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review

Campagnolo Bora WTO 60 Disc wheelset

9
£1,928.99

VERDICT:

9
10
Fast and stiff, these are excellent wheels that handle well and climb quickly
Fast
Low weight for the depth
2-way fit is excellent
Weight: 
1,590g

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The Campagnolo Bora WTO 60 Disc wheels are superfast, superb to ride and superbly expensive. Despite the rim depth, they handle very well and are well behaved in windy conditions. An exceptionally good race wheelset.

If you've got two grand to spend on fancy deep-section wheels then these are well worth considering. They're as fast as they look, have Campagnolo's excellent 2-way fit technology, keep the weight down and are predictable in the wind.

> Find your nearest dealer here

The majority of my time on the WTO 60s has been spent on my Specialized Venge, an aero race bike. These wheels are a perfect fit and while it's not all about the looks, they do also look brilliant.

Thankfully, the performance is more than skin deep. The WTO 60s accelerate brilliantly and are perfectly happy to sit above 40kph. Racing is currently off, so the hardest that I've ridden them has been on some socially-distanced group rides and when chasing KOMs. The wheels have been excellent for this fast-paced riding and I'm confident that when racing starts again they'll be perfect for some flat circuits.

2020 Campagnolo Bora WTO 60 Disc wheels - rims.jpg

Not all of my riding is done on the flat, and when I've taken the WTO 60s into the Mendip hills I've been impressed at how well such a deep wheel climbs, especially on the steeper stuff. They're quick to spin up should you feel the need to stamp on the pedals and are excellent on long drags.

2020 Campagnolo Bora WTO 60 Disc wheels - spoke nipple.jpg

Sprinting presented no issues, with the wheels showing no signs of flex under load. Even leaning the bike right over in a big gear on a steep climb brought about no noise from my disc brakes, suggesting that these are properly stiff.

Setting up

Setting up the wheels, I installed a set of 26mm S-Works clincher tyres. Those tyres popped on without any hassle and I was pleased to find that the wheels come supplied with lockrings. That's something that I've overlooked before so it's nice to see them included.

2020 Campagnolo Bora WTO 60 Disc wheels - front hub.jpg

Campagnolo also supplies tubeless valves and a few spare spokes. Everything comes in two padded wheel bags for transportation and storage.

2020 Campagnolo Bora WTO 60 Disc wheels - in bags.jpg

2-way fit

Campagnolo's 2-way fit technology is the company's way of saying that the wheels are tubeless-ready and can also be used with standard clincher tyres. The difference between this and a standard tubeless-ready rim is the lack of requirement for rim tape. Campagnolo uses a hole-less rim bed which makes the inner rim channel deeper. This is a massive help when mounting tyres, and when I switched to a pair of Challenge tubeless Strada tyres, they mounted and seated easily.

2020 Campagnolo Bora WTO 60 Disc wheels - rim bed.jpg

Rim

This 60mm-deep carbon rim has a 19mm internal width and an external width of 26.1mm. The inner width worked nicely with 25-28mm tyres, offering plenty of support and boosting the claimed tyre width out by 1mm.

2020 Campagnolo Bora WTO 60 Disc wheels - valve hole.jpg

The WTO bit in the name stands for Wind Tunnel Optimised, and Campagnolo says that the rim 'enables maximum aerodynamic penetration at wind angles between 10° and 20°, a situation that accounts for 80% of time on the saddle'. It also claims that 'this wheel is unequalled when it comes to overcoming drag', though the data to support this isn't provided.

2020 Campagnolo Bora WTO 60 Disc wheels - rim detail.jpg

Hubs

The aluminium hub shells house Campagnolo's buttery smooth USB ceramic bearings. Campagnolo is one of the few companies still using the cup and cone system; this gives easy preload adjustment and maintenance.

2020 Campagnolo Bora WTO 60 Disc wheels - rear hub 1.jpg
2020 Campagnolo Bora WTO 60 Disc wheels - front hub 2.jpg

Value

The best part of two grand for a set of wheels isn't to be sneezed at, but they stack up quite well against others. Trek's Bontrager Aeolus XXX 6 TLR wheelset is a bit more expensive at £1,999.98 though it does feature a wider 21mm rim bed.

Vision's Metron 55 SL Disc wheelset suffers for being a bit heavy, despite being shallower, but the price might tempt you, at £1,799.95.

You can go a lot higher though: Enve offers the 5.6 SES Disc wheels at £3,300, and the Lightweight Fernweg Evo 63mm Schwarz Edition wheels take the price up to £7,778.

> Buyer’s Guide: 20 of the best disc brake road wheelsets

If you're shelling out this kind of money then you'll be wanting an excellent set of wheels and, thankfully, that is what you're getting here. The Bora WTO 60 Disc wheels are really stiff, fast on the flats and they climb well too. Crosswind stability is good and the weight isn't too bad either.

Verdict

Fast and stiff, these are excellent wheels that handle well and climb quickly

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Campagnolo Bora WTO 60 Disc wheels

Size tested: Shimano

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?

Campagnolo says, 'Campagnolo introduces its first aerodynamic disc brake wheel with a 60 mm profile, designed to appeal to cyclists with a love for speed. Its high profile can transfer all the aerodynamic advantages acquired from our research and development study to the road. The design of each wheel component enables maximum aerodynamic penetration, so that the wind stops being a hindrance to the cyclist and, at certain angles, becomes a help.

The wheel features unidirectional carbon rims with a rounded-profile optimised in the wind tunnel, new aerodynamic aluminium hubs and the ceramic USB cup-and-cone bearing system. Every design decision is determined by the sole goal of optimising performance. The profile of the rim, which has an internal width of 19 mm, makes a perfect pairing with 23, 25 and 28 mm tyres. Thanks to 2-Way Fit technology, Campagnolo guarantees complete compatibility with both clincher and tubeless tyres. The hole-free upper bridge, achieved through the patented MoMag system, allows a weight saving, increased stiffness and now also an aid when using tubeless tyres: no tape is required. Maintaining and cleaning the wheel during tyre replacement has never been easier.

These wheels were made for extreme performance, the Campagnolo mantra is reliability: the G3 spoke pattern with double spokes on the left of the front wheel ensures balanced and safe braking in all conditions."

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

SPOKES

24 steel elliptical-aero cross section spokes in the front, G3 pattern

24 steel elliptical-aero cross section spokes in the rear, G3 pattern

VERSIONS AND WEIGHTS

Campagnolo body

HG11 body

XDR body

1.590 g

COMPATIBILITY

Campagnolo 10/11/12s cassette

Shimano / SRAM 10/11s cassette

SRAM 12s cassette

HUB

Black aluminium monolithic hub

Hub O.L.D.: 100 mm in the front, 142 mm in the rear

Axle material: aluminium

USB cup-and-cone bearing system with ceramic balls

RIM

Profile height: 60 mm

Rim material: carbon

Rim cross section (H x W): 60/26,1 mm

Internal width: 19 mm

Water transfer graphics

TIRES

Clincher tyres

Tubeless tyres

ASSEMBLY

The Bora™ WTO™ 60 Disc Brake wheel is entirely hand-assembled by a specialised Campagnolo® technician and is 100% checked using electronic instrumentation. This procedure ensures that every single Campagnolo® wheel offers maximum performance and reliability

COMES WITH

44 mm tubeless valve

40 mm valve extender

Bushing to reduce the size of the valve hole

2 levers in composite material for tyre removal - User manual

Rate the wheel for quality of construction:
 
9/10
Rate the wheel for performance:
 
10/10
Rate the wheel for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the wheel for weight
 
9/10
Rate the wheel for value:
 
6/10

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

No issues here.

How easy did you find it to fit tyres?

Clinchers and tubeless are easy.

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

Tubeless valves do their job well.

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

Very fast and stiff. That makes them great at speed.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the wheel

Deep wheels that can climb. That means going at top speed everywhere. Lovely.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the wheel

Nothing.

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

The Vision Metron 55 SL Disc Clincher Wheels are cheaper at £1,799.95 but are heavier at 1,750g even though they are shallower. Bontrager's Aeolus XXX 6 TLR Disc Clincher wheels are more expensive at £1,999.98 and get a wider 21mm internal rim width.

Did you enjoy using the wheel? Yes

Would you consider buying the wheel? Give me two grand and it's a yes.

Would you recommend the wheel to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

They do what they're designed for excellently. These are superfast race wheels that are brilliant to ride. They are stiff for full-gas sprinting and climbing while holding speed well on the flats.

Overall rating: 9/10

About the tester

Age: 24  Height: 177cm  Weight: 62kg

I usually ride: Cannondale Supersix Di2  My best bike is:

I've been riding for: 5-10 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, time trialling, cyclo cross, commuting, club rides, general fitness riding, I specialise in the Cafe Ride!

Add new comment

13 comments

Avatar
srchar | 3 years ago
2 likes

I couldn't find this info anywhere on the web, so I'm posting it here.

I bought a pair of WTO 45 disc wheels for my bike which uses a 12x135 thru axle on the rear. Campagnolo do not supply suitable end caps for use with the Bora WTO disc hub, claiming that they only support 12x142; in fact the axle itself is wider than 135mm, so there's no end cap in the world that would make them compatible.

However, the rear axle for the Zonda DB (FH-ZO027) swaps straight into the WTO rear hub and, in combination with RM16-TA12135 end caps, means that the rear wheel fits a 12x135 rear end.

It also means you can convert the WTO for use in a frame with quick releases, as Campag supplies QR end caps for the Zonda DB axle.

Hope that helps someone.

Avatar
Fluffed | 3 years ago
1 like

They look nice, but its kind of weird in general that a £2000 product can be rated so highly with abosultely no data to prove its better than something else, other than the manufacturer says so.

Avatar
jaysa | 3 years ago
0 likes

Lovely looking but think I'll pass at that price.

Still enjoying my Kronostock 6/9s at £800/pair which are a little heavier but gosh they hold speed well ...

Avatar
CXR94Di2 | 3 years ago
1 like

Ridiculous price.

Id buy 60 or 80 mm 'U' shaped profile wheels with DT Swiss hubs for less than 25% of these.

Avatar
Nick T replied to CXR94Di2 | 3 years ago
2 likes

Enjoy your wheels bro

Avatar
check12 replied to CXR94Di2 | 3 years ago
0 likes

Swissside disc brake wheels for 50% ish the price 

Avatar
Mathemagician replied to check12 | 3 years ago
1 like
check12 wrote:

Swissside disc brake wheels for 50% ish the price 

50% ish? You go to the same school as CXR94Di2 for your maths lessons? As far as I can see the cheapest equivalent on their website are the HADRON Classics at (a discounted) €1399, which is around £1220...so that's 63%. Given they're roughly 150 g heavier, a better comparison would be the HADRON Ultimates, which are €1934 (again, discounted), or around £1680...maybe you're being a bit disingenuous. Or maybe you don't have a clue what you're talking about. 

Avatar
check12 replied to Mathemagician | 3 years ago
0 likes

I'm too busy to get my calculator out and can't be bothered looking up swisssides latest prices but thanks for doing that for me and highlighting that swisssides wheels are a lot cheaper than these wheels. 
ps your a bit of a prick aren't you? Take a chill pill.

Avatar
Mathemagician replied to check12 | 3 years ago
2 likes
check12 wrote:

I'm too busy to get my calculator out and can't be bothered looking up swisssides latest prices but thanks for doing that for me and highlighting that swisssides wheels are a lot cheaper than these wheels. 
ps your a bit of a prick aren't you? Take a chill pill.

That's a lot of words for "yes, I don't know what I'm talking about".

Avatar
Mathemagician replied to CXR94Di2 | 3 years ago
1 like
CXR94Di2 wrote:

Ridiculous price. Id buy 60 or 80 mm 'U' shaped profile wheels with DT Swiss hubs for less than 25% of these.

Sorry, could you please direct me to these 60 / 80 mm deep wheels with DT Swiss hubs available for less that £482.25?

The shit some people come out with on here...

Avatar
lio replied to Mathemagician | 3 years ago
2 likes

This. Compare these to the prices of Roval CLX, Enve, DT Swiss, Zipp, Shimano or other high end factory built wheels.

They're in exactly the same price range, especially in the real world where that RRP will be lower.

If you're comparing with directly imported Chinese rims bought, without warranty and assembled yourself or by mate then they're probably a bit more expensive. In that case though you're not comparing apple with apples.

Campag always use quality branded bearings and they have high quality control.

You get no guarantee with that with stuff coming from a bloke in his garage with parts direct from China, even if you order super-dooper "ceramic!" hubs.

Avatar
fukawitribe replied to lio | 3 years ago
0 likes

Yep they're about par for the course price-wise for main-brand equivalents. If you did want cheaper then, as usual, that's also entirely possible though, e.g. mid-/deep-section carbon rimmed hand-builts from Wheelsmith with CX-Rays on DT Swiss 350s are roughly half of those others, extra hundred for 240s.

Avatar
matthewn5 replied to CXR94Di2 | 3 years ago
0 likes
CXR94Di2 wrote:

Ridiculous price. Id buy 60 or 80 mm 'U' shaped profile wheels with DT Swiss hubs for less than 25% of these.

The price isn't 'ridiculous', you just can't afford them. Why not just say that?

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