Pro-Lite Bracciano wheelset

There's no two ways about it: this is a really excellent set of wheels. They're light, they're well built from quality components and they're great value. On top of that the ride quality and stiffness are well up there with rival wheelsets – even some considerably more expensive ones – and if you don't like the silver polished ones (we do) you can have them in black instead. There's really not much to moan about here.

Pro-Lite make great play of the fact that all their wheels are hand built without machines, so it wasn't a great surprise to find an evenly tensioned, well trued set in the box. Picking them out the first thing that you notice is that they're light. Really light, for a £349 wheel. Ours didn't quite measure up to the claimed weight of 1482g for a set, but at 1501g (without skewers) they're the lightest sub-£400 wheels we've tested by a good margin.

The 27mm deep rims are mated with stainless flat bladed spokes (24 at the rear, 20 on the front) to some very slight-looking hubs. The front particularly is minimilast to the same point as something like an American Classic: there's enough metal to cover the two bearings but not much more. The rear is a slightly beefier affair that boasts five bearings (four standard and one angular contact) and both hubs, and the quiet freehub, were buttery smooth throughout the test. The one bit of weight saving I could probably do without is the alloy spoke nipples, for the two or three grams they save I'd prefer hardier stainless ones. The alloy freehub body needs a good firm hand too when you're tightening the cassette. It is possible to notch it under load, but it's harder than others I've tested.

Out on the open road the Braccianos are everything you'd want a wheel to be; responsive, comfortable, stiff and quiet. I didn't manage to eke any brake rub out of front or rear; in the workshop testing the 4mm deflection of the rim for a 15kg lateral load is about average for the money, on the tarmac they never felt flexy.

Acceleration is excellent, and you certainly feel the lack of heft on the climbs too. On the descents the bike felt a little more nervous than with the Fulcrum 3s I was running before the test, but I find that's a common side-effect of a light wheelset. You have to take care when sprinting too, as it's easier to throw the bike from side to side. I took the Braccianos out on a couple of long rides sporting the Conti Force/Attack combo tyres I've been riding on other wheelsets, and they certainly weren't any less comfortable than comparably-priced (and more expensive) wheelsets on the same setup, even after four of five hours in the saddle.

Verdict

Anything not to like? No, not really. You'll have to pay a lot more than £349 to get a similarly light wheelset from the likes of Shimano, Mavic or Fulcrum – nearly twice as much in two of those cases – and there's nothing in the quality of components or construction, or the ride experience, to suggest that these Pro-Lite wheels won't give you comparable performance over time. Effectively you're getting race wheel weight and function for training wheel money. And that has to be a good thing.