Scope has risen in prevalence over the last few years, with WorldTour teams opting to use its fish scale inspired Artech wheels ahead of sponsor correct equipment, and Netcompany-Ineos partnering with them for the 2026 season. The Artech 6.A wheels even tested fastest in our 2024 round of wind tunnel wheelset testing.

The Scope R4.G represents the more wallet friendly option in the brand's gravel wheel line-up, which includes this, and the Artech 4.G.

It uses similar technologies and profiles to the Artech, but at a weight cost. A modern, wide internal and external hookless rim is used, making it comparable with several other carbon gravel wheelsets in this price bracket.

Additionally, sealed bearings, a reinforced rim, and no weight limit sets the wheels up nicely to be resilient across rugged gravel terrain, and my impressions from testing them has supported that. The weight is highly competitive with others in this bracket, while the aero performance with 45mm tyres results in very little speed loss versus a road wheelset on tarmac.

My only gripes are the rotors being a nightmare to fit and remove, and the freehub wailing like a banshee, making me feel self-conscious when riding down the residential street at unsociable hours.

But overall, these are a superb set of gravel wheels that offer fantastic value, and truly deserve a place in our buying guide to the best gravel bike wheels. What's more, they would be brilliantly paired with any of the best gravel race bikes, especially better value offerings.

Design and specifications

The Scope R4.G wheels are built using what Scope calls Algorithm Enhanced Aerodynamics (AEA), the same process used to develop the Artech rims. This process runs through different rim profile designs at different wind speeds and angles to devise the fastest solution. Although no fish scale rim profiles are present in the R4.G, many of the technologies from the very fast Artech wheels are applied.

The rim uses a 45mm tall rim with hookless beads, with an internal width of 28mm and external width of 38mm (albeit 27.08mm and 37.04mm measured though on my calipers).

This does place them among the wider offerings on the market and is designed to work best with tyres at 40mm and wider (35-60mm is the claimed width that these wheels can be used with).

The rim has also been specifically reinforced around the spoke holes, adding strength where needed without excessive carbon where it is not required.

Spoke lacing is a 2:1 two-cross at the front on the rotor side, radial on the drive side with 21 spokes total, while the rear is a 2:1 two-cross pattern on the drive side and one-cross on the rotor side, with 24 Sapim CX-ray alloy spokes.

This asymmetric spoke lacing, cross pattern, and number is aimed to balance the wheel against the forces of both braking and also drivetrain torque.

The hubs are Scope’s own R-Series hubs, and use a labyrinth system which essentially aims to block dirt from entering the hubs and bearings thus increasing longevity.

Internally a 36 tooth Diamond Ratchet SL is used. This 10 degree engagement is a bit higher (and thus slower) than some, but there are claims that fewer teeth results in greater ratchet longevity, and when keeping pressure on the pedals it has little impact on performance compared to higher counts.

The diamond carbon like coating is designed to prevent cassette bite into the free-hub body, while also reducing the weight. Claimed weight is 1,436g without tape or valves, while actual weight on my scales was 1,444g with tape and valves, so lighter than claimed.

Two decal options are available, with black or white options. Hub options range across Shimano and Shimano Microspline, SRAM XDR, Campagnolo, and Campagnolo N3W. Tubeless valves and rim tape are provided, but not lock-rings.

Performance

Fitting the tyres to the Scope R4.G was a nicel and simple affair. The 45mm Panaracer GravelKing ZX I use for gravel wheel tests can be a little tough to fit, but in this situation were able to be fitted without the need for levers. Given the wide and hookless rim, this was easier than I have found on similar gravel rims, while the tyres seated easily enough as well.

One area worth highlighting however was that the rotors are a pain to fit. The same system is used as on the Artech wheels, a lighter weight spline for the rotors, but it almost appeared slightly misaligned making them harder to fit than would be considered normal.

Getting out on the wheels, there are two things that are apparent pretty quickly when riding them; the ratchet engagement is a little sluggish by comparison to high tooth competitors, and the freehub is the loudest one I have ever used.

The ratchet uses a 36-tooth engagement, meaning it takes at most 10° of pedalling to engage the freehub. Hunt for example uses a 54-tooth ratchet, which means faster engagement. It’s only really noticeable when riding in scenarios where you are on and off the power regularly, so more techy terrain with lots of non-pedalling corners. Once rolling at speed, it makes little difference, and the Diamond Star ratchet Scope uses is extremely solid. I have tested a lot of Scope wheels, and the ratchet has never displayed any form of slip, and has proven to be very resilient.

The freehub noise is an interesting point. For early morning rides as I approach the end of my street, I found myself choosing to pedal while braking to avoid waking the entire street.

On the flip side, when riding shared trails with pedestrians, the freehub works better than any bell at alerting people to my presence. Coast for a few seconds and pedestrians a good 100m ahead turn around wondering why an angry hoard of hornets is approaching them.

I know some people enjoy a loud freehub, but this is a bit beyond my personal preference. I much prefer the almost silent running of the Campagnolo freehubs, but credit where credit is due, it acts as a fantastic alert when riding the trails. People will not miss you coming.

In terms of performance though, I am thoroughly impressed with these wheels. Scope might have gained more fame through the Artech wheels with fish scales and top level aero performance, but the R range of wheels are less than half the price and have most of the same performance.

I’ve even bought several pairs over the years, so can attest to putting my money where my mouth is. With the 45mm tyres fitted, measuring a shade under that width, and a 37mm external width, the wheels roll superbly and hold speed well. Going on the tarmac to head to the trails, the speed between these wheels and standard road wheels fitted is not massively different.

I’d say for most gravel this 40-45mm depth range is a very good balance for light enough to accelerate quickly and climb quickly, but deep enough to have some meaningful aero performance at speed.

At 1,444g for a 45mm depth, these are competitively lightweight wheels, and this does show when riding. The thing with gravel is that generally the climbs are tackled slower than tarmac for the same gradient, and gradients can ramp up quickly. This means lower wheel inertia, and weight requires more effort to accelerate up to speed.

Add heavier wider gravel tyres into the mix, and having a lighter rim can make more of a difference off-road than on tarmac. I’ve found the Scope R4.G climb very well, and the strong lateral stiffness also helps maintain a connected feel especially when mashing the pedals on more loose and rocky climbs. This lateral stiffness is most noticeable on the road, as cushioned low PSI wide tyres on gravel always take away an element of reactiveness of the wheels.

Although hookless, and me being a long term hookless sceptic, for gravel wheels with low pressures the system does work well. The tyres have maintained pressure, and going over some horrendously rough terrain and root infested trails, there have been no signs of tyre burps or pinches, and the rim has held up very well.

Value

At a penny under £1,500, these are not cheap wheels, but for a deep carbon wheelset they are in the bracket that I would term as good value. They sit alongside the likes of the Hunt Limitless CGR 40, and Reserve 44/40 G wheelsets. The Parcours FKT undercut them a bit at £1,249, and are deeper at 47mm and a fraction wider internally and externally, but also hookless and a touch heavier.

It’s a very competitive bracket for performance gravel wheels, and at this point they all have rather similar performance features, with just small differences separating them. If you want a quieter freehub, then the Scopes are not the wheels to go for, unless you get the brand’s special Silence Grease to reduce the known buzz of the Diamond Ratchet system. If you want to run wider tyres, maybe the Parcours are best with the 40mm external width.

If you want a pretty bombproof option with more heavily reinforced hub seals, no weight limit, and something that can tackle pretty much any form of terrain you throw at them, the Scope R4.G are certainly worth considering. Having used Scope R-line wheels across the last few winters, the hubs have held up exceptionally, and some truly heinous potholes have not led to any rim failures even when tyres have blown out spectacularly.

My best way to substantiate the value I see in these wheels, is that I have personally purchased sets of the road going version myself. Value is always subjective, but these are something I would, and indeed have, spent my own money on. I would suggest for most people that these wheels offer most of the performance of the likes of the Scope Artech 4.G, but for £2000 less.

Verdict

There's a much more expensive model in the range, but in my opinion, the Scope R4.G wheelset is the best gravel wheelset that Scope offers. Although the Artech model is lighter and potentially a little more aero, the cost is huge by comparison and there are some concerns about the delicateness of the hubs for off-road use.

The R4.G represent much better value in the carbon gravel wheelset market overall and based on previous experience with Scope R-line wheels the longevity should be impressive too.

The hub is intrusively loud though, and the rotors are a bit tough to fit and remove, but overall these are a highly impressive wheelset and a sensible investment for those who want a fast, lightweight, and resilient set of gravel wheels.

The Garmin HRM 600 takes many of the features of the cheaper HRM 200 and builds upon them in a quest to become the best chest strap heart rate monitor on the market.

Not only does it read heart rate, but it also takes heart rate variability. Added to that are a host of other features that are somewhat lost on just cyclists, but for multisport athletes such as triathletes there are a lot of very useful additions.

New for Garmin chest strap monitors, this is the first unit that is rechargeable rather than using coin cell batteries. The battery life is solid, lasting on average a month or more for most users. Add to this a very comfortable strap, and useful LED lights on the front of the pod, and it’s a highly capable unit. But the cost is high, and for just cycling, many of the features feel unnecessary.

Design and specifications

First and foremost, the pod has been completely redesigned. There is now a button on the front, which like the HRM 200, can be used to set up pairing to avoid unwanted connections to the device, and also to check battery status thanks to the LEDs on the front. It works exactly the same way as the HRM 200, so to refresh your memory; the button needs to be held to enter pairing mode to easily connect to a bike computer or smart watch, and then single pressed in the future to wake it up.

The front LED has different flash patterns for connecting (orange flash), and connected (green dual flash). The LED can also display battery level at the point of waking up; green flash is okay, orange flash is low, red flash is critical.

The pod can then be removed, where at the rear you'll find the charging port, something new for chest strap heart rate monitors for Garmin and now competes with the Wahoo Trackr HRM. This is a now standard Garmin connector, the same used on the new Garmin Cirqa competitor to Whoop, and the Garmin smartwatches. Claimed battery life is ‘up to 2 months’, based on 1 hour use per day. So divide your hours ridden per week by seven to work out a rough average of how many hours a day you use it, and you’ll get an idea of a recharging schedule.

The heart rate monitor is resistant to five 'atmospheres' (often denoted as ATM) of water pressure, for those wanting to swim, which is more than enough to deal with rain and sweat from cyclists.

Data for HR and HRV is transmitted via the standard BLE (three concurrent connections) or ANT+ (unlimited), but the HRM 600 can also record activities itself when linked with the Garmin Connect app. It monitors distance travelled, calories burned, and intensity minutes, along with other features more running and swimming focused.

Weight is 18g (0.65oz) for the pod and 61g (2.2oz) for the strap as well (accurate as per my scales). XS-S (60-85 cm, 23.5"-33.5") and M-XL (80-119 cm, 31.5-47.0") are available and can be adjusted easily. A small tab on the inside of the latch is included to prevent irritation.

Heart rate itself is measured via Electrocardiography (ECG) taking actual electrical readings from the chest and heart, which tends to be far more accurate, especially with sweat present, than optical light based sensors used on the wrist or arm.

Performance

Using the M-XL strap, the sizing was spot on for me, and adjusting to size was very easy. Over the course of the testing period, the strap has not moved so the fit has remained consistent; something I have had issue with on other brands' chest straps. I really like the small tab inside of the latch, as this can be an area that causes irritation, but this removes that issue.

There aren’t grippers as such on the straps, but the large electrode reading pad has a certain grippiness, so it stays in place very easily even in hot weather with lots of sweat.

In terms of the data, I have compared it to several other heart rate monitors. Wearing a Wahoo Trackr HRM along with a Coros arm HRM and Whoop MG. The Garmin HRM 600 and Wahoo Trackr have read very closely, to the point where there is no real shift from the trend lines and data. The Whoop has been less consistent, being a wrist based one, while the Coros is solid as long as you don’t get too sweaty. In conclusion, the Garmin HRM 600 is more than accurate enough for its intended use.

I am a big fan of the rechargeability of the device. A lot of coin cell heart rate monitors previously have not had battery indicators, so you only know the battery is low once it conks out during a ride. With the HRM 600, as with the 200, the LED lights tell you roughly how much battery is left, and the claimed 'one hour per day for two months' seems to track correctly, as after 14 hours a week for a month, I needed to recharge the unit.

Removing the pod is easy, and the cable connects securely making charging a breeze. It’s a little easier with the Trackr HRM as it is magnetic and the pod does not need removing, but equally the charger is bespoke for the Trackr and can disconnect if shifted.

The ability to take heart rate variability (HRV) is useful as a metric to track, but ideally this needs to be taken overnight or first thing in the morning, and a chest strap is not the ideal solution for this as you also need a heat unit or watch to connect to. It’s more accurate than wrist based measurements, but more of a faff. This takes us on to the next issue for cyclists, which is that many of the smart features are more relevant to runners or swimmers.

Essentially, this is the ideal heart rate monitor for triathletes, but for those who just cycle, I think many of the features on offer are somewhat superfluous and will seldom get used.

Value

That superfluousness of features is the issue with the Garmin HRM 600. It’s a great heart rate monitor, and for swimmers, runners, or triathletes I can see real value in the additional features that it offers, but for cyclists, many of those features will not be realised, and you are paying for technology that is not going to be used. At £149.99 it is one of the more expensive heart rate monitors around.

If you want rechargeable units, the Wahoo Trackr HRM is a little over half the price at £79.99, and although it lacks HRV readings, it works very well.

The Magene H613 (£49) is even cheaper and still features the rechargeable element, but at just a third of the price. It means that realistically, for cyclists, if you want a heart rate monitor that doesn’t rely on coin cell batteries, the Garmin 600 HRM is not a good value offering.

Verdict

The Garmin 600 HRM is a great heart rate monitor that is accurate, has a good battery life, features recharging, and has a whole host of smart and additional features. However, many of those smart features are somewhat limited to swimming and running, so from a purely cycling perspective, many of them are superfluous.

At £149.99, this means that this is a very expensive heart rate monitor that might not really bring anything necessary to users looking to just use it for cycling. It’s a great device, but poor value for cyclists.

In most jobs, aimlessly browsing Instagram on the clock is anywhere from frowned upon (ie: Member of Parliament) to a sackable offence (bus driver/nuclear safety technician).

But in this job, it does sometimes pay dividends, as when I happened upon a short reel of Unbound Gravel and Traka winner, Rosa Klöser’s bike from The Rift, a gravel race in Iceland, something curious caught my eye.

Under her Hammerhead bike computer there was something sticking out that disrupts the relatively smooth flow of the computer mount; a single SRAM satellite shifter blip. Closer inspection, and a little more digging around on Instagram, reveals more, with a pair of blips attached underneath; one behind the other.

These satellite shifters from SRAM are totally wireless, and are usually placed either underneath the tops of the bars to allow riders to shift when climbing, or commonly when riding over the cobbles at Paris-Roubaix, or they’re placed in the crook of the drops for sprinters to allow them to shift up and down without having to reach for the paddles or shifter hoods.

I reached out to SRAM to see what was going on in this case, as the blips can also be used to control the Hammerhead computer screens, which it was suggested by my colleague Tom might make life easier over the rough basalt roads of Iceland. They are, in this case, being used for shifting however:

“Good catch! It’s for the gears indeed, it allows her to shift while staying in a more aero position.”

While the UCI has banned the ‘puppy paws’ position on the road, where a rider supports their weight on their forearms on the tops of the bars, hands lolling in space over the front wheel, things are less draconian in the gravel world, and while Unbound banned aero bars years ago, riders are still free to do whatever they can to get aero on smoother sections of the course.

Placing a pair of blips under her bike computer allows Klöser to stay in this aero, forearms-on-bars position without having to reach out to the hoods each time she wants to shift, and also likely encourages using the computer itself as a hand-hold, stabilising aid.

This isn't a new hack for Klöser however, as interrogation of our Unbound tech gallery reveals her race bike this year for Kansas' big day out had a single shifter installed under the computer too.

When it comes to road wheels, things are moving quickly right now. Carbon spokes are becoming commonplace, wheelset weights are decreasing dramatically, and a variety of rim widths are being offered, generally in the wider direction of travel.

The UCI maximum rim-depth ruling for road race use has also influenced things. Any rider in a UCI-sanctioned race can only use up to a 65mm deep rim, apparantly a measure to limit speed and improve safety.

DT Swiss launched its revamped ARC 1100 wheels last year, streamlining the third generation range of wheel depths to 55,65 and 85mm and introducing a new wheel shape and specific tyre pairing.

These wheels are the Swiss brand’s aero range toppers and are used by Uno-X in the WorldTour. In fact, wheels from the range have been ridden by the yellow jersey wearer in both the mens and womens's Tour de France this year - a cool stat.

They have also been designed and arrive with a specific tyre pairing; you can buy them pre-fitted with Continental tyres and tubes.

I’ve been testing the 65mm deep version for a few months now. I’ve ridden two road races on them as well as a load of training and general riding, and we’ve taken them to the Silverstone wind tunnel to see how they fared against some of the best road bike wheels right now.

DT Swiss has long carried a ‘quality’ label from cyclists and shops. If you are shopping for a new pair of ‘best’ or race wheels, my own comprehensive test riding, plus our own wind tunnel test results, should help you when it comes to choosing.

Design and aesthetics

The 1100's have a matte carbon fibre rim finish, with some classy silver decals. A silver 'DT Swiss' and 'ARC 1100' on each side, and a red section around the valve hole, perhaps to help make it easier to spot.

The wheels are built around that deep 65mm DT Swiss rim and with DT 180 DICUT hubs with ceramic bearings, which are the brand’s top models. There are 20 spokes in the front, and 24 at the rear with hidden spoke nipples. The spokes themselves are DT Swiss Aerolite II bladed steel ones, not carbon; you will notice.

The rims themselves use a V shape, widening from the spoke bed, and flaring out a little more at about the midpoint of the rim.

The wheels weigh 1559 grams as a pair on my scales, a respectable weight for a 65mm wheelset, but overall wheel weights are dropping so fast that it's starting to be viewed as a little heavier.

The brand now has a carbon-spoked, climbing-oriented wheel, the 38mm-deep ARC 1100 Spline CS model; head that way for carbon spokes.

The wheels have also been designed with a specific pair of tyres in mind and can be purchased pre-fitted with them, which is how my test set arrived. They came fitted with a 30mm Continental GP5000 S TR tyre on the rear, and the brand’s Aero 111 tyre at the front in a 29mm size, which the 22mm internal width has been optimised for. They also arrive with Continental TPU tubes fitted.

The rims are hooked, so there’s no need to check any tyre compatibility charts here. Though the tyres come with Continental tyres and TPU tubes, they do have DT Swiss tubeless tape fitted and tubeless valves included, so you won’t have to re-tape if you do go tubeless.

The hubs use the brand's Ratchet EXP system, and it’s very simple to swap freehub bodies or remove for cleaning. There’s a recording of the freehub sound below; it is on the louder side as freehub bodies go.

On the EXP ratchet, certain units are affected by a premature wear issue. Click the link to see how you can check your own.

The wheels have a 22mm inner rim width and an external width of just over 28mm. The rim itself also has a narrow 'V' profile. In the context of the overall market, will the wheels' overall weight, steel spokes and narrower rim measurements make them less appealing?

Internal and external rim width measurements are growing, and for riders looking to run larger volume tyres, a corresponding inner width may be the way to go. For all-out speed, is a narrower size better?

DT Swiss is in the narrower school of thought with these wheels. The brand argues that increasing inner rim width affects frontal area, a key consideration regarding aerodynamic performance.

According to DT Swiss wind tunnel testing, its V rim shape provides 'the lowest drag measured' as well as ensuring a 'small steering moment' to provide easy and predictable handling in crosswinds, etc. The brand also says the Aero 111 front tyre can help increase the sailing effect at certain Yaw angles, which can help us ride quicker for the same or less effort.

Performance

I've had a very good test period with the ARC 1100's. DT Swiss says this is the wheelset to choose for speed on flatter terrain, and this is where they do seem to excel. I've tested them with a Winspace M6 aero bike, and the Canyon Endurace SLX.

Sitting in the wheels in a road race or swapping off on my local chaingang at 50km/h+ feels very fast, and based on my feel I'd say up and over around 30km/h is where the wheels seem to really come into their own. It feels like they hold and maintain speed very well once moving, and the 65mm deep rims make pretty much any bike look mean; who doesn't love big deep rims?

Whilst they sit at 65mm in depth, I can’t say they are difficult to live with in any way. They perform well across the board. I've felt a couple of pulls in high winds, but generally crosswinds haven't been an issue, which aligns with the brand's claims on minimising steering moments.

No, they aren't as nimble feeling when climbing as a lighter, shallower wheel. But if you are looking at a 65mm wheelset, you are probably focusing on what it can bring to the table on the flat, and that's not what these wheels are for- not a day in the mountains.

That front 29mm Aero 111 tyre paired with the deep front rim can contribute to some harsher feelings at times, particularly compared to a bigger tyre and perhaps a wider rim.

Where I do notice a difference at times is in slow-speed acceleration compared to lighter wheels; the Roval Rapide CLX III wheels do spin up that little bit quicker, especially from very low speed.

On hillier, up-and-down terrain they also don't feel as nippy, and for a hard, hilly day there are better options, but again, these are for speed on the flat first and foremost.

That brings me onto weight in general; whilst these wheels sit at a perfectly acceptable weight for their specs, are they beginning to look a little heavy compared to what else is out there?

The Scope Artech 6.A wheel for the same depth rim comes in at 1307 grams, though they are in the next price bracket up. The 65mm Scribe Élan Ultra 6 wheels also weigh in at 1328 grams for less cash. (They also had similar aero performance in our test)

Lower overall weights provide improved acceleration paired with the aero benefits of a deep rim. There is, however, more to a quality set of wheels than the overall weight number.

The single issue I have had with the wheels related to water, and the habit it has of finding its way into the wheels. Something I have had to do twice is remove the tyre, inner tube and rim tape and empty water out of the rim cavity after riding in the rain. I’ve run these wheels with tubes, so it’s easy to notice the sloshing noise.

The wheels seem quite prone to taking on water, I believe due to the size of the hole at the rim for the hidden spoke nipples. Relatively short wet rides led to sloshing in the rim cavity. This adds weight and potentially unbalances the wheels, but can also lead to corrosion over time. On the hidden nipples, wheel truing will be more involved if it's needed, especially with a tubeless setup.

If you would use the wheels in the rain, and we all get caught in it at some point, check the wheels and drain them ideally each soaking.

You've read my thoughts on the wheels, but we also took them to the Silverstone wind tunnel for our latest CN Labs aero wheel test.

We tested a group of 14 wheelsets and asked the brands to send the fastest UCI-legal wheels they had, with plenty being around the 60-65mm deep range.

One bike was used for the test, without a rider. We tested at a 40km/h wind speed, with the bike's wheels at the same speed, across a range of Yaw angles and with 28 and 30mm tyres.

It's worth reading the entire test; there's so much information and data to look at, but here's the topline. Out of 32 wheelset tests across the two tyre sizes, the ARC 1100's placed eighth overall, and performed better with a 30mm tyre than a 28mm one.

The wheels tested within a watt of the overall winner, the HUNT 5AM Limitless Ti_UD Carbon Spoke, but are heavier and more expensive than that particular model.

In short, the wheels held their own against the competition we tested. The specifics will dictate whether they are right for you.

Value

RRP for these wheels is $3218 / €2499 / £2,599.98. (inc. tyres and tubes). For the UK market, that includes the Continental tubes and tyres I mentioned, which sweetens the deal somewhat; they aren't cheap tyres. That may well be the case for the US and EU too.

The wheels sit at the same price point as the Roval Rapide CLX III, the Parcours Chrono GT (62/65mm) and Reserve 57|64 Turbulent Aero. They are also just a touch more than the new Shimano Dura-Ace C60 wheels.

It's clear there's plenty to choose from at this price point, and I think the fact that good quality tyres are included boosts the value offering; you can pump the tyres up and you're ready to ride.

These are quality wheels that are in line with competitor prices, but I have a feeling the overall weight and lack of carbon spokes may make them less appealing in the premium road wheel top trumps stakes.

Verdict

The ARC 1100's 65s are undeniably fast on flatter terrain. Despite those deep rims, they aren't a handful and can be used for everything, which I have done with them. They are best suited to flat, fast riding, which is where they perform most strongly.

They are optimised for up to a 30mm tyre; if you do want a wider rim for 30mm+ tyre sizes, then they may not be quite what you are looking for with their narrower V-shaped rims.

If you are a speed merchant or are perhaps taking part in flatter road races or fast chaingangs, and want some deep wheels, they are a good choice and have performed very well for me.

For general riding and doing a bit of everything, the lower weight and shallower rims of the ARC 1100 55s would be my choice.

Dutch bicycle conglomerate Accell, which owns a number of well-known brands, has been granted a suspension of payments, thereby beginning insolvency proceedings.

While the company describe themselves as "Europe’s market leader in e-bikes and second largest in bicycle parts and accessories", they own French race bike manufacturer Lapierre, which provides bikes to men’s and women’s WorldTour squads, Picnic-PostNL.

The company has apparently been in trouble for some time, passing ownership to its creditors earlier in the year, but it has been unable to find a way forward.

"Since then, Accell and its advisers have explored every possible avenue for the Group’s future, including discussions with several interested parties, the consideration of multiple offers and seeking regulatory approval for a potential merger," read a company statement.

"Despite these extensive efforts, it has not been possible to reach a viable solution for Accell to continue operations in their current form. Having exhausted all the available options, the directors of the Group have concluded that it is no longer able to meet its financial obligations as they fall due and that initiating local insolvency proceedings of the relevant Group subsidiaries is the necessary next step."

The company’s current status is 'granted suspension of payments’, a situation where it is no longer required to pay its creditors.

"Every realistic option for the future of the business has been tirelessly explored, and none have resulted in a solution to continue the Group in its current form," said company CEO, Jonas Nilsson. "Our immediate focus is to support an orderly process, provide clarity wherever possible, and work with the relevant court-appointed administrators to preserve viable activities and employment where circumstances allow."

As the bike supplier to Team Picnic-PostNL for the last two seasons, Lapierre’s insolvency is sure to affect the team, though they are yet to respond to a request from Cyclingnews.

However, the brand’s UK website directs visitors to a firm of Administrators, and the company’s French website offers a dead link to a press release 'concerning the situation of Lapierre Cycles.’

Other brands owned by Accell include legendary British brand Raleigh, which sponsored top level teams in the 1990s and before. Mountain and gravel bike manufacturer Ghost sponsored an MTB team for many years, but that closed down in March "due to internal focus changes and redirection of the brand".

The websites of both Raleigh and Ghost refer visitors to administrators, with identical messages on both companies' sites.

Other brands affected are Batavus, Sparta, Carqon and Babboe cargo bikes.

The original Roval Rapide CLX wheelset launched back in 2020, at the time joining the CLX 64 models; remember them? Last year, the brand launched the Rapide CLX III, the latest addition to the Rapide range.

The CLX III was rolled out in June last year, along with the Rapide CL III and Rapide CLX Sprint. The wheels shed weight with the introduction of carbon fibre Arris spokes and use a 51mm-deep front wheel with a 48mm-deep rear wheel, in what's occasionally referred to as a 'road mullet' setup.

These wheels are seeing regular action in the WorldTour by various Specialised-sponsored teams, and are generally a popular choice on Specialized models or as a standalone aftermarket choice; to be clear, Roval is a component arm of Specialized.

I’ve been riding them for months, tackling a road race and training on them. We also took them to Silverstone recently to see how they would fare against the best road bike wheels in our CN Labs aero wheel shootout.

Just another stop on the Roval / Specialized hype train, or do these wheels walk it like they talk it? I’ve put in the hard yards to find out.

Design and aesthetics

Carbon fibre spokes and overall wheelset weights seem to dominate conversations at present when it comes to the latest wheelsets. We will cover that, but for me the rim shapes and depths of the CLX III's need talking about first. There's more to a set of wheels than the spoke material and overall weight on the scales.

The CLX III's, like the II's they replaced, employ specific front and rear rim depths. The Rapide II's had a 51mm front and 60mm deep rear; the III's have a 51mm deep front rim and a 48mm rear.

The idea is centred around the Specialized design philosophy of optimising the leading edge, or to put it simply, the front of the bike where aerodynamic performance matters most; the rear wheel can then be made shallower to save weight and aid handling and acceleration. The brand says everything contributes toward aero performance, overall wheelset weight, and crosswind stability.

The rims have a wider, round external profile that is a lot rounder than some wheels with a more traditional 'V' shape, with a more 'normal' internal width.

Internal width for both wheels is 21mm, whilst the front external number is 35mm at the widest point, and 31.3mm at the rear. Even the bead hook widths are specific: 5.5mm at the front, 4.1mm at the rear. Roval calls this the 'Flatstop rim bead' and claims the wider beads help prevent flats if you smash the rim. I haven't tested this specifically; who deliberately rides down potholes? But I haven't punctured whilst testing.

The hub internals are by DT Swiss and use the 180 hub internals with a 36-tooth ratchet system. Spoke count is 18 up front and 24 in the rear, and surprise, these spokes don't come from Vonoa, who provide spokes for a lot of wheel brands right now, but Arris, a US-based firm making composite spokes.

The spokes use titanium end pieces and alloy nipples; four spares are included with the wheels, and they can be manually trued. So need to worry about dealer-only truing procedures.

When it comes to looks, the Rapide III's are a stylish wheelset without overdoing it. The hubs and rims are gloss black, with silver spoke nipples and end pieces at the hub. Two decal versions are available: gloss white (pictured) or 'satin carbon', which gives a stealthy, blacked-out look with black decals.

Performance

During my test period, I’ve used the CLX III’s with two pairs of tyres: the S-Works Turbo TLR tyre, and the newer Cotton TLR models, which pair the Specialized cotton performance into a tubeless-ready package; they are now what you see Remco Evenepoel and his teammates using. Thankfully I’ve encountered zero punctures or sealant sprays in my test period.

I installed both sets of tyres with a track pump, but the process wasn’t completely painless, with some seepage, mess and hesitancy for the tyres to seat and seal first time. The rim profiles of the CLX III’s seem to make things trickier. It certainly wasn’t a disaster, but a little more annoying than I would like.

I’ll get straight to the point: the CLX III’s feel pretty fantastic across the board. I’ve been impressed, and when I have switched back to them from other wheelsets, the point has been reinforced: they are excellent all-rounders.

They accelerate very well from low speeds, and feel fast and reactive when making changes in direction. I felt like I could dart around on them; they are exciting to use.

There’s also a comfort, a kind of softness (I mean this in a good way) from the overall ride quality that I can’t fully put my fingers on; perhaps it comes from the rim shapes, good quality tubeless tyres or just the overall build, but there is almost a luxurious ride feel. We also mentioned this comfort in our Rapide CLX II review.

Get them rolling, and those big white Roval logos start to flick round when you glance down, and they feel very quick, about as quick as anything I’ve used to date, especially with a top quality road tyre fitted.

The pros seem to favour the CLX Sprints for most racing, except perhaps the mountains, but I don’t think there’s a massive amount in it in the real world. I used the wheels for a road race with 32mm Cotton TLR tyres, and they felt fast and poised, cornering excellently and stiff feeling when I followed moves on one of the circuit's climbs. They are also a prime example of how you can have your cake and eat it now when it comes to wheel depth and overall wheelset weight; 1338 grams is nice and light.

There are online comments to the tune of, 'why would you fit a deeper front wheel? Handling will suffer in crosswinds'. That may have been true 10 years ago if you ran something like a narrow 60mm deep front wheel and a 40mm rear, but times have changed, and these wheels with their more modern wider rim shapes do very well in the wind. To an extent it depends on the rider, but poor handling as a result of the mismatched depths is a non-issue, so don't worry on that front.

We also have some wind tunnel data for the CLX III's from our recent CN Labs aero wheel test.

We tested 14 wheelsets around the 60mm depth range, or 'brand's fastest' options, on the same bike at 40 km/h across a range of yaws. We also used the same pair of 28 and 30mm tyres for testing.

In our testing, the CLX III finished in the bottom half of the test group and was faster with a 28mm tyre than they were with a 30mm. The CLX Sprint wheelset was marginally quicker.

There was less than a three-watt difference between a lot of the wheelsets in our test, and rolling resistance and bike and rider differences would account for more than this number in the real world. The CLX III's are a competitive wheelset, despite not making the podium in our test.

Value

$3,399.98 / £2,999.98 / €3,498 is our RRP for the CLX III's. There's plenty to choose from at this price point. The Vision Metron RS are a little more cash; there's the CLX Sprints, of course, and several Zipp wheelsets amongst others.

The wheels have performed brilliantly for me; I really like the ride quality, handling, and my own perception of their speed has been good.

There are wheelsets out there that are cheaper by $ 1000-odd, with similar overall weights and aero performance.

You'll still have to pedal regardless; I don't think you stand to lose out on too much with a cheaper wheelset and great quality tyres.

Verdict

I like the styling, and I really like how these wheels ride.

They tick the carbon spoke box, the overall weight is low, they handle and accelerate well, and they feel fast pretty much everywhere. Throw in that plush ride feel and there isn't too much not to like.

They are excellent all-rounders in my opinion, great for racing and all-round riding thanks to their low weight, but they do sit at the premium end of the market; there's a lot of choice when it comes to wheels, possibly more than there ever has been, but for me the Rapide III is another very good wheelset from Roval.

Imagine for a moment if Tadej Pogačar had rolled up to the starting line at the 2026 Tour de France sporting a bike fitted with rim brakes. It would become headline news worldwide and likely cause every cycling forum on the internet to go into meltdown.

Yet, just a few short years ago, the debate over disc brakes still raged on. The headlines in 2006 made note when a rider was riding with disc brakes, and inevitably, when riders blamed cuts and gashes on the fast-spinning rotors.

Notably, Pogačar was among the last holdouts in the pro peloton, still using rim brakes long after most other teams had transitioned to discs. Ineos Grenadiers also resisted the change well after other teams succumbed to the inevitable. That provides us with a prominent benchmark against which to measure the dying breaths of the rim brake.

In the 10 years since the UCI allowed a trial period of disc brake use in the pro peloton, these powerful stoppers have become standard equipment. Yet the path to this moment was a rocky one. And the eventual acceptance of disc brakes paved the way for other technologies that were initially met with resistance.

So, to mark a decade since they broke onto the road scene, Cyclingnews asked me to delve deep into the story of how we got here, speaking to riders, mechanics, and product managers who witnessed the shift in real time, and how disc brakes have affected racing since their arrival among the pro ranks.

Carbon Wheels Roll Into a Problem

In the lead-up to the UCI's decision to allow a trial period for disc brakes in the pro peloton, another innovation was causing celebration and headaches. Carbon rims offered weight savings and stiffness benefits. They also presented a new difficulty: how to counteract braking forces on the rim itself and the delamination caused by heat from brake pad contact at high speeds. No one was specifically asking for disc brakes. But almost everyone was looking for a solution.

"Everyone was looking for lighter, more aero rims, but that meant you had to get into carbon," says Dave Lawrence, Road and Gravel Product Manager for Shimano. "That complicated braking surfaces and brake pad compounds. Hearing stories about rainy stages at the Tour, brand new brake pads weren't making it through the stage. So people started thinking about how to make rim brakes more durable, but then you get into noise and vibration. And from the product side, you think, disc brakes will solve that."

Keep in mind this was all happening while tubular tyres were the peloton standard. As brake pads heated the brake track on carbon rims, the tubular glue could soften, which could increase the likelihood of a tyre separating from the rim. It was a sea of potential benefits littered with icebergs of problems.

Carbon wheel manufacturers spent lots of engineering capital to explore potential solutions, from different types of carbon to less brittle and more heat-resistant resins. While progress was quick by engineering standards, the peloton needed faster solutions.

"Frame design, materials, capabilities, wheel technology, and expanding market and ride style evolved exponentially 10 to 15 years ago," says SRAM Road Product Manager Dan Stefiuk. "Yet braking was still archaic and relying – better yet, hoping – that if you squeeze a piece of rubber or cork against aluminium or carbon, it would slow you down predictably."

Behind the scenes, both SRAM and Shimano knew the solution already existed, and had proven itself for years in the cycling world already. "It was across all of the mountain bike world," says Lawrence. "People would come in from other cycling disciplines and say, why don't you use disc brakes here? Gravel was just getting started, and that was the heyday of cyclocross, too. A few renegade brands put disc brakes on their bikes early on, and there was a lot of conversation around that. That's how a lot of trends happen: it wasn't one big moment, but instead a lot of little things that started to build momentum."

Knives, Machetes, Spinning Blades of Death

But momentum can crash hard if the end user isn't on board. The dichotomy of cycling has always been the path brands must navigate to satisfy both hobbyists and pros. While everyday cyclists were quicker to note the advantages of disc brakes, the pro peloton was more skittish about adoption. It didn't take long after the UCI allowed disc brakes in the peloton for the first controversy to arrive.

During Paris-Roubaix in 2016, Fran Ventoso got caught up in a crash and wound up with a deep gash on his leg. He contended that he made contact with a disc brake while still upright and attempting to avoid going down. While it's still unclear all these years later what did or did not cause the gash, Ventoso's reaction stole the headlines.

"Disc brakes should have NEVER arrived into the peloton, not at least as we know them right now," Ventoso wrote in an open letter after the incident. "I haven't met any rider who has run out of braking power with traditional brakes; I haven't known anyone who didn't see his wheels skidding when you brake with all [the] power you've got, no matter traditional or disc brakes. Then: why use them?"

Ventoso's worries were, of course, warranted. No rider wants to be put in any more danger than our inherently dangerous sport already presents. The incident did encourage manufacturers to consider ways to ensure disc brakes and rotors were completely safe to use at high speeds. Ventoso's language was perhaps more flippant than necessary – he calls disc brakes giant knives and machetes later in his letter – but it revealed deep hesitancy among the pro ranks who felt new tech was being foisted upon them without buy-in or rationale. Ventoso's crash led to the UCI suspending its disc brake trial period.

Controversy struck once more in the following year at the 2017 Abu Dhabi Tour. Team Sky's Owain Doull got caught up in a crash with just a kilometre left in the race, and in amongst the wreckage, Doull said he made contact with Marcel Kittel's disc brake. Kittel was the only rider in the race using disc brakes. Like Ventoso, Doull called for disc brakes to be banned or otherwise modified for rider safety. Though Doull's call for rider safety was, once again, very much warranted, video later cast serious doubt on the notion that Doull's injury was caused by a disc brake.

The 'Mixed Brake' Era

It was perhaps the 'not knowing' part that kept the peloton's heels dug in on the matter. Safety is rightly top of mind for both riders and organisers, and adding a technology to the mix that had such huge potential to affect race speeds, braking distances, and even the chaos of crashes was enough to make all parties skittish.

"From inside the peloton, I think there was a bit of scepticism at first along with a worry about safety," says Ruth Edwards (nee Winder), Olympian and staple in the women's peloton during the disc brake era. "People didn't know if you could literally get hurt from the rotor in a crash, and also the difference in braking speeds that could cause crashes."

American cyclist Peter Stetina agrees with his compatriot's view. "There were suddenly two braking speeds in the peloton between teams whose bike sponsors pushed discs or rim brakes.

"That became the blame for some crashes in that first 'mixed brake' season. I remember one crash where a rider had a deep laceration, and everyone blamed the 'hot burning knife blades on our wheels', which were not fit for the mass pile-ups."

Indeed, disc brakes not only changed a rider's ability to stop more effectively, but also the way the peloton moved. Some riders on rim brakes might need more distance to slow down to the same pace as a rider on disc brakes. And riders on the new technology could brake much later before a corner, leading to a change in race dynamics.

From a production side, bike brands had to adapt to new braking forces, new production cycles, and even entirely new frame designs. "Some manufacturers had spent a lot of time developing calliper-based frames," explains Lawrence, "and depending on where you were with your product cycle, if you just came out with a rim brake frame, you may not have had the time or money to make a disc brake frame in that timeline."

Complicating matters further were the many variations in calliper attachment points. Changing those points often meant redesigning a frame and fork entirely, not only to accommodate which calliper the frame could accept, but also the braking forces that came along with it. "Some frames were flat vs post mount, QR vs Thru Axle, 130 vs 142, which all made for inconsistencies," adds Stefiuk.

"Ergonomics were new, and levers were larger than today. But there is no question that disc brakes performed better, more consistently, and were safer than rim brakes, and that benefited experienced pro-riders and brand-new cyclists alike."

And those spinning blades of death? Stefiuk says the industry took a proactive approach to the problem after the early days of disc brake trials in racing and began to mitigate the risk of laceration by rounding the rotor edges.

Stetina recalls another unique disc brake problem: rotor rubbing. In the early days of road disc brakes, the distance between the brake pads and the rotors could vary depending on a lot of factors, including rotor warpage, disc brake fluid heating, poor calliper adjustment, and a myriad of other reasons. It was an audible reminder to riders that this controversial tech didn't feel quite polished to them.

It wasn't just driving the riders crazy. Manufacturers knew they needed to solve niggling problems like these to encourage widespread acceptance. "There was more pad rub than you would have liked in first generations," says Lawrence. "We learned a lot, and we improved the product. We have about 10% more pad clearance compared to the early generations. Our early rotors had more deformation under heavy braking, so you'd get that ticking noise on long descents. And that's gone now."

Frames themselves evolved too. While changes like wider axle widths were downright necessary, a lot of the compromises and design changes manufacturers made to accommodate the braking forces of disc brakes turned out to be a bit of overkill. "At the time, most carbon frame production had transitioned to Taiwan, and frame designers needed to learn how to accommodate disc brakes," Stefiuk says. "To be transparent, some early disc frames relaxed their geometry too much to account for 142mm over-locknut-dimension (OLD), and one way to do so was to make the chainstays noticeably longer. In the mind of an athlete, not only are you giving me disc brakes and a heavier frame, but now I have a frame that does not feel as responsive and doesn't allow me to race the way I want."

Ride any road bike today, and you'll find that responsiveness is back in spades. The learning curve didn't just apply to riders, in other words. Manufacturers found ways to leave most compromises behind.

Unsung Heroes Rolling Their Eyes At Night

It wasn't just riders who bristled against this new tech. Behind every pro rider is a pro mechanic staying up late at night to clean, adjust, repair, and prepare bikes for the next day of racing. Disc brakes presented not only a shift in the way riders attacked races, but also the processes mechanics had to now adjust to keep bikes safe and running perfectly.

"Just like veteran riders, there were mechanics who preceded Indurain at the time that disc brakes were being introduced," says Stefiuk. "Some mechanics welcomed the new technology and saw the benefit of hydraulics and not having to swap cables overnight as they became contaminated from the stage before, while some mechanics still smoked cigarettes with a can of diesel fuel and a paintbrush to clean the drivetrain."

Guys who cut their teeth wrenching bikes when Merckx was a young buck were now being told to adjust – very often in real-time – to tech they were being told could also be dangerous for their riders if they screwed it up.

Lawrence remembers the initial training sessions for those mechanics. "It's funny, depending on the teams, for the older, more traditional mechanics it was one thing after another," says Lawrence. "Electronic shifting, then disc brakes. You had to go in and teach these traditional mechanics how to bleed brakes. I was there in the early days. You talk to the technical directors who are on the cutting edge, and they were the ones who were like, 'oh god, here we go, I have to explain this to my five Belgian mechanics!'"

Both Stefiuk and Lawrence agree that mechanics are the unsung heroes of the peloton, and while they may have met disc brakes with gruff and grumbles, they also met the moment. In the long run, it becomes old hat, and a benefit for those wrenches up late at night preparing for the next day's stage.

Forgetting It Was Ever Controversial

Perhaps it was just succumbing to the inevitable, or maybe it was real improvement and real results that got everyone on board. Either way, disc brakes rule the peloton and rim brakes are now a chapter in cycling history.

"Acceptance from my point of view was just mandatory," says Edwards. "It's what the new bikes at camp had on them. Off you went to go training, and you got used to it. Disc brakes are great. I have a lot of confidence in my stopping power now – not that I remember not having that confidence before. But I wouldn't want to be on rim brakes in a peloton of disc-equipped bikes. Descending definitely feels different; it's just all about learning your speed and what your equipment can do."

From a logistical standpoint, there's no doubt significant improvements in bike changes and setup made a huge impact. Stetina notes that "tech got better, thru-axle design improved, rubbing rotors became less frequent, and it all happened relatively quickly. But in many riders' minds, it wasn't ever fully adopted until a big mountain finish was won on a disc brake bike. After that, there was no valid excuse for the riders anymore. I want to say it was Pogi or [Egan] Bernal winning a five-star stage somewhere, and then we were all like, 'okay, it's here to stay now.'"

Maybe that was all it ever really took: a stunning showcase of superior performance. Feats of man carrying feats of engineering. Isn't that so often how it goes?

The best pressure washers can make easy work of cleaning your bike, but if you're away from home, they are pretty much redundant if there's no access to power and, of course, water. Meaning filthy bike meets clean car or van.

High-pressure, mains-powered washers can also strip paint and blast water past critical seals and bearings – potentially wrecking your bike and tanking its resale value when it's time for an upgrade – we are always thinking of an upgrade, right?

I recently discovered the Kärcher OC3 pressure washer, which ticks all the boxes for convenience; it's low pressure, superbly portable, and battery-operated, meaning you can use it anywhere.

It's also at a best-ever price as the Kärcher OC3 pressure washer is discounted to £92.99 on Amazon, a massive 32% off its usual £139.99.

In our Kärcher OC3 pressure washer review, it received a glowing 4.5-star rating with Will Jones saying, "it's so useful I now can’t imagine life without it".

I have to agree with Will; I own the foldable version, which keeps my car interior spotless by blasting crud off my gravel bike right after a ride. It doesn't replace a deep clean, but the 15 minutes of run time and 4-litre water tank (8-litres on the foldable) are more than enough for a quick once-over.

Both models produce the same low-pressure output of 5 bar (72 psi), which is more than enough for bike-related cleaning. The original OC3 is cheaper, but the OC3 Foldable is the newer model, and it has a few key upgrades that, in my opinion, make it better. It has a larger capacity tank and USB-C charging, meaning you can charge it off a power bank or car charger.

It's also collapsible, meaning it takes up even less space for those on the go. Battery run time is the same on both, and the OC3 Foldable can draw water directly from external sources.

Saying that, I use it more at home than my Muc-Off Mobile Pressure Washer, as it's just easier to fill and carry. It comes highly recommended for anyone seeking that convenient, quick bike clean.

These Kärcher deals apply to UK shoppers only, and I've not found any OC3 models on sale at Amazon.

The Muc-Off Mobile Pressure Washer Starter bundle is also a recommended bike-friendly cleaner (although it's not particularly mobile); it's still a great option. The Starter Bundle is discounted to $374.10 on Amazon, in a limited-time deal.

Below are the best Kärcher deals from other retailers, relevant to your location and currency.

Light climbing wheels aren’t dead, but they’re certainly in a hospital bed, on a drip, and the immediate family has been told to come and visit. In the last decade, an ever-increasing focus on aerodynamics has seen the shallow wheel go from something approximating the default to a much more specialist option when considering the best road bike wheels, for those wanting to prioritise weight over all else.

Even lightweight bikes like the Scott Addict RC Ultimate are coming equipped with mid-depth wheels, as are all-rounders. It seemed a little against the run of play, then, when Zipp came out with a brand new 202 NSW wheelset earlier this year.

I’ve been using them in a range of really quite hilly environments, as is befitting. Full alpine ascents were scaled, as well as the savage and relentless Cornish coastal roads back at home, mostly aboard the new Cannondale SuperSix Evo, but also aboard the new Cannondale CAAD14 to try and invigorate what is quite a stolid machine as stock. They’re good wheels, but given their quite enormous price tag and some quite lacklustre constituent parts, I can’t really get on board with them with my consumer advice head on.

Design and aesthetics

If you’ve been riding a while, you probably think of shallow tubs when you see the ‘202’ number. While Hunt has produced lightweight tubular wheels in recent years, these are very much modern in terms of their tyre setup: tubeless, and as with Zipp's other options, hookless.

Hookless may not be the most popular thing in the world at the present moment. But the 23mm internal width should mean slightly enhanced compatibility with narrower (read: lighter) tyres than more progressive widths, but it does feel a touch backwards-looking in this day and age when 25mm internal is becoming something approaching the norm.

One thing I do like is that the maximum pressures for a range of widths are printed on the sidewall, so no annoying googling in the garage before the ride. There isn’t, however, a list of approved tyres as with so many other Zipp wheels as yet; I mounted up a set of 30mm Continental GP5000 S TRs (living to tell the tale) and set off into the mountains.

The wheelset comes in at 1,090g, though Zipp does state that this is the 90th percentile weight and that most sets will come in under this weight. On my scales, the pair came in at 1,050g, which is certainly light, but it’s not crazy light, as I’ll get into shortly. Part of this is down to the slightly odd decision to use metal, j-bend spokes which tip the scales at 3.3g each.

While it’s true that not every high-performance wheel uses carbon spokes, they’re definitely the norm on wheelsets that retail for just under £3.400/$4,200/€3,800 as these do. Each of the spokes is in the region of a gram heavier than a carbon counterpart, so for a grand total of 40 spokes (20 front, 20 rear), that’s 40g left on the table, and would have got my wheelset 10g under the kilo mark. Using carbon spokes also normally allows you to reduce the spoke count, which would further reduce the weight.

While we’re on the subject of spokes, Zipp is continuing to use J-bend instead of straight pull. This means the hub flange in general needs to be larger, which creates a slightly heavier hub, but also means a wider angle for the spokes to diverge, as well as a shorter distance for them to traverse, which could have improvements in stiffness.

Speaking to Bristol’s premier wheel guru, Rob Borek, it transpires many brands have switched to straight pull because it makes the hubs cheaper to produce in mass quantities as you need less material, but it also means you can lace them more easily with machines. I don’t personally think there’s any great issue with J-bend or with straight pull spokes. If the wheels are decent and fit your needs and budget, choosing to not go with them because the spokes aren’t straight is quite mad, and at least here you’ll have no worries about non-captive spokes ejecting from the hub under hard impacts.

Inside the hubs there are ceramic bearings as standard, along with a 6-pawl ratchet offering up 66 points of engagement, which for road cycling is plenty, given instant reactivity isn’t nearly so crucial as it is in the world of techy MTB. Mirroring the spokes, the use of pawls rather than a star ratchet feels a little out of keeping with the premium price of these, though it must be said I never had any issues with the engagement itself, and they are mercifully a lot quieter than the alternative, which is bliss when sending down long descents.

Aesthetics is a hard one to call on what is ultimately a pair of black circles, as most wheels are. I do quite like the graphics, which comprise a series of well-placed dash fades that make me think of 1980’s motifs in greyscale. The hubs, though, don't have that same premium aesthetic from a visual standpoint, but I think the most egregious thing is the silver nipples, which cheapen things significantly. There’s nothing different to black ones in terms of performance, really, but they just look out of place on a wheelset at this price.

Performance

I gave the Zipp 202s the best possible start in life with four days in the French Alps after the Dauphiné, including tackling the Col de Sarenne and Alpe d’Huez, plus several white-knuckle descents down the latter to really test their chops. They are, it must be said, an extremely pleasant set of wheels to ride, mounted up to a suitable machine; in my case the new Cannondale SuperSix Evo.

I didn’t have any issues mounting the tyres to the hookless rims. I am personally not overly enamoured with hookless rims for the road, but I do applaud Zipp for at least putting the maximum pressures on the sidewalls to stop me absent-mindedly causing an explosion in the office basement. Both a 28c Specialized Rapidair set and then a set of GP5000s went on with just a track pump (I managed to shred the former set instantly on some comically large shards of glass, it seems), and neither set lost more air than would be expected between rides.

The low weight is a big plus, and whether it was alpine climbs or the relentless, steep ramps on a trip down to Cornwall to raid the coastal roads, I was glad of the low mass. They certainly have that immediacy that is a function of both the weight and the stiffness. They never felt harsh, though. The 30mm rubber likely helps in this regard, but compared to some wheels, especially deeper options, they’re really quite mellow to ride over subpar tarmac, which the UK has in abundance for those of you unfamiliar with what can be charitably called our road network.

On descents is really where they came alive though. That lower rotating mass makes steering with precision a touch easier, and coupled with a reduced susceptibility to buffeting from the wind by virtue of just having a smaller side profile, they’re far less easily blown off course than many deeper options I’ve tried over the years. In hard cornering, whether full hairpins or fast open bends with more flow, they stood up extremely well, offering an extremely composed feel. I know in my head that the faster you go the more aerodynamics matters, and so on descents it’s perhaps even easier to argue the case for a slightly heavier but more aerodynamic wheelset, but I am a staunch believer in not living your riding life purely through the medium of a wattage chart; these feel brilliant on descents and you will have a lot of fun in a far greater range of conditions with them on versus something deep, in general terms.

They do, however, suffer against their deeper counterparts on the flat. The shallower depth will be less aero, but the lower mass also means at higher speeds you don’t have that flywheel feeling. They’re just a bit more of an effort to keep pushing on with on the flat, but you already expected that, didn’t you?

Ultimately, with mid-depth wheels reducing in weight and becoming the norm, the true shallow mountain wheel is now a very special tool, and with the price as it is for these wheels, it’s quite a hard sell if you don’t live somewhere especially mountainous.

Value

The Zipp 202 NSW wheels are really quite eye-wateringly expensive at £3.400/$4,200/€3,800, and I can’t help but feel like Zipp could have done more with these. They’re light, but not as light as some hyperlight options. To make life easier for you, I’ve graphed up a few key lightweight wheelsets, plotting both their quoted weight and their RRP, and these come out amongst the heaviest and the most expensive, which makes them quite a hard sell for a reentry into the lightweight specialised wheel market.

The spokes probably should be carbon at this price and with weight in mind, but make the nipples black to make them look more premium or make them internal to improve the aero package. Give us a new lighter hub just for these or something, maybe?

Verdict

If you live in Chamonix, Bern, Steamboat Springs, or Perranporth and you want a decent set of wheels for up hill and down dale, then these are good, and you will have a good time, especially if you prioritise handling, but you’re going to get more for your money elsewhere. And if your rides don’t look like a Toblerone every time you saddle up, then being realistic these are an awful lot of cash for a wheel that is not going to be ideally suited to your needs.

‘But I’m doing the Marmotte next year and need a wheelset for that!’ I hear you cry. If you’ve got the cash, then fill your boots, but if this is going to be your only wheelset, then I’d suggest going for something more general.

Welcome to the latest edition of Cyclingnews' Labs wind tunnel testing, and the third instalment of what has accidentally become a near-annual aero road wheels test.

If you're not familiar with these testing write-ups, I can only apologise for the hours you're about to spend nerding out, because below you'll find an extremely deep – approx 10,000 words worth – dive into the results from our latest test.

As ever, we were back at the world-renowned cycling-specific wind tunnel at the Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub, but this time round, we took 16 pairs of the best road bike wheels on the market to see which is the unequivocal aero king.

Aside from the endless tyre swaps required (pray for my thumbs), wheels are a fun thing to test, because the results are largely applicable to most people. Unlike bikes, clothing and helmets, where the real-world difference between two products could vary from user to user based on rider position and body shape, wheels are more or less transferable from the wind tunnel to your bike.

And wheels are an exciting thing to upgrade on your bike. They can make your bike faster, lighter, better handling, nicer to ride, and perhaps most importantly, they make your bike look much cooler.

In recent years, we've seen wheel manufacturers step up their game in offering wheels that are both aero and lightweight. Just five years ago, a 60mm wheel under 1500g was rare, but now anything above 1500g is seen as heavy.

Given you're here, I trust you know the basics; that aero wheels exist at all, their go-faster intentions and that a lightweight wheel is likely better on steeper climbs. After all, this is our third round of wheel testing.

So instead of patronising you with the basics, I'll dive into the wheels we've chosen, the protocol we used to test them, and the all-important results.

But first, allow me a small plug. We have a new YouTube channel, Cyclingnews Tech, which is full of excellent video reviews of road and gravel bikes, most of which we've also tested in the wind tunnel. We will shortly be publishing a behind-the-scenes video from our day in the tunnel, so don't forget to subscribe so it lands in your feed as soon as it goes live.

The wheels

Unlike previous tests, where we've had no real parameters for what constitutes the optimal road wheel, and thus have just gone with aero all-rounders, this time the UCI gave us something to work with.

For the start of the 2026 season, a new rule was introduced stating that anything deeper than 65mm is too fast and thus should be deemed illegal. I won't get into the veracity of those 'too fast' claims, nor their motivations for the rule change, but we chose to set our limit at the same depth.

We asked brands to send the 'fastest UCI-legal wheelset' they had. This was a mix of nominally 'Western' brands, but with a quartet of Chinese brand wheels, courtesy of the kind folks at Panda Podium.

That led to the following list:

• DT Swiss ARC 1100 DICUT
• HUNT 5AM Limitless Ti_UD Carbon Spoke
• Parcours Chrono GT (62/65mm)
• Reserve 57|64 Turbulent Aero
• Roval Rapide CLX III
• Roval Rapide Sprint CLX
• Scope Artech 6.A
• Scribe CORE Ultra 6 (as well as the same wheelset, but with a new aero front hub)
• Scribe Élan Ultra 6 (with the OSL8 crinkled spokes)
• Syncros Capital SL Aero 60
• Vision Metron 60 RS
• CRW Works Ultimo 6060
• Farsports EVO C6
• Pertual ACME 45/62

And finally, as a lightweight what's-the-difference comparison, the incredibly light Arcaris 8848 wheelset, weighing just 904g on our scales.

For clarity, we tried to get hold of the new Enve wheels spotted at the Tour de France, but the brand was unable to get us a set in time. Apparently they'd all gone to some guy called Tadej who had an important race on or something.

We also hoped to test the new Black Inc Hyper 62. We had the wheels, but we failed to get hold of a Shimano freehub body for them. Somehow none of the other 15 wheelsets had an equivalent freehub design that could be swapped over. They're one of a few that use pawls instead of the more common star ratchet.

And we asked nicely for a pair of Shimano's new Dura-Ace wheels, but sadly no stock was available as our test took place before they launched.

Disclaimer

Before we get into the details of the test, a brief interlude to say this article features paid placement from Argon 18, with the loan of the Nitrogen Pro bike, and Continental with the loan of the GP5000 S TR tyres. I personally approved their involvement after concluding it wouldn't offer undue bias, nor perception thereof, to the outcome of the test.

As ever, we paid the standard commercial rate for the hire of the wind tunnel, and the sole purpose of this test was creating impartial data for Cyclingnews readers. Without your support, these tests would not happen, and so ensuring they remain impartial is key to their continued success.

Protocol & confidence

As with previous tests, we took the wheels to the cycling wind tunnel at Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub. The wind tunnel gave us the aero data, and separately we weighed each wheelset and took dozens of measurements alongside.

For the aero testing, each wheelset was mounted to the same bike: an Argon 18 Nitrogen Pro (in size M). Our stipulation here was to use a bike that had no affinity to any of the wheel brands in question, and Argon 18 was a good match, especially with the Nitrogen Pro's aerodynamic intentions.

A Specialized Tarmac, for example, would have been designed in conjunction with the Roval wheels and could, in turn, create an unfair advantage to those wheels. Likewise Cervélo with Reserve, and so on. Argon 18 does make a modified version of Scope's wheels that it claims work better with the Nitrogen Pro frame, but we insisted on testing the off-the-shelf Artech 6.A for fairness.

We tested in a bike-only configuration, rather than with a rider. This is because the error margin that a real rider adds to the equation is bigger than the differences we expected to find. By testing without a rider, we could be much more confident that the differences being found were due to the thing we're trying to test.

To quantify the error margin, we tested the Scope Artech 6.A at the start of the day, then immediately again afterwards, and then again at the end of the day, having taken the tyres off and putting them on again. By calculating the maximum difference between two points in those tests, our error margin equates to +/- 0.27w.

Each wheelset was tested at a wind speed of 40km/h, with wheels spinning at the same speed.

Every wheel was fitted with Continental's GP5000 S TR. Crucially, we tested each wheelset with two different tyre sizes (28mm and 30mm), and we always kept the front tyre on the front and the rear tyre on the rear.

We wanted to ensure that the same tyre (the exact tyre, not just the same model) was tested on every wheel, to remove any potential for different manufacturing tolerances from tyre to tyre affecting the results. We also wanted to avoid 10 minutes of downtime between each test as we swapped the tyre onto the next wheelset, so by adding in a 30mm test to the mix too, we could swap the 30mm tyres onto Wheelset B, while the 28s were being tested on Wheelset A. And then swap the 28s onto Wheelset C while the 30s were being tested on Wheelset B, and so on. This reduced downtime and gave us a second stream of data to boot.

Given the tyres were all box fresh, Will even brought some 120 grit along and sanded them smooth in the morning before we kicked off to remove the release ridge in the centre, and any rough surface was worn down to a consistent smoothness by the powered rollers during the initial zeroing process. We also ensured the same cassette (Shimano 105, 11-34) and rotors (Shimano) were used on every wheelset too.

Each wheel-tyre combo was tested at seven yaw angles: -15, -10, -5, 0, +5, +10 and +15 degrees. Each capture was performed in a sweep in the same direction (negative to positive) for consistency.

With more time, I'd perhaps go more granular here, and to a wider angle, to try and uncover the point at which wheels begin to sail. It's also possible to capture in a moving sweep and see this in real time, but it's much harder to extract an average to establish a best-to-worst ranking.

We also quantified price to help you understand the cost associated with the respective wattage saving. Coupled with our wind tunnel helmet test, our wind tunnel aero bikes test, our tyre tests and all of the upcoming Cyclingnews Labs tests we've got in planning, we want to help our readers decide where to spend their money first to get… well, faster!

And finally, if you'll permit me a moment to boast: In all, we captured in excess of 1,000 data points. This includes 14 CdA values per wheelset, as well as the following list of secondary information.

• Price
• Hooked (yes / no)
• Claimed weight
• Front wheel weight
• Rear wheel weight
• Total weight
• Spoke count front
• Spoke count rear
• Spoke material
• Surface texture
• Taped or blind rims
• Internal v external nipples
• Internal width front
• Internal width rear
• External width front
• External width rear
• Front tyre width (at three points, averaged)
• Rear tyre width (at three points, averaged)

Additional notes

Cyclingnews does not claim that this data is the final word on the aerodynamic performance of the wheels featured, but rather an additional stream of independent, unbiased testing and information for our readers.

The results are simply representative of our testing day and the protocol we used. We hope that being clear about our method and our protocol allows readers to appreciate the data while also understanding the bigger picture of the metrics that affect performance.

We understand that others may achieve different results with different protocols, and that some wheels in this test were designed around different tyre sizes, models, or a specific bike. Where we have information to this end, we will include it.

For simplicity, we will report raw CdA data as it comes out of the wind tunnel software; all data is subject to our error margin, and we will make this clear at important points throughout.

When averaging the CdA from the seven yaw angles, we have weighted according to the 2018 research paper by Cannondale's Nathan Barry. This calculates the likelihood of experiencing each yaw angle at given speeds in the real world and applies an appropriate weighting to each CdA measurement, and thus doing so appropriately provides a more accurate real-world interpretation of which wheelset will actually make you faster.

In layman's terms, as you travel faster, you're more likely to experience low yaw (wind head-on) than high yaw (crosswind), simply by virtue of the speed of your movement through the air. There are many different schools of thought on the correct way to weight each point, but we've used Barry's method for the past two years so will continue to use it for the foreseeable future.

Using these averages, we've then calculated to solve for power (watts) at the tested speeds. These calculations use a constant air density of 1.2kg/m³, and do not factor in additional losses such as drivetrain friction or rolling resistance.

Cyclingnews also understands that there is more to a wheelset's performance than aerodynamics. Weight, handling and stability are key for ride quality, while serviceability, tyre compatibility and retention, and how easy it is to get the tyres on and off are also important. This context should not be ignored when viewing the results below.

Results

For the results, I have calculated the power required to overcome the aerodynamic drag for each product at 40km/h. This figure is comically low compared to what you'll be used to seeing on your head unit, as there's no rider on the bike, but for comparison purposes, it's an accurate and comprehensible way to showcase the results.

I will then show the 'watts saved' vs the lightweight Arcaris 8848 shallow wheelset, as a means to help you understand what you stand to gain if you were to make the same swap.

That's your podium, and notably they are all with 28mm tyres. Satisfyingly, the next three most aero were the same three wheels again, but with the 30mm tyres, albeit Hunt in fourth, Scope in fifth, and Reserve in sixth.

I will go into more detail about each product individually below, but for now, allow me to let the graphs do the heavy lifting.

Below, I've got the raw CdA from each wheelset, presented at each yaw point. I've split out 28mm tyres and 30mm tyres, but as we'll learn later on, it's not always the case that narrower is faster. It's a higgledy mess of purple lines, but if you hover (click if on mobile) on the wheelset you want to see in the legend at the top, it'll highlight it and fade out the others.

For clarity, the line that sits at the top in the two graphs above, away from the others, is the shallow Arcaris 8848 wheelset. The greater the CdA, the more aerodynamic drag is created, essentially confirming what we already know: shallow wheels are slower. They come into their own on steep climbs, though, of course.

Overall rankings

Next up, let's look at the overall rankings.

Each wheelset x tyre size combo is listed, with the calculated power required to overcome the aerodynamic drag that they (and the bike they're mounted on) create. Lower drag means less power is required to travel the same speed, and thus is the more aerodynamic product.

Extrapolated to 50km/h

What about at faster speeds? Such as descending, or the spicy point of a bike race where you're bridging to a break?

The graph above shows a six watt gap between Hunt and the Pertual wheels (best and worst of the aero wheels on test) or 13 watts between the Hunt wheels and the shallow section lightweight wheels.

For clarity the data here is extrapolated from the results at 40km/h, but the comparisons in our 2024 wind tunnel wheel test, where we tested at three different speeds, showed a reasonable correlation between the results at 40 and 50km/h respectively.

Aero vs weight vs price

Now for some deeper analysis, and I'll start where I think most people will start: a comparison of aero vs weight, and then price, and then a combined chart with aero, weight and price in one place. Spoiler alert: there's not much correlation to be found.

Starting with the exact weights of each wheelset in order.

An outright win for the shallow Arcaris 8848, of course, but the Chinese duo of CRW and Pertual claw back some kudos with second and fourth, respectively. Hunt's third place here is the standout performance though, given the 5AM was also top of the aero charts above.

For the next few graphs, I've removed the shallow wheelset from the graphs as they are an obvious outlier that skews the results. We're primarily looking for trends in aero wheels here.

There's an ever-so-slight positive correlation between aero and weight, as well as between aero and price, but the spread of data is so broad in both cases that I don't think anyone can confidently assume that spending more will ensure they get a more aerodynamic product.

And things are no clearer when you factor in weight, too. The Hunt wheels are in the lower half of the price bracket, the second lightest in weight (excl. Arcaris), and most aero on test. And at the opposite end of the spectrum, the Visions are the 3rd most expensive, bottom half of the aero table, and bottom half of the weight table.

There's just no guarantee that spending more gets you a faster product.

Is narrower faster?

Smaller tyres have less of a frontal area, and given that CdA factors in 'Area' (the 'A' portion of CdA, or essentially an item's size), surely narrower tyres are faster... right?

Let's take a look.

Below, I'll start by looking at the aero data for each wheelset x tyre combo, coupling the 28mm and 30mm results together to allow an easy at-a-glance comparison.

For reference, the 'Cd' portion of CdA is the coefficient of drag, or how easily air passes over an item's surface.

Incredibly, nine of the 16 wheelsets (56%) actually returned a better aero performance with the wider (30mm) GP5000 S TR tyre than with the 28mm equivalent.

This is probably because most of them were designed to accommodate the wider tyre, and thus the airflow from tyre to rim was a smoother transition.

Given we know that wider tyres can be run at lower pressures, and thus offer benefits to rolling resistance over rough ground, it's reassuring to know that doesn't necessarily come at an aero loss too. We've already shown that 40mm tyres are faster for most people even despite an aero detriment, but I wonder where the limit is. If a brand can make a wheel work better with a 30mm than a 28mm, can they make 40mm faster than 30mm? What about 50mm or 60mm?

Do bear in mind that all the wheels besides the Syncros are hooked, and so the exact dimensions of the hooks will have some bearing on the measurable internal width with the callipers we had to hand.

Most brands publish the above information, but in the interest of being thorough, we wanted to measure the internal and external width of each rim too.

It's notable how some wheels (Syncros, Roval, Reserve, Hunt) have individual front- and rear- dimensions, whereas others are equal. Of course, the measurement might be a few tenths of a mm out, showing a discrepancy between front and back, but we've shared the data as we measured it.

And the above graph shows every tyre width as measured before it went into the tunnel. We measured each at three equidistant points around the tyre and took an average.

Using the two graphs above, and of course the aero results higher up, you can infer how tyres interact with the rim. If the front tyre is wider or narrower than the rim, and whether the '105% rule' shows itself.

Specifically, Silca's Rule of 105 says that a "rim must be at least 105% the width of the tire if you have any chance of re-capturing airflow from the tire and controlling it."

I've done that below, calculating the ratio between the external width of the front rim and the measured tyre width, and plotting that against the aero performance.

There's no obvious trend showing wheels over 105% are suddenly more aero than those below 105%, but it is perhaps notable that first, second and third place (Hunt, Reserve and Scope) are all very close to that 105% mark, at 107%, 107% and 103% respectively.

And to wrap up this section and conclude without doubt that narrower tyres aren't guaranteed to be more aerodynamic. The below graph shows the correlation (or lack thereof) between the front tyre's measured width and how the wheelset performed in the wind tunnel.

Carbon spokes vs steel

The big topic of discussion lately is carbon spokes vs steel spokes. A wind tunnel test can't answer any questions around safety, but we can at least dig into how they affect the aero and weight credentials of their respective wheelset, so that's what we'll do below.

Although there's a bit of crossover, there is a clear distinction between the weights of carbon-spoked wheels and steel.

There's no obvious correlation between carbon spokes and aero performance, but Hunt's logic is that since carbon is stiffer and stronger, fewer of them are needed, and that aids both their aerodynamics and their weight. The 5AM wheelset feature just 15 spokes up front and 18 at the rear.

That doesn't bear out in all cases, though. Pertual's Acme 45/62 have just 16 both front and rear, and they were one of the slowest on test.

The other question that crossed my mind when putting this feature together is whether internal (hidden) spokes are faster than external. It's fairly well accepted that hidden nipples are faster, all else being equal, but our data showed no correlation, presumably a result of a too-small sample size with too many different rim shapes and depths.

Individual results

To order this section, I'll work my way down the rankings from fastest to slowest, grouping together results from 28mm and 30mm as I go, rather than duplicating a load of the details.

HUNT 5AM Limitless Ti_UD Carbon Spoke

An impressive result for Hunt, whose wheels not only land at the top of the tree as well as the individual tables if we were to split 28mm and 30mm tyres into separate tests, but they're also some of the lightest on test.

We've all heard the saying "fast, light, cheap - pick two," but Hunt challenges that too. The 5AM, at £1999, are £1840 less than the most expensive pair here. Cheaper models do exist, especially if you look at the Chinese cohort, but by our data, Hunt nailed the brief here.

One of the standout things with the Hunt wheels is their minimal spoke count. Carbon spokes are stiffer and stronger, so Hunt says you don't need as many to make a wheel of equal ride quality and power transfer. Fewer things getting buffeted around by the wind is logically less draggy, and it's also lighter, so a win-win.

Reserve 57|64 Turbulent Aero

My big takeaway about the Reserve wheels is that the 57 | 64 are a darn sight easier to get tyres on to and off of than the 52 | 63 we tested last time. Their hooked rim is accompanied by a ridge that locks the tyre into place on the bead for safety, and oh boy were they tough to unseat last time, but the update has seemingly improved this.

Also, when we first tested wheels in the wind tunnel in 2023, Reserve's 65 | 50 were slowest on test. To have turned that around and been within the error margin of the win is a huge credit to the brand.

Scope Artech 6.A

Scope's Artech 6.A won our test last time around and are within the error margin of victory this time, which is similarly impressive to the Hunt result given their weight is 5th best at 1307g.

The 'thing' with Scope, however, is they're pretty darn pricey compared to the others here. At £3,498, they're the second most expensive on test. Those fishscales do look cool though.

I would like to test the standard Artech 6 at some point, since we've twice now tested the 6.A, which is technically an all-road wheel, albeit designed more around wider tyres.

Syncros Capital SL Aero 60

The runner-up in our last test, the Capital SL Aero 60 wheels are the best-of-the-rest here, in seventh place in the combined table (Hunt, Reserve and Scope claimed the podium with 28mm tyres and then also swept up fourth, fifth and sixth with 30mm tyres).

Interestingly, they were actually faster with the 30mm tyres than 28mm, which might seem unusual but is actually more common among the wheels we tested than the other way around.

Their biggest standout feature is the moulded spokes, which help keep their weight down and seemingly help their aero performance too. But with carbon spokes becoming a more common solution, it's now possible to get lighter wheels without the risk of writing off the whole wheel with a broken spoke.

They're also the most expensive on test, more than three times the price of others here.

DT Swiss ARC 1100 DICUT

My standout impression of the DT Swiss Arc 1100 is that they're incredibly narrow. They look narrow, with a sharper V-shaped leading edge to the rim, rather than the more U-shaped profile we've become accustomed to in recent years. They also measure up narrower than all others on test, at an external rim width of 28.29mm up front.

Roval Rapide Sprint CLX

Like the Hunt wheels up top, the Roval Rapide Sprint CLX are a 'mullet' wheel, with a deeper wheel at the front and a shallower wheel at the back. Since airflow is cleanest at the front of the bike, it makes sense to put the more aero product there, and then use a shallower wheel at the back, where aero differences are less significant, and enjoy the weight savings that it offers.

The biggest standout here is that despite having an average internal- and external width, both Roval wheels shaped the tyres narrower compared to everyone else. The 28mm tyre blew up here to 28.65mm (smaller than all others on test) while the 30mm measured at 30.43mm (only the Rapide CLX III was narrower). In both cases, that's almost 2mm narrower than the Reserve wheels, although I suppose in Specialized's defence, it is at least the most accurate reflection of what's written on the sidewall of the tyre.

Scribe Élan Ultra 6 (OSL8)

The Élan wheel from Northern Irish brand Scribe is famous for one thing... crinkled spokes. They are carbon, aero-bladed, and remind me of my sister's hair in the '90s.

Scribe says the Core Ultra 6 (below) is actually the more aero product, but our data puts them really close, with the Élan edging ahead (albeit within the error margin of the test). Given these are over 200g lighter, though, they're probably doing enough to justify their £500 higher price.

Scribe CORE Ultra 6

Alongside the Élan, the Core Ultra 6 is the cheaper, more 'basic' wheelset with steel, J-bend spokes (although the nipples are hidden inside the rim).

We were also sent an extra front wheel with a new hub that the Scribe team had developed for its pro athletes, designed to work well at lower yaw. In our test, the differences - if any - were well within the margin of the test and therefore indistinguishable.

In fact, with both sets of tyres, the CdA was exactly the same (measured to four significant figures) no matter if we used the aero hub or the standard hub.

Parcours Chrono GT (62/65mm)

Parcours' Chrono GT are perhaps undersold by sitting in the bottom half of our results here (and it must be said that they're still only 1.55w behind Hunt).

But one of the interesting claims made by the British brand is that due to the vibration-absorbent nature of the carbon being used, they are equivalent (in comfort terms) to another wheel running 10-15psi lower tyre pressure.

Vision Metron 60 RS CS Edition

The price here is inflated somewhat because we were sent the 'CS' edition, with silver hubs and CeramicSpeed bearings. A similar aero performance will likely come from the cheaper Metron RS 60 too.

Regardless, a middling performance from Vision, whose wheels have put in a strong showing in our two previous tests.

Roval Rapide CLX III

The Rapide CLX III is one of the shallower wheels in this test (ignoring the Arcaris), at 51mm up front. They are the wheels you get if you buy the new Tarmac SL9, and as I mentioned above with the Sprints, they shape tyres quite small in comparison to everything else here.

They still have the wider, shallower front profile with a deeper, narrower rear, and the 33.14mm wide front (as measured) is the second widest in the test.

Pertual ACME 45/62

Certainly the weirdest-looking wheels in the test, the Pertual ACME 45/62 wheels have a wavy profile not unlike Princeton or Zipp, where the depth undulates between 45mm at its shallowest and 62mm at its deepest.

Aerodynamically, they were slowest on test with the 28mm tyre, but they are impressively light at 1236g.

CRW Works Ultimo 6060

The CRW Ultimo 6060 is the second of our Chinese cohort, and despite an aero performance that's lacking, the fact that they're only 2 watts behind the Hunts, their 1156g weight, and their sub £1800 price is an impressive combination that flips the one-dimensional aero table on its head.

Farsports EVO C6

The Farsports Evo 6 are another that might be disappointed in the aero result, but in a similar vein to the CRW wheels above, when you consider they're around a quarter of the price of the most expensive on test, it's hard to be disappointed with a 2.89w deficit.

Arcaris 8848

And finally, our 'comparison' wheelset. The Arcaris 8848 with a claimed weight of 'from 884.8g' (hence the name). We had the mid-range Arcaris Pro, which is priced at $1,899 (or £1425 based on today's rates).

They weighed an impressive 907g and were 6.39w (28mm) and 6.61w (30mm) slower than the Hunt wheels.

Shimano has launched an updated range of Dura-Ace wheels today, as well as two brand new wheels.

In doing so, the Japanese giant has ended months of speculation around prototypes which have been used in WorldTour races.

The whole Dura-Ace wheel series has been updated, and two new wheels have been launched: the C99 front wheel, and a new rear disc.

The new series will carry the Shimano model code of WH-R9370, a number we saw on wheels fitted to Alpecin-Premier Tech's Canyon Aeroad bikes at the Tour de France earlier this month.

Although it probably won't have been on many riders' minds for a while, this almost certainly marks the end of the road for Dura-Ace tubular wheels too. The outgoing R9200 Dura-Ace models were available in tubular versions, but the new R9370 will be tubeless clincher only. Let's wait and see what Van der Poel uses come the cyclo-cross season.

A key question riders may ask is whether these wheels are hooked or hookless; there is no specific mention of this detail in the Shimano press release, but we assume the wheels are hooked as the price list mentions 'clincher, tubeless'.

We now have new Dura-Ace wheels, but this launch only adds fuel to the fire regarding when we will finally see a new Dura-Ace groupset released. Alongside the wheels, we also spotted new prototype Dura-Ace pedals at Paris-Roubaix this year, but remain in the dark regarding an official launch of a complete groupset.

We took the opportunity at the Tour de France grand depart to ask a Shimano big cheese the question, but unsurprisingly, received no new information.

The new R9370 wheels

Shimano says the new wheels are "engineered for modern racing in collaboration with WorldTour cyclists and pro triathletes." They are said to have been developed using Shimano’s ‘Science of Speed’ philosophy, though the brand hasn't gone into detail on what that is.

The new range still contains the familiar C36, C50 and C60 models, but now a super-deep C99 front wheel and rear disc wheel have also been added to the range. Until now, Shimano has not officially manufactured a disc wheel.

Weight has been trimmed in part by using carbon fibre spokes, and improvements made in aero efficiency and structural stiffness. They have decreased in weight by up to 220 grams per wheelset. The savings come from a new structure and better rim layups, with new carbon spokes.

• The C36 has dropped 180 grams, and now weighs 1170 grams.
• The C50 has dropped 159 grams and now weighs 1302 grams.
• The C60 has dropped 220 grams and now weighs 1389 grams.

The wheels are optimised for 28-30mm tyres, and the cup and cone bearing system Shimano has long favoured has also remained. Shimano has also built in the ability to adjust bearing preload whilst the wheels are installed in a bike.

The wheels have 23mm internal widths and front- and rear-specific rim profiles. External widths have been engineered to balance ‘aero and crosswind stability’.

There aren’t any major aero claims or data to look at, but Shimano has cited up to a 2.7-watt aero drag saving at 48 km/h with 30mm tyres, we assume across the board as no specific combination is listed.

The brand also cites CFD simulations and performance across ‘real world’ yaw conditions, not just ‘idealised wind tunnel angles’.

Since we started spotting prototype Shimano wheels, their carbon fibre spokes have been a talking point, and the new wheels will all feature new Shimano carbon spokes.

There will be two carbon fibre spoke variants depending on the wheelset: the ‘Super Aero’ spokes have a 5.2mm x 0.8mm profile, whilst the regular ‘Aero’ spokes have a 4mm x 1.1mm profile.

Shimano says the spoke type and count are tailored per model to create the intended ride characteristics depending on the application: fast aero wheel, climbing, etc.

The cup and cone bearings remain in place; Shimano says this "allows rotational torque to be optimised when installed on the bike."

Shimano has favoured cup and cone bearings historically on most of its wheels, and says they demonstrated "significantly lower friction than typical cartridge-bearing setups" in comparative testing.

Shimano cited a test involving wheels with cartridge and cup-and-cone bearings. Both had 500n of vertical force applied, which represented the bike and rider. A further 200Nm of thrust force and 5000N clamp force were applied via the thru axle. The test showed a 30% lower rotational torque for the new cup and cone bearings.

Bearings are said to be now replaceable, but this has long been the case; bearing cups are now also replaceable and waterproof sealing has been improved.

Shimano Dura-Ace C36

• The updated C36 wheels will have part number WH-R9370-C36-TL.
• Claimed weight is 1170 grams per pair.
• 23mm internal rim width, 29.4mm external rim width.
• Aero spokes, 18 front, 21 rear.
• Price: Front: £1,099.99 Rear: £1,199.00 / US pricing TBC.

Shimano Dura-Ace C50

• The C50 wheels will have part number WH-R9370-C50-TL.
• Claimed weight is 1302 grams per pair.
• 23mm internal rim width, 31mmm external front rim width and 32mm external rear width.
• Aero spokes, 21 spokes front and rear.
• Price: Front: £1,099.99 Rear: £1,199.00 / US pricing TBC.

Shimano Dura-Ace C60

• The C60 wheels will have part number WH-R9370-C60-TL.
• Claimed weight is 1389 grams per pair.
• 23mm internal rim width, 31.5mm external front rim width and 32.3mm external rear width.
• Aero spokes, 21 spokes front and 24 rear.
• Price: Front: £1,099.99 Rear: £1,199.00 / US pricing TBC.

New Shimano Dura-Ace C99

• This is the new C99 aero front wheel for TT and Triathlon, and has the part number WH-R9370-C99-TL-F.
• 99mm rim depth.
• Claimed weight is 792 grams.
• 23mm internal rim width, 35.2 mm external rim width.
• 16 Super Aero spokes.
• Price: Front: £1,199.99 / US pricing TBC.

New Shimano Dura-Ace Disc

• This is the new R9370 D disc wheel for TT and Triathlon, with part number WH-R9370-D-TL-R.
• Designed to pair with the C99 front wheel.
• Claimed weight is 987 grams.
• Full disc construction.
• Price: £2,299.99 / US pricing TBC.

The Wahoo Kickr V6 easily dominates as one of the market's best smart trainers. Wahoo's flagship trainer is our top choice for Zwift racing and narrowly missed out on being the best overall indoor trainer, with its sibling, the cheaper Kickr Core 2, getting the nod there.

The Kickr Core 2 ticks all the boxes as the best budget-friendly smart trainer. Perfect for the more casual indoor rider, or anyone getting into indoor riding and Zwift for the first time.

However, the Kickr V6 is the smart trainer of choice for riders seeking maximum performance and lightning-fast race-day connectivity.

That performance usually comes with a substantial price tag, but right now at Amazon, the Wahoo Kickr V6 is discounted by $200, down to just $849.99. If you're looking to invest or upgrade, we think the V6 warrants serious consideration at this price.

Wahoo is also running the exact deal on the Kickr V6, and elsewhere in its Summer Sale, the Kickr Core 2 is reduced to just $399.99 from $549.99.

Our choice as one of the best bike computers, the Wahoo Elemnt Roam 3 is discounted to $419.99, along with Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar's unit of choice, the Element Bolt 3, down to just $299.99.

The Wahoo Sale runs until Sunday, August 9, and the limited-time promotion sees discounts across the Wahoo ecosystem, from smart trainers and indoor bikes to bike computers and power meter pedals. Amazon prices reflect the discounts at Wahoo, so we'd expect those to return to full price come August 9.

The Kickr V6 still claimed a perfect 5-out-of-5-star review from Cycling News' Associate Editor, Josh Croxton. At the time of testing, Josh was torn between the Elite Justo 2 and the Kickr V6 as his top choice, and both are excellent top-of-the-line smart trainers.

The Elite Justo has a slightly better max power (2,300 watts vs 2,200 watts) and higher max simulated grade (24% vs 20%). I'd still opt for the Wahoo, as I love Wahoo products, and especially at this discounted price. The Elite Justo 2 is currently discounted by 5% on Amazon, but still costs $1,049, for anyone interested in checking out an alternative brand.

The Wahoo Kickr V6 deal applies to US shoppers only, and there are no reductions on Amazon or the UK version of the Wahoo Summer Sale. There are reductions on the Kickr Core 2 and the Zwift Ride with Kickr Core 2, down to £899.99, from £1,099.99, which matches the best price from back in January this year.

Below are the best Wahoo deals, from other retailers, relevant to your location and currency.

Garmin has this week announced the acquisition of the popular cycling training platform, TrainingPeaks, as well as strength training plaform TrainHeroic.

The American technology company announced the news in a short press release on Wednesday, and stated 'financial terms of the acquisition will not be disclosed.'

The TrainingPeaks headquarters are in Louisville, Colorado. The 120-person staff will join Garmin's workforce.

Garmin, founded by Gary Burrell and Min Kao, has been a key name in the cycling world since its first bike computers were launched back in the mid 2000s.

TrainingPeaks was founded in 1999 by Joe Friel, his son Dirk Friel, and Gear Fisher. The web and mobile platform allows coaches and athletes to plan and manage their training programmes. TrainHeroic, meanwhile, focuses on supporting gym users and strength and conditioning coaches. Both were owned by Peaksware, a holding company that also owns a host of software brands in the music industry.

On the acquisition, Brad Trenkle, the Garmin Co-COO, said "TrainingPeaks and TrainHeroic share Garmin’s passion for empowering athletes and coaches around the world with world-class training tools, performance metrics and actionable insights.

"The addition of these highly successful platforms to the Garmin ecosystem will expand access to more authentic coaching experiences, connecting athletes with professional coaches who guide, motivate and inspire them to reach their goals.”

Dirk Friel has confirmed in a statement on his LinkedIn page that he will remain involved as a strategic advisor, and TrainingPeaks President Lee Gerakos will continue to lead the company.

He provided some insight into what the future may hold for the three platforms.

"Joining forces with an iconic, industry-leading brand like Garmin is the ultimate catalyst for our next era of innovation.

"By combining our coaching expertise with Garmin’s world-class technology, we are positioning ourselves to pioneer the next generation of athletic training software and services," he said.

In 2024, TrainingPeaks itself acquired indoor cycling platform IndieVelo, developing it into a new indoor cycling app, TrainingPeaks Virtual and established itself as a challenger to popular platforms like Zwift and MyWhoosh. The move from Garmin, with the capital behind it, could transform TrainingPeaks Virtual into a serious competitor in the space.

The Scott Addict RC is the lightweight climbing machine of the NSN Cycling Team, and our choice as the best lightweight road bike.

For stage 6 of the Tour de France, climbing specialist George Bennett and team leader Biniam Girmay will test the Addict’s climbing reputation on the brutal Col d'Aspin and legendary Col du Tourmalet.

If the ongoing Tour has you feeling inspired, I've found an incredible deal on the Scott Addict RC Pro.

Competitive Cyclist has the Scott Addict RC Pro discounted by $1,350 to $7,649, which is a rarely seen 15% off its usual $8,999 price.

We awarded the Scott Addict RC a stellar 4.5 out of 5 stars in our review. Tester Will Jones praised the bike, saying, "The Addict RC stands alongside the very best road bikes on the market, combining a phenomenally low weight with impeccable handling and a flawless build."

Scott says the Addict RC represents the absolute pinnacle of the brand's road racing lineup. Featuring the Addict RC HMX carbon frame, engineered to be exceptionally light and stiff.

In our review, Will tested the Addict RC in its Ultimate guise, which weighed in at just 6.4kg. The Pro version on offer here has a claimed weight of 6.5kg.

For comparison, two of our favourite lightweight options with the same Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 build are the Cannondale SuperSix Evo, weighing in at around 6.6kg, and the Factor O2 VAM Disc, which is roughly 6.4kg.

Both these bikes, of course, are some of the best road bikes you could ever wish to own. Priced at over $10,000, they don't come close to the Scott Addict RC Pro deal price at Competitive Cyclist, and we think the Scott represents incredible value for money.

Will summed up his testing by saying, "If you love riding bikes, you’ll adore the Scott Addict RC, and while I haven’t tested the lower-tier models, the geometry will be consistent, and so I am pretty confident in saying that probably applies throughout the range." and concluded, "The Addict RC is absolutely one of the best road bikes you can buy today."

Unfortunately, this specific deal applies to US shoppers only. If you are reading this in the UK, I've found the Scott Addict RC Pro in Carbon Black discounted by 24% to £6,550.00 from £8,599. Check out our guide to the best road bikes for excellent alternatives available near you.

Since the heady days of peak Team Sky, the phrase ‘marginal gains’ has become so commonplace as to almost be a mantra for the sport as a whole. New bikes come out every year promising measurable gains in aerodynamics, weight, and stiffness, and every year pro mechanics meticulously modify them, especially for the Tour de France. We’ve seen some expensive mods, like Lidl-Trek’s $1,300 hub upgrades for every bike to shave a few grams, but while my colleagues roamed the pits in Barcelona they saw some truly marginal, marginal gains.

You may find some of these laughable, but when stages are won and lost by millimetres, and the calorific savings of even tiny gains adding up massively over a three week race, I choose to marvel at the seemingly bottomless well of innovation that performance engineers seem to draw from, as well as what must be near infinite reserves of patience from the armies of team mechanics who have to implement these modifications. Without further ado, then, in no particular order…

Tape over every bolt and void

Some bolts sit proud, some sit flush, and some are recessed. In all cases, though, there’s a little void into which your hex key or Torx bit goes, and the wind can eddy within these, ever so slightly increasing the system drag on the bike. Some are important due to being at the leading edge, such as the handlebar bolts on Jonas Vingegaard’s Cervélo S5, and others are important as they’re just big ol’ holes, like the hollow on the non-drive side of SRAM cranks.

If you’re going to tape one bolt though, you may as well do them all, and nobody does this quite like Visma-Lease a Bike, who even go so far as to tape over the adjustment bolts on the team’s seatposts. Tape, handily, doesn’t weigh much at all, so you can use it with gay abandon.

An aerodynamic bottom bracket

I’m sure, like me, you’ve spent hours staring down at your external bottom bracket cups just wishing they weren’t so damnably un-aero. UAE Team Emirates, or more specifically Tadej Pogačar, doesn’t have to stress about this as he has an aftermarket unit from Bikone fitted to his Colnago Y1Rs with a totally smooth non-drive side threaded cup to ‘save watts with every pedal stroke’ according to the brand, though it doesn’t say quite how many watts.

Considering that in order to remove the unit you need a special proprietary tool that tightens the cup from the drive side, it’s no wonder that only the team leaders get the unspecified wattage gains to go along with the 17g weight saving over the standard Bikone unit.

Special jockey wheel bolts

Pro cycling went through a phase where if you didn’t have an aftermarket rear derailleur cage with oversized pulley wheels, you may as well not turn up. The trouble with these massive sprockets is that they tended to weigh more, and at times they create something of a sponsorship clash. Now teams are looking to get their aero bikes down to the UCI weight limit rather than simply chasing every aero gain. Now, again at the UAE paddock, we’ve seen derailleur cages go on a diet, with the stock Dura-Ace retaining bolts for the jockey wheels being swapped out for aluminium ones.

Sadly, the CarbonTi website appears to be down, so for now the weight saving is unknown, but it’s good to see good old-fashioned weight weenieism alive and well.

Strips of coloured tape

No gram savings here, or ways to trick the wind. Lidl-Trek for the opening team time trial applied strips of different coloured tape down the sides of each rider's TT bike in an effort to reduce the cognitive load, and perhaps with a knock-on aero benefit too. If you’ve only got to think ‘I go in the line after I see yellow ’, you can glance across without really having to change your position at all and slot in when the colour is right. This is much easier than having to work out ‘is that Mattias Skjelmose’s lower leg spinning at 100rpm?’ Smart, and it builds on the Astana hack from 2025 where the riders wore different coloured gloves and aero socks.

DIY Aero derailleur

Is there no limit to the utility of black electrical tape? Not only can it be used to tape over every bolt and void on a bike, but it can also be used to tape over the lower portions of a Shimano derailleur cage to make a superlight aero hack, as we saw at the Ineos paddock. This must weigh a gram or two and save… well, who knows. Not a lot, but considering it costs pennies, you may as well do it, right?

Superlight bottle cages

For the last few years, the Elite Custom Race Plus was the king of the pro cycling bottle cage castle, partially because it’s good and also light, and partially because Elite sponsors many, many teams. Now, though, more and more riders are turning their backs on tradition and opting instead for the new Elite Leggero Carbon, tipping the scales at a mere 13g a piece; a 27g saving per cage which is on the cusp of being a maximal gain by the standards of this list. Pogačar himself even swaps his aero bottle cages on his Colnago Y1Rs for a set of these in his never-ending quest to keep his bike both aero and superlight.

Aftermarket thru-axles

Another quite un-glamourous part that’s been given the bling treatment at the UAE paddock is the humble thru-axle, which the team has swapped out for lightweight aluminium versions, again from CarbonTi, tipping the scales at a mere 31g for the rear of a Y1Rs.

Real weight weenies know that carbon thru-axles can be found, which weigh in the region of 30g for a pair, but we’re yet to see these be adopted anywhere yet, though it must be said the actual shaft could be made of cheese or spun sugar for all we’re usually able to see of it.

Lightweight disc rotor lockrings

While Lidl-Trek’s fancy hubs garnered a lot of attention, our eye was also drawn to one end of them where the standard disc rotor lockrings had been replaced by grey Tactic-branded units. These are ‘exceptionally light and strong’, and weigh a claimed 12.4 grams per pair; they are also machined from the same aerospace-grade aluminium as the hubs. There’s probably a handful of grams at play in swapping to these, and in all likelihood it’s probably as much an aesthetic or sponsor arrangement as an actual gain.

Old series Garmin

One thing that caught my eye while poring over images of Jonas Vingegaard’s Cervélo P5 time-trial bike was his choice of computer. Rather than the current small-but-premium Garmin Edge 550 that his team’s sponsor offers, he chose to run the smaller, older Garmin Edge 540. Given that for a time trial he was likely relying on a power number and perhaps a distance figure, the need for anything larger was likely surplus to requirement.

Aftermarket derailleur hanger

Derailleur hangers have two jobs: connect the rear derailleur to the frame, and in the event of a crash, they should bend or snap before the derailleur or frame does. Despite this, we’ve seen many iterations of upgraded hangers over the years, promising lower weight and crisper shifting, something that’s very hard to quantify.

These crop up on many pro bikes, but Pogačar seems to be the main culprit, with various coloured options depending on show at various points throughout the year.

Aerodynamic saddle

Yes, the thing that is almost entirely covered by your rear end for almost the entire time you’re riding your bike can be made aerodynamic, as evidenced by Jonas Vingegaard and his €490 Prologo Choice saddle, which is modular and features side vents for ‘unprecedented aerodynamic efficiency’. I’m not sure there was any precedent for aero saddles as yet, so Prologo is probably right in this regard, though actual wattage figures are hard to come by on the brand’s website.

With European temperatures soaring this year, and stage 3 of the Tour de France already in jeopardy thanks to wildfires, it’s no surprise to see teams and riders employing every trick in the book to keep cool. Core temperature has a huge impact on performance, with most riders adding body temperature sensors into their burgeoning repertoire of metrics.

A cool drink doesn’t really cut it nowadays, though it does help (either when ingested or simply dumped over one’s head); nowadays there are plenty of other ways to beat the heat, even if the UCI has decided to ban the good old fashioned ice sock (though sort of incidentally, through the ‘no stuffing anything down your jersey’ rule which we suspect won’t be enforced on road stages).

The ice sock

Get a pair of tights (it doesn’t massively matter what dernier they are, though fishnets may be sub-optimal), cut them up, stuff the cavity with ice and tie it off at both ends. Hand them to your riders to stuff down the back of their neck, and Bob’s your uncle; you’ve got a very simple, very cheap way of cooling the blood where it’s nearest the surface in big, high-volume vessels.

Yes, the UCI has banned their use, going so far as to make rider after rider remove them on their way to the start line, but the ban was simply an enforcement of a rule that forbids adding anything beyond a race radio up the inside of one’s jersey due to it changing the morphology of the rider.

We suspect that, though it will remain technically illegal, it will not be enforced for the remaining road stages as the UCI would then presumably also have to ban domestiques stuffing bottles up their jerseys to take to their teammates, and they would never do anything so inconsistent as that.

Ice vests

Most easily spotted when teams use the model that makes it look like they’re wearing a gilet of Kraft Singles, every team will have some sort of ice vest on hand for the riders to wear during their pre-stage warm up. The aim is to get the muscles firing and shake out some residual lactate, without allowing the body's core temperature to rise unduly or sweat too much, expelling vital fluids and salts.

They are rarely actual ice, however (if those orange squares weren’t a dead giveaway), but rather a higher-density cooling gel with a higher heat capacity, meaning they lose their heat (or cold, in this case) more slowly. They also usually stay in gel form, despite being sub-zero, meaning they can more readily conform to the rider’s body, increasing the surface area in contact with the gel, and thus increasing the effectiveness of the garment.

Some teams use vests that simply cover the whole torso, while others seem to have cooling patches only in strategic areas like the neck and spine.

Deluxe fans

Anyone who has tried to sleep through a recent heatwave without the delights of AC (yes, my American audience, you’ve got the drop on us there) will know how a simple desk fan can be the difference between sleep and another torturous night.

Pro teams use fans, but they take it up a notch, with many utilising high-tech models that inject a cool water mist into the path of the air to add evaporative cooling into the mix.

At the Stage 1 TTT Ineos fans had green water tanks, which did look like they were trying to irradiate Tobias Foss, and while many teams settled on just a misting fan, Tudor went one further and added a Wahoo Kickr Headwind smart fan next to their misting units to not only keep their riders extra cool, but also help blow Marco Haller’s hair back like he’s in an ‘80s music video.

Carbohydrate freeze pops

While we didn’t get any snaps of this in action, a frozen gel during the warm-up is a tried and tested hack that’s often brought out on the hottest days. There’s nothing fancy to it, and a very easy one to replicate back home, though eating a frozen one while riding is a lot harder than it is on a static bike on a trainer. At the very least, it could keep you cool while it thaws out.

The Alpecin riders were all eating ice pops a few minutes before the start of their TTT effort, and ice and slushies are often used to help lower riders' core temperatures.

Alcohol spray

Evaporative cooling is pretty simple. Put a liquid on your skin, and as it turns from a liquid to a gas, it takes heat away from your body, in very simple terms. Water has been the go-to for this since time immemorial, but water doesn’t actually evaporate very quickly, especially when it’s humid.

As such, teams have been opting for a spray bottle full of alcohol (surgical, rather than Smirnoff) or at least a mix of alcohol and water, which is usually sprayed only on the arms or legs. It evaporates more quickly, and therefore gives a more rapid cooling effect. In all honesty, this probably isn’t one to try at home, and definitely don’t go pouring any on your head, or near any road rash you might have picked up. It also probably plays havoc with your skin, and I don’t know of any teams yet having a moisturiser sponsor.

Forearm bathing

An old military trick for avoiding heat-related illness, but now co-opted by Ineos at the start of the opening stage. Your forearms have many blood vessels very close to the skin's surface, particularly when you’re as lean as pro cyclists are. Submerging the forearms entirely in cold water (8ºC according to our photos, which could have been colder with the addition of some ice we suspect) rapidly cools the blood and subsequently the core temperature, ready for it to shoot up again during the time trial.

It looks dumb, but if something looks stupid but works, then it isn’t dumb. While Ineos were just pipped at the last by a marauding Visma-Lease a Bike, it clearly didn’t do them any harm, and as a team famous for its attitude to marginal gains, we expect to see this employed by other squads down the line, perhaps as early as the next time trial.

Good old fashioned water

Despite all the high-tech options, the most used cooling method employed by the pros, as it likely is by you or me, is simply to dump a load of water over your head from your bottle. Get one from your domestique if you can, try to remember not to use your carb mix by accident lest you glue your eyes open, and save a little to spray on your legs too, as these are the muscles that are getting hot.

The heat haze shimmered, and sand clouds blew as the unrelenting Barcelona sun beamed down on the Tour's opening stage start zone.

The team time trial in the heart of Barcelona started on the seafront, and the team buses all arrived very early in the morning to secure the spot they wanted. A 6:30am departure from their hotel secured Netcompany Ineos a win in the first race of the day.

The Cyclingnews tech duo on the ground at the race spent a day in the heat, touring the pits before migrating to the warm-up area behind the start ramp, as the teams assembled for their departures.

This meant we got to experience a conveyor belt experience of the WorldTour's tech, including aero equipment, cooling strategies, UCI checks, and last-minute tweaks and changes.

There are some cool bits of tech in here: custom skinsuits, new time trial helmets, arm cooling baths and much more.

As ever, this is a big gallery with 60+ images, so grab a coffee and settle in.

The Grand Départ of the Tour de France is an unusual dilemma for a tech journalist.

There's rarely an onslaught of brand-new bikes like you'll find at the Tour d'Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes warm-up race before it, because teams don't want to turn up to the biggest race of the season on tech that hasn't already been tested in a racing environment.

But as many riders will tell you, the Tour de France is the Tour de France. It's the biggest race in the world. So every team spends a significant amount of extra energy ensuring every bike is dialled, with the latest and greatest components at their disposal, and every marginal gain eked out of their setups.

For this reason, it's still a hotbed of tech and an absolute must-see for tech-savvy cyclists around the world.

And also, occasionally, the biggest bike brand in the world throws everyone a curveball and brings a brand new time trial bike to the race, hides it in the back of a van, and the mechanic forgets to shut the door.

If you follow us on social media, you'll be aware that Tom and I have been on the ground in Barcelona in the lead-up to the race, and we've been bouncing from team hotel to team hotel, hunting down as much tech as we can find.

This gallery will house the cream of the crop of what we've seen. Around 70 images of the coolest, nerdiest, hackiest tech we've seen. Grab a coffee, scroll down, and enjoy.

Perfectly timed for the Tour de France 2026, Specialized has launched the S-Works Tarmac SL9. Although it wasn't a secret, with various leaks, the new Tarmac SL9 is still one of the most eagerly anticipated launches of the year, and without doubt, it'll be one of the best road bikes of the year.

The Tour de France started last weekend, and the new SL9 will be front and centre, ridden by Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. Team co-leaders Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz will look to take advantage of the aerodynamic efficiency claims and are targeting the yellow jersey.

Specialized is claiming the new S-Works Tarmac SL9 is "the fastest road bike ever made", which is a bold claim, considering it looks almost identical to its predecessor, the S-Works Tarmac SL8. It also comes with a whopping price tag of up to £11,999, so it's a massive investment for us, mere mortals. Although it looks almost identical, there is a ton of tech going on behind the scenes to justify that cost, including a new layup, a more aero front end, and a deeper seat tube cutout.

With the SL9 launch, there are big discounts on the outgoing SL8, already our choice as the best aero bike, especially outside the S-Works top-tier builds. So if you've had your eye on what was once the "fastest road bike ever made," then now's the time to take a look. Below I've listed the discounted models at Balfes Bikes, and with limited sizing, they are likely to go quickly. I've also added the S-Works Tarmac SL9, just in case...

Shop the Specialized Tarmac SL8 with up to 16% off at Balfe's Bikes.

These highlighted Specialized Tarmac SL8 deals are UK only, and I've not managed to source any SL8 USA deals just yet. The best I've seen and strictly speaking not a deal is the SL8 frameset at Backcountry with a 10% cashback offer, which is better than nothing.

However, incase I'be missed anything, below you'll find the best prices on the SL8 with prices and retailers, relevant to your location.

While individual time trials require a level of personal optimisation that's rarely if ever surpassed elsewhere in the Tour de France, a team time trial is a different beast entirely, and involves not only getting each individual rider's set up on song, but also making sure the whole squad works as efficiently and effectively as a single unit to deliver the team (or in this case a single rider) to the line first, and with it the first yellow jersey.

We've already brought you a head to head of Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard's respective time trial bikes, but while cruising the team hotels in search of juicy tech, my colleagues on the ground found the bikes of Alpecin-Premier Tech set up with a bit of tech that has essentially become obsolete: the hub-mounted speed sensor, in this case from bike computer sponsor Wahoo.

In the current age, the GPS signal for the best bike computers is sufficient to give perfectly accurate speed readings without the need for a standalone sensor. Gone are the days of the magnet on the spokes of yesteryear, or any rotational sensors that came after. They also died off as riders predominantly ride to power, rather than speed, with the latter metric being more of a happy incidental at the end of the race or, as I like to imagine, something to gawk at in fear as the peloton rockets down the side of an Alp.

According to the team mechanics, using actual dedicated speed sensors means the riders can more accurately hold a constant speed when rolling through, rather than just riding to power, which can change as they come in and out of the draft of the rider in front of them. Dedicated sensors like this are also not affected by the signal loss that can occur with a rider being placed directly over the head unit as is so often the case in modern time trial positioning.

There will of course be a slight aerodynamic penalty, and when these sensors were more commonplace it wasn't unusual to see them placed on the rear hub for this reason, but with a disc wheel this naturally isn't possible. The team clearly see the aero penalty as being worth taking a hit on for the collective benefit. No doubt we will see more hacks in a similar vein in the coming hours and days.

The world’s biggest bike race deserves world-class coverage. Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our unrivalled reporting of the 2026 Tour de France. From Barcelona through to Paris, our experienced team will bring you breaking news, expert insight, and in-depth coverage from every stage as the battle for the yellow jersey plays out. Plus, access the Cyclingnews app to follow the action on the go! Find out more.

The Vittoria Corsa Pro Speed is the fastest tyre offering from the Italian tyre stalwart. Used by the Visma-Lease a Bike teams for the fastest road stages and time trials, we’ve put it to the test as part of the Cycling News LABS rolling resistance testing where it came out the fastest option on test. Beating out the fabled Continental GP5000 S TR and TT along with other WorldTour race tyre competition.

However, part of why it rolls so fast is the thin casing, tread, and complete lack of puncture protection belt, meaning it is a far more fragile tyre than many other road going options. That does appear to be the only area of compromise though. Using the same Graphene and Silica tread combination as the rest of the Corsa Pro range, it is exceptionally grippy around corners, with good wet weather grip as well. Being so minimal in construction does also make it impressively lightweight, while the cotton casing leads to an exceptionally supple and smooth ride.

But are the compromises in longevity and resilience, alongside the relatively high price, worth the lowest rolling resistance we’ve seen in our testing? And is this the best road race tyre you can buy at the moment?

Design and specifications

As with all of Vittoria’s high performance road tyres for the last decade or so, the Corsa Pro Speed is constructed using the wonder material graphene. Vittoria has long claimed graphene use in the tyres improves longevity, rolling resistance, and cornering traction. Bold claims, and hard to qualify, given that many other brands have, in our testing both in the lab and the field, achieved similar or better rolling resistance and grip without graphene.

In this iteration of the tyres this has been combined with silica in what the brand calls its Race Formulation; faster than the combination used in the standard Corsa Pro tyres. The idea here is that this specific compound combination results in the optimal balance of grip, rolling resistance, wear, and weight. This ‘Speed’ version loses the central tread lines for a slick centre strip, with the tread lines only present on the outer of the tread.

The tread itself is also thinner than that found on the Vittoria Corsa Pro. This is to reduce rolling resistance to the lowest levels possible, but this does however come at the cost of durability, with Vittoria rating it ‘low’ in this regard. Designated a Time Trial tyre or smooth road surface Road Race tyre, longevity is not the focus, speed is.

That transfers to the casing, as a puncture protection belt has been excluded in favour of lower weight and rolling resistance. At least being tubeless, the hope is that any small cuts and gashes will get sealed. But running tubes does mean a higher risk of flats.

The casing itself remains the 320 TPI (threads per inch) cotton casing that the Corsa line has been famous for since its inception. Just two layers of it again reduce weight and rolling resistance, but this is all that lies between the inner and any puncturing objects. This cotton casing also means tan sidewalls are the only option available on these tyres.

Size wise, the 24 and 26mm options are good for those with more old-school setups. Indeed, my old rim brake bike won't accept larger than 25mm so I’m glad to see these options still kicking around. Sizes upwards of that are hookless compatible, while this WR (Wide Rim) version is designed for 25mm internal width wheels and comes in 29mm only. It aims to produce a more uniform round shape on rims as they have gotten progressively wider. Claimed weight is 255g, while the scales of truth found that to be very close at 257g.

Performance

There is one word that sums these tyres up; Fast. In our rolling resistance testing at the Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub, the Vittoria Corsa Pro Speeds were the fastest tyre at all speeds, the only one that could beat the mighty Continental GP5000 TT. At 9 and 11m/s the Speeds were 1.3-1.4w faster.

Compared to the Corsa Pro though, they are an impressive 5-6.3w faster per tyre. That means double figure savings realistically for a pair, and that’s ahead of another race tyre. Compared to the Corsa Pro Control all-round tyre the difference jumps to 10.7-12.6w per tyre.

I have tested a lot of tyres, from rugged winter ones to fast race day specialists. The Vittoria Corsa Pro Speed are noticeably faster than anything else I have used. Taking them out on rides, there was a gliding sensation, which in part is helped by the very supple 320 TPI cotton casing. But the sensation of speed translates to actual increases. Seeing average speeds a good 1-2kph faster than usual across most routes in various conditions is not a scientific way of gauging performance, but these tyres are certainly fast, there is no doubting that.

That speed also translates to other aspects. These tyres are grippy when cornering. Not so much as the GP5000 S TR, which are yet to be beaten in my testing, but certainly up there with the Pirelli P Zero Race TLR RS. Banking over in corners was confident, as was zipping round high-speed bends and fast changes of direction. The light weight also means they accelerate quickly for sprints. However, the grip compared to the GP5000 S TR means that on steeper inclines when really kicking the watts, the rear wheel could be a little skittish for me, but the GP5000 S TR is the only tyre so far that has avoided that in my experience, and we’re talking 10% and above on the gradients.

There are some elements of these tyres that are frustrating though. Firstly, fitting them. These 29mm WR are very easy to fit to the No.6 52/58 test wheels I was using, and I’ve experienced the same with the standard Corsa WR on a set of Scope Artech A.4 wheels with the same internal width of 25mm. They can be fitted by hand with ease without any levers. However, I think this contributes to them being an absolute pain to get the bead sealed. Valves tightened, tape all secured, and sealant topped up well, yet they lost pressure multiple times from 80 PSI.

Riding them for a few hours seemed to eventually get most of this air leakage to stop, but I still required several stops with a mini electric pump to get them back up to 80 PSI as they had dropped to about 65 every hour of the first few hours riding.

Another component of these tyres that most will likely be concerned about is the longevity and the fragility of them. These are thin tyres, which is why they roll so fast. But that comes at the cost of durability. I can already see the rear tyre starting to square off a little bit after 400km. Fortunately I have not had any punctures, but I have avoided using these in wet weather and kept to well-kept roads and avoided shrapnel as best I can. Tubeless gives a bit of security that any small punctures will seal up quickly, but for those using tubes, there is more risk of getting flats from the likes of thorns.

I will say that at just the 200km mark into testing, quite often I would get back from a ride and see the small little damp patches on the exterior of the tyre where sealant has sealed a minuscule, little nick in the tyre. With no puncture belt, debris doesn’t get stuck in the tread or in the belt, instead it penetrates easily through the entire tread and casing. They have, so far, all been small enough that there is no discernible loss in pressure. But it does highlight the fragility of these tyres.

I also must comment about a weird scenario that happened. On one ride, a sudden jolting bump became present. I stopped to check what it was and the tyre tread had bubbled for a few inches and about 1cm rise. Given I couldn’t ride on that, I managed to pierce the bulge with a bit of roadside debris, expecting to be showered in sealant. Instead, the bubble deflated and no pressure was lost. After spinning the wheel, I couldn’t even find where this had occurred. I carried on, and the tyre was fine for the remaining 50km of the ride. I have reached out to Vittoria for comment on this, as it appears that the tread bubbled between the tread and the casing, rather than any of the air within the tyre causing this. The temperature on the day was around 20˚C so nothing exceptional. I’ve had, on older Vittorias once they wear down, the tread come loose from the casing at the sides, but this was back in 2019.

Vittoria’s response was that this is a known issue on a batch of the 29mm WR Corsa Pro Speeds, but that this problem has been remedied. It sent me some non-WR 30mm tyres to test as well, and there have been no such issues of the tread coming away from the casing as before.

Even excluding that potential issue, these are certainly a tyre of compromise, and it will be very individual as to if that is worth it. I would avoid these for long multi-day events, where resilience of components is key. But for road racing and time trials, the fact is that using anything other than these is losing performance. In fact, I’m almost tempted to ride these less in my testing to save them for road races I have coming up, so much is the advantage these have over other tyres.

Value

At £81 these are not cheap, but then no top-end time trial tyres are. They all sit mostly in this £70-90 region. But the Corsa Pro Speed are not tyres that will last very long, and given how fast these are, I’d like to use them in some races. But the longevity of them means using them more in testing means I’ll likely need to buy more for racing, and that comes at a higher cost.

It will be individual as to if that cost is worth it. A fast aero helmet might cost £300 and save a similar number of watts. But that is a one-time purchase, whereas tyres are consumables that you will likely need to replace a few times throughout the year for multiple events.

You can of course limit use to events only, but the fact is these are fun tyres to ride. They roll very smooth and fast and make riding bikes more fun. Going faster for less effort is always a nice feeling. But again, we come back to the cost.

The Vittoria Corsa Pro are similar in cost but have far greater longevity and the same supple feel, but a bit less of the speed sensation. However, for most people I would argue they offer better value overall. The Continental GP5000 S TR are incredibly fast, nearly as much as the Corsa Pro Speed, but last longer for a similar cost, are grippier too, but not as supple.

I would say though, for people searching for every possible watt saving to go as fast as possible, then these tyres are not bad value. They are not the most expensive, but they are the fastest. If you want speed, there is very little reason not to go for these. If you want greater puncture protection and longevity though, look elsewhere. What I will say is that a high quality, supple, and fast tyre will do more to performance and ride feel than any other bike upgrade. These tyres make even an endurance gravel frame with road wheels fitted feel fast and racy. On a road race bike, they make it feel like an absolute rocket and put a big smile on my face.

Verdict

The Vittoria Corsa Pro Speed tyre is what I would call a dedicated race day tyre, and specifically one for better road and weather conditions. Even taking it along some more rural lanes without the presence of rain, nicks and mini-punctures were common. Add in rain and debris to the equation and the fragility of these tyres is exposed. The saving grace is that tubeless means these nicks are sealed almost instantly with negligible impact on pressure.

The flip side of this minimalist construction is that these tyres roll like nothing else. The cotton casing, thin tread, and lack of puncture belt, all result in the most supple and fast rolling tyre I’ve ever used. Our lab testing supports this. If you want the fastest road setup on the market, not using these tyres is costing you watts. That is just a fact.

But as the old saying goes, to finish first, first you must finish. As fast as these tyres are, I can’t ignore the fragile construction of them. If I was on a team with near infinite spare tyres and a service car for punctures, then sure, these are a no-brainer. But in the real world, where I don’t want to spend £81 every <1000km, these are a bit too dear for me. Will I be saving these for dry races? Definitely. Will I use them for everyday rides? No. For the balance of speed and durability, I would opt for something else. However, these are very special tyres, and they make any bike feel like an upgraded version of itself.

The dust may have settled from the Traka and then Unbound Gravel a few weeks later, but it seems that brands aren't quite finished launching new gravel bikes yet.

We got a look at some new prototype Giant and Liv equipment at Unbound Gravel in the form of two new bikes, and what appeared to be a new Cadex wheelset. At the time, we speculated the new Giant gravel machine could be a new Revolt Advanced bike, and it turns out that's exactly what it was.

Giant has officially released a new race-focused Revolt Advanced SL gravel bike, a machine the brand says is the lightest, fastest gravel race bike it has ever built.

There's also a new Liv Devote Advanced SL series, new integrated handlebars and a new Cadex wheel and tyre system.

We've broken down each new launch below so you can get your head around all the new releases.

The Revolt gets turned up to 11

First up: the Revolt. Giant has completely overhauled its gravel generalist into a far racier proposition; one designed to deal with the rigours of modern gravel competition, which is only getting quicker. In Giant's words: 'The Revolt is our answer to what gravel racing has become'. That should tell you enough about the direction of travel.

Giant has used what it calls a 'total speed system' design philosophy on the Revolt. Pretty much every component, besides the groupset, has been tested and developed together to contribute to the overall performance of the platform.

Giant claims it is its lightest gravel bike ever. The top-line Advanced SL 0 bike is 288 grams lighter than the equivalent previous-gen bike with smaller tyres.

The Advanced SL frame weighs 839 grams, the fork 385 grams, and the total frameset weight is 1582 grams, saving 172 grams over the previous-gen frameset. The new Contact SLR XR Integrated handlebar weighs in at 295 grams, also saving weight.

Max frame clearance is 53mm, which is healthy but also slightly less than a good many gravel machines on the market now.

The new bike is also said to be stiffer across the board, over a range of metrics. It really does seem to be a case of lighter, stiffer, faster for the Revolt now. Giant has also used a new single bladder in constructing the frame compared to the previous three, allowing for a one-piece front triangle.

Giant includes some wattage-saving numbers and claims the Advanced SL O saves 18.99 watts in 'total system resistance reduction' compared to the previous Advanced Pro 0. This overall number comes from gains in Linear drag, wheel rotating drag, and tyre rolling resistance. On rolling resistance, Giant claims the Cadex GXR 45mm tyres save just over three watts compared to the Cadex GX 40mm at equivalent pressure.

Giant says it wind tunnel tested at 30-45Km/h speeds on mixed surfaces (in line with gravel race speeds). Frameset aero drag is said to be reduced by 3.72 watts compared to the Revolt Advanced Pro.

The Revolt's geometry, as you might expect with a big overhaul, has been revised. Now that the bike is race-oriented, the geometry is longer and lower. Five sizes will be available; for a size medium, stack height has been reduced by 29mm, and reach is 8mm longer compared to a medium Revolt Advanced 0 in the long setting.

On that note, the adjustable flip chip the outgoing Revolt had has been done away with now. The seat tube has also been steepened by 1 degree to 74.5. Wheelbase for a medium is 1033mm, chainstay length is 433, and trail is 53mm.

The Revolt Advanced SL will be available as a frameset and in four SRAM XPLR-equipped build options.

Frameset RRP is $5,000 / £3,899 / €3,900, whilst builds start at $7,300 for the Advanced SL2 bike, and rise up to $12,000 for the top-spec SL 0 model.

The new Liv Devote

Next up is the new Devote SL Series from Liv, a women's-specific brand that sits within the Giant family.

It's a similar story to the Revolt with the Devote: Liv has designed it to be faster all round and to work as an overall system. It shares lots of the same thinking, design language and features with the Contend, such as the new one-piece front triangle and updated construction method.

The updated frameset saves 185 grams compared to the previous Devote Advanced Pro, and like the Contend, the frame is said to be stiffer across a range of metrics.

The Devote is faster and more race-oriented than ever before; the bike can take a max 53mm tyre and is optimised for a 45mm. The fit is lower and longer, wheelbase too is longer, the headtube is steeper, and the trail number has been reduced to speed up handling.

The bike is also designed around a new one-piece handlebar, the Liv Contact SLR XR bar, which weighs a claimed 295 grams. Like the new bar, the Devote has been designed to work with the new Cadex Max wheelsystem.

The Devote also features two pairs of mounts on either side of the top tube to help carry things like tools and nutrition during races, events or general riding.

The Devote has also been to the wind tunnel, and the brand makes the point that testing female equipment with male models is undesirable. The brand uses a wind tunnel mannequin based on dimensions from Liv Alula Jayco rider Georgia Baker to provide a realistic female form for testing.

Liv quotes a total resistance reduction of 20.03 watts compared to the previous Devote Advanced Pro; this figure is a 'total system saving' comprised of a linear drag saving including a new rider position across a spread of yaw angles, wheel drag saving, and tyre rolling resistance.

The Devote Advances SL will be available as a frameset in selected territories and in three SRAM-equipped build options. Starting at $7,300 / €6,600 / £5,499 for the Advances SL2 model, and rising up to $12,000 / €10,000 / £9,999 for the SL 0 model.

New Cadex carbon wheels and gravel tyres

The last components in this Giant mega launch are the new CADEX CXR 0 wheels, the deep-section carbon wheels we got a look at at Unbound earlier in the year.

Developed as part of a system with the new Cadex tyres, the wheels use chunky aero carbon spokes and weigh in at 1280 grams, and 1320 with valves and tubeless tape.

Built for gravel racing, the hookless carbon wheels use a 50mm rim profile, with a 25mm internal width. The hookless rim beads are 5mm wide to improve impact resistance. The brand says the wheels provide a 4.61 watt saving compared to the Caex AR 35 wheels.

The wheels' hubs are carbon fibre, and bonded to the carbon spokes in what Cadex calls a 'one-piece structure'. The bearings are ceramic, and the freehub body uses a 60-tooth ratchet system the brand calls the 'ratchet wave spring system'. Cadex logos are also integrated directly into the rim surface, saving weight and reducing the risk of wear and tear over time.

New tyres also form a part of this system; the new Cadex GXR tyres are designed to pair with the wheels.

The tyres have a fairly light tread and 170 TPI casing and are available in 45 and 50mm widths. Cadex claims a 1.52 watt reduction in rolling resistance per tyre compared to the Cadex GX 40 tyres.

The claimed weight for a 45mm tyre is 490 grams and 530 grams for a 50mm. The tyres make use of dual shield puncture protection tech and the Cadex GX-S dual compound, which is split between the middle and side sections of the tyres to balance rolling speed and grip.

Suggested pricing for the Max GXR wheelsystem is $4000 / €3799 / £3499.

Suggested pricing for the GXR tyre is GXR Tire $85 / €99 / £65.

Zipp's current road-ish-but-gravel-ish 303 S model has been replaced by an all-new road specific platform, the 404 S, leaving the 303 XPLR S to take care of the rough stuff. I

t comes with some pretty punchy aero claims, claiming to beat the likes of Roval and Scope, all while coming in at a price point that significantly undercuts the competition in many cases.

It's still sticking with hookless, but at this price there is now a greater likelihood of this trickling down into the mass market despite the still-frosty reception from consumers, and they represent a more attainable option for many riders who are looking to upgrade to a set of the best road bike wheels.

By the numbers

The new 404 S wheels, unlike the 303 S, don’t try and straddle tarmac and gravel duties; the demands of gravel have moved on apace in recent years and realistically there isn’t a good way to make a wheel that will do everything well without compromising in the width or weight.

With only tarmac in mind, the 404 S is deeper than the old 303 S (unsurprisingly, as a bigger number denotes deeper in Zipp-speak). These wheels are 50mm deep, with a 23mm hookless internal width. They’re laced with Sapim J-bend spokes to a 3-pawl Zipp 76/176 hubset that you can have in either Shimano or SRAM flavours, but not Campagnolo. They also feature a lifetime warranty.

At 1,585g they’re 60g heavier than the claimed weight of the 303 S, but for that slight extra in gram terms you get 'about two watts' back against the old 303 S wheelset. You also get wattage gains against some heavy hitters of the racing wheel world too, though it must be caveated that the 'Weighted Aero Drag' that Zipp provides in a handy graphical format doesn’t come with any details about the testing protocol or even the speed, and shows a wattage difference between the 303 S and 404 S at just under four watts by my reading, roughly double the 'around two watts' quoted in the release text.

Regardless, according to Zipp’s figures the 404 S is ≈0.4 watts faster than Roval’s Sprint CLX wheels, and ≈1.6 watts faster than Scope’s Artech 4.A wheels. There is also a claimed benefit of ≈2.2 watts versus Princeton Carbonworks’ Wake 6065 wheels, a set that in our own wind tunnel testing were only 0.43 watts faster than Zipp's presumably faster 404 Firecrest wheels at 40km/h.

The wheels are designed around the Goodyear Eagle F1 R Z29 Aero tyre, though it is unclear whether testing was conducted with this tyre installed. The rims are designed to operate best with 28-29mm tyres.

If you’re in a purchasing mood you’ll need to shell out $1,300 / €1,100 / £985. Adjusting for the not-insignificant inflation that’s occurred since the 303 S came out in 2020, these are around £300 cheaper, which is significant.

Eurobike is back. Though perhaps not quite as I remember it.

Frankfurt in late June has been the trade show's spiritual home for a few years now, and it's usually a sweaty, crowded, enormously fun migration of the global cycling industry, squeezed into cavernous exhibition halls and spilling out into the surrounding areas between them.

At its peak, seven halls barely contained it all. This year, only three halls were used, and even those weren't full. As someone who has been making the pilgrimage on and off for the best part of fifteen years, I won't pretend there wasn't something melancholic about the quieter corridors and sparser stands.

It's the kind of event everyone loves to complain about. The schlep, the heat, the bad food, and somehow always leaving with some sort of cold or illness, but the buzz of seeing the good folk that keep the bike industry running and all the latest and greatest shiny kit made it bearable, and though there were far fewer brands attending, there was still plenty of kit to see if you looked hard enough.

So here are the highlights of a hectic day searching the halls of Frankfurt during a 30-degree heatwave.

Unnamed Ridey Gravel bike

Eddy Merckx 525

The new Canyon Aeroad

Another new, unreleased aero gravel bike

A cyclo-cross bike - remeber those?

Canyon Speedmax Track

Toot Racing road bike

A new Winspace aero bike

It wouldn't be Eurobike without a crazy prototype

Canyon Lux World Cup XC race bike

Nukeproof Hyperfly 290

Gusto GTG gravel race bike

Laget Aero 3d printed Ti frame

Megamo Upon

Lake custom-painted shoes

Fidlock with a great idea for content creators

Daysaver Pump

Prologo saddle

Pertual wheels

As someone who loves to soundtrack my rides, the Apple AirPods range is my choice as the best headphones for cycling. While they usually carry a premium price tag, Amazon's Prime Day sales have seen the latest Apple AirPods Pro 3 slashed by $70, dropping these top-tier earbuds to an incredible $179. That is their lowest ever price and smashes their 2025 launch price of $249.

Get the Apple AirPods Pro 3 right now for just $179 at Amazon.

Prime Day wraps up at midnight tonight, June 26th, and these AirPods deals with it, so grab them while you can. Below you'll find the details on AirPod Pro 3 and also the AirPod 4 with deal from Amazon US and UK.

Prime Day runs from June 23rd to June 26th. As always, there are plenty of cycling deals to be had, and our Amazon Prime Day 2026 bike deals page will be the place to find all the best deals.

The Apple AirPods Pro 3 see a big jump forward over their predecessors, for cyclists the built-in heart rate sensing lets you track your heart rate and calories burned with up to 50 different workout types.

Apple also claims to have improved the sound quality with three-dimensional audio and a new acoustic architecture, which is claimed to deliver transformed bass, detailed clarity so you can hear every instrument and stunningly vivid vocals.

Having used both the AirPods Pro 3 and AirPods Pro 2, there is noticeable improvement in sound quality, but it's the heart rate tracking which is particularly useful for cyclists. Battery life remains much the same at around 7-8 hrs.

If you are already plugged into the Apple ecosystem, the instant, seamless pairing across your devices is a massive quality-of-life bonus too. That said, they are fully compatible with any standard Bluetooth device, meaning you can easily pair them directly to your bike computer for hassle-free heart rate tracking, audio cues and music on the fly.

Below you'll find the best Apple AirPods deals for your location and currency.

Be sure to check out our Prime Day 2026 Live ticker, and there you'll find all the best cycling deals as they appear.

The soaring temperatures sweeping the UK may mean it's too hot to work up a sweat out on a ride; however, it's a great time to give your bike a deep clean. Water dries off rapidly in these conditions, so it's far less likely to hang around and corrode any componentry. I've been washing my bikes during the evening and may have liberally chucked the water around to keep myself cool during the process, too.

As well as a water supply, you'll of course need some decent cleaning equipment, so here's a seriously good Amazon Prime Day cycling deal on Muc-Off's 8-in-1 Bike Cleaning Kit.

Get 40% off the Muc-Off 8-in-1 Bike Cleaning Kit and pay just £29.99.

Shop all Amazon deals.

Prime Day runs from June 23 to June 26. As always, there are plenty of cycling deals to be had, and our Amazon Prime Day 2026 bike deals page will be the place to find all the best deals.

This kit consists of Muc-Off Nano Tech Bike Cleaner, Muc-Off Bike Spray, a microcell sponge, soft washing brush, detailing brush, claw brush, two-prong brush, and a storage tub to keep it all in.

It's a comprehensive cleaning set that's got everything you need to reach all the nooks and crannies on your bike, whether you ride road, gravel, or MTB. If you don't have a decent lube already, I'd also recommend a bottle of the best bike chain lube. I clean and relube my chain every time I give my bike a thorough wash.

Muc-Off's Nano Tech Bike Cleaner is one of the best bike cleaners on the market and is excellent at shifting dirt and grime. Unlike generic cleaners, it won't damage your paintwork or harm delicate components.

The Muc-Off Bike Spray included with the 8-in-1 kit is a handy light lube for protecting certain components and metalwork. Be sure to keep it away from brake callipers, brake discs, or wheel rims (if you're running rim brakes), as getting lube on those vital components will seriously hinder their performance, and it's almost impossible to remove.

For lots more money-saving offers, see our Amazon Prime Day cycling deals main article and our live Prime Day bike deals blog. We'll be on the case, scouring the online retail giant for the best deals for cyclists until Amazon Prime Day ends at midnight this Friday.

Garmin is the leading brand when it comes to the best cycling watches, and one of its flagship GPS smartwatches, the Garmin Epix Pro (Gen 2), is currently discounted by $500 to just $499.99, from the usual $999.99.

Amazon Prime Day 2026 draws to an end tomorrow, and although it's not quite been the bargain bonanza of Black Friday, this Garmin deal is, without doubt, the standout deal so far.

Shop the Garmin Epix Pro Sapphire Edition discounted by $500 at Amazon.

This is the lowest price we've ever seen on the Epix Pro this year, with the previous best being $549.99 back in March, and with the generally hovering around the full RRP of $999.99, this is a significant saving for anyone looking for an Amazon smartwatch deal.

However, Amazon has this marked as a limited-time deal, and although Amazon doesn't actually say when it ends, we'd expect that to be at the end of the Prime Day sales.

Prime Day runs from June 23rd to June 26th. As always, there are plenty of cycling deals to be had, and our Amazon Prime Day 2026 bike deals page will be the place to find all the best deals.

This Garmin Epix deal is only on the Pro Sapphire Edition (47mm) and comes in two colour choices: either Carbon Grey DLC Titanium w/ Black Band or Titanium with Whitestone Band.

The Epix has a long list of smartwatch features that are ideal for cycling and multi-sport use, too. It includes a stunning AMOLED display and a scratch-resistant sapphire lens with a titanium bezel, making it highly durable. The bright AMOLED display is also a cycling box ticker, and ensures all your on-the-go cycling stats are easy to read, along with that extensive battery life and multi-band GNSS technology for highly accurate navigation.

There's no solar charging on the Epix but the battery life is claimed at a huge 16 days, so even for forgetful chargers, it'll have your back.

Garmin is renowned for producing groundbreaking cycling tech, and the Garmin cycling range holds top spots in our best cycling tech buying advice, including the best GPS bike computers, plus the best power meters, smart lights with rearview radar, and of course, smartwatches.

Below you'll find the best Garmin Epix deals for your location and currency.

Be sure to check out our Prime Day 2026 Live ticker, and there you'll find all the best cycling deals as they appear.

We're currently in the throes of a four-day Amazon Prime Day deal event, and this year, the behemoth retailer appears to have it in for bike computers.

Among our hunt for the best Prime Day cycling deals, we've already uncovered a host of Wahoo Elemnt computer deals in the UK, an incredible price on the Hammerhead Karoo 3, and even a deal on the iGPSport BiNavi, a budget contender to the big boys.

Now it's the turn of Garmin, whose Edge computers are hitting all-time-low prices thanks to Amazon, which actually seems to have it in for all Garmin tech, with radars, smartwatches and even power meter pedals getting the cut-price treatment.

The deals we've found cover six different models across all price brackets, from the navigation-friendly Edge Explore 2, through the 540, 550, 840 and 540, up to the bells-and-whistles Edge 1050.

Shop all Garmin cycling tech at Amazon.com.

The price war

If there's any good thing to come from the sheer size that Amazon has grown to, it's that when it runs a sale event like Prime Day, other retailers take notice and, as has happened here, they price match.

As you'll see in the prices listed above, many of the US retailers such as Jenson, Competitive Cyclist and REI have matched the Amazon price down to the cent. If you'd prefer to shop at any of the more cycling-specific retailers, you can do so without being forced to pay more.

In the UK, Balfe's Bikes has actually gone one step further and undercut the giant on a couple of the models.

If you're in the UK, have spoken to anyone in the UK, or watched any news pertaining to the UK this week, you'll be well aware that we're all hiding indoors away from the heat.

That giant fiery ball in the sky that we so long for throughout the other 11 months of the year has finally shown its face, and now we don't know how to cope. But naturally, like true Brits, we do what we can to muddle through.

Compared to the general population, there's a subsection of cyclists that, in my opinion, are pretty well equipped at staying cool when the mercury rises, and that's the indoor cycling crowd; Zwifters, TrainerRoaders, MyWhooshers, FulGazzers and the like. Our hobby literally entails finding ways to keep cool while we ride our bikes.

Over the years, I've had dozens of products, hacks and techniques pass across my desk to help in this aim. I've had various fans, core body temperature sensors, continuous misting devices, I've even had cycling kit with small pockets into which you can put ice packs. And I've learned techniques such as a wet towel draped around my neck and a damp cap on my head to help with evaporative cooling.

But of all those and more, there's one I'm using right now as I type this that is doing an excellent job of keeping me cool, and that's the Wahoo Kickr Headwind fan that I've had since 2019. And luck would have it, it's currently on sale among the Amazon Prime Day cycling deals with 15% off!

Get 15% off the Wahoo Kickr Headwind fan with next-day delivery at Amazon

What is the Kickr Headwind?

To put it simply, the Kickr Headwind is a fan, but to leave it at that would be to sell it miles short.

More specifically, it's a smart fan specifically designed for indoor cycling.

In that context, it can be connected to your workout to automatically adjust the wind speed between four levels based on your riding speed (in a virtual world, of course), your heart rate, or your power output.

But it can also be controlled manually between four wind speeds via buttons on the front of the fan itself, or you can select the speed as a percentage of max (meaning 100 different options) via the Wahoo smartphone app.

And speaking of the max, it can send wind across your room at up to 30mph. That's four times faster than the £600 Dyson AM07.

It delivers air in a fairly narrow direction of travel as it's designed to maximise coverage over the shape of a cyclist. But this means it's really good at moving air across a room from a distance, or in my current case, down my hallway and into my office.

Does it have any downsides?

It's worth noting that the Kickr Headwind isn't a silent fan by any means. It's quieter than the floor-standing industrial fan I also have at home, but louder than the higher-end Shark or Dyson fans.

It also won't oscillate like many of the aforementioned brands' models or those intended for generic at-home use.

Its fold-out rear feet let you adjust the angle, but only from a simple low- to high- angle. There's no finite angle adjustment, and I often find myself reaching for a few books to prop up the front or back legs to adjust the angle when I want to direct the airflow to a specific height.

Wahoo Kickr Headwind vs Elite Aria

I also have the Elite Aria indoor cycling fan at home, and on comparing the two against each other in today's conditions, it's clear which is the better unit.

The Aria does a similar job of cooling you in close quarters when riding a bike. And it's got a smaller footprint, so when cycling, I can actually put it on the desk next to my laptop, meaning it's usually less than three feet away from my face.

But it doesn't have the same total power or narrow field of airflow as the Kickr Headwind. This might seem like a good thing for moving air around the house more broadly in a heatwave, but I've found it simply means it moves less air in total, and circulates air around a smaller area when used in an open-plan space.

Whilst doing some snooping among the sales for our Prime Day cycling deals hub, I came across a bike computer on sale that I have been testing recently, and it might just be a bit of a game-changer thanks to its very competitive price and solid performance.

iGPSPORT is a Chinese brand whose profile gained traction this year when it began sponsoring WorldTour team Groupama-FDJ United.

I've been testing the brand's BiNavi model, which is one of its navigation-focused models, though I'd just call it an all-rounder with a lot of the same specs as the best bike computers that I am pitting it against.

Head straight to Amazon to buy the iGPSport BiNavi

Setup was easy, and so was the accompanying app. I also had no issue pairing my sensors, etc.

The BiNavi, specifically the 3.5" size screen version, is on sale in the UK and US, and what may draw your attention is its very competitive price point. Under £170 in the UK and just over $200 in the US.

Specs-wise, the unit weighs just over 100 grams, has a 3.5" colour touch screen, accompanying app, Strava, Komoot and TrainingPeaks integration, smartphone music control, Core sensor and smart light compatibility, IPX7 waterproof rating, the list goes on, but the point is it stands up against more expensive, better-known competition.

I've been surprised and impressed in testing. The BiNavi is performing strongly so far for the money, and could be a serious rival to more established brands.

The only negative so far for me is that the screen isn't quite as bright or vivid as something like Garmin Edge 550 or Hammerhead Karoo.

If you're considering a new computer and don't want to spend a premium, in my opinion, it's at least worth investigating. When was the last time you saw a unit like this at this price? Head below to see some images of my own test unit.

The best cycling glasses have come a long way, with the likes of the Oakley Vanguard smart glasses coming loaded with features that would be more at home in the best bike computers, with a price tag to match.

This example of smart tech in sunglasses will most likely be the future for sports sunglasses, but at $500, I'll happily pass on those for now.

For Amazon Prime Day, it's one of Oakley's most iconic sunglasses, the legendary Oakley Jawbreaker, that I’ve found with a massive discount. You can grab a pair of Jawbreaker sunglasses for $174.95; a huge 35% discount and a saving of $93.

Get Oakley Jawbreaker Sunglasses with $93 off at Amazon.

This is one of the lowest prices I've ever seen on these Oakley sunglasses, beating the previous best from Black Friday last year. At this price, there is no better time to grab a pair of what are iconic models, that have been worn by the equally iconic Mark Cavendish throughout the majority of his career.

They might not help you sprint as well as the Manx Missile, but they look very cool, and that's what's made the Oakley Jawbreaker stand the test of time as one of the best cycling sunglasses ever made.

Below I've listed the details and prices of the best Oakley Jawbreaker deals on Amazon, plus our current best overall choice, the Oakley Encoders, and just in case you feel like breaking the bank, the Oakley Meta Vanguard.

Prime Day runs from June 23 to June 26. As always, there are plenty of cycling deals to be had, and our Amazon Prime Day 2026 bike deals page will be the place to find all the best deals.

Below you'll find the best Oakley deals for your location and currency.

Be sure to check out our Prime Day 2026 Live ticker, and there you'll find all the best cycling deals as they appear.

In the crowded best bike computer market, the leading devices that dominate our tried-and-tested buying advice are from Garmin and Wahoo.

The Amazon Prime Day sales are live, and you can now pick up serious discounts across the latest Wahoo Elemnt bike computer range. The Bolt, Roam, and Ace all have reductions for Prime Day of up to 18% off.

It makes them attractive purchases if you're upgrading from a budget cycling computer, or even delving into the bike computer market for the first time.

Shop the Wahoo Elemnt Bike Computer Range with up to $85 off for Amazon Prime Day.

The Cyclingnews tech experts have put nearly every bike computer through rigorous testing, and our recommendation as the best overall is the Garmin Edge 1050. However, for us, Wahoo and its Elemnt range are serious challengers to that Garmin crown.

Below I've listed the details and prices of these Wahoo deals, and a handy comparison table with key features to help you choose the right device for you.

And talking of cycling deals, with three days still to go, our Prime Day 2026 Live ticker is the place to find all the best deals as we find them.

Below you'll find the best Wahoo Elemnt deals for your location and currency.

Be sure to check out our Prime Day 2026 Live ticker, and there you'll find all the best deals as they appear.

The rise of mini electric pumps means it could well be game over for the dear old conventional mini pump. These tiny, portable devices are easier to carry while you ride and do away with having to pump like a maniac to reach your desired tyre pressure when you get a flat.

I started using the Cycplus AS2 mini electric pump last year, and since then, my selection of standard mini pumps have been gathering dust in my garage.

There are a number of mini electric pumps on the market these days. While some are cheaper than the AS2, it's a model that's never let me down and has saved many rides from deflating disasters. Now you can pick one up for less than $50 or £50.

US – save $21.57 on the Cycplus AS2 and pay just $48.42.

UK – get a £20.74 saving on the Cycplus AS2 and pay just £49.25.

Shop all Amazon deals.

Measuring just 4.6 x 2.8 x 6.4cm (1.8 x 1.1 x 2.5in), the AS2 easily fits in the palm of your hand. At just 97g (3.4oz), it won't weigh down your jersey pocket or riding pack, and I've even stuck mine in a trouser pocket on casual rides and commutes.

Prime Day runs from June 23 to June 26. As always, there are plenty of cycling deals to be had, and our Amazon Prime Day 2026 bike deals page will be the place to find all the best deals.

To use the AS2, I usually connect the unit directly to a valve stem. It does come with an inflation hose though, which comes in handy if the space between your wheel spokes is on the tight side.

The maximum pressure the AS2 can provide is 100psi, which is impressive for a tiny unit. In my testing, it took the AS2 just 60 seconds to inflate a 700c tyre to 50psi. It also has far less vibration than some of its competitors, so it's easier to hold in place while you inflate. It's not overly loud while it operates either.

Recharging the pump's internal battery takes around 20 minutes. A full charge should be enough for two 700x25c inflations, but I'd recommend recharging the AS2 after every use. The pump comes with a silicone sleeve, a splash-proof pouch, and a USB-C charging cable.

For lots more money-saving offers, see our Amazon Prime Day cycling deals main article and our live Prime Day bike deals blog. We'll be on the case, scouring the online retail giant for the best deals for cyclists until Amazon Prime Day ends at midnight this Friday.

It's fair to say we love the Magicshine SEEMEE300; this incredible rear light has had many highlighted deals, and for good reason, it's pretty much all you could ask for in a rear bike light.

It may have been superseded by its more costly and brighter SEEMEE400 sibling, but Amazon Prime Day is here, and once again, the four-day shopping extravaganza has brought another outstanding deal on one of the best rear bike lights we've ever tested.

Right now you can get the Magicshine SEEMEE300 for just $41.99, not quite the lowest it's ever been, but we won't quibble over the $2 difference; it's still a bargain buy.

Prime Day runs from June 23 to June 26. As always, there are plenty of cycling deals to be had, and our Amazon Prime Day 2026 bike deals page will be the place to find all the best deals.

With a whopping 200 hours the SEEMEE300 ha the best battery life of any rear light on the market. Even the SEEMEE400 can't match it at 107 hours of runtime, it does have extra lumens to power, so it makes sense that it would struggle to keep up with the 300.

SEEMEE300 is also super bright with two rear facing LEDs that have a maximum 300-lumen output, and you guessed it the 400 has... 400-lumen of output. The unique feature of both is the downward-facing LED light, and its a game changing highlight, and illuminates a large cone of light below you and gives 360 degrees of effective visibility.

The list of smart features it has in its arsenal include auto-dim which dims the light to suit the ambient lighting conditions and prolongs the battery life, and the motion sensor acts as a brake light, something that is really useful if you're a regular commuter riding in traffic.

This Amazon Prime Day deal makes the Magicshine SEEMEE300 incredibly good value for money, when compared to the SEEMEE400, and we reckon it's an absolute steal.

The Continental GP5000 S TR, in our opinion, is the gold standard when it comes to the best road bike tyres. It holds the title of best all-round tyre and best tubeless tyre in our buying advice, with an almost flawless 4.5-star review.

As a blisteringly quick, surefooted and smooth tyre with impressive durability, the Continental GP5000 S TR's credentials usually mean it has a hefty and rarely discounted price tag.

However, with Amazon Prime Day officially here, I've found big discounts on GP5000 tyres, which see them hit the lowest price since Black Friday last year, with a nice $35 off a pair at Amazon US.

Head straight to the Amazon Prime Day deals here:

USA: 17% off two Continental GP5000 S TR $199.90 $165.17 at Amazon

UK: 38% off two Continental GP5000 S TR £169.90 £105.90 at Merlin Cycles

For UK shoppers, Merlin Cycles has a whopping 38% off, so if you haven't tried this Tour de France stage-winning rubber that has also been the choice of the all-conquering Tadej Pogačar, then I'd suggest there is no better time to grab a pair.

Prime Day runs from June 23 to June 26. As always, there are plenty of cycling deals to be had, and our Amazon Prime Day 2026 bike deals page will be the place to find all the best deals.

Continental says the Grand Prix 5000 S TR sets the standard in road tubeless-ready tyre technology. The brand also claims it's the lightest, fastest version to date and comes with increased puncture protection. The carcass of the Grand Prix 5000S TR features a robust construction that is designed to be impervious to damage and penetration from foreign objects.

The Cyclingnews tech team has tested nearly every road bike tyre on the market, and Continental GP5000 S TR is our overall recommendation. Real-world testing is also backed up by our industry-leading Labs series testing at the Silverstone pedalling efficiency lab, which proved that the Continental GP5000 S TR consistently outperformed its road tyre rivals, and pretty much confirmed all the Continental claims.

There's also the small matter of the pro stamp of approval, and the GP5000 S TR has the joint title for the most stage wins in the Tour de France, used by more teams in the race than any other.

In our Continental GP5000 S TR review, our only real gripes, which stopped them getting the perfect score, were the price (so this discount covers that) and fitting. They can be a little hard to mount, so be prepared for a potential fight when fitting. The best tyre levers will help here, and with the money saved, you can invest in my weapon of choice, the Monkey Tyre Lever by Tru-Tension.

A couple of months ago, Factor unveiled a collaboration with every teenage boy's dream car brand, Bugatti.

If social media is anything to go by, the bright blue Factor One derivative was clearly a hit. Based around the brand's wide-forked aero bike, it featured an even more unusual fork design, high-end components throughout, and a set of never-before-seen wheels.

Those wheels, which showed a Black Inc logo and the number 62 - denoting their depth - were similar to the brand's existing 62 at first glance, but on closer inspection, housed some significant upgrades.

• Follow our Prime Day 2026 Live Blog for all the best deals on bike gear
• Head to our Prime Day Cycling Deals roundup for our editors' picks on the best deals.

They were laced with deep-bladed carbon spokes, an interesting carbon fibre hub flange, and a massive plain weave carbon fibre rim wall finish that put me in mind of an old-school Felt bike, or a chess board for that matter.

As it transpires, they are to be known as the Black Inc Hyper 62, and are today being made official as a new, even more premium level of Black Inc's deep-section aero wheels.

According to the brand, they are not just another deep-section wheel, but "a wheel with greater ownership over the elements that define performance."

That obviously sounds like marketing talk 101, but I include it because the underlying meaning behind it points to a detailed approach. Factor's - well, Black Inc's - engineers focused on the architecture of the spokes, the rim, the integrity of how the two were bonded together and how the spokes bond with the hub, the aerodynamics, the stiffness, and of course how they rode, to find improvements across the entire wheel.

The outcome is a 1298g wheelset at 62mm deep, with a 23mm internal diameter and a hooked bead.

Stiff, light, aero, pick three - just don't ask for cheap

Factor says the Hyper 62 wheels are designed to find a new sweetspot between low weight and deep rims, where ride character and lateral stiffness weren't compromised in the pursuit of weight and aero targets.

To achieve this, among other things, the brand developed its own proprietary carbon spokes rather than relying on existing third-party suppliers used by competitors. This allowed it to control the spokes' shape, layup, stiffness and strength, which all contribute to the ride quality offered by the wheels, and allowed the brand to design the wheels as a whole system, rather than designing the rims and hubs to work with predetermined spokes.

The spokes are then bonded into the hubs using another proprietary component in the form of the hub flange. This is deeper than you'll find on most wheels, adding strength to the system and, according to Factor, distributing the load more evenly, in turn allowing an equivalent performance with lower mass.

The third proprietary feature is found at the other end of the spokes, and the hidden threaded tips, which are integrated into the rim to aid aerodynamic performance.

And elsewhere, the rims themselves, while 62mm deep like the existing Black Inc 62 wheels, feature a TexTreme outer layer, which is what creates that checkerboard finish. This is more than a style choice, though. Factor says it offers extra stiffness to the rim wall, ensuring structural integrity under load with a lower overall mass.

All these novel approaches and proprietary solutions come at a cost, though, and so it will be little surprise that the retail price is almost as lofty as the promises that Black Inc is making about them.

Before taxes, you'll need to find €3,699 or $3,899 if you want to own a pair. With VAT added in, the wheels will fetch a cool €4,599. Though they do come with a limited lifetime warranty, which should offer at least a little bit of peace of mind.

Amazon Prime Day is officially upon us, and the four-day shopping extravaganza is with us until Friday.

As always, there are plenty of cycling deals to be had, and our Amazon Prime Day Cycling deals page will be the place to find all the best deals as we find them.

The best cycling tech is a mainstay for all Prime Day sales, and one early deal we've spotted is on one of the best bike computers – the Hammerhead Karoo.

Get the Hammerhead Karoo 3 for just £301.49 at Amazon.

Amazon dropped the price to a best-of-the-year £303.49 earlier this week, and has now gone a small amount cheaper at £301.49!

This is a rare reduction on a top-rated cycling device that our testers have rated across all the iterations of the SRAM-owned Karoo cycling computer, and makes this deal well worth snapping up.

Like all the best cycling deals, this Hammerhead discount is only available while stocks last.

In our Hammerhead Karoo review, we rated it with an almost-perfect 4.5-star rating, and Cyclingnews' tester Tom Wieckowski reckoned at the time of testing that it was a worthy contender for the throne as the best cycling computer.

Tom highlighted that the Karoo "brought an awful lot to the table" and built on the class-leading touchscreen and resolution that the previous model was well-known for. The Karoo might not match up to our best overall choice, the Garmin Edge 1050, but it's not far behind. Especially when you consider the Garmin device will cost you at full price £680. Although the Edge 1050 is discounted on Amazon by 7% to £633.32.

The Karoo can hold its own easily against the market-leading Garmin, and has and Tom highlighted the smartphone-like user experience of the Karoo, and its touchscreen at the time of review was the best in a cycling computer. It's fair to say that Garmin and Wahoo offerings now have on-par touchscreen performance, but at this price, the Karoo is a very appealing purchase.

Size-wise, the Karoo screen is a high-definition 3.2-inches, the Edge 1050 measures 3.5-inches, and the resolution is the same at 480 x 800 pixels. However, with its liquid crystal display and 1,000 nits of peak brightness, the Garmin Edge 1050 just edges the comparison, but at a cost.

Battery life is claimed to be 15 hours on normal usage, and the Edge 1050 is 20 hours, again on normal usage.

This deal is Amazon UK only, and I've not found any significant discounts on the highlighted deal at Amazon US. Below, I have included our handy price checker, which will show the best prices on Karoo Hammerhead bike computers from other retailers, relevant to your location and territory.

The best MTB trail tyres provide confidence-inspiring grip and durability without having so much traction and weight that pedalling uphill becomes a real chore. Trail tyres sit between bombproof gravity tyres, and XC tyres that prioritise speed.

When choosing the best MTB trail tyres, it's important to first establish a priority. If you want to save weight, there are lighter-weight options with thinner casings and lower-profile knobs, but if you want grip, a softer compound and more aggressively shaped lugs are usually preferable. With most things, there are trade-offs, as a lightweight trail tyre won’t offer a lot of protection when slamming through rock gardens.

The type of rider you are also matters. If you’ve got a slim build or are highly skilled, you can ride lighter-weight tyres with a thinner casing. If you’re a bigger rider, or you ride an e-MTB, we’d recommend a heavier tyre with a thicker sidewall. Increased weight, be it from rider or bike, will heighten the risk of pinch flats, or tyre burps if you're running tubeless (which we'd definitely recommend).

Whatever kind of mountain bike trail rider you are, our team of expert testers have put an extensive number of tyres through their paces and come up with our pick of the best MTB trail tyres you can buy.

For further help on choosing the right tyres for you, jump to the bottom of the article for our advice section.

Best MTB trail tyres

Best MTB trail tyre overall

The Maxxis Minion DHF was a game-changer when it first appeared, and it has continued to dominate the trail and hardcore front tyre market ever since. With its massive side knobs, it has great directional control and cornering grip, but still rolls faster than you’d expect. It’s really a front-only tyre (designed to be paired with the DHF II), but some riders like to run one at both ends. There are several casing and rubber compound options, but the sweet spot for trail riding is the 3C MaxxTerra with the Exo+ casing.

Exo+ is light reinforcement with an extra layer of reinforced material that runs bead to bead. It has a mesh-type structure that, according to Maxxis, improves tread puncture protection by 27 percent, sidewall durability by 51 percent, and pinch-flat resistance by 28 percent.

The 3C compound uses a hard base layer, which creates a solid foundation and stability to the tyre, there’s a medium center section for quick rolling and enhanced wear and soft low-rebound rubber edge lugs for the ultimate cornering grip. This custom compound does ramp up the cost, but in our tests, we found the Minion DHF was predictable and tenacious and, with its open tread and impressive wet weather performance, we could easily keep it on our bike all year round.

Our reviewer Guy Kesteven enthused: "If I had to pick a single (cost-no-object) tyre for every situation, it would be this one… It tips in really smoothly and predictably. Once you’re into the lean, you can also load it up aggressively on pretty much every surface from slippery gravel to winter slop and wet woods."

For more info, see our full Maxxis Minion DHF review.

Best aggro MTB trail tyre

If you want something with a bit more bite and traction than the Minion DHF, the also excellent Assegai is a brilliant choice. The flip side of that extra front wheel confidence is that it's a little slower, though.

It was developed by downhill racer Greg Minnaar, so naturally, it’s available with a reinforced DoubleDown casing, but the lighter Exo+ version is a better option for trail riding. The 2.6in tyre gets an extra layer of lightweight reinforced nylon called Silkshield. It adds weight, but the nylon has a sort of lattice work construction that adds casing stability (you can run lower pressure without the tyre folding), thorn-type puncture protection and pinch-flat resistance, which is really handy if you’re riding in the desert or rocky terrain.

Like most of the Maxxis flagship tyres, the Assegai comes with either MaxxTerra (medium) or MaxxGrip (soft) triple rubber compounds. What you’re looking at here is a hard, stable rubber base, a quick-rolling centre section, and then a soft rubber on the edge for grip. MaxxGrip tyres don’t keep their sharp edge for long, but a good call is to run a MaxxGrip up front with the harder-wearing MaxxTerra on the rear.

For trail use, we found the Assegai is one of the best all-rounders. It can handle hardpack and loose conditions as well as wet rocks and roots. Its open tread spacing means it even works in deep mud. You can easily ride this tyre throughout the year.

Our reviewer Paul Burwell reported: "Grip levels are superb with the softer MaxxGrip tyre – it feels so surefooted and never does anything unexpected. It’s really consistent at all lean angles, even chopping and changing lines through tight singletrack. It’s a real confidence tyre that lets you push the envelope without having to pay the consequences."

Find out more in our Maxxis Assegai 3C MaxxGrip EXO+ review.

Best lightweight MTB trail tyre

Depending on your riding, the Kenda Hellkat Pro is available in three different casing structures – ATC, AEC, and AGC. The middle letter stands for trail, enduro, and gravity respectively and from a structural point of view, the gravity casing has an aramid strip under the tread with an Apex chafer to resist pinch flats. The light enduro tyre eliminates this chafer, and the trail tyre gets thinner plies, a more resilient 120tpi casing, and an all-in weight of 902g, making it one of the lightest trail tyres in this category.

The Hellkat Pro uses Kenda’s ‘dual tread’ construction, which means the centre tread uses a firmer rubber and the edge lugs are softer rubber. We measured the hardness at around 55a, which is only medium/soft, but the company claims the rubber also has low-rebound properties, so on the trails there’s plenty of grip. The HellKat Pro doesn’t do anything weird – we found it’s stable, confidence-inspiring and predictable.

The tread has a flat profile and relatively open motocross-style tread with some deep lugs, which creates excellent bite and mud-shedding but also has a good turn of speed on the flats. Overall, a great tyre for all conditions, even those nasty ones in the middle of winter.

Our reviewer Paul Burwell summed up: "It has good grip and braking traction, rolls surprisingly quickly and the moto-x style tread works in most conditions. A summer tyre you could easily run over the winter."

For more, head over to our full Kenda Hellkat Pro ATC review.

Best front MTB trail tyre for grip

When WTB first launched the Verdict, it offered a mud version with deeper side knobs, but the standard tyre worked so well in the gloop (and elsewhere) that the mud tyre was gradually phased out.

The High Grip (triple compound) WTB Verdict is an absolute monster. It hooks up where others falter, and in all conditions too. This light version gets the company’s SG2 puncture protection, a double-ply 60Tpi casing that does add weight but still ensures the tyre has a supple and responsive ride feel. The Verdict can be fitted to either wheel but excels as a front-only tyre offering incredible hold on hardpack, loam or slippery mud.

Like most WTB tyres, the Verdict is tubeless-ready, but we found it can be tricky to seat on certain rim brands. It's only offered in a single 2.5in width, so you may struggle with clearance on some frames and suspension forks, especially if you run a mudguard.

At 1,150g for the 29x2.5in sizes, it’s not a lightweight trail tyre, but the trade-off is an awesome amount of grip, excellent pinch-flat resistance, and an impressive wear rate. It’s criminal how underrated this tyre is. In fact, back to back this with the tougher WTB Judge on the rear and you’re going to be unstoppable.

Our tester Paul Burwell noted: "The Verdict TCS Light High Grip never feels nervous, no matter what surface you’re riding on and, with its impressive wet weather performance, it’s a tyre you can easily run year-round."

Check out our full WTB Verdict TCS Light High Grip review.

Best front MTB trail tyre for control

The Butcher T9 Grid Trail uses Specialized’s latest blend of Gripton rubber. It’s comparable in terms of durometer to the softest compounds from other tyre manufacturers, but Specialized claims it has a lower rebound, so has better damping ability. On the trail, it's noticeable that it doesn't get pinged around so much, so you don’t have to work as hard keeping the bike under control, especially riding across rock or dry roots.

To resist flats in those situations, the 60tpi triple-ply Grid Trail casing has an extra floating protective layer that runs the full width of the tyre tread. This doesn’t really add that much weight – the Butcher is one of the lightest trail tyres tested – but it does add some stability, allowing you to run slightly lower pressures without the tyre tucking or folding under load. The lug layout is similar to the Maxxis DHR II, but they’re slightly deeper profile, so offer a little bit more bite in loam and the wet. The Butcher T9 works really well riding at slower speeds where you have to pick your way down, but it also has a good turn of speed for those long dirt road sections.

In our tests, we found the damping effect was obvious straight away. There was none of the very pressure-sensitive jarrings on really rough or sudden impacts and it didn’t crumple or fold suddenly if we dropped pressures low.

Our tester Guy Kesteven also found that: "Ripping them round the concrete hard bucket berms and rutted flat corners of the recent tundra weather on our test trails didn’t reveal any vices, just vast amounts of snarling grip."

Best front MTB trail tyre for winter

If you're after a tyre that will give you grip in the worst of wet mud, then look no further than the Specialized Hillbilly. The tyre uses the same excellent Gripton T9 60TPI compound as the Specialized Butcher.

The centre/shoulder tread pattern is very different though, following the classic ‘square studs with plenty of space around them’ format of most good soft condition tyres. The Hillbilly runs alternating pairs of knobs close together for a slight paddle effect, and the knob tops are siped (slotted) to help them to reshape and spread under load.

Weight is average for a modern 2.4in ‘trail tyre’ at 1,074g, but at 59mm across, they’re actually closer to 2.3 than 2.4in wide. There’s also a Gravity Grid version, but that takes weight beyond 1,300g, which is a hefty pedalling punishment for bombproof survival.

We found the grip and control levels are well up for extreme riding. Our tester Guy Kesteven said, "While they don’t ‘lean outwards’ to grab carving/off-camber traction automatically, the side knobs are well-supported enough to deliver the traction as soon as you tip the bars into the turn. The tread cleans super quickly even in clay conditions and when they do start to slide, it’s a very predictable, normally saveable push, rather than a sudden snap-out and dump-you situation."

Prices for the Hillbilly and the rest of Specialized's tyre range are extremely competitive, which makes them an even better choice.

For more info, check out our full Specialized Hillbilly tyre review.

Best rear MTB trail tyre overall

The Maxxis Minion DHR II was initially launched as a rear-only tyre, but it turns out to be a balanced all-rounder with an impressive performance on most surfaces – weathered hardpack, deep loam, and even sticky mud. There are front tyres with more bite in this guide, but on the rear, we've found the DHR II is peerless. In our tests, it did everything with assured confidence and felt stable even on loose or slippery off-camber. Rolling speed is a notch below some (choose the Dissector if you need that extra MPH), but braking traction is up there with the very best, especially if you up the size to a 2.5 or 2.6in.

It also comes with three casing options (Exo, Exo+, DD) allowing you to tune the weight and protection levels of both wheels to the terrain. For example, if you’re at the bike park or sessioning downhill trails on a long-travel trail bike, fit an Exo+ or DD on the rear, Exo on the front – it’s what bike manufacturers do. It can be a little draggy in the bigger sizes and with the DD casing, but it’s a solid tyre that won’t let you down.

Our reviewer Paul Burwell, reported: "The wide, open, block tread is utterly reliable whatever the conditions. Literally from loose, kitty litter trail centre surfaces in summer to dirty Welsh woods in winter, you can go super heavy on the brakes and slam lean angles knowing that a DHR II will let you get away with more than almost any other tyre."

See our full Maxxis Minion DHR II review for more.

Best rear MTB trail tyre for speed

There are more aggressive trail tyres in this buyer's guide, and while it can be run up front, the Maxxis Dissector we've found it works best on the rear if you want to add a bit of urgency to your ride. It doesn’t have the deepest lugs, so braking traction can be lacking in wet and slippery conditions as the shallow spaces clog up, but the flatter profile and smaller 2.4in size mean on hardpack or dirt roads it accelerates quickly and carries that speed for ages. The oversized side knobs and 3C MaxxTerra compound also allowed the tyre to hold a tight line on loose off-camber trails and if it did break away when we'd been too heavy on the anchors, it did so in a predictable manner.

If you ride hard and end up slamming into roots or catching stumps, you will want a bit more protection on the rear end and the Dissector does come with the Exo+ reinforced casing. This adds some stability to the tyre but also boosts puncture protection, both snakebite and thorn type. It would be nice to see a DD or gravity option, but with the focus on speed, this is the perfect foil to the Assegai or Minion DHF up front.

Our reviewer Guy Kesteven summed up: "Dissector boosts rolling speed and response, but still feels damped and anchored with great ‘grip to slip’ bandwidth for control surfers."

For deeper analysis, see our full Maxxis Dissector tyre review.

Best rear MTB trail tyre for grip

If you like to take risks or find yourself on a few downhill trails, the WTB Judge with the tough dual-ply casing and high-grip Tritec rubber has got your back. As the name suggests, the Tritec is a triple compound rubber, which consists of a hard base, medium rubber in the centre, and soft edge knobs. The tyre is also heavily reinforced, but that’s not at the expense of too much weight – the Judge is similar to the WTB Verdict.

It's no slouch either – in our tests, when the trail opened up, it picked up speed and carried that speed really well for a tyre this chunky. Lean into a turn or cross rut some off-camber and the tyre is predictable, surefooted, and confidence-inspiring. There are some burly centre bars and good depth to the side knobs, so we found braking traction was very good, and when it did give way, it was predictable, so we didn't end up face down in the dirt.

We have struggled to fit some WTB tyres tubeless; they take a bit of work to get the beads to seat, but they hold air better than most. The Judge only comes in a 2.4in width, but it’s a great tyre for crossover trail/enduro/e-MTB use.

Our reviewer Jim Bland concluded: "The competitive price, premium grip properties and high levels of protection make it a strong contender if you’re a gravity rider on the hunt for a year-round rear tyre that grips like stink and won’t flinch when you give it hell."

Check out the full WTB Judge review for more.

How to choose the best MTB trail tyres

The best MTB trail tyre has to be the best of both worlds, borrowing features from the best XC tyres to make them quick-rolling but encompassing the aggressive knobs, grip, and thicker sidewall protection of an enduro or DH tyre.

Trail riders still need to cover the ground efficiently, so the tyre needs to accelerate quickly, carry speed through turns, and not be too fatiguing on long rides. On the other side of the coin, a trail tyre needs to have good grip and traction because modern trail riders are venturing into more technical terrain and riding at greater speed. There’s more risk involved, so you need a tyre that is more robust, has a beefier tread pattern, and a thicker casing. And, because trail riders load the tyre more aggressively in corners, the compound generally must be softer too.

For more on tyre tech, see our guide on everything you need to know to choose the best MTB tyres for your riding.

FAQs

How we test the best MTB trail tyres

All the tyres in our review list have been thoroughly put to the test on a wide range of trails, and in all weather conditions, from dusty bone-dry to wet winter mud.

We test them out over several months so we can get a proper feel for how they respond in varying conditions and review their durability. Among the qualities we assess are grip, stability, mud clogging, damping, rolling speed, weight, ease of setup, and durability.

Garmin launched its Edge 550 and 850 models in September 2025, replacing both the 540 and 840 units which had been in the range for some time

The 550 remains a non-touchscreen unit, though its screen was upgraded. This seems to have come at the expense of overall battery life, which has decreased, and which hasn’t been met with cheers in some quarters.

The Edge 550 retails at £379.99 / $399.99 / €449.99, building on the long-term popularity of the 520, 530 and 540 models that preceded it. It's less than a Hammerhead Karoo, and sits roughly in between, depending on your territory, the Wahoo Roam and Bolt. These brands make the best bike computers when shopping, though other players are gaining traction.

I’ve been riding with the 550 for close to 2,000 miles. I’ve used it for everything: bike launches in foreign countries, regular rides close to home, lots of training sessions, gravel, and road racing. I’ve used it long enough for any potential issues to surface.

If you're shopping for a computer, this review should help you decide if the 550 is right for you.

Design and aesthetics

Like the rest of the Garmin computer range, you receive the Edge 550 with a standard round out front handlebar mount, standard O-ring mount, charger cable, lanyard and documentation. Setup is very easy; you can use a QR code to connect your Garmin Connect app and set everything up quickly.

One of the biggest changes between the Edge 540 and 550 was the screen and user interface upgrade that the 550 received. The screen uses a liquid crystal screen display over the 540’s Transflective TFT (Thin-Film Transistor) screen; it’s also slightly larger and is very similar in looks to the flagship Edge 1050 model's glossy, sleek screen. Overall, it’s bright, crisp and easy to read thanks to the boosted pixel count.

Dimensions-wise, there isn’t much in it; the 540 measured up at 57.8 x 85.1 x 19.6 mm compared to the 550’s 54.6 x 92.2 x 16.8 mm. The 550 is also slightly heavier. I’ve included a photo comparing the size of a few different units below so you can see for yourself.

The sheer volume of features packed into lots of Garmin smart watches and bike computers is a major part of the brand's fitness calling card. The 550 is no different and is packed with features from downloadable training plans to gear ratio use analysis; you can read the whole list here. The Garmin Connect app also lets you do an awful lot of post-ride analysis and is easily one of the most comprehensive apps out there from the computer brands.

There is too much to list; bear this in mind if lots of features appeal to you. I said it in my Edge 1050 review, but if you are the kind of rider who wants to fully embrace every feature, try them all out and mess around regularly with your setups, the volume of features on offer from Garmin units should appeal.

Let's look at what changed between the 540 and 550 units. Lots of features remain, it’s not a total wholesale overhaul, and aside from the better screen, storage and processing, you will need to decide if the extras are enough for you.

The Edge 550 gains more internal storage over the 540, jumping up to 32GB from the 16GB the 540 had, so there's more space for routes. The 550 also has a faster processor to speed everything up.

The 550 has 5Hz GPS tracking capability in the enduro and downhill riding profiles to boost off-road accuracy, along with more MTB-specific support generally. There’s also smart fuelling and hydration updates, a timing gates feature to help you measure specific split times, real-time weather overlay, community hazard reporting for things like potholes and upgrades to the Garmin GroupRide feature.

A key buying decision for riders is whether to go for the 550 or 850, and the two are tied closely together. The 850 has a lot of the same features but gets a touchscreen as well as buttons, audible navigation prompts, a bell and the Garmin contactless payment function, as well as a bigger battery life.

On battery life, the 550 has decreased compared to the 540 on account of that nice new screen. Claimed battery life for the 540 was up to 26 hours, claimed life for the 550 (from Garmin) is up to 12 hours for demanding use, and up to 36 hours in battery saver mode.

Garmin has already published a list of software updates for the unit, and you can see what has been adjusted or amended on the brand's site. There has been a 0% brightness screen fix, for example; it’s an interesting list to go over.

Looks-wise, the Edge 550 is a great-looking unit. Its top and bottom edges are squared off and aren't as rounded as the 540; this somehow makes the unit look more modern for me.

The unit has seven buttons altogether. The main power button and up and down arrow navigation buttons are all on the left-hand side, the bottom centre has lap and stop star ride buttons sitting either side of the charging port, whilst the right-hand side has the select and scroll back buttons. All told, it's a very similar layout to the 540.

Performance

That upgraded screen is a key talking point, and it’s very nice, bright, glossy and crisp. I can’t really fault it and can comfortably use it on lower brightness levels, which aids battery life. At max brightness, it isn’t quite as bright as the Hammerhead Karoo, in my view, but I don’t think anyone will criticise the screen; it’s very nice.

The 550 user interface is easy enough to navigate; it's not my favourite out there, but it will be familiar if you are already a Garmin Edge user. You can end up deep into some menus and settings, and a fair bit of button clicking is needed, but overall, it's simple to learn the unit and find what you need.

If you are a 540 or existing Garmin user, everything will be familiar. If you are thinking of switching. Ride profiles are highly customisable; you can toggle the various Garmin pop-up screens off if they are all a bit overkill for you. I know some riders turn off the pothole alerts due to feeling too interrupted at times, for example. The unit will upload your sessions to Training Peaks if you are a trainer, and you can take advantage of the Garmin coaching sessions and plans if you so wish. The Climbing metric screens all still do their job as well.

When it comes to battery life, the Edge 550 battery does drain fairly quickly. On average, this year, I’m doing around eight hours of riding per week, and my longest weekly ride is about 3.5 hours. I'm never going to trouble it on a single ride, but whereas I can leave other computers for multiple weeks between charges, I’ve had to stay on my toes a little bit more with the Edge 550; I’ve come close to being caught out once or twice with a low battery after several rides.

Usage-wise, that’s riding with an HRM and power meter paired and displayed on every ride, and with a nice bright screen, or with it on auto brightness, you may as well ride with a nice bright display if the screen is capable of it and I assume this is the approach Garmin has taken with the device; you're getting a brighter, better screen, overall, battery life is just slightly lower.

Charging responsibility, of course, lies with the user; it’s no good slating a unit’s battery life if you forget to charge it before your long ride at the weekend. It’s not hard to plug a device in and ensure the battery is charged. If you're riding up to 15 hours a week, you're not going to suffer too much with slightly more regular charging. If you are doing big rides regularly, this may not be the perfect model for you, battery life-wise, and Garmin might possibly steer you toward the Edge 1040 solar.

I don’t love the 550’s buttons, and since this is a non-touchscreen model, you will be using them exclusively. I find them a little too small, and the click is a little too vague when they are pressed. It’s fine differences, they do their job, but when I’m in the middle of an interval and need to toggle screens because the climb screen has appeared (you can of course turn this off), snatching for that fairly small button when you are hurting is at times harder than I would like it to be. There's also just so much packed into the unit that I think a touchscreen, especially now that we are all so used to smartphones, would boost the user experience and make life easier.

This hits home when comparing them to the larger, textured buttons on the Hammerhead Karoo. I just find them more user-friendly and easy to work with on that unit.

My key navigational test with the 550 came when I completed a 200km gravel/road audax event in the winter. This route took in a wide range of terrain, and the route was completely unknown to me - a perfect test. Maps were all easy to follow, and everything worked as it should, but I found the zoomed-in map somewhat tricky to follow at times in things like tight woodland. Navigation is solid here, and if you are a Garmin user already, there won't be any surprises, but the Garmin mapping is still not my favourite, and I favour the Hammerhead and Wahoo maps for clarity and ease of navigation.

Value

You are looking at £379.99 / $399.99 / €449.99 for the Edge 550 at RRP if you want one, that's a chunk more than the Edge 540 when it launched.

Does this unit offer good value? Yes, and no.

It's hugely capable, as with all but the most basic Garmin units. I can't stress enough how much you can do with a unit and the Garmin Connect app; there's too much for me. The computer is super powerful, and plenty fast enough in use, that the new screen is also very nice.

However, I think we are very nearly into touchscreen money here, and if a unit in 2026 is going to be button only, they better be excellent buttons, and I can't call the 550 buttons excellent. This is a fairly big weak point in this unit's offering if you ask me, and I'd still rather save up the extra cash and buy a Karoo or 850 or even a 540 if I were spending my own money.

Verdict

The Garmin Edge 550 is a really solid computer that can do a hell of a lot. I've said it before, but it's worth repeating: modern bike computers are absolute powerhouses. The differences are finer between units these days, and computers are so good that generally, it's the nuanced points that determine model differences at times.

It's done everything I've needed it to do without issue, but I don't love it. The unit may get criticism in some quarters for the reduced battery life, which on paper is a negative, but if you don't consistently do 15-hour-plus rides, I can't see it causing many issues; just charge it.

My main issue is the buttons, the at times slightly more fiddly navigation that comes from them and the Garmin UI and their overall size and feel. With so much packed into the unit, navigation should be a joy, and I don't feel it is here, and for the price, I think it's the weak link in the 550's chain.

The 550 is a very good computer, but it isn't perfect. Are touch screens the way forward now that computers can do so much? I'll be very interested to see what comes next from Garmin in this product tier.

The Judge is aimed to provide aggressive gravity-focused riders with the maximum grip, no matter what the trail hallmarks, and just looking at the Judge’s aggressive and oversized tread pattern made us eager to search for the grip limit on our most demanding test tracks. It's also an option worth considering for trail MTB riders looking for maximum grip and rear wheel security.

Design

The Judge is available in WTB’s ‘Tough’ and 'Light' sidewall casing options. Essentially, it is a dual ply casing made up of two 60tpi layers. Our Tough test tyre topped the scales at a hefty 1381g (but lighter than WTB’s claimed 1427g).

The tread pattern is made up of seriously chunky side knobs, which are claimed to enthusiastically cut the dirt in every direction across a wide range of riding conditions. These are paired with centerline knob companions that alternate between long and wide with the aim of balancing rolling speed and braking traction. Interestingly, when inflated, the overall tyre shape looks more squared off than most, which in practice, with its rear-specific focus, makes total sense for the rear wheels' less profound lean angle during cornering when compared to the front. Measuring at 2.37’’ when inflated to 20psi on our 30mm rim brings the Judge acceptably in line with WTB’s claimed 2.4’’ width.

While the tyre was originally available in two compound options, ‘High Grip’ and ‘Fast Rolling’, only High Grip seems to be available now. The Judge utilises WTB’s ‘TriTec’ rubber technology. ‘TriTec’ is a blend of three rubber compounds made up of a firmer rubber across the base of the tyre which is said to stabilise the knobs and prevent any squirming under high load forces, on top of this is medium stiffness centre knobs which offer the desired rolling speed, traction and longevity balance, while slow rebounding and softer still side knobs are said to deliver reliable grip for g-force cornering.

Like most other WTB tyres, we also see TCS tubeless technology featured here. In practice, these tyres seem to take more effort to seat than most other brands of late. It’s the first tyre in while we haven’t managed to successfully seat with only a track pump. Other than the initial ‘pop on’ struggle, they always seem to remain reliable and hold pressure well throughout testing, though.

Performance

Let’s cut to the chase, if you’re looking for a tyre to maximise your all-day rolling efficiency, then this probably isn’t the best option for you. Within the first few pedal strokes, you’re hit with rolling speeds comparable to the most sticky compound, DH-rated tyre options. There’s no avoiding that the increased weight from a chunky construction and soft rubber blend means the Judge requires more effort to reach the trailhead; however, should you encounter any technical sections or steep pitches during the climb, it does a stellar job of cutting the dirt, finding purchase and propelling you forward.

Get it up to speed on the way down and the slow-rolling nature feels less apparent. The overall feel of the dual-ply casing is excellent, and when compared to older WTB tyres, the feel is more alive and less wooden as it conforms over trail features. During aggressive, hard-charging riding, the levels of protection on offer from WTB’s casing feels really reassuring and not once during testing did we experience a full tyre bottom out, even when experimenting with lower-than-normal tyre pressures. This makes the Judge a great option for hard-charging riders or racers who rank protection highly and don’t want the added complications of tyre inserts.

The meaningful side knobs provide maximum hold when leaned over, even in damp and loose loamy terrain, and the transition from upright to the cranked over ragged edge hits the progressive sweet spot, showing no signs of unclear traction. Braking remains effective and predictable with even North Yorkshire’s claggy clay clearing the tread swiftly. Essentially, the Judge never does anything weird and remains predictably reliable on every trail surface we placed in its path.

As a result, with all of the traits and features combined, we think the Judge in this configuration should really pair well with the best electric mountain bikes, whose riders like to ride hard. The ability to bite into soft trail surfaces means climbing characteristics are exceptional, it’s hyper grippy on the way down to and the high levels of protection and willingness to slow down will suit the heavier bike. So far, the Judge is showing no obvious signs of wear, so we expect it to last well too.

Verdict

The Judge may not release the right endorphins on the climbs, but the premium grip properties and high levels of protection make it a strong contender if you’re a gravity rider on the hunt for a year-round rear tyre that grips like stink and won’t flinch when you give it hell.

Apparently born from the dry and loose tyre desires of World Cup DH star Troy Brosnan, the Dissector plates up different elements from the Maxxis buffet to create a great tyre for those riders who feel a bit too gripped on the brand's Minion DHR II and Assegai. Originally designed as a rear, the Dissector works well on the front too, particularly in drier conditions and is one of the best MTB trail tyres around.

Construction

The WT (Wide Trail) carcass is proven Maxxis and while we tested the lightest single-ply Exo version, there’s a DH casing for Troy and friends, plus DD and Exo+ versions. Our 2.4in Exo test tyre rolled onto WTB and Hunt rims easily by hand, but still popped up for a secure fit with a track pump, and sizing is spot on at a fraction under 2.4in from knob to knob.

In terms of Maxxis comparison, the ramped, alternating centre tread sits somewhere between Rekon and DHR II with a significant gap to the Rekon/Aggressor shoulder strip. There’s a choice of a dual compound or triple compound MaxTerra on the Exo and Exo+ tyres, while the DD and 2 Ply DH are MaxxGrip.

Performance

Maxxis is the generally accepted performance benchmark for aggro and trail tyres and the Dissector sits very neatly into that crossover point. It’s lighter than Minion DHF and DHR in a similar size and the ramped tread rolls faster too - especially compared to the DHR so it adds immediate pep to pedalling.

While there is a momentary breath catch as you cross the centre to shoulder gap that original High Roller and High Roller II users will definitely recognise. Make the leap of traction faith though and cornering grip is decent with a controllably lazy fade into drift rather than a dramatic snap out. That soon makes chasing the sideways slip through every corner an addictive pastime, particularly as you’ll get to those corners a bit sooner and faster than you were expecting. That means it’s a great match to well planted, low slung bikes and riders who like to play with the edge of control at every opportunity. That’s on the 2.4 too, so while we’ve not tried them yet, our experience on other 2.6in Maxxis suggests they’ll be properly sideways happy.

Braking is very stable if you get carried away though and while it can’t match the ‘who put a coil fork/shock on my bike?’ damping feel of Hutchinson’s class-leading carcass, it definitely feels more planted and secure than Rekon, Forekaster or Aggressor. Obviously Exo+, DD and DH versions will add increasing amounts of surefooted, slam proofed feel as you move towards and then well past the kilo.

Verdict

If you’re riding around on Maxxis DHF, Assegai or DHR II tyres and wishing you were going a bit quicker, or want a bit more confidence than your Rekon or Forekaster tyres are providing, then here’s your answer. The Dissector boosts rolling speed and response, but still feels damped and anchored with great ‘grip to slip’ bandwidth for control surfers.

Awesome aggressive grip, zero sketchy habits and a ton of well-judged carcass and compound options mean you’ll see a Maxxis Minion DHR II fitted to more new and well-used mountain bikes than any other MTB rear tyre. It works well up front in a lot of situations too. So what are the details that make it so good and where does it work best? Slightly binary behaviour and slower roll mean it might not be the Maxxis for everyone though, and price is always an investment, but it is definitely one of the best MTB trail tyres available.

Design

The original DHR was a great tyre, but the release of the Mk II version a few years back was when back wheel Cinders really crashed the rubber ball. The big centre blocks got a little bit of High Roller (another leading Maxxis tyre model) style ramping to make it look faster, which combined with the lean-loving L-shape and split square side blocks from its big brother, the Minion DHF. Big gaps and serious sipes (central slots to allow the top of the tread to deform to the trail loads) give it a caricature ‘Swamper’ look and make sure it clears filthy conditions as well as that suggests too.

Specifications

As well as a retread, Maxxis bulked up the carcass options of all their trail/enduro tyres at the same time. A light dual-ply DD casing and a ‘silkworm’ wrapped Exo+ casing filled the middle ground between the existing ultra-heavy DH and lightweight Exo. This created a perfect rear and front combo for riders who were hitting stuff harder and harder as bikes got longer, slacker and faster and possibly had ten kilos worth of battery and motor on board too.

Sizing options expanded to cover everything between XC and Plus, and 30mm and wider rims gained a specific 2.4in WT ‘Wide Trail’ version to restore the correct profile and pliability characteristics on a broad base.

Performance

Tyres start becoming favourites by being easy to fit, and while there are always some rims that seem to be a pain, Maxxis blow up without much stress or swearing on most rims we test. The slightly stiffer Exo+ and DD options also seem to inflate easier, although they can be more of a fight to fit at first. So overall, not the dreamiest to fit, but certainly not the worst either. Unlike a lot of tyres, they blow up exactly the size they should too.

Once on, the stress is pretty much gone. Presuming you got the right carcass weight for your riding (rarely kill a tyre = Exo, regular sidewall splitter = Exo+, regular rim dinger = DD, frame-breaking, shock-blowing animal = DH), your Minion will be a component you completely forget about. It’ll handle low pressures without burping, give a great balance of traction boosting compliance, but still stay supportive when you’re really throttling it through turns. It’s damped enough to add calm and control but doesn’t feel dead and even the heavily reinforced versions aren’t so stiff they’ll hammer your feet or blow bottles out of cages. Compared to similarly tough tyres at each level, it’s an acceptable weight too.

The wide, open, block tread is similarly utterly reliable whatever the conditions. Literally from loose, kitty litter trail centre surfaces in summer to dirty Welsh woods in winter, you can go super heavy on the brakes and slam lean angles knowing that a DHR II will let you get away with more than almost any other tyre. While the softer triple compounds start to round off pretty quickly, the well-supported knobs never rip off and while we have seen some warped carcasses, that’s a badge of hardcore honour, not an indictment on the casing.

The only downside is that even with the obvious ramping, those big blocks and gaps mean it’s almost a gear slower (sorry, without a Scandinavian rolling drum lab to play with that’s the best anecdotal metric I can give you) under power than a DHF and a gear and a bit slower than a Maxxis Dissector/Aggressor. A DHF is going to slide or slip more easily if you get heavy on the brakes or torque, though, and all-round Dissector/Aggressor grip isn’t even on the same page. The amount of sensibly progressive carcass options and sizing gives Maxxis an edge over the ranges from Schwalbe and WTB and makes Hutchinson, Michelin, Specialized, Bontrager, Vee etc. look very restricted in terms of choice.

Verdict

There are very few truly fit-and-forget tyres that excel in almost every situation. The Minion DHR might not flatter fitness, but it’s certainly a tyre I know I can always trust to have my back whatever the trail is doing. Crucially, the whole range means there'll be one I could recommend to any aggressive rider without worrying they’ll be nothing but ‘totally stoked’. Shopping around should get you a better deal on price too, and even the more basic dual compound options are better than most competition.

Specialized’s Butcher Grid Trail 2Bliss Ready T9 already ranks as one of the best mountain bike trail tyres available – especially if you’re in the UK and after a high grip bargain. The Hillbilly steps things up with even more traction for sloppier, softer conditions without losing hard surface control or dragging dramatically either.

Design and construction

While the name is similar to the previous generation Specialized tyres, the Grid Trail 2Bliss Ready carcass comes from a different manufacturer. It’s the same 60tpi layup used on the most recent Butcher tyre, though, and the same soft, slow rebound ‘Gripton’ T9 compound is used here on the Hillbilly as well.

The centre/shoulder tread pattern is very different, following the classic ‘square studs with plenty of space around them’ format of most good soft conditions tyres. Specialized run alternating pairs of knobs close for a slight paddle effect, and the knob tops are siped (slotted) to allow them to reshape and spread under load.

Shoulder knobs are slightly angled in for a directional emphasis with alternate lugs getting long supporting buttresses right down the sidewall. U-shaped sipes create a ‘block in block’ effect on every other knob too, but there’s no outward splay or projection over the carcass edge.

Weight is average for a modern 2.4in ‘trail tyre’ at 1074g but at 59mm across, they’re actually closer to 2.3 than 2.4in wide. There’s also a Gravity Grid version, but that takes weight beyond 1300g in pursuit of extreme punishment survival.

Performance

If you don’t like changing tubeless tyres because of the faff and mess involved, you’ll be relieved to hear Specialized 2Bliss setup is about as easy as it gets. Not so tight onto the rim that it’s a fight, but not so loose you’re worried about it ripping off in the first turn or peeling off if you get a blowout. It runs happily at teen pressures if you really want to suck the wheel onto the ground too, but obviously bear in mind that this is a trail tyre. If you’ve got a history of rubber-ruining rim abuse, you can pick the Gravity version.

Impacts aside, the grip and control levels are well up for extreme riding. The more open, lugged tread locks into dirty, wet, and loose conditions significantly better than a ramped or flatter/tighter tread. While they don’t ‘lean outwards’ to grab carving/off-camber traction automatically the side knobs are well-supported enough to deliver the traction as soon as you tip the bars into the turn. The tread cleans super quickly even in clay conditions and when they do start to slide, it’s a very predictable, normally saveable push, rather than a sudden snap-out and dump-you situation.

The T9 rubber and underlying carcass give excellent impact damping and micro-traction too. That reduces nerves when transitioning from slop to roots/rocks or the treacherous mess of ‘who knows what’s waiting under the leaves/around the next corner' that typifies a lot of UK and northern hemisphere riding for half the year. While there’s an audible and haptic rumble on the road and you’ll lose some ground in a roll-down test, they’re certainly not so slow you’ll go home early or stop one run short on a session. If anything their ability to keep you upright where most trail tires won’t mean you’re likely to get more riding in and you’ll certainly be going faster on descents and tech sections too.

The fact they make adequate forks feel great and great forks feel amazing adds to their already excellent value in the UK at least and while they’ll shred fast if run on summer rocks, in their natural habitat wear is proving totally reasonable. We’ve had no ripped knob or unraveling/twisting carcass weirdness from our long-term Butcher tires either.

Verdict

Specialized’s Hillbilly T9 tires are a great choice if you want significant extra grip in the slop and soft conditions. The Grid Trail versions are really well-damped on harder surfaces and not a total pain to pedal either. In the UK at least they’re an absolute bargain as well.

The WTB Verdict TCS Light High Grip does what it says on the tin. Any Wilderness Trail Bikes (WTB) mountain bike tyre tagged with a TCS label is tubeless-ready. High Grip means it’s built using the company’s super-soft, Tritec triple-compound, and the ‘Light’ casing is double-ply 60Tpi with SG2 puncture protection.

The WTB Verdict can be fitted to either wheel but excels as a front-only tyre offering and is incredible hold on hardpack, loam or slippery mud. The Verdict TCS Light High Grip is packing a little extra weight compared to other light tyres in our best mountain bike trail tyres test, and it can be a little punishing, but this is a real confidence tyre, one you can push hard without it biting back.

Design and specifications

For solid clearance and predictable traction, the Verdict TCS Light High Grip employs a 2x2 centre tread. It essentially repeats the same knob shape, which is siped to increase the footprint but also chamfered on the leading edge to reduce rolling resistance. The knob depth is similar to a Maxxis Assegai, but the tread is more channelled, so the tyre offers excellent clearance and mud shedding allowing those lugs to bite even in poor conditions.

The knob profile is also replicated on the shoulder, but these are some of the deepest knobs I’ve seen and, while that would normally create some unwanted flex during hard cornering efforts, this tyre just has incredible hold. You can get up on that edge in a banked turn without the tyre doing anything weird or vague.

Like in boxing, WTB splits its range into weight categories, but don’t go thinking this Light casing isn’t going to pack a punch. The Verdict TCS Light High Grip features a 60Tpi single play casing but with SG2 protection. This is an additional nylon layer to increase pinch flat protection without adding excess weight. WTB builds a bit of texture onto the sidewall for added abrasion resistance, and that extra meat means you can run slightly lower pressure to enhance traction, while still retaining adequate sidewall stiffness and cornering stability.

The Verdict TCS Light High Grip is only offered in a single 2.5in width, but those deep edge lugs do come up to size, so you may struggle slightly with winter clearance on some suspension forks, especially if you run a mudguard.

Although the Verdict is TCS tubeless-ready, I found it can be tricky to get the bead to seat on some rim brands. I got it to go eventually, but it would often need a bit of bead lubrication and a tubeless booster pump to get it to snap into place, plus a little bit of air topping up down the line.

Performance

One of the reasons this is such a good cornering tyre is the High Grip rubber compound. It’s actually WTB’s Tritec triple compound, utilising a firm base with a medium/soft skin down the centre and a super soft edge. I measured the latter at around 50a using a durometer, but it’s also incredibly low rebound. Some soft tyres can still feel loose and unpredictable on hard surfaces, but the Verdict TCS Light High Grip feels incredibly sure-footed. It doesn’t skate around under hard loading or when you’re snapping the front of the bike into a loose turn – you don’t have to fight for the grip, it just feels solid.

It's not the quickest rolling tyre in our test, which is one of the reasons we recommend this for front-only use, but it’s a great choice for harder riding, gravity use and e-bike fitment. I’ve smashed this tyre through some pretty rocky terrain, and it’s emerged unscathed – that extra rubber on the sidewall really does a good job at protecting the tyre from abrasion. The ride feel is impressive too, helped by that low rebound rubber compound. The Verdict TCS Light High Grip never feels nervous, no matter what surface you’re riding on and, with its impressive wet weather performance, it’s a tyre you can easily run year-round.

Verdict

At 1150g for the 29x2.5in size, the WTB Verdict is not a lightweight trail tyre, but the trade-off is an illicit amount of traction, excellent pinch-flat resistance and an impressive wear rate. Hook this up with a WTB Judge Tough High Grip on the rear and you’re going to be unstoppable.

The HellKat Pro ATC is Kenda’s top-tier trail tyre, but there are two bigger siblings for gravity and enduro use. All three tyres get the same moto-x style tread, which was developed for the DH World Cup stage by the Kenda-sponsored UR Team race team, but the protection levels have been reduced and the weight cut for trail riding. This ATC version features a thinner, more resilient and lighter 120tpi casing and a dual-layer rubber compound. It comes fully tubeless-ready and is available in 27.5 and 29er sizes and two widths.

Does this make for one of the best MTB trail tyres around? Well, keep reading to find out.

Design

The three different casing structures Kenda offers are ATC, AEC and AGC. The middle letter represents the application – hence trail, enduro and gravity respectively. From a purely structural point of view, the gravity casing has an Aramid strip under the tread with an apex chafer to resist pinch flats. The light enduro tyre eliminates this chafer and the trail tyre gets some thinner nylon plies, a more resilient 120tpi casing and a weight of 902g, making it one of the lightest trail tyres in the category.

If the tread was an eight-a-side football [aka soccer] formation, it’d be 3-2-2 with a tightly spaced row of wingers. All the knobs are either siped (they have little slits in the surface) or have shallow depressions, which help them deform and spread out, enhancing traction. To add further braking stability, two of the centre lugs are co-joined and they’re also slightly lower profile than the edge lugs, so don’t flex as hard.

The tread has some pretty open channels, so clearance in mud is impressive, but there are a couple of sections where the casing is a little unprotected, so you may need to ride light in the rock gardens. I’ve not had any issues with punctures (thorn or pinch flat), but I have been running this tyre tubeless. Configuring the tyre was straightforward – the bead seated first time and the tyre didn’t require any additional air during the first outing.

Performance

Kenda employs a dual-layer rubber compound in the HellKat Pro ATC. Unlike the multi-layered compound used in the Maxxis Minion DHF 3C and Michelin Force Am2 tyres, the HellKat Pro just has hard centre knobs and a soft edge. The centre knobs wear better, accelerate quicker and offer better braking traction, while the soft edges obviously stop you coming unstuck when getting sideways in a corner. The soft rubber isn’t quite as soft as claimed though – I measured the hardness at around 55a. While this is only medium/soft, it is low-rebound, so on hardpacked trails it gives a nicely damped feel. As a front tyre, the HellKat Pro doesn’t have any bad habits; it’s stable, confidence inspiring and predictable.

On the rear it also belts along at a good lick, so if you want to get a couple of safety cranks in before a jump or to get the extra percent on the crest of a climb, this tyre isn’t going to hold you back. The only real fly in the ointment is the rear end would slip out occasionally on wet roots and didn’t quite have the same tenacity as Maxxis DHR II or WTB Judge when winching up a slippery climb. A good call if you ride hard or you’re 'are friends electric’ is to fit the AEC enduro version. You’re only looking at 100g increase, but you can easily run lower pressures with the thicker casing to enhance the grip.

There’s an obvious reason to buy the HellKat Pro ATC as it’s a lot cheaper than either the Maxxis and WTB tyres, but it matches them when it comes to performance. It doesn’t quite have the massive edge knobs of a Minion DHR II, but you can still stuff it into a turn and come out all smiles. It also covers the ground quickly and efficiently, and if the conditions are not too extreme, you could easily run this tyre all year round, saving you money and setup hassle.

Verdict

In ATC guise, the Kenda HellKat Pro is one of the lighter trail tyres on the market, so may not suit harder riding or e-bike use. It has good grip and braking traction, rolls surprisingly quickly and the moto-x style tread works in most conditions. A summer tyre you could easily run over the winter.

The original Maxxis Assegai, featured in our best mountain bike tyres round-up, was developed by DH racer Greg Minnaar, so naturally it’s available with a reinforced Double Down casing, but there are lighter Exo and Exo+ versions now available for trail riding.