If you're unfamiliar with Scope, the Dutch-based brand make a wide range of wheelsets covering road, all-road, gravel and triathlon. The R4.A is its 45mm all-road offering.

Construction

To make the R4.A better suited to a range of road surfaces, Scope has made the rim bed is wider than its R4 wheelset. This is now commonplace among many of the best road bike wheels. It measures 23mm internally and 30mm externally. It's designed for use with 28-30mm tyres, but can accommodate up to 65mm. Tubeless tape is required for sealing duties, but spokes can be adjusted with the external nipples.

The rim itself is developed with Scope's own Algorithm Enhanced Aerodynamics (AEA) for an optimal rim profile across multiple conditions. Spoke holes are locally reinforced to provide extra strength while maintaining a low weight. The wheelset weighs 1,580g on our scales, which is close enough to the claimed 1,583g, and the wheels have no user weight limit.

Spokes are all Sapim CX Sprint straight-pull, bladed spokes, laced in a 2:1 ratio with 21 spokes at the front and 24 at the rear. The front is radial laced on the non-rotor side and 2-cross on the rotor side. At the rear, they use 1-cross on the non-drive side and 2-cross on the drive side to optimise stiffness.

Scope utilises its proprietary R series hubs, with the option to upgrade to CeramicSpeed bearings. The freehub is a new Diamond Ratchet system, similar to DT Swiss' Hugi-style ratchet. Here we have a 36-tooth ratchet, but a 48-tooth option is available. Front axle is 100x12mm while the rear is 142x12mm, and both use centre locking systems for the rotors.

The Ride

Fitting a pair of 28mm road tyres proved more challenging than I had anticipated, but I got there eventually. The rims come pre-taped, and the supplied valves worked well with no issues. This wider internal width means that 28mm tyres sit a bit wider, with sidewalls nicely in line with the rim profile, and not bulging out.

On the road, performance is best described as muted. That's not a negative; it's just that nothing stands out the way that some higher-end wheelsets do.

They hold speed nicely on the flats, while the 45mm U-profiled rim did well in blustery conditions. In crosswinds they proved to be bang on par with more expensive wheelsets such as the Vision Metrons. Riding no-handed to put things in or take things out of pockets was not an issue.

When it comes to changes in pace, the Scope R4.A are balanced. Again, they feel understated, rather than 'wow'. Lateral and torsional stiffness feels good. Accelerating, braking, and hard cornering all feel great. Some £2k+ wheelsets forgo a decent amount of spokes in the pursuit of low weight and aero, but this can impact negatively on wheel performance. There's no such worries here. The downside is the R4.A are on the heavier side at 1583g, which does mean that when accelerating up steeper climbs, their weight can be felt compared to more lightweight options. However, for this price point, they are a decent weight and certainly not to be considered heavy.

The new ratchet drive hub helps deliver good engagement and strong acceleration, and although a 48t option is available, I prefer the security of the larger teeth and the potential longevity of the 36t option.

Where these wheels truly shine is in their versatility. With no weight limit, a wider internal and external width, plus the capacity to put some wider tyres on them, these are exceptional value. With practical and easy-to-replace internal parts and spokes, the Scope R4.A wheelset will also be very easy to live with.

Value and conclusion

Given the wheels somewhat muted performance, which is solid but not anything that feels next level, it might be easy to skip on these wheels and look elsewhere. However, at £1398 /$1649 I would say that these wheels perform better overall than nearly anything else I’ve tested within this price range. There are one or two similarly priced wheelsets that perform marginally better on the road, however they lack the off-road capabilities of the R4.A.

Yes, there are some higher end road wheels that feel subjectively faster, marginally stiffer, and a touch lighter. But these are often $/£2000+, and being lighter often comes with a weight limit and limited use for all-road conditions.

The Scope R4.A wheels are really the definition of a wheel that is a genuine jack of all trades. There are better road wheels, and there are better gravel wheels. However I think you would be very hard pressed to find a single wheelset that performs quite as well across both areas, let alone for this price.

Specifications

• 23mm internal, 30mm external
• 21 spokes front
• 24 spokes rear
• 45mm depth
• Sapim CX Sprint bladed spokes
• External nipples
• 36-tooth Diamond Ratchet freehub
• Upgradeable to 48-tooth
• Optional Ceramic Speed bearings
• Weight 1583g

Lightweight, the German ultra-premium carbon wheel manufacturer, has chosen rest day at the Tour de France to launch what it’s calling a “new era in carbon wheel engineering”.

Those that remember the last time we saw a Lightweight wheel at the Tour de France was possibly in 2007, when German pro-rider Marcus Burghardt collided with a yellow Labrador, tacoing his front wheel and sending him flying over the bars.

Since then, despite some controversy at the time, wheels like their Obermayer 50’s have remained an exclusive and arguably cult product, where their legend in hill climbing and sprint circles is only truly revealed to those that can afford them, and the odd lucky journalist. For many diehard fans and some of those in the know, Lightweight make the best carbon wheels in the world.

Even for journalists, they’re as rare as rocking horse deposits, and we have to go as far back as Simon Smythe, one of my most esteemed predecessors, to find evidence of their lore. Simon reviewed them for Cycling Weekly back in 2018, saying that “as a pure climbing wheel they simply cannot be beat”.

The new wheels, not unlike the otherworldly pricing of the outgoing models, retail at an extraordinary €6,990 for the top spec Meilenstein Art Schwarz ED wheelset, or just €6,550 for the base spec model.

Lightweight, as it did in the Obermayer, uses an innovative construction method which sees the spoke bonded into the rim, at opposite points in the rim of the wheel. In this case, the spoke passes through a special flange on an aluminium hub body (based on the DT Swiss 180) where the passing spoke is bonded with adhesive to the hub shell, permanently.

The unconventional manufacturing approaches continue in this latest incarnation of their wheels, where the rim itself, measuring 45mm in depth, uses reusable inserts to mould ribs inside the rim profile – called Alpha Rib Technology or ART for short – which they claim adds class leading lateral stiffness. This should worry unattentive pedigree breeds everywhere.

The brand also claims that CfD and wind tunnel work done in the design of the now more conventional, contemporary, aero rim profile puts them ahead of the competition when lateral stiffness is set against aero performance and weight.

The Obermayer wheelset measured just 18mm internal and 19mm external. Dimensions which would be a blade to the shoulder of an errant dog now that they're presumably unfoldable.

Thankfully, the new rim design is more blunt, and brings the much girthier rim profile into the range of recent wheel launches from other brands – with an internal rim width of just shy of 23mm (22.9mm) and external rim width of 28.6mm. The wheels are designed around a 28mm and larger tyre profile and are of a hooked design.

Lateral movement on a wheel rim is usually measured by assessing the deflection when weighted. If the data is to be believed, these wheels are not just stiffer than the outgoing model in that plane, but stiffer than the similarly expensive Partington R-Series MKII, which retail for a similarly interstellar sum, but are in the same miniscule ball park when it comes to mass. If the weight claims prove to be accurate too, Meilenstein Art will now be some 70g+ lighter than the outgoing model they replace.

We asked for aero data to support the performance claims in respect of the 20 spokes, which appear wider gauge than conventional carbon spokes. This was not available at the time of going to press, but these wheels are marketed for the purposes of sprinting, and climbing, where the brand clearly chose to prioritise, or perhaps more fairly, consider, both stiffness and aero, over out-and-out aero numbers. The wheels are it claims, 20% more aero than the last model.

Saying the weight is extremely competitive understates the facts somewhat. The wheels come in lower than much shallower profile wheelsets like Roval’s Alpinist, which tips the scales at 1250g.

Whilst the Lightweight’s stay true to their brand name at a meagre 1190g +/-3%, claimed weight, the similarly bonkers Partington’s must have been on their radar throughout the development of this wheelset. Those, worry the scales at around 1170g, so these extremely exclusive wheels, from a brand already known for creating some of the stiffest riding, lightest and most exclusive disc brake wheels in the world, are certainly still in the game.

We've yet to ride them of course, but with the new figures in hand, I'd not bet against the front wheel if these new Lightweight's comes up against a wandering Labrador ever again.

Specifications

Wheelset Weight: 1.190 g (+/- 3%)

FW: 550 g | RW: 640 g

Rim Depth: 45 mm

Internal Rim Width: 22,9 mm

External Rim Width: 28,6 mm

Rim Design: 700C | hooked | closed rim bed

Optimized Tire Size: 28 mm+

Tire Type: Tubeless-Ready

Spokes: 20 Full-Carbon Front/Rear

Hub: Proprietary Penta-Fly | DT SWISS EXP 180

Freehub Systems: Shimano | Sram | Campa

Brake System: Disc Centerlock

Spacing: 12x100 | 12x142

The wheel upgrade market, especially at the lower end, has been challenging for some time, and it's not hard to see why. Most mid-range bikes now come with in-house carbon wheels that tick a lot of boxes. They’re aero, light enough, often 50mm deep, and most crucially of all, look like all other carbon wheels. So, for many riders, the incentive to upgrade just isn’t what it once was.

But that doesn’t mean the whole category is redundant - far from it. Scribe’s Inception 50+ Disc wheelset makes a strong case for the budget carbon upgrade. After testing it over some of the UK’s roughest roads, I can confidently say it’s far from budget in terms of it's performance, making the Scribes comparable with some of the best road bike wheels you can buy.

The construction

At £649, the Inception 50+ is one of the cheapest full-carbon wheelsets on the market, yet it still manages to weigh just 1,433g. That figure compares favourably not just to alloy upgrade options - some of which are in the same price range - but also to carbon wheels from big-name brands costing twice as much. On paper, at least, the Scribes look almost too good to be true.

And there are trade-offs, of course. The carbon layup (a mix of T700 and T800 fibres) is light but doesn’t offer the same lateral stiffness or snap that you’ll find in top-tier carbon wheels. If you’re used to riding something like an Enve or Zipp, you might notice a slight softness when putting down big efforts or sprinting hard. But again, these wheels cost a fraction of the price of a set of Enve SES 4.5s. And they ride far better than they have any right to at this price.

The hub system is functional and fast-engaging, with a 6-degree pickup. It’s not flashy, and I’d hesitate to make durability claims without a long winter on them, but there were no issues during testing. The freehub is very loud, which will split opinion. I didn’t mind it, but it’s something to consider if you prefer a stealthy ride. If you're not a fan of loud hubs, Scribe did tell us that they can specify a medium viscosity grease, which does go some way to dampen the sound, if customer's require it.

The ride

Out on the road, the Scribes hold up well. I tested the wheels with a set of 28mm Continental GP5000s (which measured up at 29mm on the 24mm internal rim) and ran them tubeless. Set-up was pleasantly easy, thanks to the ramped rim bed and bead-lock design. Within minutes, they were sealed and ready to go.

The wheels were fitted to a Giant Contend SL - a solid alloy platform with decent geometry but limited compliance, which made it easy to spot any flaws. And yet, over Oxfordshire’s notoriously rough tarmac, the ride quality was smooth.

Rolling performance on flatter roads was good for this price point too. The 50mm depth and rounded rim shape held speed well and didn’t feel overly twitchy in crosswinds, however the lack of bladed spokes does affect top end speed. Climbing was great too - these aren’t featherweight climbing wheels, but given the depth and price, their performance on punchy terrain was more than respectable.

Ultimately, what sets the Scribe Inception 50+ apart is its honest execution. There are no gimmicks here, just a well-specced wheelset that performs well in the real world and doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not. They don’t redefine what carbon wheels can do, but they massively overdeliver for the price - and that’s arguably more valuable.

Specs

• Weight - 1433g
• Depth - 50mm
• Internal rim width - 24mm
• External rim width - 31mm
• Rim technology - Clincher (‘mini hook’ design)
• Tubeless ready - Yes
• Hubs - Scribe High-Speed pawl hubs
• Spokes - Round, J bend, Alloy

If you’re buying a 36mm carbon rim road bike wheelset, it’s safe to assume that weight is a key priority for you. And the offering from Cadex - Giant’s subsidiary component brand - sets its aim at just that.

Giant has gone for all the mod cons: this is a tubeless, hookless wheelset. If you’re not on board with hookless tech, which allows for a lower weight and cheaper production cost but limits tyre choice and pressure to 72psi, then you should continue your search elsewhere.

If those items are on your shopping list, Cadex offers a solid option, but one that is accompanied by a premium price tag.

Cadex 36 Disc Tubeless wheelset: construction

Cadex claims that its lay-up process reduces the overall weight of the wheels by strategically placing high-tensile strength carbon where it’s needed, dropping fractions of grams elsewhere. The overall set comes in at a claimed 1,302g, we actually got 1,300g dead-on on the scales, with valves and tape. 

Cadex has opted to go for unpainted carbon, paired with a resin that offers UV resistance. 

The brand is keen to blow its horn regarding the use of ‘Dynamic Balancing Lacing Technology’. This spoke lacing technique was introduced by Giant in 2015, in order to counter the unbalancing effect of pedalling forces under load. 

The crossed spokes on the drive side of the rear hub are engineered at different tensions, which means that when the rider winds up an effort, the wheel remains stiff. When not under load, differing lengths in the forward-facing and rear-facing spokes ensure that the stiff-under-load rim isn't reduced to a noodle - the result being consistently firm wheels, when trundling or sprinting up to 1,700 watts (I should be so lucky).

The claimed stiffness increases are of course bolstered by the use of carbon spokes, with an aero profile. Aerodynamics don’t tend to dominate the conversation when it comes to a shallower wheel, but the truth is that the greatest aerodynamic benefit comes from swapping from a box section to a rim around this depth; anything 50mm upwards is incremental (if you won't take it from me, take it from now-Ineos race engineer, Dan Bigham), so you can expect some watt savings with a profile of this nature. 

One factor that sets Cadex's wheels apart is that its carbon spokes can be trued, other examples of trueable carbon spoke wheels include Hunt's UD carbon offerings and the Campagnolo Bora Ultra WTO. The nipple heads are internal, so in this case trueing takes place from inside the rim, but it's better than nothing.

Cadex, and parent brand Giant, have gone all-in on the narrative of 'wider equals better'. These wheels use a 22.4mm internal rim. They’re designed to be set up alongside tubeless tyres, run at lower pressures, with the end goal of greater comfort, increased confidence in the corners via a larger contact patch, and potentially speed uplifts when riding on rutted roads, which make up most cyclist's regular terrain. 

There are several claimed benefits to hookless rims, such as a more aerodynamic profile and grater durability, but having asked brands for numbers, these tend to be incremental (<5w). The construction method cuts costs, and these are often passed on to the consumer, enabling people to buy a lighter rim without a £2K+ outlay of the days of yore. I don't believe it's a coincidence that when the likes of Zipp (303S) and Enve (Foundation) chose to compete with the new kids on the block - like Hunt and Parcours - they went hookless. Cadex doesn't fit into that category, as these cost £2,499.98.

The hub is Cadex’s own 30-tooth ratchet system, resulting in a 12-degree engagement angle. This isn't particularly high - many of the best road bikes wheels are higher, including Zipp's 353 NSW which comes with 54 points of engagement, and Hunt's similarly specced creations boast 7.5 degrees via a leaf-sprung mechanism using multi-point pawls and 48 ratchets. The eagle-eyed tester might complain that this results in a slouchy pick-up. 

Asked about the decision, Giant's David Ward said: "Some do use more teeth but considering that when you are on a road bike you aren’t stopping and starting pedalling on as regular a basis as you would do off-road then I think a 12-degree engagement angle is ideal."

The hubs use ceramic bearings - these promise to be 1.5 times smoother than Cadex's own steel bearings, which are rated ABEC level 5; the scale travels from one to nine, with higher numbers representing better tolerances. Few manufacturers creating bearings for cycling applications shout about this, but most don't go beyond ABEC 3. Cadex's choice is higher spec than most on the market, which demonstrates a focus on high quality, though it's debatable how discernible this will be to the consumer. 

Asked how the bearings performed vs steel bearings, the brand told me: "As a good relatable test to show the improvement using ceramic bearings, two identical Cadex front wheels were set up in a test jig, one with steel bearings and one with ceramics. Both wheels were spun with the same controlled force. The wheel with the steel bearings came to rest after 96 revolutions and the one with the ceramic after 150."

This does sound impressive. However, it's important to remember that - within cycling applications where bearings are run at a relatively low RPM and existing in an environment requiring grease lubricants - the savings offered are quite small. The oft-quoted number from market leader CeramicSpeed is 9w if you use its bearings - over traditional bearings - in the hubs, jockey wheels and bottom bracket.

Cadex 36 Disc Tubeless wheelset: the ride

I tested the Cadex 36 wheels, initially, aboard Liv’s Langma Advanced SL Disc Red eTap road bike. I also rode the Langma Advanced Pro Disc 1 with a heavier set of Giant’s SLR-2 36 disc wheels. The Advanced Pro Disc and Advanced SL Disc framesets are separated by a handful of grams and a 5-7% stiffness increase - the two rides can’t be directly compared, but it’s possible to draw out some rudimentary comparisons based upon the two ride experiences. 

The Giant SLR-2 36 wheels are still carbon, but shaving 250g off your wheelset will be noticeable. Unless there's something very wrong with your fit, then a wheelset upgrade is hands down the best investment you can make, so if you're currently on a box section alloy set of wheels, an upgrade like this will make your bike feel like a rocket.

The low weight, coupled with carbon spokes, made for the quick accelerations that the numbers would suggest. These wheels climb well and feel fast to pick up the pace, though, if you want to win a flat-out sprint a 50mm+ rim will always be your go-to. 

There's no point in pretending to be something you're not, and whilst I've raced some national-level events, I'm female, 57kg (+/-1 when not, as per present, pregnant), and more of an FTP type rider than a sprinter, so I'm not nudging Giant's claimed stiffness up to 1,700w. I didn't get any flex out of the wheels, but I'm more likely to notice a wheel that's overly stiff vs one that wobbles under load. However, if your own max power output is closer to 800w than 1,500w, then you can safely put yourself in the same camp as me.

Running wider internal rim plumps out the tyres, and the comfort on offer - coupled with Cadex’s Road Race tyres - was discernible. This became a tad harsher when paired with Cycling Weekly’s control tyre, the Schwalbe Pro One TLE 25mm, but these aren’t clattery wheels. 

At 36mm deep, there's no need to worry about instability in crosswinds, I had no problems there. The hub is reassuringly noisy, so if you like the click-click-whurr of a pricey wheelset, you won't be disappointed.

At 1,300g, this is a wheelset that safely enjoys a position on the lighter end of the scale, and that shone through in the ride when compared with the likes of the Giant SLR-2 36. Compared to a low spec, box-section aluminium rim, the difference would be huge. However, I didn't feel they were particularly remarkable when compared with experiences I've had on less premium wheelsets, which brings me nicely to our 'comparisons' section.

Cadex 36 Disc Tubeless wheelset: comparisons 

The road market is pretty flooded at the moment, but it's rare to find two perfectly comparable wheelsets, such is the nature of the choice available. 

Compare Cadex's wheels to the likes of Roval's Alpinist, with its 33mm carbon profile, 1,248g claimed weight, but minus ceramic bearings and carbon spokes at £2,200, and the Cadex 36 appears to be the winner based on spec. Zipp's 202s haven't been updated for some time so aren't competitive at all, and Enve's most recent foundation line starts at 45mm so there's no shallow climbing wheel to offer up for battle. Clearly, if we compare to the likes of Germany's Lightweight, where the Obermayer Evo Disc Wheelset will set you back £6,599, Cadex is a better value choice. Cadex has not positioned itself at the upper end of the premium scale.

However, Zipp's newer 303 Firecrest has a deeper rim at 40mm but still weighed 1,410g for us (claimed 1352g), you won't get those carbon spokes or ceramic bearings but at $1,900/£1,600, you'll have quite some cash to spare.

Over at Hunt, you've got the likes of the 44 UD carbon spoke disc wheelset at £1,279; the deeper 54mm pair tested well with us. The 44s come in at 1,357g (based on our last test you can add 44g for valves and tape). They do come with truable carbon spokes, but without ceramic bearings. When Hunt does offer a bearing upgrade, the added cost is £300 - so you've got quite some cash to spend before hitting the £2500 that Cadex is asking for. 

Cadex's 36 wheelset is refined, stiff, light, and a joy to ride. Like the Campagnolo Bora Ultra WTO wheels we tested earlier in the year, they come from a brand with prestige and history, fitted alongside components that are costly to produce. 

The question for you, as the consumer, is whether or not these premium components, and this prestige, is worth the additional ~£1,000 on the price tag. For most, investing in bike fit or aero clothing, might reap more tangible gains. 

• Weight: 1,300g
• RRP: £2,499.98

Everything ‘gravel’ product-related comes with a very major caveat: the definition of gravel varies significantly from country to country, region to region, and rider to rider. For some, ‘gravel’ is about gravel racing, going hard and fast on paths strewn with worn-down flint. For others, it means natural rock gardens, and for a lot of UK riders, it means mud. 

For those chasing speed across relatively untechnical gravel, a wheel with a robust but aero rim is going to be the name of the game; that’s not the Zipp 101 XPLR. Pinching the title from Zipp’s previous 101 - an aluminium, shallow section rim - the new iteration is an intentionally flexy construction created to meet the needs of those who like their gravel with a side order of gnar.

Zipp 101 XPLR gravel wheelset: construction 

The new Zipp 101 XPLR wheelset was launched as part of the SRAM/Rockshox/Zipp XPLR collection. I scored the RockShox Rudy XPLR suspension 3.5/5 and the RockShox Reverb XPLR seatpost 3/5. In my book, both were 'nice to have', but somewhat surplus to requirement. Of the collection, the Zipp 101 XPLR wheels feel like the best investment.

The Zipp 101 XPLR sees the brand look to incorporate the technology it uses on its enduro/trail wheelsets - initially via the 3Zero MOTO MTB wheels - which itself is copied from motorsport.  

Effectively, the single-wall carbon rim intentionally flexes. The idea is to provide greater control and grip in the corners. I’ll have to borrow Zipp’s analogy since I’ve not been creative enough to come up with a better one: imagine a runner rounding a sharp bend, their ankle pivots to allow them to turn, and these wheels target the same response.

Flex - which we tend to avoid in situations where we expect to be putting the power down - is used here to create the feeling of additional suspension, also allowing the rim to be more resistant to dings, and therefore letting the rider run lower pressure.

Zipp continues to use what it calls 'ankle compliance' tech in its off-road wheels, so we can draw the conclusion that it's not been a short-term fad, hidden away after a few years. Arguably, though the 40mm tyres I tested the set-up with will muffle some of the effects, the flex is going to be far more discernible on a gravel bike than it will a full-sus mountain bike. 

In keeping with gravel trends, these come in 650b and 700c sizes. Weight has not been a focus - claimed weights are 1,590g and 1,665g respectively. We got 1,680g for the 700c pair (with tape and valves). Asked what it was about the construction method that made for a heavier rim when compared with Zipp's other gravel-ready carbon offerings, the brand said: "If we used the same amount of material to make a box section rim to make the single wall rim, we would not have the strength or the stiffness required. So we need a thicker layer of material."

Whilst many ‘gravel’ wheelsets are really ‘all road’ options (see: Zipp’s own 303 Firecrest), these hoops are specific to their purpose: the aim is stamped clearly by the 27mm internal rim width. Don’t be running these with road tyres. The Zipp G40 tyre fitted to these, at 25psi, measured 41.8mm on my digital Verniers. 

The rims are hookless too, and off-road this makes absolute perfect sense, there is no chance you’ll want to exceed the maximum suggested pressure. The intention is that you run these tubeless, but you can add a tube provided the tyre is hookless compatible.

Zipp has used its ZR1 hubset, utilising steel cartridge bearings and a six-pawl leaf spring driver mechanism, with 66 points of engagement and a 5.45-degree maximum pick-up lag. This makes for quicker pick-up responses than you'd expect in a road wheel. Even the extremely expensive Zipp 353 NSW road wheel comes with 'only' 54 points of engagement, and that was a marked increase from its prior 36.

The spokes are CX-Sprint, with 28 laced in a 3-cross pattern, the intention here is durability, and these should be easy to source, replace and true.

Zipp 101 XPLR gravel wheelset: the ride

I tested  the Zipp 101 XPLR wheels aboard a Salsa Warbird gravel bike, which had previously been furnished with the brand’s 303 Firecrest wheels. Whilst both from the Zipp family, this provided a pretty solid base for comparing the wheels alone, with the 303 Firecrest hoops designed to meet the demands of 'all road' riders, who still want a lightweight rim and an aero profile.

Did I feel the difference? Honestly, yes. Hilariously, riding the Zipp 101s was the first time I ‘got air’ on this set-up (I use the quotation marks because I'm neither 'rad' nor 'epic' enough to use the term without them), whilst hurtling down a fast descent. Strava stats prove I really was just pushing the pace harder than previously, and whilst I can't grade confidence numerically, I did feel a boost on this setup, which for want of a better term was reminiscent of a well-equipped but relatively nimble tractor.

After a few test rides, I found myself hitting off-camber roots with more speed than I would have previously, confident in the assurance that my set-up would handle the terrain without me having to make so many adjustments. The tyres, stretched out by the internal rim measurement, will have contributed here. But the experience mirrors what physics tells us: more flex at the wheel reduces the need for the rider to divert from their course or take evasive action.

As a relative newcomer to off-road terrain, the Zip 101s provided me with a tangible confidence uplift; a rider with more tekkerz on the trails would have got more performance out of these than I could.

Resilience is harder to test. I used the 303 Firecrest wheels to cover 100 miles of South Downs Way gravel, including descents strewn with menacingly large rocks - and I didn’t come a cropper. However, such incidents take time, and these wheels were replaced by the Zipp 101s after a few months. The extra flex afforded by these wheels should make for greater resilience, but I cannot claim to have experienced this during the test period. 

These aren’t particularly light wheels, at 1,6804g vs 1,410g, so they will add to the overall weight (vs a lightweight carbon pair with weight as a focus), and that has its penalties in acceleration. However, if your focus is more scrambling up techy ascents, then that extra pivot is going to provide you with more assistance than losing 200g.

Zipp 101 XPLR gravel wheelset: value and conclusions

At £1,646/$1,800 a pair, this is an outlay that sits in line with the likes of the Zipp 303 Firecrest, but comes well in excess of the ‘all road’ Ronde from Parcours which impressed us so much (£1,049 with steel bearings).

The RRP to weight ratio is not an area where Zipp can purport to shine with the 101 XPLR. The Scribe Gravel Wide++ wheels weighed 1,306g (with tape but without valves) and at a price of £870 / $1,000.00. Parcours’ Alta gravel wheels were £849 / $1,149 and weigh a claimed 1,460g in the 700c version. Being the first wheelset of its kind in the gravel genre, perhaps we'll see Zipp snip away at the weight over future iterations - but it's never going to be first and foremost. 

Don't buy these if you value low weight, or if you're keen for an all-rounder of an aero boost. If you, very specifically, want a gravel wheelset that focuses on traction, grip, confidence on techy terrain and bombproof rims, these are a good bet.

• RRP: £1,646/$1,800 a pair
• Weight: 1,680g (with valves and tape)

FAQs

The Milkit tubeless valve and refill kit helps you maintain your tubeless tyres without needing to pop a bead. It makes topping up sealant levels much less messy.

Tubeless tech is becoming more and more widely available for road bikes, with many wheelsets now tubeless ready. There’s an increasing range of tyre options too, with Conti being the latest to offer a tubeless tyre.

Running tubeless brings advantages for road bikes: a more comfortable ride as you can run lower pressures without the risk of pinch flats and a higher degree of puncture protection than with an inner tube, leading to less risk of roadside repair being needed.

>>> How much damage can a tubeless tyre take?

But you can lose significant amounts of sealant when you set up the tyres, if they don’t seat easily, and over time the sealant will dry out or some may escape if you have a puncture. So you’re never too sure how well protected you are.

The only options up until now have been to pop a tyre bead to see what state the sealant is in – and risk losing more sealant getting the tyre airtight again – or bunging more sealant into the tyre just in case, adding rolling mass.

That’s where Milkit comes in. It consists of a large syringe and a pair of patented valves. These are built with a secondary rubber seal at the base of the valve stem, so that you can remove the core without losing pressure. So when you want to check how much liquid sealant is left in the tyre, you unscrew the core and insert the tube from the Milkit syringe through the stem.

Opening the valve on the syringe tube pushes the sealant from the tyre into the syringe. You can then see how much is left from the graduations on the syringe, top up the syringe to the volume needed and re-inject the sealant through the valve core.

The system has been around for mountain bikes since 2015, but Milkit has now launched a couple of road versions. These come with longer 55mm and 75mm valves to handle deeper section aero rims. There’s also the original 35mm version if you’ve got shallow section tubeless wheels.

>>> Why don't the pros use tubeless tyres?

One thing to take care of when using Milkit for road tubeless is tyre pressure. At 100psi, the pressure can potentially turn the syringe plunger into a projectile. Milkit says you should use eye protection and it’s a good idea to reduce the tyre pressure before starting too. Even at 20 – 30 psi, there’s a significant push that forces the plunger out, so you need to take care that you’ve got virtually no pressure in the tyre before inserting the syringe.

You need to get the tyre valve right at the bottom of the wheel, to be sure that you’ve sucked out most of the sealant and there’s a tendency for the sealant to foam, so you may need to let it settle before you can determine how much you have in the syringe. But otherwise, it’s easy to work out if you need to add more. And pushing the sealant back into the tyre is easy enough too, provided you’ve dropped the tyre pressure first.

The lower valve seal isn’t as airtight as the upper one, so you can lose a bit of air and sealant after you’ve removed the syringe. But refit the presta valve core into the stem and you quickly get an airtight seal and can reinflate the tyre.

>>> How to puncture proof your tyres

The presta core is not a standard unit, having a long tail that will push down the secondary valve, so you can release air from the tyre if you overinflate. It has a couple of flattened faces too, so that you can use the included tool to screw it in and out easily.

I found the Milkit valve useful when fitting new tyres as well as for maintenance. You can get air into the tyre more quickly without the presta core in place, leading to easier seating. And once seated, the kit allows you to add a measured amount of sealant as a separate step.

If you swap between tyres frequently, Milkit makes this a lot easier and less messy, so it would be useful for cyclocrossers who want to run tubeless rather than tubs. It also means that you can reuse sealant rather than having to replace it, saving some cash.

And once you’ve bought the kit, you can buy Milkit valves separately if you have multiple wheelsets you want to run tubeless, saving around £20.

You can’t fix disc brake rotors which use Shimano’s centerlock standard to all wheelsets using an internally splined locknut, because often the axle is too wide for a standard cassette locknut tool to fit. The Upgrade Centerlock 15/20mm lock ring is externally splined, to get around this problem.

Because of the proliferation of axle standards, many wheel manufacturers make its wheels with a wider diameter axle and sell or provide adapters to fit other axle standards.

>>> Best road bike wheelsets

So you usually find that you can adapt a disc brake rear wheel to 12x135mm thru-axles, 12x142mm thru-axles (which are becoming the de facto standard) or quick release axles. Usually, 12mm is narrow enough that you can use a cassette tool to tighten an internally splined locknut onto the centerlock rotor threads.

The problem is usually with the front wheel, where road bikes can come with 15x100mm thru-axles, 12x100mm thru-axles (again, this is becoming the standard) or quick release axles. To fit a 15mm thru-axle, the wheel axle is usually too wide for a cassette tool to fit and let you tighten the lock ring.

>>> Disc brakes: everything you need to know

So you need a lock ring with external splines. Sometimes, you’ll get one with a wheelset, but if you don’t, you may need to source one yourself. They’re not that easy to find. Fortunately, Upgrade Bikes sells one as part of its extensive range of spares to fit its Kinesis branded wheels.

The Upgrade Centerlock lock ring can be tightened using a standard external bottom bracket cup tool. It will also work with narrower hubs, as they follow the same thread standards.

It’s a simple solution to the lack of compatibility between standards for thru-axles, although disc brake road bikes are increasingly standardising on 12x100mm front thru-axles and 12x142mm at the rear. Centerlock rotors are rapidly taking over from the 6-bolt standard too. Upgrade also sells adaptors to let you run 6-bolt rotors on centerlock wheels. Centerlock rotors aren’t compatible with 6-bolt wheelsets though.

If, like us, you've been struggling with the stringy, thin consistency of Continental's ubiquitous tubular glue for years, then today is a good day!

Tubasti's rim cement is awesome stuff, with a texture like chewing gum. One 25g tube has enough to give your wheels four layers - two per rim - and this is more than enough to get the job done.

Used sparingly and spread over the rim with a toothbrush, the first layer doesn't seem to be absorbed by the rim as is normally the case, so the second layer is the last