Gipiemme's Italian made Parade wheels certainly look smart out of the box with their paired spoke pattern and high profile flared rims. They run on super smooth cartridge bearings inside the forged aluminium hub bodies - we particularly like the allen key lock on the cones that hold this all together.
Up front, 16 black aero bladed spokes keep the black stealth theme going from hub to rim while performing a great job of aerodynamics and wind cheating. They're arranged in pairs to work with the raised sections on the rims. The rear has 20 spokes, arranged in a similar pairing fashion, for added stiffness.
The aero box section rims on the Parades not only look sleek and speedy but the fact that they're deep sectioned makes for a fast ride in terms of aero advantage. There's also a wear guide on each braking surface - a really neat safety touch to tell you when they've had enough.
Being deepish section alloy rims means these aren't going to win any prizes when it comes to the big weigh in: the pair tip the scales at a pretty hefty 1,830g (840g front and 990g rear). Naturally, the added weight is offset with the aerodynamics of a deeper section rim as long as you're going quick enough.
This certainly makes them better for riding fast flat stuff rather than tough mountain climbing. >Out on the road they feel pretty fast and sturdy, but even with these burly looking rims they're not as stiff as some and we found a certain amount of flex when blasting into fast corners and even out of the saddle when putting the hammer down.It's a great looking wheelset with good Italian heritage and they work well ridden fast in a straight line, but they aren't such great all-rounders. >
