Giant SLR 0 42mm wheels

The Giant SLR 0 42mm wheels are an ideal all-round go-faster set of hoops. The rims are wide, feel fast and handle well. The hubs are simple to service, quiet and robust. They've performed excellently in my mix of hilly races, flat criteriums and general riding with good braking and stability in crosswinds. They arrived fitted with Gavia AC 0 tyres in a 25mm size, all set up and ready to go with sealant in and everything.

• Pros: Good lateral stiffness, quality hubs, predictable braking
• Cons: The Gavia tyres they came with…

So what does Giant say about these wheels? 'The SLR 0 42 is a fine balance between efficiency, control and durability in a stiff, lightweight and race-ready package'. With that in mind, I took these from the office, popped a cassette on and took them straight to the Maindy cycle track in Cardiff for a little racing. My initial impression of the wheels was very positive: they felt easy to spin up to speed and hold it when I made a rather idiotic attack.

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The 42mm-deep full-carbon rims are tubeless ready. The 17mm internal width is perfectly wide for 25mm tyres – more on that later. The spokes are DT Aerolite, 16 on the front, 21 rear, laced radially with a 2-cross pattern on the driveside rear. These are straight-pull spokes with internal nipples. This gives a very clean build, although one that isn't so easy for maintenance. Not that it will matter, for a while at least, as the wheels were perfectly straight out of the box and have remained that way.

Braking is the big compromise with carbon wheels. I've used a range, from cheap Chinese through to top-end Knight. The power will never be comparable to aluminium, so I look for consistency as a marker for good quality. The braking is predictable with power applied smoothly around the whole rim. That makes predicting stopping distance much easier and I'm happy to report a lack of 'grabbing'. The pads that are supplied with the wheels really help; they're nicely soft resulting in good braking power.

The hubs are Giant branded, with DT Swiss 240 internals. This is a great balance between performance and reliability with easy maintenance. They also sound really good, with a soft buzz that doesn't drive you crazy on a long descent.

Out on the road, I found myself instantly comfortable with the wheels in windy conditions. The rounded profile and semi-shallow depth of the rim really works well to make these very stable. The wheels also feel perfectly zippy when climbing both steep Mendip hills and shallower grinds. That is down to the very respectable 629g front and 791g rear, giving a wheelset weight of 1,420g.

Weight isn't everything, though. I've also been very impressed with the lateral stiffness of these wheels. To test this, I wound my brakes right in and headed to a nice steep hill. As much as I threw the bike from side to side out of the saddle, I couldn't get any rub from the brakes. That's crucial for me as the Challenge tyres I now have fitted run very wide, so there's no space in the frame for any movement.

Tyre choice

Tyres are quite a personal thing, but I didn't really get on with the Gavias that the wheels arrived with. They fit the rims well and make a good tubeless system, but I didn't feel comfortable in fast corners, which feature heavily in my races. In a straight line, on good tarmac, these do feel fast, but I was pretty surprised at just how narrow they sit. Removing the tyres, I found that the tread is very rigid and fixed in the narrow shape that they take when mounted.

The narrowness of the tyres defeats the point of the wider rim, and also the point of going tubeless. These are meant to be a better system than a clincher: comfier, faster and less prone to punctures. I can't say that these tyres are more comfortable or less prone to punctures as I was left at the side of the road sorting a slow leak from the rear on my first road ride. Tubeless may well be faster, but if it is, it's only a small difference.

> Buyer's Guide: Tubeless tyres – all your options

After a few weeks on these tyres, I swapped them out for my Challenge Stradas, converting the wheels back to clincher. I didn't want my opinion of the wheels to be altered by what seemed a dull set of tyres. I haven't noticed a difference in speed, but come to a corner and I'm much happier. On normal UK roads, I also appreciate the extra tyre width and suppleness of the Challenge tyres.

Getting those Challenge tyres on was a massive faff. They're really tight on the tubeless-ready rims and once on, they didn't want to seat properly. It took 70psi before the bead popped into place. Having experienced a tyre blow off, this is not my favourite job.

I'd advise that you should consider your intended use. Dead set on tubeless? Then these will be great. If you're not, then tubeless rims can simply make tyre mounting more difficult for no gain. That said, tubeless tyres are improving rapidly, with the Schwalbe Pro Ones being among the best we've tested so far for racing.

Extras

On to the smaller things that I like. The decals on the wheels are simple stickers. I like that as it gives you the option of removing them should they get scratched. Of course, you might also just want a stealthier look, not that the design is that loud.

Another great little detail with these wheels is the extra bits that you get. The skewers (66g front, 71g rear) are really good: very smooth to close and secure when shut. You also get tyre levers that really help with fitting, and the supplied tubeless valves are simple to use.

The £1549.98 price tag is getting towards the upper end of a decent budget. What you get for your money is a very good performance wheelset with hub internals that will last very well. There are cheaper options, the most notable being the RP-38s from Prime for only £809.99. They get lesser hubs, but they're also tubeless ready and a great option for a tighter budget. I would say that these are a much better option than the Knight 35s I tested back in 2016. The braking is just as good, the hubs are the same and the price is a fair bit lower. For a race-quality set of wheels, this is a good price.

> Buyer's Guide: 27 of the best road bike wheelsets

Overall, I'm impressed with these Giant wheels as they're a great option if you want one wheelset for racing and general riding. The tubeless readiness of the rims will be a plus point for some, but I'd recommend going for a better tyre than the Gavia. Something like the Schwalbe Pro One would probably swing me to running tubeless.

Verdict

High-quality construction, tubeless-ready wheelset for racing and general riding