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Some of the wheels used in the Tour de France are designed to be primarily lightweight, while others are more focused on aerodynamics, but they all have one thing in common: they’re all intended to provide a competitive advantage… and unfortunately for those of us who have to buy our own bikes and gear, they’re all quite expensive! In this article, we’ll take a look at which wheels the pros use, along with affordable alternatives.
As with our cheap Tour de France bike review, you can often find great deals on the exact wheelsets used by the pros. However, you can also find cheaper models that feature much of the same technology.
If you’re looking to upgrade your bike but feel like a whole new bike isn’t necessary, investing in new wheels is probably one of the best ways to make it feel and perform better. While some of the wheelsets featured here certainly aren’t cheap, they’re far more affordable than the top-of-the-range models ridden by the pros, which can cost thousands of pounds.
> Best road bike wheels
This year’s Tour de France features several wheel brands among the 22 teams. Four teams are using FSA’s Vision-branded wheels, and another four are on Shimano’s Dura-Ace wheels. Roval and Zipp wheels are the wheels of choice for two teams each, as are Enve wheels. The remaining teams are equipped with wheels from Reserve, Black Inc, DT Swiss, Newmen, Bontrager, SwissSide, Corima and Giant’s Cadex brand.
Let’s take a look at some suggestions, plus some current deals on cheaper versions of these top models…
Like the look of the Roval Rapide CLX II Team wheels (£3,000)? Try the Roval Rapide CL II for £1,323
Two teams are using Specialized’s Roval wheels at the Tour: Red Bull – Bora Hansgrohe and Soudal Quick-Step. Top riders such as Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel have access to the recently released Rapide CLX II Team wheels. You’re looking at £3,000 for a pair of these, even more than the already pricey £2,500 for the non-team version.
However, if you want similar technology for a lot less, we recommend checking out Roval’s Rapide CL II wheels for less than half the price. These feature the exact same super-wide aero rim as the CLX II wheelset, but with lower-spec DT Swiss 350 hubs, which we found to perform very well and be very durable.
Buy the Roval Rapide CL II wheels for £1,323 from Balfe’s Bikes
Zipp 303 S (£849) > Zipp 353 NSW (£3,379)
Movistar and ProTeam Lotto Dstny use Zipp 353 NSW wheels, which retail for a whopping £3,379 a pair (you can currently pick them up from Sigma Sports for £2,799 – bargain!) If you’re looking to spend less than four figures on a set of wheels, you can pick up the Zipp 303 S wheels for around £850.
> Are expensive carbon road bike wheels worth the money?
The 353 NSW wheels have a distinctive wavy rim, while the 303 S wheels have a standard shaped rim. Both are 45mm deep, however. The 303 S wheels have an internal rim width of 23mm, which Zipp says is “aerodynamically optimized when paired with a 28mm tubeless tire.” They’re also compatible with tires up to 50mm wide, making them suitable for gravel riding.
Buy Zipp’s 303 S wheels for £849 at Sigma Sports
Can’t justify spending £3,350 on Enve? Try the Enve Foundation 45 for £1,620 for the pair
ASO
American brand Enve supplies wheels to Tadej Pogačar and UAE Team Emirates, and to Team Total Energies and their rider Anthony Turgis, who won the 9th stage of the Tour.
The pros normally use Enve’s SES 4.5 wheelset with 51mm and 56mm depth front and rear respectively. Retail price is £3,350 for the pair.
Enve’s Foundation 45 wheelset is around half the price of the SES 4.5, featuring a 45mm-deep carbon rim with a 21mm internal rim width and reportedly optimized for 25-28mm tires. Like the brand’s SES wheels, the Foundation collection is tested and developed in the Mercedez Benz Formula One wind tunnel “to deliver the best real-world aerodynamic performance.”
Enve’s Foundation 45mm costs £1,620 at Balfe’s Bikes
Opt for the Vision SC60 (£1,149) instead of the more expensive Metron wheels
This season, FSA’s Vision-branded wheels have doubled their presence in the WorldTour peloton, with four teams now riding Vision hoops. These teams are Arkéa-B&B Hotels, Astana Qazaqstan, Bahrain Victorious and EF Education-EasyPost.
Typically, riders opt for Vision’s Metron 60 SL Disc wheels, but they can also choose to step up to the shallower Metron 45 SL Disc wheels.
> The bicycles of the Tour de France
A more affordable alternative is Vision’s SC60 wheels. According to the brand, these wheels are based on the latest version of Vision’s professional Metron series rims, “but with a more classic and less extreme construction”.
The carbon rim is available in depths of 45 or 60 mm and has an internal width of 21 mm. This ensures maximum efficiency with tubeless tyres from 28 to 32 mm.
Buy Vision’s SC60 wheelset for £1,149 from Team Cycles
Save £500 over Dura-Ace by opting for Shimano Ultegra C60 wheels (£799.99)
Team Ineos Grenadiers, Alpecin-Deceuninck, Groupama-FDJ and Team dms-firmenich PostNL all use Shimano wheels (mostly). Ineos Grenadiers for example has been known to dip into the Lightweight and Princeton ranges in their quest for those famous marginal time trial gains.
The pros ride Shimano’s high-end Dura-Ace wheels. You can currently buy the C60 disc brake wheelset for £1,299 from Sigma Sports.
For less money, Shimano’s Ultegra C60 wheelset is currently available for £799.99, featuring trickle-down technology from the Dura-Ace range. The latest Ultegra wheels debut with full carbon rims, with this model featuring a 60mm rim depth and 21mm width.
Shimano says: “As with the Dura Ace models, the development focused on a balance between three factors: aerodynamics, stiffness and reduced weight.”
Buy the Shimano Ultegra C60 wheelset for £799.99 from Fawkes Cycles
The SwissSide Hadron2 The Classic 500 wheels cost £1,090, almost £700 less than the Pro versions
> Can the Van Rysel RCR Pro become one of the most successful bikes in WorldTour cycling?
This year, Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale will be riding Van Rysel racing bikes equipped with SwissSide Hadron2 Ultimate wheels, which cost £1,746 a pair. These wheels are available in 38mm, 50mm, 62.5mm and 80mm rim depths, with the team often opting for the 50mm set.
For “World Championship winning pedigree at an accessible price with unbeatable quality”, SwissSide also produces the SwissSide Hadron2 Classic wheelsets with identical rims as the Ultimate series, in depths from 38-80 mm, but with cheaper DT Swiss hubs and spokes.
The SwissSide Hadron2 Classic 500 wheelset costs £1,090 direct from SwissSide
Opt for the Giant SLR 1 50 Disc (£839.98), a fraction of the price of Cadex wheels
Team Jayco–AlUla is the only team to use Giant’s Cadex-branded wheels, making their bikes an all-Giant affair. Riders like Michael Matthews and Simon Yates use the Cadex 50 Ultra Disc wheelset, which features a 50mm depth, a hookless rim profile and a claimed weight of 1,349g for the pair. However, each wheel costs between £1,149.99 and £1,499.99.
For less than the price of a single Cadex 50 Ultra Disc wheel, a pair of Giant’s SLR 1 50 Disc wheelsets can now be picked up for £839.98. Like the Cadex wheels, these also feature a 50mm carbon hookless rim profile and an internal rim width of 22.4mm. They’re less than 200g heavier for the pair, with a claimed weight of 1,518g.
Giant’s SLR 1 50 Disc wheelset costs £839.98 at Pedal On
DT Swiss AR 1600 Spline wheels (£519.99) cost a quarter of the price of the Arc 1100 Dicut Disc
ASO
Uno-X Mobility riders use DT Swiss wheels, specifically the Arc 1100 Dicut Disc-brake wheelset. This wheelset has a claimed weight of 1,299g per pair and costs €2,499 (around £2,100). They come in a variety of rim depths – 38mm, 50mm, 62mm and 80mm – and come in both rim and disc brake versions.
The DT Swiss AR 1600 Spline wheels cost less than a quarter of the price at £519.99. While not carbon fibre, the AR 1600s are designed to offer the best aerodynamic performance of an alloy system, according to the brand.
DT Swiss says the same “know-how” went into developing these wheels as the high-end carbon aero wheels ridden by the pros. Aero touches include bladed spokes and hidden spoke nipples.
Buy the DT Swiss AR 1600 Spline wheels for £519.99 from Velo Workshop
Which of these (almost) pro team wheels would you choose? Let us know in the comments below.