Schmolke’s new TLO 50 wheels break the sub-1kg barrier for a 50mm-deep wheelset.
We've seen plenty of ultra-lightweight exotic wheelsets over the years, including the groundbreaking all-carbon construction of Lightweight’s 1,280g Obermayer Evo, Partington’s unique wraparound spoke design of the R-Series MKII (1,218g). There was also the Syncros Capital – with its one-piece moulded rim, spoke and hub design, weighing in at 1,170g.
Schmolke’s TLO (The Light One) wheel range looks somewhat conventional in comparison. It has standard straight-pull hubs, a 50mm-deep hooked tubeless rim and standard 24-spoke patterning – albeit the spokes are carbon fibre.
Look further down the specification sheet and you’ll see an incredible claimed weight of 940g. That's more than 200g lighter than the competition for a disc-brake tubeless wheelset, and with a deeper rim than its rivals, too.
For climbing fans, Schmolke also has the even lighter 37mm-deep TLO 37, at a claimed 895g.
The wheels are priced between €3,050 and €3,600, depending on the specification.
Actual weights, modern rim shape
My test pair of TL50s weighed in at 448g front and 529g rear, totalling 977g a pair, including tubeless valves and rim tape. I’d expect the addition of tapes and valves to add around 40g, so it looks as though Schmolke’s 940g claim is accurate.
Schmolke hasn’t cheated on the details by making either a narrow or shallow rim design to save weight. With the 50mm rim depth, 32.5mm width and internal width of 25mm, it’s a bang-up-to-date profile, which will ideally suit modern wider road tyres of 28mm and above.
How are they so light?
Schmolke has chosen a very light hubset and further lightened them with the addition of ceramic bearings.
The combination of Extralite’s 66g CyberFront SPD-3 and 146g CybeRear SPD-3, upgraded with HyperCeramic bearings, shaves more grams from those already super-light hubsets.
The carbon spokes use standard threaded ends and are made from carbon, weighing only 1.8g each, compared to a conventional metal spoke such as the DT Swiss Aerolite, which weighs between 4 and 4.5g depending on length.
The advantage of the conventional construction is the spokes can be repaired or replaced by your local bike shop, and they're rated to 1,200Nm of force.
The 50mm-deep Unidirectional carbon fibre rims weigh in at a claimed 320g, which shows Schmolke’s carbon fibre manufacturing prowess.
In comparison, a 40mm-deep Zipp 303 rim weighs in at around 365g. ENVE’s equivalent SES 4.5 Pro rims weigh a claimed 369g for the front and 383g for the rear.
Technical specifications
- Hooked rim: 50mm tubeless-ready (clincher optional) asymmetrical / 24 holes
- Max tyre pressure (tyre width mm/BAR/psi): 28/5.5/80 – 30/5.1/74 – 34/4.5/65 – 40/3.8/55
- Rim width: 32.5mm
- Internal width: 25mm
- Effective rim diameter: 547mm
- Hub options: NONPLUS Center Lock / Extralite SPD3+ HDC-Ceramic 6-bolt or Center Lock / DT Swiss 180 Center Lock
- Compatibility: front 100mm / rear 142mm, thru-axle 12mm
- Spokes: carbon
- Total weight: 940g (Extralite SPD3+ and NONPLUS hubs) / 1,025g (DT Swiss 180 hubs)
- Rim weight: approx 320g (per rim)
- Finish: UD with black or white logos
- Carbon fibre: T1100
- Maximum system weight: 115kg
