Carbon Wheels Optimized for 28mm tires?
 

Looking to add a set of Carbon wheels to my 2018 Cannondale Synapse.

I'd like a set of carbon wheels to allow the use 28 mm wide tires, and still follow the 'Rule of 105".

So far I've found:

Hunt Limitless Aero wheels
Parcours Strade
Roval CLX

Are there other options I'm missing? Does anyone have real world experience with any of the wheel sets above?

Thanks!

If you're going to be running tubeless, some of Zipps hookless may fit the 105%. I have the 303S, which may be a mm or two too narrow, externally, for you but they still have a great tire/rim transition and are great wheels/value. The 303/404 Firecrest and/or 353/454 NSW are a little wider.

I can recommend Hunt as long as you are okay with crazy loud hubs, but the Winspace Hyper wheels with carbon spokes and ceramic bearings for $1200 shipped w/ code are simply an amazing deal for what your getting and these aren't sketchy back ally Chinese wheels but carbon wheels that are UCI approved and are being raced by professionals and have been reviewed by guys like Hambini

Can someone please explain what the "Rule of 105" is?

I do not plan on running tubeless. Going to stick with a tube. The Zipp 303S are tubeless only I believe. I should have mentioned that in my post. Thanks for the suggestions though. I will check the other rims, but I believe they are tubeless only as well.

The rule of 105 says the rim needs to be 105% the width of mounted tire. So, if you take a 28 mm tire, and it actually measures 30 mm's mounted on the wheel, the minimum rim width for "maximum" aero benefit is 30 x 1.05 = 31.5 mm's wide. This is based on wind tunnel testing or so I have read.

Realistically, to run 28 mm tires following the 105 rule, you need a rim that is a minimum of 32 mm's wide.

Thanks.

32 mm is quite a wide rim!

Your welcome. There are not as many wheel options that are 32 mm's wide, although there seems to be more being released. That is why I'm asking, if people know of other options that I'm not seeing.

fwiw, my understanding is that many of the newer TL tires are now nominally sized to run to their stated width on wider rims. IOW, a '28mm' tire in the past would be about 28mm if put on a 17mm inner rim width wheel. A new tire model today, a '28mm' tire should be 28mm on a ~21mm ID rim width wheel.

Enve 4.5 AR

I have the Roval Rapide CLX's on my Trek Madone. I like them a lot, but I've been running 25mm on them to date. Only the front rim is wide.

The rear rim is much less so and deeper and suits a 25mm tyre very well but can go to 28mm. The front is definitely more suited to the 28mm and, in fact, I've ordered a pair of P-Zero Race in 28mm to try because putting on and removing a 25mm on that front rim can be a real pain. Sometimes no tools required, just goes on, others it is just near impossible! Not a good situation if out on the road with a puncture. So I'm going to see if 28mm sorts that - otherwise I'd stick with 25mm.


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8acf1e1bda.png

Thanks, those look very nice, other than they are tubeless only.

I've used tubes in mine. They require tubeless compatible tires because the rims are hookless, but tubes don't hurt anything. (I only use one to get back home when I flat though.)

My 2019 Roubaix Expert came with the Roval Rapid C38 wheelset (21mm Internal/26.6mm external width) mounted with Specialized Turbo Pro (Tubed) tires in 28mm. The actual width of the tires mounted is 30.1mm. I have a set of GP5000 tires ready to mount tubeless and will be interested to see their actual mounted width.

do you have the GP5k "TL" or newer "TR" model tires? I understand the TRs are made narrower

Light Bicycle WR series. You can configure almost anything you want with the rims, including leaving them hooked rather than hookless for max tire compatibility.

I have a mixed WR50/AR56 F/R, originally I wanted Enve AR 4.5s but got impatient waiting for their updated version. My LB wheels with Carbon-Ti hubs ended up costing less than half that of the Enves and are lighter too.

Don't know why you wouldn't go tubeless with such wide tires though. Setting up GP5000 S TRs was a cinch.

Ah good catch.. they are the older TL series, I picked up on closeout. Still curious as to how they will mount up.

https://ffwdusa.com/

FFWD Ryot series, 31mm wide, 21mm internal, perfect for 28mm tires. Lifetime warranty in the US, and you can usually catch them on sale, I think they're 15% off right now. I have the Ryot77s with their TwoOne hubs, it's their version of the DT350 hub, no issues, but you can also get DT240 hubs if you want. They also have them in 33mm, 44mm and 55mm depths.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c3aca7e5c3.jpg

Thanks, those look interesting! Also, nice looking Super Six Evo. Currently riding a Synapse, but may add a Super Six to the stable.

I can vouch of the FFWD wheels... Have had 3 different sets over the last 10 years and all of them still look brand new and have rarely been out of true. They are very well made and their prices are reasonable....

I'm using the same wheels w' 25mm Conti GP500s. They're extremely hard to get on & off. Have never flatted the front, but have on the rear about 5 or 6 times I suppose. My technique is getting better and/or my hand strength is much improved now. I've been pleased with the wheels thus far. I've been giving thought to moving to a 28 out back for a bit more cush & comfort.

28-622 GP5000 S TR mounted on 25int/29 32 ext measures 30.7mm @ 64PSI, and the wheel is specially designed for 27/28mm, on my road bike. On my commuter/trek, 30-622 and 32-622 on 24 int/ 29 ext come out to 32.3 and 34.4 respectively. The wider the internal width, the wider the cross section.

But you don't know what the tire will actually measure on the rim until you mount it, no? OK for a person who can experiment with wheels and tires to get the perfect 105, but seems that a guess, or a calculation based on the marketed tire size is the only practical way to do it.

Very illustrative on how there can be very different ways to make and shape a wheel. On one hand, a 21mm internal yields a 30mm wide external width, in the 2nd instance, 25mm internal only yields 29mm external. Of course, therefore the same 28mm Tire will inflate to smaller width on the wider (external) wheel.

It's actually the opposite from my observations. That's the design of the rim to give the optimized 28mm more aero properties. Same for my 2 different wheels. The final width measurement for mine is what I stated, which means the wider the internal width, the wider the tire casing will measure.The FFWD rim is 31mm ext width wide and 21mm internal width. The poster is not posting the tire casing width measurement.