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Cadex reveals new 50 Ultra Disc wheelset and Aero tubeless tyres “engineered for outright speed”

Just look at the width of those spokes! New hookless wheels claim best-in-class speed and stiffness to weight while the tyres are shaped with aerodynamics in mind

Cadex has today released a high-end 50mm deep tubeless wheelset that aims to take on the fastest in the business and tubeless tyres that are said to be "shaped for speed".

Cadex 50 Ultra Disc

2022 Cadex 50 Ultra hookless rim profile wheels

As the name suggests, this is a 50mm deep wheelset and if you're eagle-eyed you may have also noticed that they feature a hookless rim profile. As tyre standards improve we've seen many manufacturers switching to this technology as it often results in a lighter wheelset.

The internal width of the wheels is 22.4mm, which Cadex says is "optimized for high volume tyres". The brand recommends between 25 and 32mm.

> Buyer's Guide: 10 best road bike and gravel bike wheels 2022

The 50 Ultra Discs have a very impressive claimed weight of 1,349g (front 595g/rear 754g) and Cadex claims that the lateral stiffness-to-weight ratio is improved by "up to 41.4% compared to competitors' wheels" thanks to a larger bracing angle.

Cadex 50 Ultra lateral stiffness comparison claims

> Review: Zipp 454 NSW tubeless wheelset

* This line shows the difference in lateral and transmission stiffness-to-weight ratio between the competitors’ wheels and the CADEX 50 Ultra Disc. For example, -46.5% means 46.5 percent less efficient in terms of lateral stiffness to weight. It should also be noted that the Zipp 454 NSWs tested were the much heavier previous generation. As always, we recommend taking manufacturer claims with a pinch of salt; the numbers they quote need to be true, but brands can choose to show only the preferential data.

Cadex 50 Ultra tubeless wheel spokes carbon

Cadex also makes some impressive claims about the aerodynamics of the wheels and visually there are some clear differences over the previous generation of Cadex wheels. The carbon spokes are much deeper while the new R3-C hubs are said to be more aerodynamically efficient and these are fitted with ceramic bearings as standard.

Cadex 50 Ultra aero comparison claims

> Review: Roval Rapide CLX wheelset

Cadex claims that when fitted with the same tyre and tested at 40km/h (25mph), the new 50 Ultra Discs are quicker than the competition. The brand also says it ran tests using different tyres and fitted them to popular aero bikes with similar results.

A further test on crosswind stability showed that the Cadex wheels outperformed the DT Swiss, were on par with the Zipps and were only slightly behind the super wide Rovals and Enves. We're looking forwards to reviewing the wheels to see whether they can live up to the lofty claims.

You'll find 21 spokes at the front and 24 at the rear. Inside the rear hub, there's a 40T ratchet system that gives an engagement angle of 9 degrees.

Cadex 50 Ultra tubeless wheel aero hubs

> Enve overhauls entire wheel range with lighter weights, hookless rims... and no rim brake options

The 50 Ultra Discs will retail at £1,149.99 for the front wheel and £1,699.99 for the rear wheel. That's a total price of £2,849.98 for the wheelset, making this a very premium option! Cadex says it is expecting to see delivery of stock to the UK during the last quarter of this year, and the wheels will be available with either a Shimano 11-speed, Sram XDR or Campag 13 freehub.

Cadex Aero Tubeless Tyre

2022 Cadex 50 Ultra and aero tubeless tyre fitted close up

The second product to be released is a new tubeless tyre with the headline feature being that it's "shaped for speed". Cadex says that its new tyre has a taller, more oval-shaped profile with thin sidewalls and a thicker midsection that's specifically designed with hookless rims in mind.

Cadex aero tubeless tyre graphic shape

Once again Cadex has conducted aero testing, claiming that the tyre is up to 5.22 watts faster at 40km/h (25mph) when fitted to a selection of leading rims when compared to popular 25mm and 26mm alternatives.

Cadex aero tubeless tyre aero comparison claims

To assist in minimising losses, the new tyres get a lower rolling resistance compound. The RR-A compound that replaces the RR-S compound we've seen on previous Cadex tyres is said to be 15% more efficient.

The tyres have a 170 TPI casing with new microfile tread, and Cadex says that these have already been tested at the highest level, including the 2022 Tour de France.

2022 Cadex 50 Ultra wheel and aero tyre fitted

> Buyer's Guide: Best road bike tyres 2022

The tyres will cost £64.99 each which is in line with competitors' high-end tubeless tyres, but just one size is listed on the spec sheet, that being 700x25mm.

www.cadex-cycling.com

Jamie has been riding bikes since a tender age but really caught the bug for racing and reviewing whilst studying towards a master's in Mechanical engineering at Swansea University. Having graduated, he decided he really quite liked working with bikes and is now a full-time addition to the road.cc team. When not writing about tech news or working on the Youtube channel, you can still find him racing local crits trying to cling on to his cat 2 licence...and missing every break going...

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6 comments

Avatar
peted76 | 1 year ago
0 likes

I do like those spokes.. those are some lovely looking wheels.. 

Avatar
Secret_squirrel | 1 year ago
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Interesting to see if those new bladed carbon spokes show up on Hunt wheels, afaik Giant is where they get their current carbon spokes from....

Avatar
PRSboy | 1 year ago
2 likes

Cadex claim that at 40kmh their wheels are faster than the competition. 
 

Why do press releases persist with this nonsense?  At 40kmh, they are all going the same speed!

 

Avatar
mdavidford replied to PRSboy | 1 year ago
0 likes

PRSboy wrote:

Why do press releases persist with this nonsense?

Presumably because it works.

Avatar
RobD replied to PRSboy | 1 year ago
0 likes

Because if they say that at 40kmh their wheels are more efficient, a lot of the buying public won't equate that to being able to go faster. There should be a standardised measurement, maybe a speed achieved for a certain power input, but there's so many variables that they'd all find ways to show their wheels are the fastest.

Avatar
PRSboy replied to RobD | 1 year ago
0 likes

I prefer the measurement that shows watts required to do 40kmh vs the competition.  Seems intuitive.

But yes, they all seem to find a way with yaw angles etc of proving theirs are faster than others.

 

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