (race) bikes.

And we are not getting tired by repeating our No. 1 priorty - customer satisfaction and happy riders are key to us. We are part of the cycling community.

Avatar
Yorky-M | 5 years ago
0 likes

Change the bearings? I tried and failed to change the bearings to remove the play in a 6 month old pair of Edco Gesero 65mm Carbon clinchers. The hub design looks the same and ahhhhhh.

I had all the parts ticked when removing. checked on a exploded diagram and when screwed the axle back together still movement with the new, and correct bearings. every time I see a pair, usually fitted to a Trek, I feel the need to wiggle the rim for play.

Is it just me as a shite mechanic or are the open to bearing face wear?

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