Halo are aiming their Carbauras at sportive riders, offering a wheelset that is both aerodynamically efficient and comfortable enough for long days in the saddle.
While many companies offer an aluminium wheelset with a carbon fairing, Halo have created a carbon rim with an aluminium brake track bonded to the side, giving the performance benefits of a stiff carbon rim with dependable braking. These rims sit around Halo’s own 11-speed-compatible Spin Master hubs, held by bladed spokes.
Carbauras are available in three different depths – 38, 50 and 58mm. Our 50mm wheels weighed in at 837g for the front and 1,028g for the rear, so while they’ll never win any weight contests, they are certainly competitive.
With the Carbauras fitted to our test bike, the first thing we noticed was their ability to hold speed along flat and slightly downhill sections of road. Along a 2km section, very unscientifically, we reckoned we could hold around an extra 2kph over regular wheels. Sidewinds can cause problems with deep rims, but the Carbauras were unfazed even in alpine gusts. As aero wheels go, they reduced road buzz quite well too.
They arrived well built and well tensioned, and though the first couple of rides were interspersed with pings from the spokes bedding in, they soon settled in, revealing a sturdy set of wheels which, even when pushed, held their line in the corners.
Riding the Carbauras was certainly a noisy affair. Not only do vibrations reverberate through the deep carbon rims, but the spokes swish through the air, the 30-point, three-pawl freehub buzzes like a swarm of angry bees and the tube’s valve rattles in the rim. Stealthy they are not.
Fitting tyres caused no problems, but you’ll have to make sure your tube valves are long enough for the deeper rims – we found some pumps blew off the valve because there wasn’t enough valve extending from the rim for the head to get a secure grip. Halo produce valve extendors for their deep section wheels (from £3.49, www.ison-distribution.com).
- HIGHS Noticeable aero/flywheel effect
- LOWS Noisy – not for stealthy riding
- WE SAY... A great way to eke out a bit of extra speed on flatter routes
