The wheelset edition! Five cool things coming soon from Campagnolo, Roval, Prime, Black Inc and Parcours

Investing in some new wheels is a great way to upgrade your bike; and although shiny new hoops are a big purchase, there are many options to suit a variety of budgets. We 'spoke' to some wheel experts and got some wheels sent to the road.cc review 'hub' (here all week).. 

This week's five cool things is a wheel edition featuring both alloy and carbon fibre wheels ranging from £300-£3,000+. Starting at the high end we have Campagnolo's carbon fibre wheels designed for racing, down to Prime's Attaquer V2 Disc Alloy wheelset that is more budget-friendly and suited to a mix of terrains.

Which would you choose? Here are the key details before the full reviews land in the coming weeks..  

Campagnolo Hyperon Ultra wheelset 

£3,200

Starting with the most expensive and lightest wheels, the Hyperon Ultra wheelset is designed for racing, weighing in at 1,240g. Despite the light weight, this wheelset isn't claiming to be the lightest. Instead it's supposed to balance a range of characteristics to be a contender for the best road bike wheels. 

The rims have an inner width of 21mm and a depth of 37mm which aims to make them suited for climbing whilst enhancing aerodynamics. Campagnolo has identified that a 37mm depth is optimal for rapid and reactive steering, regardless of the conditions, and that a 21mm internal width should remain stiff and stable in all conditions. 

> Campagnolo launches “Formula 1 version” of its road wheelsets - the 1,240g Hyperon Ultra

The front wheel uses 21 spokes and the rear wheel has 24 spokes, both in a two-cross pattern. 

www.campagnolo.ocm

Black Inc Thirty wheelset

£1,935.58

Like Campagnolo's Hyperon Ultra wheels, Black Inc's Thirty wheelset is designed for a variety of terrains, weighing 1,550g and said to "make them a dream when climbing, while providing enough aero advantage to cheat the wind." 

They have an internal rim width of 21mm and an external width of 30mm making them suited to 28mm tyres and wider. Black Inc recommends running nothing smaller than 25mm tyres with these rims. 

> How to upgrade your wheels and revolutionise your ride 

The rims are designed to be clincher or tubeless-ready and they're available in both disc and rim brake options. A tubular option also exists in both rim and disc brake configurations. 

www.blankinc.cc

Parcours Chrono wheelset 

£1,199 

The Parcours Chrono wheelset is said to offer "class-leading aerodynamics" suited to time trialling, triathlon and crit racing with rim depths of 68.5mm for the front wheel and 75.7mm for the rear wheel. 

The hooked rims have an internal width of 22.5mm and a max width of 32mm for the front and 30.5mm for the rear, which is said to be optimised for running 28mm tyres.

> Are expensive carbon road bike wheels worth the money?

The Chrono wheelset is disc-brake specific with 24 Sapim CX-Ray spokes front and rear. They weigh in at 1670g on the road.cc scale of truth and feature Parcours Disc Centerlock hubs.

www.parcours.cc

Roval Alpinist SLX Disc wheelset

£760

Roval says the Alpinist SLX wheels are "the pinnacle of what can be achieved with alloy". 

The rims are tubeless compatible so “you get sublime ride quality with the added efficiency, comfort, and flat protection of tubeless tyres”, according to Roval. They are 24mm deep with a 23.5mm external width and 20mm internal width. 

The Roval Alpinist SLX features the updated DT Swiss 350 hubs with 36 teeth. The previous DT Swiss 350 hub used half the amount (18 teeth) so this freehub will engage twice as quickly when you start to pedal - in 10°.

The front wheel is priced at £310 while the rear is £450, giving a total price of £760 for the pair.    

www.specialized.com

Prime Attaquer V2 Disc Alloy wheelset 

£349.99

Finishing with the budget-friendly option, the Prime Attaquer V2 Disc Alloy wheelset is "aerodynamic, stiff and reactive", and said to be suitable for hilly races, gravel and fast training rides. 

They are made of robust 6069 aluminium rims with 21mm internal width and 25mm depth, but weigh in at 1,500g. That might not be what those specialising in hill climbs are after...

They offer 36T Star Ratchet hubs which are said to provide superior reliability, and DT Swiss straight pull spokes said to combine aerodynamics and stiffness. The wheels also come with four spare spokes and nipples, tubeless valves, QR Skewers, a 10-speed spacer, 15mm thru axle end caps and QR end caps. 

www.wiggle.com

For all the latest road.cc test reports, head over to our reviews section. If you want some more advice before splashing the cash, check out our buyer's guides.

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