A wheel rotates about 500 times per kilometre. With each rotation, the spokes are alternately loaded and unloaded. With a normal seasonal mileage of 2000 kilometres, that's a million load changes - not including impacts from stones, roots and jumps. Only a precisely designed and manufactured wheel can fulfil these extreme requirements. In the big BIKE wheel test, we scrutinised 19 popular models and filtered out all the weaknesses and strengths of the individual models.
Too little spoke tension dramatically reduces the service life of wheels even under normal use.
The requirements naturally vary depending on the area of use: models for racing, such as the Fulcrum Red Carbon or the Ritchey Superlogic, must above all be light and be able to accelerate without great effort, carbon as a rim material helps here. Enduro bikes such as the Veltec V-Two, Industrie Nine Enduro or the downhill-compatible Mavic Deemax Ultimate need maximum stiffness and stability. And for all-mountain use, what counts is a healthy mix of these extremes. However, one thing applies across the board: a top wheelset requires a sensible design and precise construction. Only then can it fulfil the rider's preferences and at the same time last a long time. Together with wheel expert Theo Piele, we looked deep into the construction of the wheels, measured and analysed hundreds of values for spoke tensions and also tested two 29-inch sets for comparison.
The test results of these wheel brands can be found below as a PDF download:
Aclass, American Classic, Crankbros, DT Swiss, Easton, Edge, Fulcrum, Industry Nine, Mavic, Ritchey, Shimano, Sun Ringle, Veltec.
Ritchey Superlogic Carbon
RemarkAfter the Ritchey Superlogic carbon wheels only achieved a "good" rating in the big BIKE wheel test, Ritchey is working feverishly on a solution. BIKE criticised the low spoke tension, which can have a negative effect on the service life of the wheels.
The slightly cheaper WCS Carbon wheels come with sturdier DT Competition spokes as standard. This makes this wheel more suitable for heavy riders. The rim used for the WCS wheels is identical except for the last carbon layer.
You've done the big wheel test and want to go even deeper? There you go: Here we show you all the diagrams of the tensions and the tensile tests of the spokes in high resolution. Plus all manufacturer links.
The participants in this year's wheel test: 19 models from 150 to 3120 euros for all application areas from Race to Enduro.
Overview:
Aclass VED 3
Aclass VXD 3 www.aclass-wheels.com
American Classic MTB 26 Tubeless www.amclassic.com
Crankbrothers Cobalt www.crankbrothers.com
DT Swiss EXC 1550
DT Swiss XM 1550 Tricon www.dtswiss.com
Easton Haven www.eastonbike.com
Edge 26" AM Clincher www.edgecomposites.com
Fulcrum Red Carbon
Fulcrum Red Metal 29 XLR www.fulcrumwheels.com
Industry Nine Enduro www.industrynine.net
Mavic Crossmax ST
Mavic Deemax Ultimate www.mavic.de
Ritchey Superlogic Carbon www.ritcheylogic.com
Shimano WH-MT 15
Shimano WH-MT 65 cycle.shimano-eu.com
Sun Ringle Charger 26"
Sun Ringle Charger 29" www.sun-ringle.com
Veltec V-Two veltec.de
We have carried out a tensile test with each spoke type, here you can find all the graphs for each spoke type:
Force-displacement diagram of the blade spokes.
Force-displacement diagram of the round steel spokes.
Force-displacement diagram of the aluminium spokes.
That's how wide the rims are:
The rim width must match the preferred tyre width. We specify the inner rim width.
Don't be afraid of carbon: the wide carbon rims are often more stable than their aluminium counterparts.
Where are the spokes under high stress and where does the tension drop dramatically? We apply pressure to the wheel standing on the ground via the wheel axle and measure the spoke tension.
UNDER THE MAGNIFYING GLASS:
The design of an impeller leaves room for individual solutions - and for minor and major errors.
