Deep section wheels on gravel bikes

[Katana]

Is it just me or other’s feel the same way? I was just browsing to see what exciting stuff is coming our way in 2027. I saw this advertisement for Specialized Crux 5 Gravel bike priced at £8,749. While the bike is top spec so maybe justifies the hefty price tag but it is equipped with DT Swiss 54mm wheels. Now forgive me for my ignorance I just don’t understand the logic of deep section wheels on an outright gravel bike? Any thoughts wise ones😊

 

[fossyant]

Aero for racing. Otherwise not a lot of point.

 

[N0bodyOfTheGoat]

I don't follow gravel (or other bike) racing much, but I believe the top tier riders are often blasting at speeds where aero wheels get some benefit.

 

[wafter]

While I think "gravel" used to imply a more alternative slant than road, it seems like creeping competitiveness is slowly taking over so it's becoming more like road off the road and increasingly concerned with silliness like aero.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Top gravel racers will be going faster than you go on the road. For them aero wheels of benefit. For the all the gear and no idea purchaser, not much point.

 

[Drago]

Hhhhmmmm, DT Swiss. Yummy.

 

[fossyant]

TBH, aero rims are easier to wash.

 

[Drago]

My rim is aero. You can hear the wind flowing past it.

 

[Jameshow]

Is it just me or other’s feel the same way? I was just browsing to see what exciting stuff is coming our way in 2027. I saw this advertisement for Specialized Crux 5 Gravel bike priced at £8,749. While the bike is top spec so maybe justifies the hefty price tag but it is equipped with DT Swiss 54mm wheels. Now forgive me for my ignorance I just don’t understand the logic of deep section wheels on an outright gravel bike? Any thoughts wise ones😊

If your paying £8k your wanting every penny if performance surely!

 

[fossyant]

At £8k, you'll want the best. TBH aero rims look good on big tubed carbon gravel bikes - but £8k..... I priced up a Dolan carbon gravel bike with aero rims for road, and another set of less aero for gravel and it was just within my bike to work £3.5k with Di2.

MrsF said NO...

Dilemma solved.

 

[fossyant]

Then what's gravel, or not. Many gravel bikes are just no more than race CX bikes. I have an older CX bike, you can't mount stuff on it normally, for me a gravel bike is something with loads of mounts, but there are a lot out there that are more race orientated..

I have found an axel mount bike rack for my CX bike after the 'boss' said no to another bike....

 

[Katana]

If your paying £8k your wanting every penny if performance surely!

I agree however my point was that deep section wheels don’t improve things on a gravel bike. On the contrary it adds more stiffness and weight so a disadvantage!! Plus you have to be mindful of the crosswinds which could be more trickier to handle on gravel. The gurus at deep section wheel school of thought argue that the depth of the wheel itself gives you no advantage unless the width is 105% of the tyres to achieve the aerodynamics. So if we go with that principle then one would require very wide rims to achieve that as gravel tyres are lot more chunkier now a days and therefore adding on a lot of weight so a disadvantage!!

 

[Webbo2]

I agree however my point was that deep section wheels don’t improve things on a gravel bike. On the contrary it adds more stiffness and weight so a disadvantage!! Plus you have to be mindful of the crosswinds which could be more trickier to handle on gravel. The gurus at deep section wheel school of thought argue that the depth of the wheel itself gives you no advantage unless the width is 105% of the tyres. So if we go with that then one would require very wide rims to achieve that as gravel tyres are lot more chunkier now a days and therefore adding on a lot of weight so a disadvantage!!

These days deep section carbon rims are lighter than most shallow aluminium rims. Also at slower speeds there is still an aero advantage. Watch some of the GCN videos on youtube for more scientific info.