Cero ARD23 Aluminium Disc Clincher Wheelset 23mm

Seems like every other wheelset we have through the doors here is now disc-brake compatible, and here's another one: the ARD23 from Cero, the in-house brand of retailer Cycle Division. Our previous experience of Cero wheels has been good. They're typically well-built and pretty competitive in terms of price and weight. As we'd expect, then, the ARD23s are solid wheels at a decent weight and have fared well in testing. They are certainly worth considering if you want to upgrade your bike's stock wheels.

The rims are 23mm deep with an unusual asymmetric shape. The sides taper to a rounded point which isn't half way between them. The spokes exit from this point, also off-centre, and that's the key: it allows for the spoke tension to be more balanced from one side to the other, making for (says Cero) a stronger wheel. The rims are positioned to account for the cassette at the back and the rotor at the front. They're extremely similar to the rims used by Wiggle's Cosine brand in their rather lower-priced 23mm Road disc wheelset.

The ARD23 wheelset is provided taped for compatibility with tubeless tyres, and I found no issues getting my Schwalbe G-One 40mm tyres to fit and hold pressure. Valves are included, as are some fairly standard quick releases (which I didn't use as I was running thru-axles). Cero suggest these wheels are suitable for tyres between 23 and 34mm wide, although ETRTO (European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation, acronym fans) guidelines say that 40mm should be no problem, and that's what I found. I also tried fitting Continental Grand Sport tyres and inner tubes which required a little persuasion to get over the rim but weren't particularly troublesome.

Cero use top quality Sapim spokes and nipples; the CX-Ray spoke is favoured by many wheel-builders for its light weight and strength. It's pretty slender and the main section is bladed giving a small aerodynamic advantage too. The hubs are machined from 7075 grade aluminium and use Shimano's excellent Centerlock rotor retention system. Helpfully, adaptors are provided in case you prefer to use six-bolt rotors.

As we've seen on other wheelsets recentlysuch as the R32db from DT Swiss, compatibility with a range of axle standards is assured thanks to replaceable hub end-caps. Our review set came with the full range of options but when you order you just need to choose the setup that suits your frame and fork. The end caps are held in place by rubber o-rings; you just pull them out and push a different one in. I found it was quite hard to get enough grip to pull them out without resort to tools and the attendant risk of damage. On reinsertion they don't sit as snugly as those on the DT Swiss wheelset, and I found that this made it more fiddly to fit the thru-axles as the holes in the end caps wouldn't always line up perfectly.

Cero markets these as primarily road wheels, but it's likely that they'll see duty on tow-paths and other light non-tarmac surfaces. My summer commute has quite a bit of unsurfaced towpath which proved no problem at all. Thanks in part to the thru-axle capability, they make for a stiff setup and forays further off-road left me with no concerns about their toughness.

On the road and they behave well too. Aside from high-end options, many bikes will come with stock wheels that weigh 2kg or so, and the 500g saving here will make your bike feel more spritely (whatever John says). If you're running road tyres then the 19mm internal width allows for a bit more air volume than rims did a few years ago, making for a slightly more comfortable ride. I mostly ran them with the 40mm G-Ones mentioned above, which obviously isn't as quick as a road tyre but rolls surprisingly well given its off-road capability.

As I mentioned already, there are a lot of options now for road disc wheelsets, and competition is increasingly fierce. At £400, these aren't a budget option, but likely to be the sort of thing that you might consider as a first significant upgrade to your disc-braked road bike. In a similar price bracket, you'd also find options from Kinesis (£399, 1590g), Pro-Lite (£359, 1650g) and new kids Hunt (£349, 1585g). The deeper DT Swiss wheels I tested recently are a little more expensive and heavier, but are much better looking to my eyes, too.

From a performance perspective, the Ceros are a smart choice. They're plenty tough enough to last and light enough that you'll notice the difference. My only real issue was with the fit, retention and alignment of the thru axle end caps, which is an irritation but not a deal breaker. Aesthetically I wouldn't say they are the best looking set of wheels – I wouldn't really say they look like a £400 wheelset – but that's a subjective area and not a major influence on our scoring here.

Verdict

Decent tubeless-compatible disk-brake upgrade