Shimano Dura-Ace carbon review

Shimano produce another wheel in their flagship Dura-Ace range for a far more reasonable price (£450 per pair), while these outwardly similar wheels are based around relatively tough (for their weight) unidirectional carbon rims for tubular tyres. Shimano’s new spoke pattern is proving to be more successful than their original lateral crossover design and these ultra-stiff rims ran perfectly true through testing. The special brake blocks included work relatively well but fall short of the control you get with an aluminium rim.

As the spokes use special inserts that are very slightly larger than the holes in the rim it is hard to see how replacement rims could be fitted economically.