Halo Carbaura RCD 35mm Wheelset

The Halo Carbaura RCD 35mm Wheelset lives up to the renowned Halo name, with a wonderful freehub, and a great build quality. At 35mm deep, these are do-it-all wheels that ride well in strong winds, up and down hill, and sprinting. They aren't as aerodynamic as deeper wheels, and aren't superlight, but as a package they make an impressive wheelset, all coming in at a reasonable price.

Halo wheels are perhaps better known in the mountain bike world, where they have a reputation for strength and super-high-engagement hubs, which also happen to sound amazing (if you like a noisy freehub). The Carbaura RCD 35mm is a great demonstration of all these qualities.

> Buy now: Halo Carbaura RCD 35mm Wheelset for £849.96 from Winstanleys

The hubs at the centre of this wheelset are the RD2s, made by Halo, with the rear boasting a 120-point engagement; that's incredibly fast, giving only 3 degrees between engagement points. That means as soon as you get on the pedals, it's transferred through the bike. This is noticeable if you are racing a criterium, for example, and need to get on the power straight out of a corner.

The high engagement of the hub means the noise it makes when freewheeling is excellent. It's a high-pitched buzz, which isn't so loud as to be annoying, but gives a lovely soundtrack to descend to.

Weighing in on our scales at 1,450g, this isn't a crazy light pair of wheels (that weight was with the rim tape but nothing else), but compared with a previous generation Carbaura RCD wheelset, albeit with 50mm rims, this pair has lost nearly 200g, so it's significantly lighter.

This weight loss means they accelerate really well and respond excellently to any effort I've given.

Personally, I prefer a deeper rim, but the 35mm depth here means these ride really well in crosswinds, and I found them much more enjoyable in strong winds than deeper rims. I don't know how the deeper offerings from Halo perform in strong winds, but for lighter riders, or those who don't like the wind, these are a good option.

The great build quality also means I haven't felt the need to be delicate and have been able to ride them comfortably over anything British roads have thrown at me, and they've stayed true and buckle-free. I'm filled with confidence that they will be able to withstand whatever comes their way.

Their stiffness is good, too. While it's hard to notice any lateral flexing without a rim brake to rub, it never felt as though these flexed much, when sprinting or cornering.

With a 21mm internal rim width and a 28mm outer width they are nothing ground-breaking in the width department, but they give ample width for most uses. I tried them with both 28mm and 25mm tyres, and while the 28s tyre sat nicely on them, I thought the 25mm tyres were better, sitting perfectly in the rim, matching its width excellently and providing a lovely ride.

They were super easy to set up tubeless, too, the tyres just needing to be pumped up with a regular floor pump not a special tubeless blaster. They come with tubeless tape fitted, so all they need is tubeless valves, tyres and sealant, and you're away.

Setting the wheels up with discs and a cassette was a breeze, too, with nothing out of the ordinary, and being well machined with good tolerances. They have very similar offsets to other wheels I have, meaning it was easy to switch between them, not needing to readjust anything.

The wheels use bladed spokes, helping to increase the aerodynamic advantage, but the only downside of this is that if they do happen to need to be trued then a spoke holder is needed to stop the spoke from spinning. It's hard to quantify any benefits, but they definitely won't be a drawback.

Although more affordable than some, at £999 this wheelset is up against some stiff competition, such as Hunt with its 30 Carbon All-Road Disc wheelset at £799, with a similar spec and a three-year warranty, and Zipp with its 303S, now up to £1,090 since we tested it, with a lifetime warranty.

Scribe's Core 32D wheelset is also about £200 less, and about 50g lighter.

Halo offers a two-year warranty on its wheels (non-transferable), which covers manufacturer defect but not user error. This isn't quite the same level as Zipp's lifetime warranty, but for a smaller brand it is admirable.

You are also getting Halo's excellent flagship hubs.

Conclusion

Overall, I really enjoyed using these wheels with their good ride quality and the amazing sounding freehub. If you want a reasonably priced set of wheels, with top-notch craftmanship, I can happily recommend them – especially if you like a louder freehub.

Verdict

Good set of wheels with an excellent set of hubs at the centre of them