Best road bike wheels 2025 — upgrade your bike with some shiny new hoops

The Scribe Cycling Core Superlight 60-D wheels are solid, stiff, and durable deep-section wheels. Weighing just over 1,400g and priced at £1,000, they deliver excellent value compared to competitors. Why pay more?

With 60mm-deep carbon rims, Scribe’s Core SLs are designed for riding fast, where the benefit of an aerodynamic shape becomes significant. Despite that rim depth, the wheels perform admirably in windy conditions, reviewer Stu Kerton reporting that they showed excellent stability even on a ride that saw 38mph gusts.

The rims are made from unidirectional Toray T1000 carbon fibre and the hooked design allows you to run either tubeless or non-tubeless tyres. The wheels are handbuilt in Belfast and backed by Scribe’s Infinity Warranty. This covers them for three years against material or workmanship defects. In the event of a crash, Scribe offers a 50% discount on replacement parts for its carbon wheels.

The Scribe 365 Disc wheelset is a robust and durable wheelset for very little money. At just under £300 the Scribe 365 Disc is a budget-friendly set of wheels, but unlike many at this price they aren't carrying a lot of weight, and as testament to Scribe's in-house wheelbuilders, they exude durability and excellent overall quality.

The 365s are robust enough for a tough winter and taking on all kinds of road conditions year-round, making them ideal if you want an alternative to expensive carbon wheels through the off-season, or you want to replace the original wheels that came on your bike with something reliable, budget friendly and probably lighter for year-round use.

The rims are made from 6061-T6 aluminium alloy which is commonly used in the cycling industry, and are 21mm in depth. They are hooked so you can use any type of tyre whether tubeless or clincher style. Width-wise you are looking at 26mm externally, and their 21mm internal width makes them suitable for your typical road and allroad tyres up to 35mm. 

If you have a rim brake road bike and you want some wheels that are pretty light and durable but aren't going to break the bank, Hunt's Aero Wide wheelset is a great choice. 

Our reviewer described the Aero Wide wheels as an excellent aloy wheel upgrade for your rim brake bike, that will last you for many thousands of miles in all weathers. They're a bit deeper than a standard alloy rim but not really any heavier, and this wheelset tipped the scales at 667g for the front wheel and 840g for the rear, nudging them just over the 1,500g mark. For the money, that's light.

Overall, these wheels are well built, stiff and light, and all most of us need unless you're a very serious racer. 

Despite their depth of 68mm at the front and 75mm at the rear, the Chrono wheels from Parcours are surprisingly stable according to our reviewer, who tried them out in on the windy plains of Lanzarote and was impressed... and more importantly, stayed completely upright. 

The wheels are on-trend as they're optimised for 28mm tyres and are compatible with tubeless. Our reviewer found them to be fast and predictable in high winds, reducing that snatching sensation you could get with lesser wheels when there's a strong gust of wind. 

Parcours has a lengthy engineering white paper to back up its speed and crosswind performance of the Chronos if you're not convinced - but we can vouch for these being excellent and relatively affordable deep wheels, ideal for fast road racing or time trials. 

While they are mighty expensive, if you want some of the best wheels for the mountains without sacrificing speed then the Hyperon Ultra wheels from Campagnolo are probably about the best you can get at the time of writing. If you can afford them, you will not be disappointed with these excellent race wheels... a "work of art", said our reviewer!

The rims are 37mm deep with a 21mm internal width, weighing in at 1,240g for the pair (there's an even lighter tubular version for the pros). They feature the 2-Way Fit System found on most high-end Campag and Fulcrum wheels which allows for tubeless or tubed tyres to be used without the need to use additional rim tape. 

On the road, our reviewer found them a joy to ride. The aerospace-grade carbon fibre and resin combined with a one-join construction makes for very stiff wheels, and punchless spoke holes also work to reduce lateral flex. Asymmetric rims improve stiffness according to Campag, and the spoke nipples are below the sealed rim to save weight.

Competitively lightweight, stiff, and durable, the Roval Alpinist SLX Disc wheelset is a premium aluminium package that delivers excellent performance. They’re stiff on climbs, not too harsh, and stable in variable conditions. Despite a long review period that involved winter abuse and rough terrain, they remained round and true throughout. Durability is a highlight.

With 24mm-deep 6069 aluminium alloy rims, 21 Sapim D-Light Straightpull spokes at the front and 24 at the rear, and trusty DT Swiss 350 hubs, this wheelset impresses across the board. In terms of weight, it’s highly competitive in the alloy sector, coming in at 1,550g (with tubeless valves and rim tape) on the road.cc Scales of Truth.

The rims are robust, benefiting from a shot peen treatment that’s designed to enhance fatigue life. The rear DT Swiss 350 hub uses a star ratchet system rather than traditional pawls, the number of teeth used having been doubled to 36 for quicker engagement when you start to pedal – just 10 degrees.

Campagnolo's Shamal Carbon Disc Brake wheelset are a beautiful looking set of wheels that deliver an impressive performance combining stiffness and comfort. 

Described as fast and stable by our reviewer, the Shamals will spin quickly and corner confidently. They're easy to set up tubeless, and the 21mm internal width is on trend. They also come with a handy set of tyre levers, which happen to be very good indeed according to our reviewer. 

Go for these if you want to ooze class on the club run or in a race, and give your bike a serious upgrade too. 

Fulcrum’s Speed 42 wheelset lives up to its bold claims of delivering top-tier performance in terms of aerodynamics, rolling resistance, lightness, and handling – a versatile option suitable for racing, training, or anything else, for that matter. Reviewer Aaron Borrill rated the all-round performance so highly that he didn’t feel the need to switch between climbing and deep section crit racing wheels; the Speed 42s performed impressively in both scenarios.

Weighing 1,420g on our scales (650g front, 770g rear), the Speed 42s are impressively light considering their rim height. Updates from the previous Speed 40 include a deeper (42mm) and wider (23mm internal and 29.3mm external) rim, and innovative construction with high-modulus unidirectional fibres.

Setting them up tubeless is straightforward enough, and the ride quality with 28mm tyres fitted is superb. These wheels are at their best on climbs where they maintain speed and momentum and flex their muscles. Their stability in crosswinds is equally impressive; they feel like wheels of half the depth in blustery conditions. The hubs are exceptional too, spinning smoothly throughout, with the 36T ratchet system in the rear providing quick engagement.