Deda Elementi Gera Gravel Alloy Tubeless Ready Wheels

The Deda Elementi Gera Gravel Alloy wheelset is a good all-arounder, with incredibly quick freehub engagement, and an internal rim profile that makes for a very easy tubeless tyre setup. The wheels tick lots of boxes for use with gravel or wider road tyres, but they are expensive for what you're getting – there's nothing groundbreaking here.

The wheels are based around Deda's aluminium hubs, with a freehub that is available in all the major options including Shimano, SRAM XDR and the Campagnolo N3W version tested. The freehub is a 4-pawl system that gives a 5-degree angle of engagement; this means no lag and near instant pick-up when you push the pedals after freewheeling.

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The rims measure 28mm externally and 23mm internally, which will be wide enough for most gravel tyres, but with the trend for increasing internal rim width, there's nothing particularly groundbreaking here.

Deda suggests a minimum tyre width of 28mm, so while they are marketed towards gravel riding they would also suit many road riders. If you do use them on the road, the only consideration would be a recommended maximum tyre pressure of 100psi.

The maximum tyre width suggested is 57mm (2.25in), so in theory they could also be used with mountain bike tyres, although they are very narrow for such use and it would affect the tyre profile.

The wheels arrived taped and ready for tubeless tyres, with all the accessories you might need, such as tubeless valves and Center Lock lockrings. While no spare spokes are provided, as some manufacturers do, the wheels only feature two different lengths across both wheels, which makes it easy should you ever need to replace any.

With tubeless valves and tape fitted, the test wheels weigh 813g for the front and 923g for the rear, giving a total weight of 1,736g, which is reasonable for aluminium wheels designed for off-road use. Deda also does not give a maximum rider weight limit.

Getting the tyres set up and ready to ride was very easy. I tested them with some WTB Vulpine tyres which I've found can be tricky to install, but they mounted and inflated very easily with just a track pump.

In use

The rapid freehub engagement was one of the first things I noticed; as I said earlier, it engages in 5 degrees when you start to pedal. In other words, when riding – and especially on tricky or technical uphills with lots of on/off pedalling – you'll be driving the rear wheel almost immediately after you start turning the pedals. There's virtually no lag.

Riding with 40-45mm gravel tyres during testing, it isn't possible to discern just what level of comfort the wheels offer, as the volume of the tyre will have a far bigger impact, but there was nothing to suggest any form of discomfort.

The spoke count of 24, front and rear, might not be the highest, but it didn't impact stiffness either under acceleration or downhill on rougher downhills.

Riding over a mix of terrain, from roads to byways, forest tracks and even blue and green graded mountain bike singletrack, they felt good and on a par with other top aluminium wheelsets. There was minimal sideways flex, even on rougher, more technical trails, and the reasonably low weight helped with accelerations, that rapid freehub engagement making them feel as if every bit of energy expended is put to use.

Value

The elephant in the room is that at £534.99 they are more expensive than most aluminium rim gravel wheelsets, even approaching the base price of some carbon options.

> Buyer’s Guide: 10 of the best road bike and gravel bike wheels

There are many good quality wheelsets available for less than £400 – the Ere Tenaci GR20s that I tested last year, for example, cost £399, and the Scribe Gravel Wide++ wheels are even less, at £380, albeit with a little extra weight.

For another £164 you can have carbon in the form of the excellent Hunt 35 Carbon Gravel Disc X-Wides, now £699.

Conclusion

Overall, these Dedas perform well in most areas, with good stiffness, a reasonable weight and fast freehub engagement, but they're expensive, with nothing that really makes them stand out above the rest to justify it.

Verdict

Good all-round set of aluminium wheels, with little to fault except the price