Just In: DT Swiss RRC 65 Dicut C

DT Swiss’ RRC 65 Dicut clincher wheels have just arrived at road.cc for testing, and they’re certainly worthy of a quick look before we get them out on the road.

The rims are made from unidirectional carbon-fibre and the 65 part of the name refers to the depth in millimetres. 

Aerodynamic performance is obviously a key focus for wheels of this deep. DT Swiss says that they were developed with World Tour team IAM Cycling in the wind tunnel, and recommends them for 
flat and mixed terrain, and for time trialling and triathlon as well as for road racing.

Despite the depth, DT Swiss says that the wheels offer plenty of stability, putting in a good performance in crosswinds thanks to the rim profile.

As with many aero wheels these days, the spoke-side of the rim is fairly blunt, although the profile isn’t as wide or as U-shaped as a Zipp rim, for example.  

The internal rim width is 18mm while it’s 25mm measured from outer to outer. This means the contact surface of the tyre and the road will be larger than it is with an internal width of 15mm, for example. The idea is that you can fit wider tyres with more stability, less pressure, and lower rolling resistance. 

Plus, there’s the issue of aerodynamics when you switch from a 23mm tyre to a 25.

“Air resistance is reduced,” says DT Swiss. “A wider rim combines with the tyre to create a more linear contour, resulting in less and smaller air turbulence. The air therefore flows more smoothly past the tyre and rim: the system generates less air resistance.”

The rims are tubeless ready, so you can run them without inner tubes if you use compatible tyres, and the tubeless valve comes as part of the package.

Check out Road tubeless: everything you need to know and our guide to tubeless tyres. 

The DT Swiss 240 hubs feature SINC ceramic bearings as standard and the freewheel is equipped with the DT Swiss Ratchet System 36 T. This uses spring-loaded star ratchets that disengage when you stop pedalling and move together again when you resume pedalling. It’s a smart design. 

The 36 teeth on each star ratchet mean that there’s an engagement angle – the amount the freehub turns before it ‘catches’ and begins to transfer the movement of the cranks – of just 10°. In other words, there’s very little foot motion before you start to drive the rear wheel.

The wheels are built up with 16 spokes (radial) at the front and 20 (one-cross) at the rear. They’re DT Swiss’ own Aerolite and Aero Comp spokes – bladed for aerodynamic efficiency, as the names imply – with aluminium nipples. Those nipples are hidden away inside the rim. That means you can’t tension the spokes externally, you have to remove the tyre and get to them from inside.

The wheels are held in place by RWS (Ratchet Wheelmounting system) skewers. There’s no cam, you just wind the skewers tight. We’ve used these lots in the past and they are very secure. You can easily move the lever to the angle you prefer without any effect on the tension.

The system weight limit (bike and rider) is 100kg (15st 10lb).

The DT Swiss RRC 65 Dicut clinchers are light for their depth. We measured them at 745g (front) and 885g (rear). That’s a total of 1,630g (excluding skewers).

The prices are £849.99 (front) and £1,149.99 (rear). That’s a total of £1,999.98 for the wheelset. Carbon-specific brake pads are included, as are wheel bags and a centring tool. 

Tubular versions are already available at £749.99 (front) and £1,049.99 (rear).

www.dtswiss.com
www.madison.co.uk