Black Inc Forty Five wheelset

The Black Inc Forty Five wheelset is a very good carbon disc-brake design for mixed terrain road riding, flat or hilly. Tubeless setup is easy, and the build quality is very good. The price is high, though, and with an understated design, these might get overlooked.

Black Inc describes the Forty Five as its 'do everything' wheelset and, for road applications at least, that is an accurate description. The wheels roll nicely on the flat and climb well while also being well-behaved in the wind. A solid build ensures that they don't feel flexy at all and the addition of Ceramic Speed bearings goes a little way to justify the price. But for the money, I'd certainly like to have seen a faster engagement from the freehub.

> Buy now: Black Inc Forty Five wheelset from Factor for £2200.00

My time on these wheels has seen us battle some pretty inclement weather together as they're the hoops on the Factor Ostro VAM that I've been testing through the winter months. It's a tough job. The wheels have been really well behaved in strong winds, which is a welcome feature for a race-focused design.

While the rims look quite simple, they do the basics right. Firstly, they were easy to set up tubeless with the 28mm Schwalbe One tyres that I used. This suggests that Black Inc is following the ETRTO tubeless guidelines and the end user experience is all the better for it.

The tubeless valves are again basic but do the job well and I had no problems with air leaks. A track pump was all that I needed for setting them up, though that might not be the case with all tyres.

At 21mm wide internally, these wheels follow the trend of modern road tubeless wheels, and the 28mm tyres sat nicely. I was able to run my usual 60-65psi for a lovely balance of comfort and speed.

Many mid-depth carbon wheelsets have been getting wider, many using a 23mm internal width, with brands realising that riders often want one set to handle both road and gravel riding. The Black Inc Forty Fives are best used for road riding and Black Inc says they're optimised for 25-28mm tyres.

Black Inc has chosen a two-cross lacing pattern throughout the wheelset and I think it is a sensible choice where lateral stiffness is needed. When sprinting or under heavy braking there is no hint of flex.

The spokes come from Sapim in the form of the CX-Sprint and CX-Ray. These are well-respected spokes and I've had no issues with them on other builds. Black Inc opts for a straight-pull spoke and the nipples are hidden within the rim.

There are positives and negatives to hidden nipples, but while a wheel true would require you to remove the tyre and tubeless tape, the wheels on test are dead straight, and the benefit is that they look very tidy.

The hubs contains CeramicSpeed bearings which are claimed to offer lower rolling resistance than standard steel bearings. This probably isn't going to win me any races – doing my intervals might – but they're nice to have at this price.

Black Inc has given the freehub a redesign, but although it now has a quicker engagement than the old standard three-pawl system, you can get wheels with quicker pickup.

Value

At £2,200, the Forty Fives aren't cheap. You can easily get most of the performance found with these wheels at a significantly lower price. Take Hunt's 44 Aerodynamicists, for example, which I've been testing at the same time. They are just £879, and while the Black Incs might feel a tad better in terms of stiffness, I am not sure that I could justify the extra grand and a bit.

They're also more expensive than some very similar offerings such as DT Swiss's ERC 1400 Dicut wheels (£1,869.98), Zipp's 404 Firecrests (£1,600) and Campagnolo's Bora WTOs (now £1,999.99 since I tested them in 2020).

> Buyer’s Guide: 58 of the best road bike and gravel bike wheels

They are cheaper than the Ultra version of the Bora WTOs (£2,799.99) that I reviewed last year, but you're getting something particularly exciting for your money there.

Conclusion

Overall, the Black Incs do the basics very well, and with their solid build quality they're a good pair of wheels to spend your money on – but it is a lot of money. As I've said above, you can spend a lot less to get most of the performance found in these wheels.

Verdict

Well-made wheels that are great for mixed terrain road rides, but they're pricey compared with rivals