Shimano

Dura-Ace WH-7900-C35 Carbon Tubular Wheelset

If you're a lighter-weight rider, the benefits of a 50mm "aero" rim can easily be outweighed by the abuse you'll take from the added stiffness, and the extra demands (and energy drain) of fighting for control in crosswinds. Enter a slightly aero carbon tubular like Shimano's high modulus Dura-Ace WH -7900-C35-TU, which is designed to be both lighter than their deep section C50, shaving 75g per wheel, and a bit more compliant.

Note that we didn't say "ultralight." Shimano won't cut corners when it comes to lower weight targets, particularly not on a carbon wheel. But they do demand high performance, and unlike many wheelmakers, Shimano targets smoothness in concert with strength. Therefore, a wheel like the C35 is meant to feel as fluid as possible, without being wimpy.

By the way, just because it's not a sub-1,000-gram flyweight doesn't make the WH -7900-C35-TU porky. It's plenty light, and given that the weight savings versus the C50 comes at the rim, they'll feel light, with real acceleration snap. In all, Shimano was after greater durability and quickness, as well as comfort. On the latter point, the 20.8mm rim width is a great width to support a 23c tire. This is the size you should use in training, when there's no team support if you do flat, and the roads are far more likely to be full of crud or cracked and pocked, when walking home isn't an option.

As with the C50, the C35 looks relatively traditional, with exposed spoke nipples for quick and easy truing. They have straight-pull spokes with a radial 16-spoke pattern up front and a two-cross 20 spoke pattern in the rear. There's just a hint of extravagance from the red anodized spoke nipples. The greater bling is in what you don't see, since Shimano uses extra large 15mm axles to strengthen the steering stiffness of the bike both front and rear. Yes, steering in the rear, where you'll often use as much body English through the pedals when laying a bike over in a corner, even as you unwind the bars in the front and aim past the apex.

Shimano also sticks with its own proprietary cup and cone bearings on highly polished races, with double contact, low-friction seals to prevent contamination. And Shimano's own cold-forged hub shell is another proprietary strength, since Shimano's metallurgy is the backbone of the company, and no maker in the bike industry comes close to Shimano's fanatical attention to metal working.

The Shimano Dura-Ace WH -7900-C35-TU Carbon Tubular Wheelset has a freehub body made of titanium and is compatible with Shimano 8/9/10-speed cassettes as well as with SRAM cassettes.