Slices through headwinds and deep enough to sail with quartering tailwinds. Typical bombproof Shimano hubs that are easy to service with conventional tools and no noisy freehub like so many other wheelsets. The quiet freehub allows you to stay stealth before unlashing your sprint.
What an amazing set of wheels! They are so much fun to ride beause of two factors; one a big surprise.
These are fast as expected for a 50mm wheel and similar to my old WH-7850, also 50mm. BUT these wheels have such great cross-wind control. I can ride with no hands again! A big surprise was how well these wheels corner! They inspire such confidence! They remind me of those stiff Mavic Ksyrium SL wheels with aliuminum spokes that were so good in a criterium. They are a bit firmer riding than most of my wheels: Roval C38, Ksyrium Elite UST Disc with a 22mm rim height, Shimano RS-770 with a 30mm rim height, and the dozens of rim brake Ksyriums I have used in 45 years of racing. BTW-C38s are Terrible in crosswinds, almost as bad as MadFiber wheels.
Overall a very smooth but firm riding wheel.
they're an absolutely phenomenal, unbelievable value.
given they're supposed to have an identical rim profile to the dura-ace wheels used by world tour teams, i assume that the design is aerodynamically sound (this is my first carbon road wheelset, so saying they "feel fast" or stiff or whatever isn't really meaningful).
being compatible with both 11 and 12 speed cassettes is great, aero spokes are a nice feature, and the weight is reasonable for the price.
aesthetically, as someone who appreciates minimalism and doesn't like giant banner-like logos and branding, i love the subtle (in practice almost invisible, unless you're looking for it) logo on the wheels, and the very quiet hubs that don't sound like a kid put a baseball card in his spokes just to be loud.
overall i'd say that at full price they're great wheels with decent value, but if you can get them at a discount then they're really fantastic.
I have a variety of wheelsets I ride including Dura Ace C50 Tubulars but this is one is the best. Set-up with 25mm Continental Grand Prix 5000 TT TR tires tubeless (without sealant they holds pressure abut 4 hours) they are by far the fastest in my riding group. Highly recommended in my experience.
I was a bit skeptical about these wheels, glad I was wrong. Biggest difference I've experienced upgrading to carbon wheels on a bike. They immediately felt much lighter and faster, and for some reason, more comfortable with bumpy roads (this one may be placebo). Where it shines is at higher speeds, you feel more speed for the same power. Only downside I see is you can't upgrade the free hub to XD, AFAIK.
Money well spent, very happy with purchase.
