Scribe Cycling Elan SL 50 Carbon Wheelset

The latest Scribe Cycling Elan SL 50 Carbon Wheelset encompasses all of the attributes required for a performance set of road wheels. The weight is low, as is the price, and there’s wind tunnel data to back up Scribe’s aero claims – and I can happily say this translates to great acceleration and handling when you’re riding in the real world, where it really matters.

> Buy now: Scribe Cycling Elan SL 50 Carbon Wheelset for £1,199 from Scribe

Looking for new wheels? Check out our best road bike wheels buyer’s guide.

Scribe launched in 2019 and by following a direct-to-consumer model it has built a reputation for making extremely competitively priced wheelsets, which are made to a high quality and with impressive performance gains.

Scribe has recently released its Superlight range, which consists of the Core SL wheels and these even lighter Elan SLs.

Four options are available. You can choose from 40, 50 or 60mm rims or a set with a 50mm front and 60mm rear. All cost £1,199 a pair.

Our 50mm-deep test wheels incorporate high-filament 12k/18k Toray T1000 grade carbon fibre composite rims that have an external width of 29mm and an internal width of 21mm.

These dimensions are optimised for 25-28mm tyres – but are designed to work with rubber up to 40mm wide.

The rims have a hooked design that allows them be used with both clincher and tubeless tyres, and you don’t have to worry so much about limitations on tyre pressures. Just in case you aren’t aware, you can only use hookless rims with tubeless tyres and they are generally limited to around 75psi.

All wheels arrive ready taped for tubeless setups.

I had no issues fitting various tyre brands, both tubeless and as a clincher with an inner tube. All the tyres I tried – 25, 28 and 30mm – were a snug fit and needed some assistance from a tyre lever to get the last section on to the rim, but they weren’t so tight that they were stubborn to get off.

Roadside puncture fixes or inner tube switches weren’t an issue.

Scribe uses 21 unidirectional carbon spokes for the front wheel laced 1x on the disc side and radial on the other side, while the rear has 24 carbon spokes laced 1x on the disc side and 2x on the drive side.

The hubs have aluminium alloy bodies and incorporate a straight-pull design for the spokes. They use AITA ceramic bearings, which roll very smoothly and quietly.

Scribe has chosen the Center-lock rotor mounting system and its freehub options cover Shimano, Campagnolo and SRAM cassettes. The hubs use Scribe’s patented Ratchet Drive technology where, instead of pawls locking into ratcheting teeth, a 54-tooth ratchet ring in the freehub engages a 54-tooth plate (threaded into the hub shell) by way of an internal leaf spring. When you coast, the tips of the teeth glide over one another.

The engagement is instantaneous and on all of the Scribe wheels I’ve used with this style of freehub I’ve found performance and reliability to be excellent. Yes, the design is a bit ‘buzzy’ when you’re freewheeling, but I wouldn’t say it’s loud enough to be obnoxious.

The freehub’s green anodised finish looks smart and you also get an ‘anti-bite’ strip to stop the cassette cutting into the aluminium freehub body under load.

Straight out of the box the Elan SLs were running perfectly true, and the spoke tension was spot on. I certainly didn’t get any pinging from them as they settled on that first ride.

Lateral stiffness seems excellent and with a weight limit of 120kg for rider, bike and kit they aren’t restricted to purely race setups.

Some deep-section wheelsets can have a harsh ride feel to them, but this isn’t the case with the Elans. The amount of rim material means the ride is firm but the resulting riding experience is a pleasant one. They certainly aren’t wheels that I’d only bring out for race days as they’re comfortable enough for training rides or longer efforts.

We weighed our test wheels at 1,348g including rim tape, which generally weighs around 40-50g per wheelset. This equates to a naked weight of 1,300g or so, which is impressive considering the depth of the rim, and only slightly heavier than the claimed 1,268g weight.

As you’d expect, acceleration feels brisk, and they climb well too.

Most of us buying a wheelset with rims of this depth are looking for aerodynamic benefits – and the Elan SLs don’t disappoint.

Scribe has provided some wind tunnel data about how the Superlight wheels compared with Specialized’s Roval Rapide, and this showed that the Core SL (which has the same rim as the Elan SL) has less drag with a 25mm tyre up to 10°of yaw angle.

We spoke to Scribe about this data back when the wheels were being developed.

As an amateur rider the difference of a watt or two is neither here nor there when I’m out riding – it’s out on the road that’s important, and these felt quick both getting up to speed and maintaining it when you got there. The toroidal (rounded) rim profile isn’t as affected as badly by crosswinds as earlier aero rims with flatter profiles, which means they feel efficient and are good for year-round use.

From a performance point of view, I couldn’t fault the wheels at all – they are literally fit and forget on your bike behaving well in all conditions.

Scribe designs most of its products in-house with manufacturing taking place in Taiwan. It specifies things like the type of resin used in the rims for specific applications and focuses on strengthening them in certain areas so that they can remove material elsewhere to reduce overall weight.

The components are then used to hand build its wheels at its Belfast base.

All new wheelsets are automatically assigned to Scribe’s Infinity warranty program which gives three years cover against material or workmanship defects. You also get 50% discount off replacement parts should you crash.

Value

As you can see from the price, these Elans are definitely competitive against similar wheels on the market.

The Velocite Hyperdrive Ultra 50 wheelset uses carbon spokes and costs £999 with standard bearings. When I reviewed them there was an option to add ceramic bearings for another £100, but that seems to have been dropped from the website at the moment.

Hunt offers its UD Carbon Spoke Disc wheelset with 54mm rims. These have a claimed weight of just over 1,400g and a £1,499 RRP, though that does not include ceramic bearings. We haven’t reviewed this set, but the 32mm option impressed Liam when he reviewed them back in 2022.

The Giant SLR 1 50 disc wheels cost £1,198.98. ‘Not bad’, I hear you say, but at 1,525g not only are they a chunk heavier than the Scribes, they don’t include carbon spokes or ceramic bearings.

It’s not just value in terms of their build quality or performance either, you also get great aftercare including warranties and crash damage.

Conclusion

On paper Scribe’s Elan SL is an awesome package of component specs, price and weight – and thankfully that is backed up by their performance out on the road. This is a great wheelset, in terms of how they ride and respond, and all backed up by an excellent build quality.

Verdict

Light, stiff, well built with ceramic bearings and real-world quick – and all at a very decent price

> Buy now: Scribe Cycling Elan SL 50 Carbon Wheelset for £1,199 from Scribe

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