DT Swiss ER 1600 Spline 23: can an aluminium wheelset still pack a punch?

Shallow, aluminium wheels are usually seen as the less sexy, lower-performing option when compared with their shapely carbon cousins. However, a decent pair of metal hoops has long been a mainstay of cycling components, especially for cyclists who ride all year round in any weather. In the days before disc brakes, it made no sense to subject expensive carbon rims to the grinding paste of winter so sacrificial aluminium wheels were the standard option. However, now that rim-saving disc brakes are ubiquitous on new bikes, can DT Swiss’ ER 1600 Spline wheelset make a decent case for itself as an upgrade option?

As well as offering some beautiful and suitably expensive carbon wheels, DT Swiss has a large number of aluminium wheels available across all categories, suggesting that they still see them as an important part of the range. The ER 1600 Spline sits in fourth place in the five-wheel Endurance lineup - as far as DT Swiss is concerned, ‘Endurance’ wheels are suitable for 'long rides on unpaved roads and paths, including drops of up to 15cm. They are suitable for wider tyres which provide more comfort and grip’. That sounds about right, except for the 15cm drop bit, although some of the local potholes aren’t far off that!

Construction

With cliched Swiss efficiency, the name tells most of the story when it comes to the construction of the DT Swiss ER 1600 Spline - ‘ER’ denotes their ‘endurance’ category, ‘1600’ indicates that the 350 Ratchet hub has been used and the ‘Spline’ nomenclature means that the wheel has straight pull spokes. The lack of a ‘C’ after the ‘ER' shows that the rim is not carbon, so it must be made from aluminium.

The aluminium rims are sleeve-jointed and, thanks to their hooked design, suitable for use with tubeless or tubed-type tyres. The inner width of the rim is 22mm, and the outer width is 26mm, which is reasonable but not exceptional for a modern rim.

Sitting a few rungs down from their range-topping 180 hubs, the 350 still features a ratchet system rather than pawls for quicker engagement and improved durability. The version used here is the Ratchet System 36 SL, meaning that the hubs have been machined to reduce weight and that the freehub has a 10° engagement. Servicing and maintenance don’t require any tools, so there is no excuse for not keeping the hub well looked after.

As you might expect from a brand whose origins lie in spoke manufacturing, the wheels benefit from decent spokes. The straight pull DT aero comp spokes are bladed and double-butted, laced to the rim using DT ProLock Squorx ProHead nipples. Whilst the design of the nipples should prevent them from loosening off, unfortunately, they are made from aluminium rather than brass, which does leave them vulnerable to corrosion and cracking, especially if used in sub-optimal, salty road conditions.

It is available with either a 23mm or 30mm deep rim, with the slight extra aero benefit adding a not insignificant 174g to the claimed weight of 1,657g of our 23mm pair. When weighed, test wheels were 1,676g, but had tubeless rim tape factory-fitted. The system weight limit (rider, bike and gear) is 120kg.

The ride

My chosen 28mm Continental GP5000 AS TR endurance tyres and WTB Nanoair TPU inner tubes went onto the rims pretty easily - not quite without recourse to tyre levers but close enough to make me think that roadside fitting wouldn’t be too much of a fight in the event of a puncture. Inflated, the tyres measured up at 29.5mm, so the rim’s width added a nice bit of extra volume for comfort, grip and hopefully reduced rolling resistance.

Having spent a few weeks with a pair of 42mm deep carbon wheels on my bike, the switch to the 23mm ER 1600 Splines left it looking a bit anorexic and weedy, but I was looking forward to less sketchy riding in windy conditions.

Thankfully, in the interest of thorough testing, weather conditions in the UK's Peak District continued to be at the grimmer end of the spectrum, with rain, snow, ice and wind aplenty to add to the pockmarked road conditions.

Being honest, I wasn’t expecting all that much from the ER 1600 Splines in terms of performance - yes, I’d expect the hubs to be reliable (based on years of using DT Swiss hubs on other wheels) and yes, I’d expect the wheels to be well made, but in terms of actual, tangible performance, not so much.

More fool me. The difference in feel between the previous Mavic Cosmic S 42 carbon wheels and the ER 1600 Splines was immediately obvious, and not in favour of the more expensive wheelset either. There was a feeling of speed and lightness on the road that I was absolutely not expecting; they spun up more easily and felt more at home on my local roads than the carbon wheels, despite the more endurance-orientated rubber I’d fitted compared to the Mavic’s performance tyres.

I also preferred the ride of the ER 1600 Splines to my usual aluminium wheels, which are a couple of hundred grams lighter but are a few years old and have a narrow internal rim width.

This feeling persisted on every ride, whatever the conditions, so I wasn’t just being led astray by a helpful tailwind or an unusually good legs day. In fact, the sensation was similar to that which I felt riding the Cerevlo Caledonia-5 recently; one of easy speed.

I think that this is, at least in part, attributable to the rims allowing the tyres to inflate up to 29.5mm, giving a smoother ride that is less troubled by minor irregularities in the surface than narrower tyres would be. I know that the GP5000 AS TRs ride well, but they should still feel a little slower than the performance tyres fitted to the previous carbon wheels.

Let’s not get too carried away - I’m not suggesting that I’d swap my best summer wheels for the ER 1600 Splines, but their performance or ‘road feel’ certainly exceeded my expectations and made a strong case for there still being plenty of reasons to choose a good aluminium wheelset over a lower-end carbon one.

As DT Swiss’ naming convention suggests, most folk considering this purchase will be looking for an inexpensive, endurance-style wheelset for all-weather riding, be that winter training, commuting or long-distance events. My experience also suggests that the ER 1600 Spline wheelset would also make a worthy upgrade for lots of riders looking for a way to improve their bike without spending carbon money.

Value and conclusion

Pricier than many aluminium wheels but cheaper than most carbon options, the DT Swiss ER 1600 Spline wheelset exceeded my expectations. The lure of carbon is strong, but the benefits of DT Swiss’ engineering and backup paired with the lovely ride quality means that there is the potential to save some cash and upgrade your bike at the same time.

Clearly, aerodynamics are not the strong suit of a 23mm deep rim, but on the flip side, it makes them a lot easier to ride year-round in blustery conditions. Equally, at close to 1,700g they aren’t overly light either but that weight doesn’t manifest itself as obviously as you might imagine, especially when you consider their probable usage as an all-round rather than race option.

Great hubs, good spokes, wide rims and easy servicing tick a lot of boxes when it comes to a wheel upgrade, although brass nipples would be nice. Couple that with an excellent ride and the DT Swiss ER 1600 Spline wheelset is a worthwhile and decent value upgrade option for those who can’t or don’t want to splash out on carbon.