Best road bike wheels 2025: disc and rim wheelsets to supercharge your ride, reviewed and rated

One surefire way to unlock performance in your road bike is with a new set of the best road bike wheels. Often, in an area where the majority of bike manufacturers economise to meet a price point, even the best road bikes won’t be meeting their full potential.

Recent developments in materials technology have unlocked previously impossible freedoms within wheel engineering. Disc brakes and the wide adoption of tubeless tyres have been big catalysts for this leap forward in wheel performance.

Nevertheless, millions of rim brake road bikes still exist, featuring wheels designed for clincher tyres and catering to those who prefer the simplicity of an inner tube. This includes several members of the Cycling Weekly team.

With so many depths, widths and compatibilities to consider, buying a new set of road bike wheels can be a bit of a minefield. We've tried to make things simple with our pick of the best road bike wheels. All of the wheels featured below have been reviewed by one of our team for either our magazine or directly for this site. Although not an exhaustive list, it includes disc and rim wheelsets. For more advice on choosing the right road wheels for you, head to the bottom of this page.

If you're looking for new wheels for an all-road or gravel bike, our best gravel bike wheels guide has a selection.

The Quick List

The best road bike wheels: Disc Brake

Best all-rounder

Zipp's current focus is on producing wheels designed to be run with wide, tubeless tires and at lower pressures. These are hookless rims with a 25mm internal width, so need to be run with rubber over 28mm and below 72psi.

The hookless set up does mean you are slightly limited on the tires which you can use, be we found the ride quality absolutely excellent, with these being one of the best you can currently buy - so we'd very happily accept that slightly narrower choice of tires for the benefits it brings.

The lower tire pressure requirement does deliver a softer ride feel - not to be confused with a slower one. The smoother ride delivers an almost blood like connection with your bike, coupled with the broader rim profile, allows for impressively balanced and confidence inspiring on bike capabilities. In fact, on test, we were able to hit 85km/h and they didn't once so much as give a tiny flutter, even in some gusty wind conditions.

A low rolling weight and a 66 point engagement hub also means these pick up fast and are capable of showing a clean pair of heels in any sprint.

Popping a set of Tangente Course G40 tires gravel tires on the rim the wheels really came into their own. Capable of taking up to 50mm tires and, over a 400km three day adventure, they only lost around 2psi.

Read more: Zipp 303 Firecrest Carbon road bike wheelset full review

Best aero

The wheels use Zipp’s ABLC™ Sawtooth™ Technology – specifically placed dimples on the rim that are claimed to improve aero efficiency. Zipp’s Total System Efficiency (TSE) wheel design is also implemented, apparently resulting in a 4w saving compared to the previous Zipp 404 Firecrest thanks to better vibration dampening and aero features.

The hookless setup worked perfectly with the Pirelli P Zero RS Race TLR 28mm tyres, which were both easy to put on and also interfaced nicely with the rim to produce a very smooth profile with no bulging. Being hookless, I was limited to ~70psi, lower than I usually use. This led to a feeling that was more plush rather than on the rails, which is more comfortable and by most science is faster as well. Zipp has a pressure calculator, and using that I was recommended 58.7 front and 62.4 rear. I did try this, and it just felt, for lack of a better term, floppy. I used my preferred 70 rear and 65 front for the remainder of testing.

What I really loved though was the dialled-in cornering, the combination of hookless rim profile and P Zero tyres may have aided this. One area that certainly helped with the superb cornering stability was the spoking pattern. Front and rear, both sides feature a 2-cross lacing pattern along with 24 spokes on each, which results in superb lateral stability as well as great performance under braking and acceleration.

Weight-wise, the wheels are nothing exceptional, and they are not the most spritely wheels to accelerate. However, the wheel stiffness helps keep the acceleration in line with lighter wheelsets in the group test. It’s only on the steep inclines that weight becomes truly evident, but for most rides, this will be countered by their aero performance on lesser slopes, flat ground and descents.

Best lightweight

Enve wheels come at a premium and with their Chris King hubs and overall high-quality build and finish, the SES 3.4 Discs reflect that. They're light at under 1400g and come with the differential rim heights common to all Enve SES wheels - in this case that means a 38mm front wheel paired with a 42mm rear - along with a 21mm internal rim width.

As for the aforementioned hubs, they feature a 45-tooth engagement system, which translates to a quick pick up and minimal drag. You're also getting bearings that are made in-house, all part of a component that's designed to last a lifetime with regular servicing.

The wheels feel very stable and the wide tire stance gives a feeling of control, while they hold their speed well. They may be expensive, but the Enve SES 3.4 wheels may just be the ultimate dream upgrade - especially if you're after a set of wheels that are made in the USA

Read more: Enve SES 3.4 Disc full review

Best for windy days

The Roval Rapide CLX II feature asymmetric rims, with the front being 51mm deep with a 35mm external width, while the rear is 60mm deep with a 30.7mm external width. Both feature a 21mm internal width. The wheels feature DT Swiss’s 180 hub internals with ceramic bearings and the Ratchet EXP 36 teeth freehub for 10 degrees of engagement. Our scales read 1,515g.

The idea here is to improve handling in crosswinds, as well as optimise aero performance where the front and rear wheels experience different practical wind angles, with the front experiencing higher yaw angles than the rear.

Out on the road, it is noticeable how stable these wheels perform in windy conditions, with the front never feeling at risk of being swept across. I was comfortable enough to remove and put on a jacket, even in blustery conditions. The wheels also felt like they flew across the flats, rolling road and descents with ease, more akin to a deeper wheelset. The low weight also helped with accelerations both on the flat and on the climbs.

The spoke lacing pattern does likely contribute to this torsional stiffness when accelerating, as the rear drive side uses 2-cross 16-spoke lacing, while the rotor side features the same pattern but 8 spokes. The front wheel is radial on the drive side with 1-cross on the rotor side. Although it exhibited good lateral stiffness for cornering, the front was a little delayed under heavy braking with less torsional stiffness.

Something everyone will notice is how hard it was to fit the tyres. These were some of the toughest wheels to mount the Pirelli P Zero RS Race 28mm TLRs on. With such a high price, these wheels needed to perform exceptionally well, and they did just that. Not perfect, potentially worth the outlay.

Affordable Zipps

Zipp wheels are expensive, so the price of Zipp's 303S wheelset is a pleasant surprise. Like Zipp's other latest wheelsets, they have a wide internal rim bed and hookless bead. That lets you run lower pressures, but limits you to compatible tubeless tires of 25mm or wider only and a maximum of 72psi. You also need to look out for tire clearance, if you've got a tight frame.

Zipp says that, aerodynamically, the 303S wheels are almost the match of its much more expensive 303NSW and they feel fast, while the wide contact patch from the 23mm wide rims inspires cornering confidence.

Read more: Zipp 303S road bike wheelset full review

Best value aero

The Shimano Ultegra 60 wheelset is one of the cheaper options in this group test at £1,258. They feature a 60mm deep profile with a 28mm external width and a 21mm internal. The claimed weight is 1,649g while the actual weight for our set was 1676g, making them one of the heaviest on test.

Fitting the tyres to the wheels was relatively easy. However, to get the tyre to seat, the valve core needed to be removed and a compressor used. Once seated they maintained pressure very well, while the Pirelli P Zero tyres sat pleasantly flush with the rim of the wheel.

Out riding the weight of the C60s is, unfortunately, noticeable. Accelerating from a low speed such as away from junctions or on steeper inclines did feel sluggish compared to the lighter options. However, excluding the weight, these wheels impressed me a lot.

Their performance on flat or rolling roads was brilliant, with the deep rim and wide tyres performing very well and remaining stable even in blustery conditions. A telling factor with these wheels is that I achieved quite a few Strava KOMS when gunning it.

Considering the level of performance from a wheelset with such a modest price, these are great value deep section wheels ideal for riders wanting to do local loops as fast as they can overall.

Best Value

There's very little not to like about these Parcours wheels. In fact, we gave the Ronde full marks when we reviewed them - for a mid-price wheelset it's got an impressive combination of low weight, great ride quality, aerodynamics and adaptability to road or gravel riding.

There's a differential rim depth and profile front and rear to cope with the different needs - stability at the front and power transfer at the rear, with the same 23mm internal width for both. Rims are tubeless compatible, although the hooked bead means that they can be used with a wider range of tyres than a hookless design.

Parcours Wind Tunnel tests its wheels and says that although less aero than the deeper Parcours Strade, the Ronde wheels are still best in class for their depth.

Read more: Parcours Ronde wheelset full review

Best for stiffness

The Vision Metron 60 SL is Vision’s top-of-the-line deep-section road race wheel, featuring its latest technologies. The rims have a 21mm internal width matched with a 29mm external width, which bulges to 30mm further down the rim for improved aerodynamic performance. They are a hooked rim, which I'm still a fan of as a heavier rider, but there are no hookless options.

Spoke lacing is asymmetric on both the front and the rear, with multiple cross-lacing patterns to optimise lateral and torsional stiffness. This has worked perfectly, with the wheels feeling lightning fast to get up to speed and rock solid when cornering and braking. The new 72-tooth ratchet engagement drive also helps with this rapid acceleration while reducing the total number of moving parts, which promises better longevity and serviceability.

At 1603g, they aren’t the lightest 60mm deep sections available, but their high stiffness contributes to excellent climbing ability. Aero performance is difficult to quantify out on the road but they feel as fast as any other 60mm wheelset I have tested in the last year. Their crosswind performance is exceptionally stable though, even exhibiting a noticeable sail effect. Priced at £2049.99, they remain expensive, but within this price range, they excel across the board without compromising performance in any area. Nothing stands out as truly exceptional or class-leading, yet there are no glaring negatives, which is a challenging feat to accomplish. They are a true jack of all trades, albeit closer to a master in some areas.

The best road bike wheels: rim brakes

Best aluminum rims

The Fulcrum Racing 4 C17 is an aluminium rim-brake wheelset which combines a reasonable weight - at 1,727g - with a reasonably deep section 35mm rim for improved aerodynamics.

These wheels do fare very well when it comes to stiffness. Even when setting brake clearance as tight as I dared there was no lateral flex or brake rub when cornering at speed to sprinting out of the saddle maximally. The braking was also brilliant, for rim brakes, and amongst the best I have used, giving greater confidence when descending.

However, the narrow rim width does limit the rolling resistance performance of these wheels significantly compared to other wheels with wider rims that are optimised around chunkier tires. Comparing a pair of 23mm tires on the Fulcrum Racing 4 C17 directly to a set of wheels shod with 27mm tires, the difference in rolling resistance was noticeable - with the total system weight still being close enough as to be unnoticeable .

Value-wise, these wheels are competitively priced against its rivals. Some of the other wheelsets come in at around 100g lighter, however they are mostly 24mm deep and also more expensive. With that weight difference feeling fairly negligible and the aerodynamic gains of a deeper section wheel being more beneficial across most terrains, the Fulcrum Racing 4 C17 do represent a solid choice.

Read more: Fulcrum Racing 4 road wheelset full review

Best rim brake

This performance wheelset is particularly important at what is probably the most competitive price point on the market. They're not the fastest to accelerate because they're 50mm deep, but once the Hunt 50 Carbon Wide Aero wheels are up to speed they're unstoppable and on our tests, these instantly increased our average ride speed.

As ever with Hunt wheels, they're tubeless-ready and have a very wide rim width because of it. Whichever tires you put on it will sit far wider than their stated widths.

Read more: Hunt 50 Carbon Wide Aero full review

Stiff and light

Scribe has put a lot of thought into creating a wheelset that promises longevity and durability, with plenty of nods to consumer satisfaction - such as customisable bearing options and extra spokes and nipples supplied as standard.

The rims themselves proved to be durable - though their bombproof quality comes at the loss of some compliance. You won't find any flex here, though, so if stiff is on your shopping list then these value for money hoops could be the perfect upgrade for you.

Read more: Scribe 3850 full review

How to choose the best road bike wheels

Choosing the best road bike wheels can be quite a minefield. There are numerous standards, widths, and depths to consider, not to mention tyre compatibility, materials, and the various advantages and disadvantages of each option.

This single piece of advice applies to nearly all bicycle components, but it is never more true than with wheels. Spend wisely and extend your budget as far as possible. Aside from your frame, wheels arguably offer the greatest performance upgrade you can make.

Like with so many things, a direct correlation exists between how much you spend and the performance gained. If we were to break it down, choosing the best road bike wheels comes down to striking a balance of these three key areas:

1. Durability - I always put this as number one, as any gains made by purchasing new wheels are totally lost if you can't ride them to their full potential. It's worth mentioning that while durability goes hand in hand with the strength of the wheel build, strength doesn't always increase durability. Think about how you ride and how that might affect the wheel; if you are a strong, powerful rider, it's likely you will need far greater durability in the hub and overall wheel build than the rim, for example. Whereas a rider who tackles rough roads or a heavier rider might need to think more about impact resistance and the type of spoke pattern used.
2. Aerodynamics - It's an easy way to save watts and increase speed, even for those riding at lower speeds or uphill. However, a deeper rim doesn't always mean it's more aero. Striking a balance between depth and weight is important, but it's not as important as finding a depth and width that is right for the conditions you'll likely ride in, works with your frame, and offers a good tyre profile and interface. Gains can be made by mixing depths to find a balanced weight and aero performance, which can also help with crosswinds and stability.
3. Weight - While a lower weight offers fewer gains overall, weight is still very important, especially for those trying to find time on climbs or tackling them at speed. Less so with modern materials, but a lower weight does correlate with less durability; aluminium freehub bodies, for example, while reducing weight hugely, but do suffer from 'notching' and potential damage from under or over-torquing. Adding more aero performance does tend to increase weights, so as mentioned, always looking for that balance is very important, depending on how and where you ride.

Different types of road bike rims

Clincher Wheels

Your bike probably came complete with clincher wheels, and for good reason. Clinchers are the most common type of bike wheel currently available, and they are defined by the type of tyre they use. This is where the tyre has an open section and a bead that locks or is forced using pressure, keeping it in place on the rim.

There are two types of clincher rims, hooked and hookless:

Hooked Rims

Hooked Clinchers are exactly as they sound. The sidewall of the rim features a hooked end that faces inwards toward the centre of the rim. This allows the tyre's bead to be pushed up into the hook, holding it secure.

Hooked wheels tend to be heavier, though, due to the increased amount of material used in the higher sidewall. This tradition dates back to when most bike brakes were applied to the rim. While this design style offers great tyre security and ease of removal and fitting, it is hard to engineer very light and high-performance wheels.

You can still see this design on many modern disc brake wheels, to a point, but with the shift to tubeless on the road, there is less need for it and more benefit from wheels featuring a hookless clincher design.

Hookless Rims

The idea of rims with no/very little side wall is nothing new, with cyclists using tubular wheels for decades. However, this new wave of hookless rims promises all the convenience of a clincher rim with many performance gains traditionally offered by tubular.

Hookless rims have a very short sidewall to the rim; imagine taking a standard hooked rim and just cutting off the top third. Hookless rims rely heavily on a strong, tight bead in conjunction with the pressure inside the tyre to hold it to the rim.

This style of rim does have limitations, though. For example, many are tubeless only, meaning you cannot just chuck in a tube to get home. Additionally, not all tubeless tyres are compatible with hookless rims, which can make tyre shopping quite tricky.

Tubular Wheels

Before the invention of clincher tyres, tubular wheels were the only option available. Today, they’re a rare sight away, even in the pro peloton, with almost all the teams now running tubeless.

Tubulars, or 'tubs' for short, are tyres that do not require sidewalls on the rim; in fact, the rim of a tubular is nearly flat. This means tubular rims are very light. The tyre which is round with no opening, houses the inner tube and is glued or taped to the rim.

As the tyre encloses the inner tube, it makes them almost impossible to fix, and why, for everyday riders, they were abandoned decades ago. Thanks to their shape and the materials used (typically a cotton casing, with a rubber track glued to the outside), the tyres are incredibly supple and fast, meaning you can run them with very high pressures with very few drawbacks. Making them popular among time trialists and track cyclists.

Frequently asked questions about Wheels

How we test

Like all the products we test here at Cycling Weekly, we put in serious miles on as wide a variety of courses and terrains as possible to determine a wheel's performance and offer valuable insight into each review.

Wheels differ a little when we start to examine their aerodynamic performance, though. As much as we would love to put every wheel in a wind tunnel, this is not feasible for several reasons. First, different tunnels and conditions return different results, and the time and cost of such testing could be unsustainable. However, what we do, is partner with experts like Andy Turner on a regular basis to help review wheels. Andy, for example, is a sports scientist who has spent many hours working with UCI teams on the road and in the wind tunnel to optimise performance. Having been a racer himself and spent time on a number of different teams and riding different component brands, he is ideally placed to offer opinions on this area based on his findings out on the road.

In all of our reviews, though, you will find that much care is taken to examine the areas that will affect almost every rider. These include how easy tyres are to fit, their compatibility, and their performance in crosswinds, uphill, and under braking.

Visit our How We Test Products page for more on the Cycling Weekly team and how we conduct our testing.

Glossary

There is a lot of tech jargon associated with wheels; here's a quick guide to the terms you might encounter.

Hub Axle: There are two kinds of axle when discussing wheels; there is, firstly, the axle housed within the main body of the hub; this is what the bearings spin on, and it is important to the correct fitment based on your frame requirements.

Frame Axle: there is also the axle, which you insert through the hub to attach the wheel to your frame. Depending on your bike's standard, this is generally called the quick-release or thru-axle.

Axle width and standard: Road bikes have multiple axle spacing standards. Quick-release wheels usually run on 100 mm-wide front axles and either 130 mm-wide rear axles, which are typically used for rim brake bikes, or 135mm if a bike is designed for QR wheels for disc brakes. The axle is 9mm in diameter.

Wheels and frames with thru-axles usually have 100mm spacing at the front axle and 142mm at the rear, although a few road/gravel bikes use Boost spacing, which is 110mm front and 148mm rear. Thru-axles on road bikes are typically 12mm in diameter, although some older models may have a 15mm front.

Dropout: The dropouts are part of the frame to which the wheel sits in between. Depending on your frame standard will determine how the wheel fits in. The axle will sit in the dropout, which will have an open section for a quick-release wheel. For thru-axles, the dropout will be closed, and the wheel will rest between the two sides.

Hub: The hub is the centre of the wheel that rotates around the axle. It houses the bearings and drive mechanism, which transfers energy into forward movement. The hub also connects to the rim via spokes.

Freehub: The freehub is the part of the rear wheel to which the set of gear sprockets is attached. It turns your energy into forward movement and allows you to be freewheel. The freehub and the mechanism in which it operates are what give the wheels their trademark clicking noise.

Bearings: The hub turns on the axle via bearings. These may be loose ball bearings rolling on a cup and cone system or cartridge bearings, which are more common nowadays. Loose bearings are user-serviceable, whereas cartridge bearings need to be removed and replaced in their entirety when they become worn.

Spokes: Spokes connect the rim to the hub and provide strength and shape to your wheel. Most are made of steel, but more expensive wheelsets occasionally use carbon spokes to reduce weight. Spokes can also be engineered to reduce weight, add aerodynamic performance, and even provide additional comfort.

Nipple: Nipples are usually at the rim end of the spoke. They are effectively tightened nuts to add tension to a wheel, giving it its shape and strength. Nipples may be brass or aluminium. The former is heavier but less prone to corrosion.

Rim: The rim is the outer circular part of the wheel and is what your tyre fits to. Most rims are designed for clincher tyres, although if you run tubular tyres, you'll need a different-shaped rim. Clincher rims subdivide into those designed only to be used with tyres with inner tubes and those that are tubeless-ready. Many rims can be used with both.

Hooked Rims: Tubeless rims are further divided into hooked and hookless designs. Hooked rims can be used with tubed or set up as tubeless. They design features a hook which the tyre can grab onto when pressure is added to allow for a secure fit and quality seal.

Hookless rims do what they say on the tin. They are rims without a hook into which the tyre's bead can lock. Hookless is a newer technology in cycling, and you, the rider, must check your tyre'ss compatibility with hookless rims before fitting them.

Braking surface: Rim brake wheels will have a shiny, machined surface around the outside of the rim to which the brake pad is applied to stop your bike.

Centrelock is a standard for fitting disc brake rotors to the hub of your wheel. The disc's rotor has a centre spline that slides onto a matching spline on the hub shell directly. A large lock ring holds it in place.

Six-bolt is the other most common disc rotor fitting system. In this system, the rotor is fitted to the hub using six small bolts. These are usually M4 T25 Torq bolts, which thread directly into the hub shell and hold the rotor against a large flange.