Currently I am looking at an affordable disc brake wheelset for gravel. My frame will allow up to 45mm in 700c and so I am looking to utilize the last 10mm, meaning willing to ride 35-45mm tyres. Therefore I am looking around for affordable alloy options with an inner rim width of 22-24. So far I have looked at the EastonAX (i24), Mavic Allroud (i23), but also have seen some DT Swiss wheels which could perhaps work. As I am looking around I found below wheels, looking forward to any comments you may have on these.
- DT Swiss CR 1600 23 - DT Swiss C 1800 Spine 23 - DT Swiss X 1900 Spline 22.5
I am looking forward to hearing any comments, especially as the last wheel is officially marked as an MTB wheelset. I am not sure if this would imply lesser suitability towards gravel riding?
The DT Swiss CR 1600 23 came on my bike. Can't complain about them. Just make sure the end caps fit (12mm vs 15mm). Most of those mountain bike wheels have 15mm caps, and my fork only takes 12mm (although it is possible to change them).
Nothing wrong with a MTB rim, if the hubs fit your bike (above, boost, etc).
What end caps do you have? How about freehub body? Be careful with the mtn 11sp freehub body; it won't fit 11sp road unless you get a cassette like the shimano 11-34. Of the 3 wheelsets you mentioned, I'd go with the DT Swiss CR 1600 23, because they have a true 350 rear hub with the ratchet and not the 370 (which is a fine hub, but not as good).
I just ordered some DT carbon mtn wheels from Merlin for my Warbird. I plan on using the 11-34 cassette, and not having to change any end caps.
chas wrote:The DT Swiss CR 1600 23 came on my bike. Can't complain about them. Just make sure the end caps fit (12mm vs 15mm). Most of those mountain bike wheels have 15mm caps, and my fork only takes 12mm (although it is possible to change them).
Nothing wrong with a MTB rim, if the hubs fit your bike (above, boost, etc).
Thank you Chass, that's great to hear. Actually I think they provide great value as they are available quite discounted on the web right now. As you ride them I am wondering, do you have any experience with wide tyres, like 40-45mm? I am asking as this wheelset can do cyclocross, so may be a bit narrow at 22mm inner rim width for aforementioned tyre widths... Perhaps any thoughts on this?
clarksonxc wrote:What end caps do you have? How about freehub body? Be careful with the mtn 11sp freehub body; it won't fit 11sp road unless you get a cassette like the shimano 11-34. Of the 3 wheelsets you mentioned, I'd go with the DT Swiss CR 1600 23, because they have a true 350 rear hub with the ratchet and not the 370 (which is a fine hub, but not as good).
I just ordered some DT carbon mtn wheels from Merlin for my Warbird. I plan on using the 11-34 cassette, and not having to change any end caps.
I understand, for me it would be the 12mm instead of the 15mm, when further comparing I noticed as well that the Cross wheels have a 130kg max system weight while the MTN wheels just 110kg, this may become relevant when doing more heavy bikepacking, so that kind of rules out the MTN wheels for me. I actually agree with your choice of the 3, best value for money and good prices online. As your bike can fit up to 700*45, what inner rim width are you buying? To me 23 seems best, but also 22, 24 could be good.
The inner width on the ones I ordered is 22.5mm, which I will be using on a Salsa Warbird. I run that bike with 45mm tires all the way down to 25mm road tires depending on the ride/race.
clarksonxc wrote:The inner width on the ones I ordered is 22.5mm, which I will be using on a Salsa Warbird. I run that bike with 45mm tires all the way down to 25mm road tires depending on the ride/race.
clarksonxc wrote:The inner width on the ones I ordered is 22.5mm, which I will be using on a Salsa Warbird. I run that bike with 45mm tires all the way down to 25mm road tires depending on the ride/race.
I will trust that this will all work then! Impressive wide range.
Thank you Chass, that's great to hear. Actually I think they provide great value as they are available quite discounted on the web right now. As you ride them I am wondering, do you have any experience with wide tyres, like 40-45mm? I am asking as this wheelset can do cyclocross, so may be a bit narrow at 22mm inner rim width for aforementioned tyre widths... Perhaps any thoughts on this?
Well, I still ride my mountain bike rims from the '90s which much narrower - although those don't like wide tires and low pressure (sidewall tends to collapse if pinched).
No issues with the spline and larger tires. I've used 55mm Thunder burts and 50mm Furious freds with no issues. They work perfectly with 40mm tires - that is an ideal size.
I've gone down to 28mm (for these 28mm ext width rims) and I have some cord showing on the sidewalls. I corner pretty hard on asphalt, and at 50psi my contact patch goes over to the sidewall in a hard turn. The 28mm road tires did plump out to 31mm on these rims. Anything from 32mm to 55mm has worked fine for me.
DT Swiss makes good wheels. To me 22mm i.d. is about the sweet spot for gravel rims, and actually there aren't many with this width.
As good as DT wheels are, I'd recommend you consider a custom builder as pricing and specs can come very close if not equal or better than already built wheels. And note that companies such as Hunt are simply sourcing various and common wheel components and having them built, as any small builder can do. But the small builder may be able to offer better options at a similar price, and the build of course will be done with attention to detail mass produced wheels just don't have.
I used to build my own wheels (primarily centered around BHS hubs and Kinlin rims). When I started to go disc brakes on road/gravel bikes, I ended up going with DT Swiss.
As long as you don't shop in the US (where prices are incredibly inflated), you can get really good weight/price ratios. Especially when you compare with the Mavic Allroads (or Fulcrum 7 DB).
I've 3 of the C-series wheelsets (CRC, CR 1400 and CR 1600). They run really well and are easy to setup. The CRC runs tubeless with 38 G-Ones on my RLT. The CR1600 has seen 35 G-ones and 35 X'plor USHs.
The wheels are tubeless ready out of the box (with tubeless tape pre-installed), valve stems and 6-bolt adapters. The Germans and Italians ship the wheels with end caps for QR and 15mm axles. I've see UK sellers advertise wheels with only the 12mm axle end caps.
As someone else has said, quality is really great (knock on wood) and actual weights are close to or lower than advertised weights.
bluesky6 wrote:I used to build my own wheels (primarily centered around BHS hubs and Kinlin rims). When I started to go disc brakes on road/gravel bikes, I ended up going with DT Swiss.
As long as you don't shop in the US (where prices are incredibly inflated), you can get really good weight/price ratios. Especially when you compare with the Mavic Allroads (or Fulcrum 7 DB).
I've 3 of the C-series wheelsets (CRC, CR 1400 and CR 1600). They run really well and are easy to setup. The CRC runs tubeless with 38 G-Ones on my RLT. The CR1600 has seen 35 G-ones and 35 X'plor USHs.
The wheels are tubeless ready out of the box (with tubeless tape pre-installed), valve stems and 6-bolt adapters. The Germans and Italians ship the wheels with end caps for QR and 15mm axles. I've see UK sellers advertise wheels with only the 12mm axle end caps.
As someone else has said, quality is really great (knock on wood) and actual weights are close to or lower than advertised weights.
Thank's a lot for your contribution. I was having doubts on DT Swiss as they don't market wheels as straight out gravel wheels, but mtb/cross/road. Your comments have helped to solidify my idea that they are great price/quality wise and there is nothing which stops them from being a more than reasonable option for gravel riding!
clarksonxc wrote:...How about freehub body? Be careful with the mtn 11sp freehub body; it won't fit 11sp road unless you get a cassette like the shimano 11-34.....
I have been told from DT Swiss that the Shimano MTB 11-speed cassettes together with the 10-speed spacer fit on the 11-speed road freehub.
I have been told from DT Swiss that the Shimano MTB 11-speed cassettes together with the 10-speed spacer fit on the 11-speed road freehub.
That is true, 10 & 11sp mtn cassettes will fit on 10 or 11sp road freehub bodies. Where you run into trouble is when you're trying to fit an 11sp road cassette on an 11sp mtn freehub body.
Funny thing I started this thread on DT Swiss for gravel riding, as I thought there were no real gravel specific wheels, only cross related wheels. But time caught up with me and now I heard from my local wheel builder that DT Swiss has gravel specific rims, although no gravel specific wheels on their website yet. The wheelset is called GR 531 DB and will feature 24mm internal, 28mm external and 25mm height. Would like to see this paired with a DTSwiss 350hub, for a competitive price, would be directly in competition with EASTON AX $600 wheels, as they feature same material and same internal width.
LOL - what is the difference between a CROSS and a GRAVEL rim??? 28mm wide is better than the current 26mm wide, but the 26mm wide rim would be great for everything. You're not getting a 32mm wide rim or anything life changing. You're splitting a fine hair. I run a 43mm tire on a Stans Grail 24mm wide rim, and it wouldn't be any better on my 28mm wide road rims.
The current RR481 rim is built to the same standard as the RR531 rim in terms of load and tire pressures. It also comes in 650b / 700c as a rim and built wheel. It is 50g lighter too. Fulcrum is making a nice looking wheel to the same spec BTW - https://www.fulcrumwheels.com/en/wheels/gravel-solutions/rapid-red-5-db
This would only make a buying different to me if I was running a fat road tire (28-32c) and wanted the tire to look nicer on the rim.
I would contend that 24mm is almost too wide, except for the biggest gravel tires. Also there have been 24mm id rims and wheels for years, and they were call XC 29er wheels. Cross, road disc, and gravel wheels are all (in an over simplified way) different names for the same thing. I think 22mm id is actually the sweet spot, and will handle the biggest gravel tires. And the wide rim thing does not apply to gravel the way it does to mountain biking, so the benefits of a 24mm vs. 22mm id rim are mostly a mental exercise.
jfranci3 wrote:LOL - what is the difference between a CROSS and a GRAVEL rim??? 28mm wide is better than the current 26mm wide, but the 26mm wide rim would be great for everything. You're not getting a 32mm wide rim or anything life changing. You're splitting a fine hair. I run a 43mm tire on a Stans Grail 24mm wide rim, and it wouldn't be any better on my 28mm wide road rims.
The current RR481 rim is built to the same standard as the RR531 rim in terms of load and tire pressures. It also comes in 650b / 700c as a rim and built wheel. It is 50g lighter too. Fulcrum is making a nice looking wheel to the same spec BTW - https://www.fulcrumwheels.com/en/wheels/gravel-solutions/rapid-red-5-db
This would only make a buying different to me if I was running a fat road tire (28-32c) and wanted the tire to look nicer on the rim.
You are right, a 22mm internal is as much a gravel wheel as a 24 internal, but DT Swiss specifically markets it as a cross wheel, hence the terminology.
That being said, 2mm internal is not nothing or splitting a hair, in terms of equal suitability to tyres it can make a 4-5mm difference, although the type of tire may matter more. But a knobbed 35 may work better on a 22mm internal rim, than a 24mm internal rim. At the other end a 45mm Riddler will be better supported by a 24mm internal rim. It really depends on frame clearance what's useful. Many gravel bikes only have clearance for up to 40mm tires and then 24mm is not a good choice over 22mm. Personally I would only ride slick 35s and knobbed 40-45 and then a 24mm internal suits that perfectly.
oleritter wrote:I would contend that 24mm is almost too wide, except for the biggest gravel tires. Also there have been 24mm id rims and wheels for years, and they were call XC 29er wheels. Cross, road disc, and gravel wheels are all (in an over simplified way) different names for the same thing. I think 22mm id is actually the sweet spot, and will handle the biggest gravel tires. And the wide rim thing does not apply to gravel the way it does to mountain biking, so the benefits of a 24mm vs. 22mm id rim are mostly a mental exercise.
Actually agree 22mm is fine for everything, still believe if you focus on 40-45 knobbed, 24mm is slightly more supportive. And you could still run 35 slicks, so think of it as a win-win in that sense.
