New British brand proves that carbon wheels don't have to cost thousands of pounds

Those of you in the market for a pair of deep section carbon wheels will know that prices of £1,500, £2,000 or £2,500 are not uncommon. However a new British brand is trying to do things a bit differently, offering carbon clincher wheelsets from just £700.

Parcours Velo has recently launched with three different wheels to chose from, ranging from the £700 Grimpeur wheels, through the £750 Passista wheels, to the £800 Chrono wheels.

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The company has tested its mid-range 56mm Parcours Passista wheels in the wind tunnel against the 58mm Zipp 404 Fircecrest clinchers (which cost more than double the price at £1680) and found the performance to be very similar (within 1%) at all yaw angles, with a significant 5-15 watt saving in aerodynamic drag compared to the box section Shimano RS11 wheels. In practice, Parcours says that this means a 57-67 second saving over 40km.

The Parcours Passista wheels also seem to hit the mark in other regards, with a claimed weight of 755g for the front and 895g for the rear, and an internal rim width of 17.5mm.

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For the climbers out there, the Parcours Grimpeur wheels are the lightest the company make, with a claimed weight of 650g for the front and 815g for the rear. The internal rim width is a little wider at 18.2mm, while the 32mm deep carbon rim should still offer some sort of aero gain.

Finally the Parcours Chrono wheels offer the most aerodynamic option of the trio, with their massive 86mm deep rim. Of course this does mean a bit of a weight penalty, with the wheelset coming in at 1,800g.