Ican Aero 50 wheelset

Ican's Aero 50 Carbon wheelset is one of the cheapest budget carbon options. The wheels are light, for the depth, and feel fast, but that's outweighed by their twitchiness in any wind, inconsistent braking, huge lateral flex, and lack of tubeless equipment in the box.

Pros: UK warehouse so no extra taxes

Cons: Braking; stability in the wind; no tubeless valves or tape included; lots of lateral flex

Ican is based in China, with most of its stock held there, but it has warehouses in the US, Belgium, Germany, Australia and right here in the UK too. As anyone who has ordered wheels from China will tell you, a UK warehouse is a very good thing. It can cut delivery times down and means that you won't be paying extra taxes. With Ican, shipping is also free.

> Buy these online here

In the box, you'll get your new wheels, skewers, carbon brake pads, and standard rim tape. As the wheels are advertised as being tubeless ready, I was a little disappointed not to find the tape and valves included.

Setting up clincher tyres was pretty straightforward, and once I'd got some tubeless tape the 25mm Vittoria Corsa Speed G tyres that I mounted went up with a standard track pump and some vigorous pumping.

On the road

Looks are a big part of why I love deep-section wheels. They transform a bike's aesthetics and the deep whooshing sound never gets boring. These aren't the deepest wheels that I've had on my bike, but they fit the 'race look' perfectly with subtle decals.

I've given these wheels as much riding on varied terrain as possible because, even though it's a fast wheelset, most of us will ride on everything but smooth race circuits.

Braking is often the Achilles heel of cheaper carbon rims and I'm afraid to say that's true here, these are poor under braking. There are a couple of grabby spots in both rims which, even under the softest braking, were causing the rear wheel to lock up. Initially, I thought the issue might be my SwissStop pads, but switching them out for the pads provided made no improvement.

Handling is better, with the wheels able to track nicely through smooth corners, though the vertical stiffness rears its head on broken tarmac. Even with the tyres set up tubeless and running less than 70psi, I was feeling every imperfection.

Crosswind stability, despite the promising-looking profile of these rims, is also poor. The wheels are skittish in a breeze, with the front wheel partricularly so. As I mentioned before, I've ridden deeper wheels in the form of Knight's 65mm deep carbon clinchers. They were totally unfazed by the wind, so to have a wheel 15mm shallower be so nervous is very disappointing. I don't think that the lower weight of the Ican wheels is to blame here. I've had even lighter 50mm tubular wheels which were stable in windy conditions. 

What the Ican Aero 50s lack in stability and braking they slightly make up for in speed. On still days, they hold speed well. Getting them up to speed isn't the best though. They feel sluggish and slow when out of the saddle. I think this is may well be down to the lateral flexing the wheel is prone to creating a wheel that feels quite soft when you accelerate from slow speeds.

The R01 hubs are a standard straight-pull design that provides a base for the Sapim CX-Ray spokes; 18 are laced radially on the front wheel, with 24 on the rear – 12 laced two-cross on the non-drive side and 12 radially on the drive side.

As already mentioned the vertical stiffness of these wheels is not matched by the lateral stiffness. I was able to get brake rub and, more worryingly, enough rub on my chainstays to cause significant cosmetic damage. The worst damage is to the non-drive side chainstay, suggesting that the radially laced Sapim CX-Ray spokes don't cope well with drivetrain forces in this lacing pattern.

I'm not even a big, powerful rider, so if you can put out over 1,100W (my max power) then you might be too powerful for these wheels. The wheel/tyre combination that I've used here isn't any wider than my usual setup and I've had no previous issues with wheels costing from £200 to over £2,000, from a range of manufacturers including Shimano, Fulcrum, Mavic, Pacenti and Vision.

Contacting Ican about the issues that I've experienced has - as yet - yielded no resolution.

Value

These are possibly the cheapest carbon wheels that we've tested, but that doesn't mean they're great value. Yes, the price is low, but because of the poor braking, lack of lateral stiffness and crosswind issues, I'd say they actually offer poor value for money.

At this price point, aluminium wheels are probably the way to go. There are so many good options from the likes of Shimano, DT Swiss, Mavic, and countless others. The Pacenti wheels that I currently have on test are brilliant, and Stu loved the £350 Forza Rim Brake wheelset.

If you must have carbon then I'd suggest you start saving up. CES Sport does the RC50 for £600, and the Prime RR-50s are £599.99. Hunt's 50 wheelset is pricier at £899, but you get a set of wheels that beats two-grand wheelsets for performance and value. (Stu tested the 3650 Carbon Wide Aero wheels and was very impressed.) Internally and externally they are wider than the Icans, and handle better in crosswinds. They also come with tubeless tape and valves.

Conclusion

The Icans are cheap, but it shows in the braking, lateral stiffness and any crosswind. If you go for a shallower, disc brake option then they might be okay, but I'd suggest you save up for the Hunt wheels, then you'll have exceptional performance to match the looks.

Verdict

Attractive price, but the braking, crosswind stability and lateral stiffness leave a lot to be desired