First look: wiggle launch £600 Cosine carbon wheels

Following the news of its revamped Eastway bike range recently, online retailer wiggle has just launched Cosine, a range of own-brand carbon and alloy wheels, a first for the company.

With prices starting from £600 for the carbon wheels and £70 for the alloy wheels, they look like exceptionally good value for money if you’re in the market for a wheel upgrade. The carbon wheels are a particularly competitive price - we’ve seen the price of all-carbon wheels drop significantly in the past handful of years, and Cosine’s new offerings are among the cheapest yet.

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Cosine carbon wheels

There are three carbon fibre wheelsets with a choice of rim depths, including 30, 45 and 55mm. The rims share a similar profile with 23.4mm wide bead track, designed to be compatible with wider tyres, as is the trend at the moment. The internal rim width is 19mm.

The rims are laced to 7075 aluminium hubs with Sapim CX Delta spokes and CN-14G brass nipples, with 20/24 spokes. The hubs use sealed cartridge bearings and the freehub is compatible with 10- and 11-speed Shimano/SRAM cassettes. Lightweight alloy skewers are included.

The 30mm wheel weighs a claimed 1,580, the 45mm wheelset is 1,700g, and lastly the 55m wheels are 1,775g.

Cosine alloy wheels

There are three alloy wheels in the new range. The most affordable is the 24mm Alloy wheeslet, which costs just £70. It weighs a claimed 1,832g, which isn’t that bad at all for the money, and has a 24mm deep aluminium rim with a 21mm external width. There are sealed bearings in the hubs and black stainless spokes.

Next up the price ladder are the 23mm Alloy Disc wheels (£180). With a  24mm wide and 23mm tall disc-specific rim, these are clearly suited to gravel, cyclocross and road plus bikes where larger tyres are standard. The hubs use conventional quick release axles with a 135mm rear hub spacing, and 6-bolt disc mounting standard.

Finally, there are the 32mm Alloy wheels, which at 1,485g are the lightest wheels in the Cosine range. They have a 32mm deep rim with a 21.5mm width, and it’s tubeless-ready. The rims are laced with 20/24 double butted stainless spokes to alloy hubs with sealed bearings. The freehub has four pawl internals with 27 points of engagement, and is compatible with 11-speed Shimano and SRAM, and 8/9/10-speed with a provided spacer.

“Cosine wheelsets are meticulously designed and specified to offer you the greatest performance gains for the best possible value. Each wheel set is assembled to the highest standards using the finest components, materials and techniques. A clean, understated design theme runs through the range, lending an elegant, premium aesthetic to any bike build or kit theme,” says the company.

We’ve had a close look at the carbon wheels and they do look good in the flesh, with a smooth finish and nice feel to the hubs. wiggle left us a set  of the 45mm carbon wheels to test. They’re currently being ridden, so watch out for a full review soon.

The new Cosine wheels will be for sale on wiggle's website very soon.