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Dish: The relative position of the rim to the hub. On nearly all frame designs, the rim must be perfectly centred over the hub
Putting them on was so easy that I didn’t need tire levers. This could be influenced by the fact that I already used the tires for a few hundred miles (kilometers). You can also follow that line into the performance of the wheels. Sit down and look through a list of modern climbing-specific wheels and the Cadex 50 Ultra is lighter than many of them. As mentioned above, they bring that light weight to the table with exceptional stiffness as well. When you want to climb these wheels are a willing partner. They amplify the personality of any stiff and light bike frame and they never ask you to choose a different wheel if you are looking for light and responsive. A custom, handbuilt wheelset – where replacement spokes and rims are relatively cheap and easy to source – is a good choice (see below for more on these). Other options are budget wheels from major brands, which can be well built and have parts that aren’t too expensive to replace. The piece that's a lot more visually striking is the spokes. The Cadex 65 wheels were the first product in the brand lineup and they also used a carbon spoke. At the time it was a polarising feature as the carbon spokes paired with the Cadex "Custom-tuned Dynamic Balanced Lacing technology" makes for a very stiff wheel if you don't also make use of the 22.4mm internal width to run lower tyre pressure. That strength and stiffness continues to be a feature but the new "Super Aero carbon spokes" have seen their profile flattened all the way out to 5.2mm wide for better aero performance. If you've never thought spokes could be flashy, you haven't seen these.The Aeolus Elite 50 TLR is a stiff wheelset that holds speed well (Image credit: Josh Ross) Verdict I’ve taken Cadex hubs apart a lot of times and never once damaged anything. They are easy to work on and haven’t failed me yet. They lose just a bit of score because while I love the sound, not everyone else will.
Some brands quote points of engagement, while others tell you their hubs’ engagement angle, which is 360 degrees divided by the number of points of engagement. Road wheel braking explained Confusingly, factory wheels are, in fact, commonly built at least partly by hand. The key distinction however is that factory wheels are built to an exact specification and you buy them as an off-the-shelf item, often with proprietary spoke and rim designs. At 50mm deep, the wheels offer an aerodynamic advantage but are still versatile enough for a range of riding. The VeloElite Carbon Wide 350-50 wheelset is a great choice if you’re looking for your first set of deep-section wheels or on a budget and you don’t want to shell out for a big-name brand.
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The wide internal rim maximises the nominal tyre size, and this improved descending and reduced road buzz. Disc brake: Brake technology that’s now common in cycling that fixes a thin metal plate braking surface (rotor) at the hub with a caliper attached to the frame that clamps onto it to slow the bike down The wheelset feels fast and responsive out on the road. Hunt’s own-brand hubs are fairly loud, but the noise does seem to have been toned down compared to the brand’s older wheels. Thru-axle: A large axle that slides through a closed frame dropout and the hub, screwing into threads on the far side of the wheel, allowing for a stiffer and more secure wheel connection. Thru-axles are commonly used on disc brake road bikes On the other hand, they feel more comfortable on rough roads. It’s important to note that I always use the same tires and tire pressure when testing wheels. The wheels simply absorb more vibrations, resulting in a more comfortable ride.
My first impressions were great. I particularly noticed that the stability of the wheels in crosswinds is pretty good and predictable. Although not as good as shallow wheels, they are definitely one of the best 50mm wheels I have tested. I did not observe any wobbling at high speeds (60km/h+), which gave me confidence when descending. The braking is one of the highlights of these wheels. When used with the supplied pads, the power is really good and it's consistent too. I've been happy to run these in the rain on my winter bike, which has got noticeably faster and more comfortable with these replacing some narrow box section aluminium rims. I did feel the wind a little more, but only when it's properly gusting. Hardly surprising given the depth. I like how they maintain speed. Once I spin them to about 40km/h (24.9mph), they keep the momentum pretty well. As with other Cadex wheels, the 22.4mm internal width helps with both of those situations. Widening the base of the tyre helps it flow better into the rest of the wheel, for better aero performance, but it also makes for a rounder profile that's more stable. Descending stability is a big advantage to all the Cadex wheels and that hasn't changed. Enve has one-upped Cadex with an even wider 25mm internal but Cadex has made its own subtle changes with the increased bead width. I can't put my finger on any of those design details during the ride but these are high-volume wheels with a comfortable, stable, ride. They do well descending, they do well in crosswinds, and as someone who likes to feel in control of the bike, I appreciate it. They compare very well with wheels from the likes of Hunt and Scribe, which always tend to score highly for quality, performance and price.Just like with road bike frames, carbon fibre has become the standard material for performance race wheels, where stiffness, weight and aerodynamics are the priorities. The Zipp 404 Firecrest wheelset is a superb wheelset for fast road cycling, offering low weight and a great ride feel that belies the 58mm-deep rims. Rather like tubeless tyres and disc brakes, this tech began life on mountain bikes before eventually making its way over to road wheels with the introduction of SRAM’s AXS groupsets. The XDR freehub is slightly wider than XD, so you can run an MTB cassette on an XDR body (with a spacer), but not vice versa. This is Shimano’s 12-speed Micro Spline freehub for mountain bikes, which isn’t compatible with 12-speed Shimano road cassettes. Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
CRC were doing them at a fair old discount when I got them so given the mileage I've put through them they're fantastic value for money. The sort of wheels you don't mind using for regular riding - it's not like a set of Lightweights or something where you'd only use them on the sunniest days and smoothest roads - and I'd be happy racing them too. Partly becasue they're easily good enough for it and partly because they're not so insanely expensive that I'd be terrified of crashing them. Finding those small efficiency gains is hard fought at this level and for Cadex, they've come from design changes to the hub, the spokes, and the shape of the tyre. Visually, the aero shaping of the hubs and the slightly taller hookless bead, which makes for a more aerodynamic tyre profile, aren't particularly noticeable. The hub internals haven't changed radically either. As it was before, it's a ratchet-style hub with 40-tooth engagement that requires no tools to change the freehub. However, the Hunts did present a new nuisance in that the rim was too wide for my Shimano Ultegra R8000 brake calipers. I've not had this problem before and solved it by removing the spacer behind the brake pad housing – not ideal. Even then, the pads barely lifted off the rim and the modulation of the levers was non-existent. What was more bizarre is I didn't have to go to the same extremes on the rear wheel. Riding the Hunt 50 Carbon Wide Aero wheels
Bontrager has employed tried and true technologies to create a wheel with high performance at a low cost. We put the Aeolus Elite 50 to the test to see if anything has been sacrificed
But, seating them was also easy with an air compressor. I didn’t try seating them with a floor pump, though.
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