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review

Pro-Lite Vincenza Carbon Tubular Wheelset

8
£899.00

VERDICT:

8
10
Highly versatile aero wheels with a lovely road feel, durability and weight is impressive too for the price
Weight: 
1,830g

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The Vincenza wheels from Pro-Lite are a versatile set of time trial or triathlon wheels comprising a 50mm deep front with a 90mm deep rear. A neat hub swap option allows you to turn the rear into a fixed wheel and all the necessary kit comes in the box.

The Vincenza wheels feel solid the first time you use them. These aren't cheap, generic Chinese hoops that buzz and rattle over every bump. Here the carbon feels like it has a depth to it with a stiff characteristic and a subtle bit of shock absorbency added to the mix.

Along with wheel bags and quick releases you also get carbon specific brake blocks. Pro-Lite don't mention any specific rim coating for better braking but stopping power is more than adequate and how often do you brake in a time trial anyway?

The rims are made by Pro-Lite themselves out of T700 carbon using a high pressure vacuum process and with a 20.5mm wide tubular rim width they are pretty traditional as the rest of the world goes wide. At 1830g for the pair they are competitive in the weight stakes especially considering the £899 price tag.

The C50T up front uses twenty aero stainless steel spokes from Sandvik in a radial lacing pattern and it certainly feels tight. Hard efforts accelerating out of the saddle don't produce any brake rub and the 50mm deep rim isn't affected by heavy cross winds. In fact they seem to spin pretty well at any yaw angle without the stalling effect you get on some wheels of this depth.

The hub uses two EZO bearings from Japan which are highly regarded and these certainly feel smooth. The hubs are sealed so they should continue to run this way too. Trueness was a little disappointing out of the box with a bit of a kick laterally on one point of the wheel. It was easy enough to tweak out but if I'm paying nine hundred quid for a set of wheels I expect them to be running perfectly.

The rear C90T uses the same hubs and bearings though you'll find four EZO bearings this time. Again they run smoothly with no resistance felt in the freehub either. That freehub is available is Shimano/SRAM or Campagnolo options and it's easy to swap out should you change groupsets on your bike. They are 11-speed compatible plus you can use 9 and 10-speed cassettes with the supplied spacer.

If you fancy a bit of track use the Hot Swap rear hub means you can remove the freehub and replace it with a 15mm axle and fixed internals. It's supplied with track nuts and all the tools you need to get the job done quickly, especially once you've swapped it over a couple of times.

You get the same spokes and brass nipples on the rear, although there is twenty four of them with a two cross pattern for stiffness. Again the rear was a little out of true but nothing that couldn't be fixed in five minutes.

As a kit the 50/90 depth options is very versatile and with the lowish weight they can be used on hilly courses as well as pan flat dragstrips without penalty. I loved the overall feel of them while racing and they are robust too. Some of the road surfaces for club events have been pretty dodgy and I've whacked a pothole or two at speed with no ill effects.

Verdict

Highly versatile aero wheels with a lovely road feel, durability and weight is impressive too for the price

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Pro-Lite Vincenza Carbon Tubular Wheelset

Size tested: n/a

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

The C50T & C90T are deep section wheels ideal for time trials and triathlons. The weight is impressive as is the ride quality and the combination of depth gives a very versatile wheelset.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

*T700 carbon fibre rims (50mm front, 90mm rear)

*EZO bearings

*J-bend 3.2mm aero Sandvik SS spokes

*Brass nipples

*20.5mm rim width (outer)

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10

Really well built but a shame about the trueness out of the box

Rate the product for performance:
 
9/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
9/10

A very solid feel to them and worth sacrificing a bit of weight for the quality components.

Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
8/10
Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
 
9/10

The ride very smoothly for such deep rims.

Rate the product for value:
 
8/10

They are worth the investment for the build quality, performance and comfort.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Quick wheels that aren't affected by cross winds.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

The ride quality.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Slightly out of true from the box.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.

Would you consider buying the product? Yes.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes.

Anything further to say about the product in conclusion?

The Pro-Lite's are versatile wheels that can be used on any course without compromise. You can get deep section wheels a lot cheaper but the overall quality is worthy of the extra investment especially in the long run.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 36  Height: 180cm  Weight: 76kg

I usually ride: Kinesis T2  My best bike is: Kinesis Aithien

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed,

 

As part of the tech team here at F-At Digital, senior product reviewer Stu spends the majority of his time writing in-depth reviews for road.cc, off-road.cc and ebiketips using the knowledge gained from testing over 1,500 pieces of kit (plus 100's of bikes) since starting out as a freelancer back in 2009. After first throwing his leg over a race bike back in 2000, Stu's ridden more than 170,000 miles on road, time-trial, track, and gravel bikes, and while he's put his racing days behind him, he still likes to smash the pedals rather than take things easy. With a background in design and engineering, he has an obsession with how things are developed and manufactured, has a borderline fetish for handbuilt metal frames and finds a rim braked road bike very aesthetically pleasing!

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4 comments

Avatar
pedalpowerDC | 8 years ago
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Why would these be relegated to TT use? For a lot of people, it seems like a reasonable depth for road races and crits.

It's very relevant to mention that tubulars with hidden nipples are generally a bad thing, particularly if these wheels couldn't manage to stay true between the factory and your doorstep. Have fun ripping off a perfectly glued tubular to straighten out the next hop that shows up in the wheel.

Avatar
Iamnot Wiggins | 8 years ago
0 likes

Thanks samvegg, it wasn't entirely clear from the graphics.

Avatar
Iamnot Wiggins | 8 years ago
0 likes

Sorry, who are these made by? It's not obvious from the MASSIVE brand graphics!

Avatar
samvegg replied to Iamnot Wiggins | 8 years ago
0 likes

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they are made by Pro-Lite

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