Mixed Depth Aero Wheel Combo Comparo!



Take a look at the photo below of Nairo Quintana. Maybe it’s a trick of the eye, but it seems like his rear wheel is a deeper rim depth than his front. Regardless of whether it is or isn’t, it made me think that if a wispy climber like Quintana was riding a set of mixed depth aero wheels, maybe mere mortals who weigh more and don’t possess the same climbing prowess should consider doing so too? And so the seeds for this PEZ article were planted. [I’ve subsequently confirmed that Quintana rode a 35mm front and 50mm rear Campagnolo Bora Ultra wheel set in this year’s Tour de Suisse].To get more news about Carbon Wheels, you can visit zpebicycle.com official website.

But why would you want to ride mixed depth wheels? The idea is that a shallower depth front wheel is less susceptible to getting snatched and blown around by the wind, so better handling. But a deeper depth rear wheel provides more aero benefit. Such a setup will not be as light as shallower depth wheels front and rear (what you would expect to see in the high mountains), but also not as heavy as full-on aero front and rear (what you expect sprinters to ride). And it will be more stable than deeper depth wheels front and rear, but not as aero. So a compromise, but one that – at least on paper – seems to make sense for lighter riders like myself who would rather not go sailing in the wind riding deeper depth wheels both front and rear.

Creating a mixed depth wheel set is easy enough if you’re able to buy same model separate front and rear wheels from a manufacturer. Clearly, sponsored pro teams such as Movistar can easily mix and match wheels to their liking. But for the rest of us, at least a few manufacturers offer mixed depth wheel sets. The Enve SES 3.4 wheel set has a 38mm deep front wheel and 42mm deep rear wheel. This wheel set is actually spec’ed on the Cervelo R5 Di2. Not in their current catalog, but Reynolds used to offer an Assault/Strike combo wheel set with a 41mm deep front and 62mm deep rear wheel that can still be purchased from a variety of vendors.

Since the beginning of spring, I’ve been riding a set of Irwin AON TLR 38 wheels. Irwin also makes an AON TLR 38/58 combo wheel set and they were kind enough to provide one for apples-to-apples comparison riding.

The AON TLR 38 and 38/58 wheel sets are the same except for the rear wheel. The AON TLR 38 has 38mm deep carbon rims front (20 radially laced Sapim CX-Ray spokes) and rear (24 Sapim CX-Ray spokes 2X on both sides). The rims have a 18mm internal width and 26mm external width. The hubs use sealed cartridge ceramic bearings (2 in the front and 4 in the rear). Claimed weight is 1525 grams. The AON TLR 38/58 has the same front wheel but the rear is a 58mm deep carbon rim, and tips the scales at 1640 grams – so 115 grams heavier.