Oquo RA57LTD wheels

Oquo’s RA57LTD is an aero wheelset for high-speed road cycling, with (can anyone take a guess?) a rim depth of 57mm for wind-cheating and Oquo’s Q10 hub for hill-cheating weight. They’re very good, but not exceptional, and they’re up against some very tough competition that’s frequently also cheaper.

Our Liam visited Oquo to see how it builds its wheels, and I’m presuming the set I’ve been testing is not the one he built, on the grounds that they work. Oquo, if you didn’t know, is an offshoot of erstwhile bike maker Orbea. These wheels are built and tested at Oquo’s base in Spain, where the hubs are also manufactured. The rims are made in Asia.

The deep 57mm rims put these squarely in the ‘saving Watts’ category, and Oquo says it used wind-tunnel testing as part of the development. It does not publish any aerodynamic data for the RA57 that I could find, however, which is a little unusual at this price.

Oquo is particularly proud of its Q10 hubs, which are indeed rather lovely things. The ‘SharkRatchet’ mechanism uses two ratchet rings held together by axial springs, with these rings being splined into the hub and freehub respectively.

It’s a lot like the system used by DT Swiss, with the same benefits – there are no sprung pawls to lose and it’s super easy to service or swap over freehub. You can remove the end-caps and freehub without tools – they just pull off. The ratchet rings have 45 teeth, meaning an engagement angle of eight degrees when you start pedalling.

The rims are wide for today’s bigger tyres, with an internal width of 23mm and a 32mm external. Oquo stipulates a minimum tyre width of 25mm and I expect they’d be at their most aero with tyres in the 28-30mm range.

They’re laced to the hubs with Sapim CX-Ray spokes – 24 front and rear. The hubs are drilled for straight-pull T-head spokes with no contact between them, removing one possible source of failure. Oquo quotes a feathery weight of 104g for the front hub and 175g for the rear.

The ‘mini-hook’ rim design allegedly offers the best tyre compatibility (both tubeless and clincher), and I tried a couple of tubeless options – including the previously-awkward Pirelli Cinturato Evo TLRs – and found they went on fairly easily. They still took a compressor to seat, but the Vittorias I also tested went up with just a track pump.

Standard Presta tubeless valves are included, whose chunky aluminium caps include a valve core removal tool. Oquo includes a bottle of its own sealant and – as you’d expect – the wheels are taped. You also get padded wheelbags, which will be welcome if you travel.

The maximum system weight (rider + bike) is 130kg.

Out on the road, the impression I got was of quietly competent speed. Some deep wheels like to remind you they’re there, whether via a whooshing sound or by amplifying the knocks and pings of imperfect tarmac, but these are quite easy to forget – they don’t whoosh, bang or ping, they just keep on rolling.

At 1,460g they’re quite a competitive weight for 57mm wheels, but it’s not class-leading (that’s where the spendier CS version comes in – carbon spokes drop them to 1,373g).

The wide rim shape is similar to most carbon wheels (aside from those aping sharks or sinewaves) and the aero performance is similar too, at least to my subjective senses – they feel comparable to various 50+mm wheels I’ve used recently, including my own Reserve wheels. Behaviour on windy days is good; no scary moments when passing gaps in the hedgerow. In cornering these feel well planted, stiff and well-behaved, with predictable handling.

Value

The carbon wheel market is so saturated with excellent options – from both established and upstart brands – and unfortunately I don’t think these do enough to stand out. They gave me no unpleasant surprises, true, but neither did they really differentiate themselves from their competitors.

The asking price of £2,110 is not going to swing it either. To give a couple of examples, the Zipp 404 Firecrests have a very similar weight and depth yet are over £400 less at £1,699.

Hunt’s new 5AM Limitless wheels are also £1,699 and weigh only 1,339g, or 1,212g with carbon spokes (and a £1,999 price tag which still beats Oquo).

If price is the biggest factor, the Van Rysel VR 50 wheelset is serious contender at £799, though it’s inevitably not the lightest at 1,604g. Alternatively the new Zipp 404 S Firecrests are £985 with 50mm-deep rims and a claimed weight of 1,585g.

If looks are really important, though, Oquo’s colour options align with Orbea’s custom program, which may add value for you. You can spec big flashes from a range of 12 colours on your wheels, allowing unusual depth for making your bike your own. Our test wheels may look black in the photos, but are actually a dark matt grey, with the graphics painted in gloss white.

Overall

Though these are good wheels I’d be happy to own, if I was spending my own money I don’t think the RA57LTDs would be top of the list. They’re really pretty good in every aspect, but unfortunately they just don’t stand out in a single one of them. Add a price that’s nothing special either and there’s just too much pressure from the competition to seriously recommend these instead.