NEWS
NEWS DETAIL
6 High-Performance Carbon Road Wheels |
11-Sep-2015 |
The Wide Revolution
From Tour de France contenders to local club riders, cyclists are choosing wider wheels. Why, after a decade of rolling along smoothly on skinny rims, should we want fatter wheels, which measure up to 27mm wide? Turns out that those narrow rims, especially aero models, weren't so smooth after all.
Traditional rims are slimmer than the tires mounted to them, an uneven profile that creates a sharp angle that turbulent air can push against. Wider rims forge a more seamless union between metal (or carbon) and rubber. Gusts blow smoothly past and you feel less resistance. There's also another benefit: Wider clincher wheels spread the edges of a tire farther apart (instead of pinching them together). That creates a larger patch where the tire contacts the pavement, which leads to better traction and improved road feel.
Still, factors beyond rim width contribute to a wheel's performance. The depth of the rim, for one, can play a significant role. That's why some builders, like Mavic, have stuck with a width closer to 20mm. But during this test and others, we’ve noticed improved performance on rims at least 23mm wide. We think you will too.
To take stock of this trend, we compared the brake track and bead hook (except on the tubulars) widths on our six test wheels, and one older standard, Mavic's Open Pro.
